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STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE RECORDS MANAGEMENT Open Text's Bill Forquer Unveils Best Practices for CHICAGO, IL – September 6, 2006 – Companies are increasingly turning to records management software to manage compliance with laws and regulations, but common mistakes can undermine software deployments from the start and increase compliance risks. Open Text™ Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC), a leading provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, including records management, recommends 11 best practices that can help companies improve their records management planning from the start and set them on a course for successful enterprise-wide compliance. "Records management underpins compliance but even with its high-priority status, records management initiatives can get entangled in conflicting corporate agendas," said Bill Forquer, Executive Vice President, Compliance Solutions Business at Open Text. "Through our many years of experience working with large corporate and government customers, we've found some key steps organizations should follow to build a records management program that can support a comprehensive enterprise compliance strategy." A solid plan for records management has helped Open Text customers, such as Translink, the regional transportation network for the Greater Vancouver area, successfully deploy records management for compliance. "Because we provide public services, we are subject to the rules and regulations governing this sector," said Noella Bordian, Corporate Records Manager for TransLink. "We now have a standard and enforceable process by which the entire organization can maintain all communications and work files. We're working efficiently together, reducing business risks and protecting our intellectual capital." TransLink's system manages records across half a dozen subsidiaries in multiple locations, encompassing more than 4,000 employees. According to Forquer, the top records management best practices companies should follow are: • Focus on business processes: Recognize that records management is a business process issue, not a technology issue. Understand how compliance can become a part of the way people work, not another job on top of it. Work closely with your IT department, but be sure the business owners define the project charter and funding formula, and sponsor the initiative. • Present the bigger ROI picture: When looking for buy-in, define the benefits of the system not just in terms of cost savings, but also in terms of broader corporate compliance. • Consider a full assessment: Depending on the size of your records management challenge, consider bringing in help to get a full assessment of your records management requirements, business risks and benefits. • Use what's already created to get a head start: Take advantage of existing records management work and expand it into the broader compliance landscape. A publicly traded company has already mapped out control points and standard operating procedures around internal controls and Sarbanes Oxley compliance. In doing so, the company has more than likely mapped out records management processes on some level—these offer a good starting point. • Align records management with your corporate ECM strategy: Consider your records management plan within your broader ECM strategy. How can records management rules be applied across email, images, web content, physical records, and more. This helps identify which problems can be solved in the short, medium, and long term, and what budget allocation is required. It's also the key to moving toward an enterprise-wide approach to compliance. • Tap existing IT systems: Your existing ERP, CRM and other systems contain all the data needed to describe corporate records. Leverage your existing investment in these applications and capture records metadata such as authors, contract numbers, employee IDs, customer numbers, case numbers and more. • Plan for growth: Electronic information can grow at an astounding rate. Don't design a records management system based on today's volumes, of information, develop a system that assumes significant growth over time. • Create a communication plan: Records management often spans many groups within an organization. Develop a communication plan that carefully outlines not just the appropriate level of awareness for each group, but also rolls out the appropriate level of technology change at various stages. • Demonstrate benefits to users: Be sure to show users the benefits of a records management system, such as better access to information and smoother business processes. If the system is seen as "more work" because of compliance burdens, user adoption will be slow. • Build in measures for success: How do you know that policies are being enforced? What will you do if they are not? And how do you plan to attest to the effectiveness of your system? Addressing these variables during the planning phase is critical to long-term, measureable success with records management. • Share best practices: Bring compliance, records and other managers together to share best practices and concerns to ensure a dynamic records management program that does its job today and tomorrow. Open Text offers more information on the "ABCs" of records management as well as a full white paper and information on its solutions on its website here: Records Management Content. ARMA International, the international professional association and the authority on managing records, offers information on records management best practices and standards on its website. Open Text Events Open Text is organizing and participating in records management events over the next few months. The company is offering a Webcast on records management issues in state government on September 29th. Open Text will also be attending ARMA's annual conference October 22-25, where the company will exhibit its records management, archiving and compliance solutions. You can find out more here or go to the ARMA Conference Website. About Open Text Open Text™ is a leading provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions that bring together people, processes and information in global organizations. Today, the company supports approximately 20 million seats across 13,000 deployments in 114 countries and 12 languages worldwide. For more information on Open Text, go to: www.opentext.com. Safe Harbor 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 realized by customers, the Company's position in the market and future opportunities therein, the deployment of Livelink and our other products by customers, and future performance of Open Text 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, 2005. 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 © 2006 by Open Text Corporation. LIVELINK and OPEN TEXT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or 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 Open Text Corporation or other respective owners. Media Inquiries
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