Open Text Announces An SAP-Endorsed Business Solution for Records Management

by Margaret Dobbin

Announcement Extends Open Text's Leadership in the Worldwide Market for Records Management; Continues its Close Collaboration with SAP

Open Text(TM) Corp., the largest independent provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software and solutions, today announced Livelink ECM(TM) - Records Management for use with SAP(R) applications. This latest Open Text records management offering, endorsed by SAP AG, will be marketed and supported by SAP and Open Text. U.S. federal government customers of SAP and Open Text will now have a fully integrated solution to help them implement comprehensive records management programs.

The news today marks the latest step by Open Text in its strategy to lead the global ECM market to meet organizations' increasingly complex governance, risk and compliance needs. The company has jumped ahead of the market in records management recently with a portfolio of new solutions designed to give customers what they say they most need in records management: The ability to implement retention rules across content in multiple systems - from physical paper records to content in SAP applications.

This latest offering provides a simple yet powerful means to apply consistent retention rules to data in SAP applications. Customers can define and deploy records management in a central repository, while supporting multiple departments and SAP applications.

Already certified as a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 5015.2 STD records management product combination, a critical requirement for records management software, the solution offers numerous features designed for the U.S. public sector. The companies will deliver unified records management services to U.S. federal government customers to meet records management and archival requirements, and to better integrate their enterprise processes with multiple media sources, such as email, forms, documents, drawings and images.

"Our government customers require technologies that help them consistently manage and archive ERP data and unstructured content from a single well-integrated platform," said Patrick Bakey, President of SAP Public Sector Americas. "Working closely with Open Text, we are able to meet this demand with a certified records management solution that is tightly integrated with our public sector offerings."

The solution for use with SAP applications offers a complete set of capabilities to support records management requirements as specified by DoD 5015.2, as well as the U.S.'s Federal Enterprise Architecture Records Management profile (FEARM). These capabilities include:

• Retention Schedules (Record Series Identifiers) - A system for keeping records as long as required, or determined by the organization.
• File Plans and Classification (automatic and interactive) - A system for ensuring records are identified, whether email or written correspondence, ERP content or formal contracts.
• Dispositions - Ensures records are destroyed in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Hold Management - Safeguards to protect records from deletion.
• Vital Records - Validates that critical records are managed and stored appropriately.
• Physical Records Management - Facilities for circulation management, barcode creation/printing, and location tracking.

"As requirements for record retention have intensified, public sector customers expect new levels of collaboration from their vendors," said Bailey Spencer, who heads Open Text Public Sector business at Open Text. "We are working closely with SAP because we see tremendous value to our customers in coupling world-class SAP applications for the public sector with our industry-leading records management and archival solutions."

The records management solution adds to Open Text's portfolio of ECM software for use with SAP applications, including offerings for accounts payable and receivable processing, customer information management, employee document management and contract management; solutions that help companies create secure, long-term archiving of content in SAP applications; and solutions for consolidating and archiving content from multiple legacy systems.