Open Text unveils industry's first records management and archiving services for Microsoft's cloud storage

Issued by Global Research Partners for Open Text

Johannesburg, 05 Nov 2008

Open Text Corporation, a global leader in enterprise content management (ECM), today announced that it is unveiling the 'first-of-its-kind' records management and archiving capabilities for Microsoft's Windows Azure that was announced at its recently held Professional Developers Conference. Azure is Microsoft's new cloud computing service framework that will help software developers build the next generation of applications that will span from the cloud to the enterprise data centre and deliver new experiences across the PC, Web and phone. Open Text will incorporate these cloud-based capabilities into its Enterprise Library Services offering early next year. Enterprise Library Services is one of a series of software services from Open Text that let customers integrate and extend ECM technology across their organisations.

With the new capabilities, customers will be able to manage Microsoft SharePoint content, Microsoft Outlook e-mail and other business information they want to store on Windows Azure, allowing them to apply records rules, archive content, and address compliance mandates. The new services will give customers the integrated records management and archiving capabilities they need to better leverage cloud-based services, while avoiding the high costs of maintaining their own storage infrastructure. Open Text, the industry's largest independent ECM vendor, is uniquely positioned to offer this solution as the company's ECM solutions are storage agnostic.

"The dominant conversation in businesses today is how to operate in these uncertain economic times. Cost savings and compliance are the top concerns," commented Jens Rabe, Vice-President of Open Text's Microsoft Solutions Group. "Maintaining your own storage infrastructure is costly and Windows Azure offers the power of 'storage in the clouds' as an alternative. With the cost pressures in many businesses today, cloud-based storage is an attractive option."

“Compliance and its impact on stored information is an ever-present issue for customers,” continued Rabe. “Our offering will give customers a way to manage compliance and archive content through a solution designed specifically for Microsoft's Window Azure. It will offer customers a faster, less capital intensive route to building a long-term solution for managing and archiving content."

The records management and archive services will provide administrators with the option of saving content on Windows Azure, in addition to other on-premise storage devices. End-users won't see any difference between the content stored locally and the content stored in the cloud. For security, Windows Azure provides strong service level agreements that complement the encryption capabilities and other protective features that Open Text leverages in its software.

"Open Text has demonstrated tremendous vision and agility in the development of an archiving and records management solution built on Windows Azure," added Robert Wahbe, Corporate Vice-President, Connected Systems Division at Microsoft. "As an industry partner, Open Text continues to provide our mutual customers with value by embracing and extending their investments in the Microsoft platform."

Open Text's Enterprise Library Services provide the foundation for a single, trusted repository that delivers integrated records management, metadata management, archive and search capabilities for all business content in an organisation including content stored in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server sites, SAP applications, file systems, e-mail and Open Text content repositories. With Enterprise Library Services, content can be managed, archived and stored consistently across the entire organisation, based on a lifecycle defined by records retention and disposition rules and the value of the content to the organisation.

Open Text's leadership in ECM solutions for Microsoft

Open Text is a leader in delivering ECM solutions for the Microsoft platform, including the industry's widest range of solutions that extend Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. In addition to content lifecycle management services for SharePoint, Open Text also offers a case management development framework for SharePoint and specialised vertical market solutions. Other solutions for Microsoft include e-mail management and Open Text Enterprise Connect, which lets users create customised views of content from multiple systems, such as SAP or Oracle, in Microsoft Outlook. Open Text is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

For further information, please contact Rob Shaw: tel 083 626-3811, fax 086 646-4178, e-mail rshaw@opentext.co.za

Open Text

Open Text, an enterprise software company and leader in enterprise content management, helps organisations manage and gain the true value of their business content. Open Text brings two decades of expertise supporting 46 000 customers and millions of users in 114 countries. Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading content experts and trade to help organisations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness.

In southern Africa, Open Text's business partners are Accenture, Business Connexion, Datacentrix, Lava Systems, IA Systems and SAP Africa; and, its customer base includes organisations from across both the private and public sectors such as Alexander Forbes, Anglo Platinum, BMW, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Distell, Engen, Exxaro Resources, Mittal Steel, Office of the President, Provincial Government of the Western Cape, SABMiller, Sasol, Telkom SA and Toyota.

For more information on Open Text, go to: http://www.opentext.com

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