OpenText boosts productivity for users with enhancements to Extended ECM

Issued by Global Research Partners for Open Text

Johannesburg, 14 Dec 2010

OpenText Corporation, the pre-eminent provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software, today announced a series of enhancements to Extended ECM for use with SAP solutions, also resold by SAP AG as the SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management (SAP Extended ECM) application by OpenText.

The enhancements allow users to access shared workspaces from their preferred user interface and more easily and productively collaborate on content relating to SAP business transactions. Other enhancements include new social capabilities, including the ability to create user profiles and activity feeds, case management tools, increased security and tighter integration between ECM and SAP applications.

Since it began reselling SAP Extended ECM in October 2009, SAP has had great success reselling this and a number of other OpenText solutions for archiving, invoice management, digital asset management, and most recently, employee file management.

“A year ago we called the Extended ECM solution a 'game changer', and that has certainly proven to be the case as more and more organisations are using it to connect business processes with information assets,” commented Victor Szczerba, General Manager, Enterprise Information Management, SAP.

“With the latest release, OpenText is adding a number of important advancements that will even further enhance the value this solution is bringing to SAP customers, specifically by helping to boost user collaboration and productivity.”

The latest Extended ECM solution introduces Business Workspaces to relate content to SAP business processes. These workspaces are managed together with business objects in SAP solutions such as customers, vendors, products or materials. The advantage of workspaces is that they provide consistent access to business data and unstructured content for users working in different applications with different front-ends, such as SAP GUI, the Web-based Extended ECM UI, desktop applications (Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office) and the SAP NetWeaver Portal among others. Workspaces also incorporate productivity-boosting collaboration tools such as workflows, follow-ups, discussions and activity feeds. Workspaces give users an accurate and holistic view of SAP business processes without having to leave their preferred user environment.

Another new addition is OpenText Pulse, a component of OpenText ECM Suite 2010, that allows users to add photos and personas, engage in microblogging, share status updates and content updates, find subject matter experts, all in a dynamic interface that helps users collaborate and be productive. Activity feeds allow users to stay updated on projects, reducing dependence on e-mail and improving relevance. By taking advantage of tight integration with SAP applications, Pulse gives customers a social networking solution that can be fully managed under compliance rules and business policies.

OpenText Case Management, which complements the case management capabilities provided by SAP and is now an integral part of Extended ECM, adds a powerful set of case management tools, including case life cycle management, case file and document templates, and business relationships between cases and business objects in SAP solutions. It supports a full range of case-processing scenarios across collaborative case processing and transactional case processing. It also gives case workers full access to all related SAP data inside a case.

Additional enhancements include improved support for linking documents to business objects (so-called business references) and increased security through role and permission synchronisation between SAP applications and the OpenText ECM Suite.

“It's well proven that if you can remove obstacles that get in the way of people working together effectively, they actually do work better together,” added Patrick Barnert, Vice-President of SAP Solutions at OpenText. “With this latest release of Extended ECM, a big part of our effort was around making it incredibly easy for users to access information from a comfortable environment tied to the SAP business context. Developing collaboration and social tools that help customers increase user productivity is a key area of focus for us.”

For further information, please contact Rob Shaw: tel +27 83 626-3811, fax +27 86 646-4178, e-mail rshaw@opentext.com.

OpenText

OpenText, the pre-eminent enterprise content management software, helps organisations manage and gain the true value of their business content. OpenText brings two decades of expertise supporting 50 million users in 114 countries. Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading Content Experts to help organisations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness.

In southern Africa, OpenText's business partners are Accenture, Business Connexion, Datacentrix, 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.

Safe harbour statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the success of any of the company's strategic initiatives, the company's growth and profitability prospects, the benefits of the company's products to be realised by customers, the company's position in the market and future opportunities therein, the deployment of OpenText ECM Suite and our other products by customers, and future performance of OpenText Corporation. Forward-looking statements may also include, without limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, the failure to develop new products, risks involved in fluctuations in currency exchange rates, delays in purchasing decisions of customers, the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the company's customers, demand for the company's products and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009. You should not place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's beliefs or opinions change.

Copyright (c) 2010 by OpenText Corporation. OPENTEXT and the OPENTEXT EXTENDED ECM are trademarks or registered trademarks of OpenText Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of OpenText Corporation or other respective owners.

For more information on OpenText, go to: www.opentext.com

Editorial contacts