Google's latest desktop search software, released two weeks ago, brought apocalyptic warnings about the security risks it posed, particularly if employees brought the consumer-oriented application with them to work. Google last week responded to the panic with a test version of its new desktop search software tuned for business environments.

Google's software can help business users find documents and other files on data-crammed desktops, a pressing problem many IT departments just haven't solved. The software also spotlights Google's ambition for the business software market, and all the work it still must do to make a serious dent.

Google Desktop 3 for the Enterprise is a version of the consumer desktop search software Google introduced in 2004, this time with tools for centralized IT control. The beta release came just days after Gartner warned about the risks posed by unmanaged use of the consumer version of Google's desktop search software, and it now recommends that companies switch to the enterprise version.

	Dave Girouard's task: Make Google business friendly Photo by Eric Millette

Gartner's advice was measured compared with the overreaction in some circles to the security risks posed by the consumer Google Desktop Search. But the uproar reflects the new reality of IT: Users want the same easy-to-use search experience in the workplace they get outside the office, and IT organizations are unprepared to immediately meet those demands. "Innovation happens in the consumer space much more quickly," says Dave Girouard, general manager of Google's enterprise division. "For a lot of reasons, applications that are delivered to users in the consumer space have a much higher degree of focus on the end-user experience." The No. 1 reason: Consumers, especially on the Web, can quickly go elsewhere.

Google Desktop Search works by creating an index of documents, files, past Web searches, Zip files, E-mails, even instant-message strings. Its ability to search a range of content types and software programs using the familiar white Google search page sets it apart from other desktop-search options. It can search AIM, MSN Messenger, and Google Talk instant messages, as well as Outlook, Gmail, Netscape, Thunderbird, and Mozilla E-mails. Another unique feature--and something that sparked the security and privacy worries--is Search Across Computers, new to this version. This feature lets users index local files so they can be searched from any computer with Google Desktop 3 installed, if that computer is logged in to the user's Google account. It requires Google to keep an indexed copy of files on its servers.

The advantages are obvious: People can access files from computers at home or at work. The disadvantage: Employees can put sensitive information at risk, violate corporate policy, and even break the law in regulated industries.

The enterprise edition addresses that concern by givingIT administrators control over Desktop Search's features through support of the Group Policy feature in Windows. (Google Desktop is available only for Windows XP and Windows 2000 SP3+.) That means Search Across Computers, which comes turned off by default, can be disabled by IT administrators. In addition, just as consumer Desktop Search users can prevent certain files or file types from being indexed, so can administrators with the enterprise version. It also can be set to remove documents from search indexes based on the time set in company retention policies.

Businesses Take It Slow
Desktop Searchhas the makings of business-class software, but it'll still be a tough sell to IT shops, many of which guard against employees downloading consumer apps for business use. "We have a locked-down desktop environment so our users can't install their own software," says Edward Jorczyk, global desktop technology manager for international law firm Morrison & Foerster, which has a content-management system that he says meets attorneys' document search needs.