SurfRay goes bankrupt: What it means for customers

Update August 2010: SurfRay managed to get back on track shortly after after they filed for bankruptcy in Feb 2009. In a recent analyst briefing the company reports to be doing well, which is backed up by the recent product updates to Ontolica & MondoSearch. You can read more about the restructuring of SurfRay at The Real Story Group’s website.

Earlier this month, Danish search vendor SurfRay filed for bankruptcy. SurfRay is first and foremost known for its Ontolica and MondoSearch products which have been adopted by many organisations – mainly in Denmark. A few months ago SurfRay actually attended the jboye08 conference and gave a credible presentation on how to extend websearch in SharePoint 2007 using Ontolica. The bankruptcy may not be surprising to some industry insiders, but for everybody else it is a sobering case of  how important it is to look at vendor intangibles, including the financial situation before choosing a vendor.

However, for existing customers who have spent resources implementing the products from SurfRay, the bankruptcy introduces some new and rather unpleasant concerns:

• What will happen with the product?
• Where can I get support?
• Do I have to change vendor – and when?

In our community of practice some members have already reported that certain features have stopped working. Most parts still work but no one knows for how long.

Search expert Adriaan Bloem from CMS Watch argues that it is likely that the remains of SurfRay is picked up by another vendor. The SurfRay website is still running, so hopefully for existing customers, Bloem will be right in his predictions.

A less pleasant scenario would be if the product simply disappears, as was the case with Speed of Mind, another now defunct Danish enterprise search vendor, who discontinued their Oracle search solution completely (before being accquired by SurfRay btw).

Here’s what the news means to customers:

1. You can still find experienced help. Talk to one of the many SurfRay partners if you have an issue that needs attention.
2. Expect critical questions from your colleagues. To answer these appropriately, make sure to communicate openly what’s going on and why some things don’t work.
3. You should start considering alternatives, in particular if search is essential to your organisation. Act swiftly and get a plan in place that can get you out of the hands of SurfRay in case it really stops working and/or is too expensive to fix.
4. Talk to other customers and learn from them. It is generally cheaper to share knowledge than to buy it from consultants. Some other SurfRay customers are already busy migrating and can give you important insights on what they are doing and why they are doing it. This will help you internally make the case for the next step.
5. Be prepared to listen to some really funny stories from SurfRay competitors. Most of them will be desperate to pick up your business, even though they might appear cool, calm and collected.

For additional details and background:

• Beyond Search: Everything on SurfRay

Are you an existing customer, please let us know what the bankruptcy has meant for you.