SharePoint search bolstered with MetaVis tools

MetaVis Technologies Monday released a set of tools to classify and organize data to help users improve the search capabilities in Microsoft’s SharePoint Server. 

The company released MetaVis Architect for SharePoint and Classifier for SharePoint, which are designed for information architects and end users, respectively, to help them categorize and tag data. Users moving data from established ECM systems to SharePoint often find the Microsoft platform only offers a subset of tools and capabilities for organizing data for effective search. MetaVis is attempting to plug those gaps. In addition, data classification and tagging can be set centrally and used across SharePoint sites instead of being done per site, which is the procedure when using native SharePoint tools.

“People that had invested good money in ECM systems had organized content so it would be searchable,” says Steven Pogrebivsky, CEO of MetaVis. “When they got to SharePoint there was a loss on what to do.”

MetaVis Architect, which is designed for consultants and information architects, provides a visual representation of a SharePoint environment that lets users edit the diagram and set synchronization among SharePoint sites. Standardize data classifications can be used between sites and with collections of sites. Users can design data classifications, called taxonomies, offline and then deploy them to SharePoint. Architect also allows replication or consolidation of SharePoint’s columns, content types and libraries. The tool also compares existing taxonomies between sites and site collections to ensure consistency.

The Classifier tool, which is designed for any end-user, lets users import and tag data from SharePoint or other repositories; move and copy content between folders, sites or servers; and perform data classifications in bulk.
Trial versions of the tools are available here.  Architect is priced at $5,500 per seat or $2,750 for an annual subscription.

Classifier is $1,500 for the first seat or $750 for an annual subscription.