OpenText, a provider of reporting software, says it is shipping a new interface that extends its enterprise information management reporting capabilities to mainframe-generated content by making it available to users of OpenText Content Server, OpenText eDOCS, and Microsoft SharePoint.
OpenText Report & Output Management solutions for mainframes enable IT managers to capture and store information in mainframe formats and present it to users within their enterprise content management environments in a logical, personalized, and secure manner. The solution extends the content sources and data types available to Content Server, eDOCS and SharePoint, and gives users a single user experience when searching or viewing mixed content.
“The Report & Output Management interface now allows mainframe output and content to be included as a source within the enterprise,” Jason Likins, vice president of report and output at OpenText, tells 5 Minute Briefing. This includes business-centric information captured from mainframes, he says. “We focus on the business data, particularly business reports such as HR, payroll and inventory and financial statements that can be saved in the target systems, while being chunked into parts that can be secured and shared with authorized users.”
Mainframe systems are a source of a significant amount of semi-structured output, Likins also points out.
The ability to manage mainframe-originated content in a content repository also extends enterprise-wide information governance strategies to mainframe applications. With safe and secure information transmission that adheres to best practices and strict governance policies, users can control the retention, accessibility and auditability of mainframe content managed in a compliant repository.
This also extends to applications running on Linux partitions, or in the mainframe's specialty engines, Likins notes. “The data can be captured from applicationsand any operating systems that support one of the many supported output streams (i.e., PDF, PCL, AFP or text).”
These new products are components of the OpenText Report & Output Management suite, which captures and stores critical information from packaged ERP applications such as SAP, Oracle E-Business Suite, and PeopleSoft – as well as from custom, mainframe and legacy applications. By exposing mainframe reports within the Content Server, eDOCS and SharePoint environments, report content can now be shared across the entire organization, without the need to provide a mainframe terminal access to all users. This enables the blending of reporting from similar applications on other platforms, such as Windows/Linux, Likins adds. “The reports can be captured from the source apps running on any platform. Multiple reports from different sources can also be concatenated together into a new single report.”
More information is available at www.opentext.com/2/global/products/products-report-and-output-management.htm.