Here it is...
Verity, Inc.
Sunnyvale, California
Throughout history, technology has allowed specialized knowledge and function to become available to everyone. Ford's Model T made driving affordable; the PC made it possible for everyone to crunch numbers, process words, and play Doom. The classic example is Gutenberg's printing press, which turned reading and writing into common experiences. Perhaps it is a little ironic that, given how central
texts are to everyone, a relative few have had the ability to search these resources digitally.
Until now, that is. Along with browsers, search engines and text retrieval technology have made the Internet the world's information library. But there's another irony: Most established text retrieval vendors were caught flat-footed when the Internet came of age. Very quickly, the mindshare products became AltaVista, Excite, and a few others--not those from text retrieval vendors. But thanks to a radical change in its business plan, one member of the establishment--Verity--could have the first and possibly lasting
impact.
Founded in 1988, Verity marketed its Topic concept-based document retrieval products to specialized users in health care, government, manufacturing, and other industries that generate acres of
documentation. Verity's object-oriented retrieval tools, built around the notion of "topics," put the vendor a step ahead of competitors employing traditional Boolean systems. Rather than using "brute force"
searches, Topic went beyond finding words or phrases to identify concepts, which it could then rank for relevance. In this way, customers could create a reusable knowledge base.
Despite its heralded technology, Verity was not profitable. In 1993, the company brought in Philippe Courtot as CEO. Courtot had previously built cc:Mail into the leading e-mail package before selling the
company to Lotus Development in 1992. Courtot was an admirer of Verity's technology, but he envisioned a very different business path for the company. Since becoming CEO, he has totally restructured Verity's technology, sales, and marketing. Verity is now an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), using over 200 OEM deals to seed Topic in other vendors' offerings. Key vendors that have embedded Topic include Netscape, Adobe Systems, Documentum, Informix Software,
Sybase, Quarterdeck, and Lotus. As an OEM, Verity may never become a household name, but the product is suddenly everywhere.
Courtot's strategy was financially risky, but he had the foresight to see, just over the horizon, an incredible, ubiquitous demand for search technology, particularly in light of the Internet. Courtot's goal is to make Topic a de facto standard for search and retrieval. He can then move on to the next phase: offering high-margin add-ons to the basic technology. Courtot has been investing heavily in research and development to make the second phase possible. In September, Verity launched Search '97, a comprehensive offering that includes a developer's kit, an agent server, gateways, and a version for use
with Microsoft Exchange.
Search technology is critical to just about any Web site offering access to vast text stores. The RDBMS vendors know this: Text engines are a critical ingredient of their universal server offerings. Verity's biggest challenge may be to withstand the arrival of those vendors. |
