OpenText Awarded Framework Agreement for Government Digital Data Management in the UK

The National Archives in the UK Approves OpenText as Provider for Public Sector Digital Continuity Project

WATERLOO, ON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ - OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC) has been awarded a framework agreement for Digital Continuity, developed by Buying Solutions and The National Archives in the UK as part of the government's project to improve digital information management throughout the public sector.

Digital continuity is the ability for an organization to use information in the way that is needed, for as long as it's needed. Usable information is essential if the public sector is to operate transparently, legally and accountably.

The Digital Continuity Framework is part of a broader Digital Continuity Service offered by The National Archives and provides a shortlist of suppliers which can be accessed by anyone in the public sector to help them manage their digital continuity. OpenText has been awarded a framework agreement for two Lots: digital archiving solutions and data quality solutions.

OpenText's Senior Account Manager for Central Government, Stephen Walsh, said: "The exponential growth in digital data volumes presents a challenge to any organization; but it places particularly huge demands on public sector organizations. Without effective data management systems in place, digital information can become incomplete, unavailable or unusable over time. If government bodies cannot guarantee access to this data, it can have a serious negative impact on service provision to the public - and also threatens their ability to operate legally.

"The UK government fully appreciates the necessity of managing digital continuity, but it's often difficult for individual public sector organizations to know how to improve their digital information management, or how to procure technology and services that will help them do this. The Digital Continuity Framework is an extremely welcome tool that makes it easy for the public sector to procure the tools they need to manage this mountain of digital data," continued Walsh.

The Digital Continuity Framework agreement is for two years, with the option to extend it for two additional one year periods. The criteria for the Data Quality Solutions Lot of the framework required technology that enables users to access data from a variety of structured data sources; relate data between distinct data sources; and profile the data using patterns, rules and statistical methods. It also required the ability to drill-down into the actual data from a profile produced by the technology; provide a range of reporting options; and suggest or fix identified data quality issues.

The Digital Archiving Solutions Lot specified technology that can acquire information from a live system into the archive; manage retention policies applied to the archived information; place archived items on hold to override any other retention policy; and ensure the integrity of the archived information. Furthermore, it must enable user discovery and retrieval of the archived information; report on the contents of the archive; control access to the content of the archive and record provenance data about items transferred into the archive.

"The award of the Framework agreement for Digital Continuity recognizes OpenText's expertise in the field of digital data management; and we look forward to working with public sector bodies to help them ensure that key digital information remains accessible and useable in the long term," said Walsh.

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About OpenText
OpenText, a global ECM leader, helps organizations manage and gain the true value of their business content.  OpenText brings two decades of expertise supporting 100 million users in 114 countries.  Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading Content Experts™ to help organizations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness.  For more information, visit www.opentext.com.

About the Digital Continuity Project
The National Archives has a digital continuity service that the public sector can use to manage digital continuity. It comprises guidance, a self-assessment risk assessment process, a free format profiling tool called DROID, and a Framework of commercially-provided technical tools and services. The service is available from: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/digitalcontinuity

About Buying Solutions
Buying Solutions is the national procurement partner for all UK public services and is part of the Cabinet Office's Efficiency and Reform Group.

Its role is to maximise value for money for government departments and organisations across the wider public sector through the efficient procurement and supply of vital goods and services.

Buying Solutions delivers best value by aggregating demand, managing the OJEU procurement process and providing ongoing management of framework agreements and other procurement arrangements thereby saving you time, money and effort.

Serving customers in Central Government, the Health sector, Local Government and the wider public sector, we provide access to trusted, EU-compliant framework agreements and other sustainable procurement solutions.

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