Open Text Delivers Content Management to Giant Eagle

Chicago, Il – 2003-09-23 – Open Text™ Corporation (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSX: OTC), provider of Livelink®, the leading collaboration and content mangement software for the global enterprise, today announced that Giant Eagle, Inc., Pittsburgh-based supermarket retailer, has selected Livelink and Livelink MeetingZone®. Utilizing Livelink as the foundation for its knowledge management strategy, Giant Eagle is uniting content management and collaboration to drive return on investment, communities of practice and compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.

Giant Eagle, ranked no. 22 on Forbes magazine’s largest private corporations list and recently named Progressive Grocer’s Retailer of the Year, is one of the nation’s largest food retailers and food distributors with more than $4.4 billion in annual sales. Founded in 1931, Giant Eagle has grown to be the number one supermarket retailer in its region with 130 corporate and 84 independently owned and operated stores throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, north central West Virginia, and Maryland.

Following an extensive review of leading vendors and a thorough evaluation of a “buy versus build” scenario, Giant Eagle selected Livelink to serve as the foundation for the retail organization’s internal knowledge management solution, KnowAsis™.

“Strong content management features and collaboration functionality were central to our decision to implement Livelink,” said Bob Guy, director of knowledge strategies for Giant Eagle. “Return on investment is a key business driver for our Livelink solution and we have already begun to experience positive returns as a result of the Livelink technology’s collaborative features and content management capabilities.”

Livelink provides a central location for Giant Eagle to manage standard operating procedures and FDA compliance information to ensure that all procedures and policies are disseminated internally and carried out by all employees in accordance with FDA guidelines. Giant Eagle has populated Livelink with detailed information regarding product promotions, policies and procedures, and departmental display layouts known as plan-o-grams. In addition, Giant Eagle has reduced the amount of time it takes to provide employees with updates from up to 5 months to near real-time, as well as decrease the previous costs associated with printing, shipping, and processing new copies.

The Livelink system’s capabilities have increased the efficiency of inter-store communication and sharing of operational knowledge at more stores chain-wide. Through timely communication and implementation of proven practices to all of the 130 corporate Giant Eagle stores (and soon to be 84 independently owned and operated stores), the company has become very efficient at obtaining increased revenue at multiple stores as a result of improved operations or promotional selling tactics.

“By using online collaboration as a means of multiplying revenue-generating practices, Giant Eagle has effectively captured a concrete instance that demonstrates the true business value and impact collaboration can have in an organization,” said Bill Forquer, executive vice president of marketing at Open Text.

Livelink is a leading software product in enterprise content management (ECM) for the global enterprise. Its richly-featured enterprise services are based upon a unique combination of integrated collaboration and knowledge management tools which include virtual team collaboration, business process automation, enterprise group scheduling, document and image management, and information retrieval services, all tightly integrated into a solution that is easily customized and extended. Livelink is essential to the effective management and development of communities of interest that span organizations and industries. For everything from the creation of complex e-community relationships to the automation of simple e-business processes, Livelink delivers true dynamic collaboration between individuals, organizations and large trading communities. Livelink servers are fully Web-based and open-architected to ensure rapid deployment and easy access to its full functionality through a standard Web browser. For more information, visit www.opentext.com/livelink/.

 

Since 1991, Open Text Corporation has delivered innovative ECM software that brings people together to share knowledge, achieve excellence, deliver innovation, and enhance processes. Its legacy of innovation began with the successful deployment of the world’s first search engine technology for the Internet. Today, as the leading global supplier of collaboration and content management software for the enterprise, Open Text supports fifteen million seats across 10,000 corporate deployments in 31 countries and 12 languages throughout the world. As a publicly traded company, Open Text manages and maximizes its resources and relationships to ensure the success of great minds working together. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.

 

Copyright © 2003 by Open Text Corporation. LIVELINK, LIVELINK MEETINGZONE and OPEN TEXT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of Open Text Corporation or other respective owners.

 

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the success of any of the Company’s strategic initiatives, the Company’s growth and profitability prospects, the benefits of the Company’s products to be realized by customers, the Company’s position in the market and future opportunities therein, the deployment of Livelink and our other products by customers, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements may also include, without limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks involved in the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the Company’s customers and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2002, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2003. You should not place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which are based on management’s beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management’s beliefs or opinions change.

Margaret E. Dobbin
Director, Public Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-519-888-7111 ext.2410
mdobbin@opentext.com

 

Richard Maganini
Director, Public Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-847-267-9330 ext.4266
rmaganin@opentext.com