Vendor-neutral · Architecture-first · Fixed deliverable

Find out what is actually limiting your search stack.

A structured two-week diagnostic engagement for teams whose search architecture is constraining relevance, reliability, or engineering velocity.A structured two-week diagnostic engagement with a written assessment.This increasingly includes evaluating retrieval layers that power RAG systems and AI agents.Vendor-neutral · Architecture-first · Written assessment included

Right buyer

Built for technical leaders who can feel the problem but cannot yet fully name it.

At organizations where search quality, reliability, or scalability has become a real constraint.

This audit is for

  • Heads of Search
  • CTOs and VP Engineering
  • Platform leaders responsible for discovery or retrieval systems

Common signals

  • relevance quality has plateaued despite ongoing engineering effort
  • RAG outputs are brittle and retrieval is the likely root cause
  • the current stack is getting harder to evolve, not easier
  • infrastructure cost or operational complexity is rising too fast
  • your team is considering modernization or migration, but wants a grounded read before committing

If that sounds familiar, the audit gives you what most teams actually need at this stage: a clear view of what is wrong, why it is wrong, and what the sensible next step looks like.

Audit scope

Five areas. One written assessment.

Every audit covers the same core areas. The depth in each one is calibrated to your stack, your constraints, and where the pain is most visible.

Retrieval architecture

How the current stack is structured, where the components fit together cleanly, and where the architecture is being stretched beyond what it was designed to handle.

Relevance and ranking

How results are scored and ranked today. Whether the current ranking logic reflects real user intent. Where relevance has stopped improving and why.

Query understanding

How queries are processed before retrieval: expansion, intent handling, language support, and edge-case behavior. Where the pipeline degrades under complexity or multilingual input.

Operational health

Latency profile, index freshness, infrastructure cost structure, and scaling behavior. Where the stack is fragile or expensive relative to what it delivers.

Engineering velocity

How hard it is to change the stack, test new ideas, add signals, or improve relevance without creating more drag. Architectural limits often show up here before they show up cleanly in metrics.
Process

A defined process. A fixed deliverable. Typically two weeks.

The audit follows a consistent structure. It is not open-ended consulting, and it does not require production access.

01

Kickoff

Structured walkthrough of your current search architecture.
02

Review

Searchplex analyzes ranking logic, queries, and system behavior.
03

Findings session

Preliminary conclusions reviewed with your team.
04

Written report

Final assessment delivered within one week.

Typical duration: two weeks. Larger or more complex environments may extend to three.

Audit proof

What a completed audit can look like.

IPRally engaged Searchplex for a structured architecture review of a production Vespa deployment before scaling further.

Patent Search / Intellectual Property Technology

IPRally: Vespa Architecture Audit for a Production Patent Search Platform

Searchplex reviewed architectural decisions across search behavior, wildcard queries, patent data representation, infrastructure, and performance analysis practices for a live patent search system already running in production.
Read case study →★ 5.0 on Clutch
Deliverables

A written report you can act on.

The audit produces a structured written assessment. Not a slide deck. Not a proposal. A real diagnostic document designed to support an actual decision.

Architecture assessment

An honest summary of what is working, what is strained, and what is structurally limiting the current system.

Root-cause analysis

Specific diagnosis of why retrieval quality, cost, or engineering velocity is underperforming. Causes, not symptoms.

Effort and risk profile

A realistic view of what the recommended path will cost in engineering time, elapsed time, and organizational risk.

Immediate actions

Three to five concrete actions your team can take right away to reduce risk and create momentum.

Next-step options

If needed, we outline what a follow-on Searchplex engagement could look like. This is not the point of the audit.

Possible outcomes

Search modernization

Improve relevance, performance, and architecture while staying on the current platform.

Migration to Vespa

Move off a legacy or fragmented stack when the platform itself has become the constraint.

Focused AI-native build

For greenfield systems or major redesign efforts where a new retrieval architecture is the right starting point.

The audit identifies which of these paths makes sense for your situation and why.

Boundaries

What this is not

The point is to diagnose the retrieval stack honestly and recommend the right next step, even if that step does not involve Searchplex.

Not included

This is not a discovery call with a written summary attached.

Not included

This is not a Vespa recommendation by default.

Not included

This does not require access to production systems.

Not included

This is not a security, compliance, or infrastructure audit.
Investment

Fixed-fee engagement. Scope confirmed during intake.

The Search Stack Audit is a fixed-fee engagement. Pricing depends on stack complexity, number of systems under review, and the depth of analysis required. The audit is designed as a standalone diagnostic with a written outcome your team can act on. Most audits are completed in two weeks and produce a written assessment your team can act on immediately.

How pricing works

Most audits fall into one of two bands, confirmed during a short intake call before work begins. If the audit leads into a subsequent Searchplex engagement, the audit fee can be credited toward that work.

What you leave with

If the audit concludes that you do not need Searchplex, or do not need to make a major change right now, you still leave with a written assessment your team can use.
The difference

A free consultation is a conversation. An audit is work.

A free consultation can be useful, but both sides know what it is. It is an initial conversation.

What makes the audit different

Searchplex does real analysis before making any recommendation. You receive a written document your team can keep, circulate, and act on.

Why the findings are credible

The answer may be that you should not migrate. It may be that you do not need Vespa. It may be that the right move is to improve what you already have. That is exactly what makes the findings credible.
Book your audit

Five questions. A short intake. Then we take it from there.

Tell us where you are and what decision this audit needs to support. We will confirm whether the audit is the right starting point and what the scope looks like.

What happens after you send this

We read every submission before responding. If the audit is the right starting point, we will confirm scope and fee on the first call. If it is not, we will tell you that too.

IPRally.ai
Clutch-verified

“The Vespa audit was thorough, clearly structured, and addressed exactly what we needed—performance, scalability, and cost optimization. Their depth of search expertise and clear communication stood out throughout the engagement.”

Antti Tarvainen · CTO · IPRally — patent search engine
Read the Clutch review →
Start here

Your search stack has a diagnosis. Most teams just have not found it yet.

The audit identifies the root cause and gives your team a clear next step.

Search Stack Audit — a written diagnostic with a clear recommendation, risk profile, and immediate actions.
See how the audit works