Busy times & Sitecore MVP 2023 & Sitecore Search

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 I realize that things have been quiet here. But I have mainly been working behind the screens on Architectures, Estimations for new projects.

And when you are busy... time tends to fly by :) Regardless, some interesting things have happened in the meanwhile! 

MVP 2023

Starting with the most important one (and yes, I have screamed it out waaay before this blogpost through my socials...):

I have been awarded the Sitecore Ambassador MVP title for 2023! This is my 9th consecutive MVP-ship, and I hope that I can uphold this stretch for a longer time still.



This year, my focus will be on getting the most out of my renewed MVP-ship by collecting and sharing as much information as possible through the various webinars and enablement trainings that are related to the host of new products / platforms Sitecore has launched. 

Sitecore Search

Secondly, I have been investing some time into Sitecore Search. My first and foremost goal is to position it next or alongside platforms such as Algolia, SearchStax (Studio), Coveo, Cludo, ...

In itself, the search solution functions as a crawler that allows for manipulation from a user-friendly UX that then makes the results available through a performant API.

With a long road ahead with regards to comparing platforms and matching them with customer requirements, there is however one piece of functionality that I feel is required in order for Sitecore Search to become a strong market competitor.
And that is the ability to create new ad-hoc indexes, facets and configure these to be populated through an API. This would allow (much like Algolia does) for smooth inclusion into a composable architecture where data from other platforms also needs to be brought into a search index.

Search has now been conceived as an input output platform. Meaning that information gets crawled and is displayed back onto the site through a Search UI. However, a search / indexing platform can be used for much more and will further help support your implementation through lightning fast lookups, providing an engine for the implementation of functional requirements, rather than just providing the result for a customer query.

I'm assuming that this will land on the roadmap of the Sitecore Search platform sooner than later, but at this moment, unless you are just looking for a quick Site-search, this kind of feels as a good iteration of the platform with some missing functionalities....


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