Open Text Launches Online Community for Government Customers
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Open Text Corporation (Nasdaq:OTEX) (TSX:OTC), provider of Livelink(R), a collaboration and content management software for the global enterprise, today introduced an online community of practice for government customers, giving them an always-open forum to share ideas and best practices for applying Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software in government. The community, which is based on Livelink, allows Open Text to use its own technology and expertise in collaboration to establish closer relationships with customers.
The community already has about 120 members, including representatives from major U.S. government agencies, the U.S. military and government contractors who oversee Livelink for their organizations. An Open Text team of product experts and executives specializing in the government sector also participate in the forum.
"Collaborating with peers in an online community provides a powerful new source of information and ideas," said William Dennehy, Process Analyst at Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida, and a member of the government community. "Open Text's government forum provides the complete essence of what a community of practice is supposed to be and offers essential knowledge management tools, such as expert identification."
"You have to truly understand your customers and their challenges before you can design software that solves their problems," said Campbell Robertson, Director of Government Solutions for Open Text. "With our government e-community, we're using all that we've learned about collaboration and knowledge management over the years and applying it to establish deeper relationships with our customers. The forum allows us to stay continuously tuned in to customers' changing requirements and how they would like to apply Livelink to new challenges."
Open Text hosts the forum in a Livelink community workspace which provides rich collaboration tools, such as a Weblog and community polls, so members can share opinions and ideas. Using the browser interface or e-mail, community members can easily share documents, articles, presentations, URLs, media files and other materials of interest to members. The community contains a wealth of information on new technology, training and user adoption, government IT standards and requirements, government technology events and webinars, and Livelink product updates. Other tools allow users to rate content shared in the forum and receive e-mail alerts when new information is added to the site.
Subcommunities are also being created, with the first already launched for users in the U.S. Air Force. Other subcommunities are planned in the months ahead.
Open Text is introducing the online community as part of its Government Regional Forum for customers underway today at The Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. For more information, go to: http://www.opentext.com/events/event.html?id=35338
16.04.2004, Open Text
