Open Text ECM to include Data Integration Using Genio

By Barb Mosher | Published Nov 14, 2007

Open Text announced their data integration tool Genio, adopted after the Hummingbird purchase in '06, will become a key part of incumbent content and data integration strategies.

Information Management is about what? Well, information, obviously. Information stored not only in content management systems but also in a wide range of corporate applications and decision support systems.

It's the ability to integrate all this content and data that is necessary for a company to fully realize the ability to improve business processes and make good decisions.

Open Text has recognized this requirement. So they have announced that their product line called Genio will play a significant role in their content and data integration strategy and subsequent suite of solutions.

The Genio Product

Genio, which was a Hummingbird Connectivity solution, is an ETL (extract, transform, load) solution that can collect, cleanse, transform and load data that is structured or unstructured regardless of where it's located (CRM solutions, data warehouses or data marts, mainframes, ERP solutions or content management solution). This enables Open Text's customers to get at their raw data and actually make use of it.

Built on four key principles: openness, flexibility, ease of use and reusability, Genio enables customers to decouple their business processes from the IT infrastructure those processes are designed within. It is able to extract data and exchange it regardless of the format, syntax, data source or target of that data.

Open Text has stated they will release a new version of Genio next month.

Open Text ECM and Genio

The plan isn't just to release Genio as an enhanced separate product line, though. Open Text is working on plans to integrate the product into its' ECM suite LiveLink - although they aren't divulging the details of the integration at this time.

The SAP Connection

One interesting point is the ability of Genio to exchange information between ERP systems like SAP. This is key for Open Text as they have a strategic relationship with SAP. Their ECM solutions are designed to manage documents from SAP. Integrating the two capabilities together will enable Open Text to design a solution that will enable companies using SAP to enhance their business processes.

This may very well be one of the driving factors for Open Text to grow the Genio solution. In October they announced a set of new business solutions using their LiveLink ECM suite to give SAP enabled companies a 360-degree view of their supplier and employee information. At the same time they announced a new data access solution that helps get at the information contained in SAP more easily. Is this the Genio product in disguise? Or is it another approach that will need to be integrated with Genio?

All in all, it does appear that Open Text is striving to truly define a set of ECM products and tools that will define true Information Management - for both content and data. It also appears they continue to build their offerings to work for SAP, which means they are strengthening that relationship every day. Between partnerships with Microsoft and partnerships with SAP, Open Text's head must be swimming with possibilities for increased market share of ECM.