Open Text's Expanded Internal Controls Solution Helps Reduce The Costs Of Corporate Governance Compliance

Open Text Corporation (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSX: OTC), a leading provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, today announced the release of a major new version of its internal controls software, with new features to manage the exploding costs of complying with corporate governance laws such as the U.S.'s Sarbanes Oxley Act and similar legislation worldwide.

Open Text Internal Controls 3.0 offers a centralized, enterprise-wide system to manage internal controls information, including the ability to automate processes and internal reporting. The solution is based on Open Text's Livelink ECM suite, which provides a broad platform for managing enterprise compliance, so customers can bring internal controls processes into a broader compliance strategy.

Internal Controls 3.0 is aimed squarely at the corporate governance demands of large, global companies, which have spent enormous time and expense over the last year defining and documenting internal controls. According to analyst firm IDC, the result has been audit fees that have increased 50 percent to 80 percent, with more than 10 percent of the average company's workforce involved in internal controls activities. Today, companies want to move from this more manual, initial phase of documenting internal controls, to a longer term, more sustainable and more efficient solution.

"Companies risk adding to their already high compliance costs by adopting specialized solutions to meet different, very specific needs," said Kathleen Wilhide, Research Director, Compliance and Business Performance Management Solutions at IDC. "Customers end up with expensive pieces of technology and can't leverage the investment more broadly to achieve the most value. ECM software suites offer a broader platform for compliance, providing a more adaptable, single system to address existing and future regulations."

"This year, customers are focusing on improving compliance processes, while reducing costs," said Mark Portu, Vice President of Compliance Solutions at Open Text. "The good news is that the hard part is over. Customers have documented their internal controls and they are in a better position than ever before to automate these processes. Version 3.0 provides new capabilities to address the huge challenge of managing controls across a global company."

Internal Controls 3.0 provides a trusted, sustainable and defensible system for managing internal controls. The solution combines powerful corporate governance tools, including a complete "controls library" to maintain all information on internal controls and risk mitigation; controls testing and self assessments; issues remediation and task management; audit trails; employee certifications; and reporting.

The solution offers a variety of configurable options to minimize the need for customization, and can be applied to address a wide range corporate governance requirements, including the U.S.'s Sarbanes Oxley Act; Canada's Bill 198; the U.K.'s Combined Code and Turnbull report and the Companies Bill; France's Loi de Securite Financiere; Germany's KonTraG - Law for Control & Transparency and the German Code of Corporate Governance; and the European Union's Proposed Directive on Statutory Audit.

Other key features include workflow and e-mail integration to manage key processes involved in the certification of internal controls. In Version 3.0, internal control tests, assessments, deficiencies and remediation plans can be assigned, reviewed and monitored throughout a company's financial reporting period. Using this information, executives can monitor and generate reports at any time regarding the progress of testing, the status of deficiencies and their remediation, and the state of their internal controls. An added benefit is that this information is locked to a financial reporting period, providing a comprehensive archive of past activities.

For more information on Open Text Internal Controls, go to www.opentext.com/2/products/pro-compliance/pro-internalcontrols.htm.

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 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.