Tightening the reins

Improving processes and reducing costs are the key factors that need to be addressed for businesses wanting to rise above the current economic downturn, according to Open Text.

The global player in enterprise content management (ECM) software, Open Text, is exhibiting at GITEX Technology Week to facilitate a greater awareness of its services to the MENA region, which the company says can improve the management of sensitive information and support key regulatory processes.

Open Text claims better information governance can help organisations maintain stakeholder trust, improve transparency in a "new wave of regulatory scrutiny" and uncover new opportunities for cost reductions.

"For large companies, information governance is a major challenge, given the complexity of information systems across many departments, plus a store of electronic content that grows daily," says Cheryl McKinnon, director of collaborative content management for Open Text.

"Companies in many industries have made progress over the last few years to tap into this mountain of information to improve controls. But, there's still more to do in corporations and government departments to establish comprehensive governance strategies, particularly with today's increasingly global, distributed work environment."

According to McKinnon, information governance is imperative given the likelihood of new regulations in the US and other countries to address the causes of the current financial crisis.

A governance strategy for all types of content is particularly critical as more organisations adopt new forms of collaboration, Web 2.0 and other tools to help geographically dispersed staff work together without incurring travel or carbon footprint costs.

McKinnon  claims the right governance strategy helps organisations capture and preserve the best practices for future projects.

During GITEX, Open Text is displaying its Content Lifecycle Management (CLM), Email Management, Business Process Management and CLM for Microsoft Office SharePoint, as well as Open Text's introducing its new ECM framework for integrated Content Services.