Overheard: Microsoft buys out FAST in hopes of nailing down enterprise search

With its planned $1.2 billion acquisition of Fast Search & Transfer, Microsoft is looking to become a player in one of tech’s next big growth markets — software that lets business users quickly troll through the reams of unstructured information that’s locked away in corporate databases. Paul McDougall, Microsoft’s Fast Search Bid Puts Heat On Google, IBM

Enterprise search “is for workers tomorrow what Internet search is for consumers today — an indispensable tool that helps them quickly find the information they need,” said Microsoft Business Division president Jeff Raikes, speaking Tuesday on a conference call.

And it could be a gold mine for the first big vendor that gets it right.