Search Technology Radar

The Search Technology Radar

2021 is the first year for the Search Technology Radar! Look for updates after each year's Haystack conference.

What is the Search Technology Radar?

The Haystack 2021 Search Technology Radar is a list of search-related technologies and methods along with an assessment of each, called ring assignment. Our radar is based off Zalando's Tech Radar, which is itself derived from the Thoughtworks Radar.

We use four rings with the following semantics:

  • ADOPT — Technologies we have high confidence in to serve our purpose, also in large scale. Technologies with a usage culture in the community's environments, low risk and recommended to be widely used .
  • TRIAL — Technologies that we have seen work with success in project work to solve a real problem; first serious usage experience that confirm benefits and can uncover limitations. TRIAL technologies are slightly more risky; some engineers in our organization walked this path and will share knowledge and experiences.
  • ASSESS — Technologies that are promising and have clear potential value-add for us; technologies worth to invest some research and prototyping efforts in to see if it has impact. ASSESS technologies have higher risks; they are often brand new and highly unproven in our organisation. You will find some engineers that have knowledge in the technology and promote it, you may even find teams that have started a prototyping effort.
  • HOLD — Technologies not recommended to be used for new projects. Technologies that we think are not (yet) worth to (further) invest in. HOLD technologies should not be used for new projects, but usually can be continued for existing projects.

What is the purpose?

The Search Technology Radar is a reference tool for the search relevance community. We hope the radar will help others with decision making around search-related projects. Based on the pioneering work of ThoughtWorks, our Search Technology Radar sets out the changes in technologies that are interesting in software development — changes that we think our engineering teams should pay attention to and use in their projects.

How do we maintain it?

The Search Technology Radar is maintained by the OpenSource Connections team through contributions from individuals in the search field. We plan to update the radar after collaboration and conversation at each year's Haystack conference.