Whether you are planning to implement a new OpenText™ project, system upgrade or just maintaining an existing system, it’s best practice to conduct an OpenText™ health check on an annual basis. An OpenText™ Health Check is typically a 3-5 day engagement where experienced technical experts review your company’s OpenText™ systems, talk to IT Management, Product Owners, and IT Support and present their findings in the form of a report and Q&A session.
OpenText Health Check Guide
This OpenText™ Health Check Guide will explain the typical activities associated with an OpenText™ health check engagement, as well as typical findings to give readers an idea of the things to review in their own environments. Feel free to reach out to us directly and learn more about Ecodocx’s OpenText™ health check service.
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OpenText™ system discovery
The system discovery begins with reviewing business scenarios as well as discussing present and future use cases along with expected system growth. During this stage, Ecodocx will assess which OpenText™ functions are in use and any system integrations supporting the use cases.
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OpenText™ technical review
After the system discovery is complete, the team switches to a detailed technical review of the OpenText™ installation, which covers basic product architecture, installation, and configuration. The health check environment review activity investigates each OpenText™ environment, including backup & recovery, noting each environment’s overall system architecture. Once the environments are identified, we analyze server, storage, and database usage and performance. The technical review step can be quick when architectural information and metrics for the environments are readily available.
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OpenText™ performance review
This step is closely related to the technical review and provides an overview of the overall OpenText™ applications performance and the exchange of best practices as well as a cost-benefit analysis. Typically, customers buy excess capacity the first time they make a purchase, but these resources deplete quickly as the system is deployed and expanded over time. Rightsizing options are shared with our clients. We will perform a sizing analysis based on usage requirements, content size, and platform (hardware, operating systems, database, etc.). Based on the results of the sizing analysis, we will recommend changes to the infrastructure, such as increased memory, CPUs, or distribution of some OpenText™ components across different or additional servers (either virtual or physical).
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Realign your OpenText™ products and strategy with your business model
Has your business model evolved since you first implemented your OpenText™ ECM and/or CCM products? Have you adjusted your OpenText™ solutions to match those changes? A health check can identify ways to fine-tune your OpenText implementation to ensure that it’s supporting your business model in the best way possible.
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Identify functionality gaps, missing patches, and updates
Do you know what version of OpenText™ you’re running or if your OpenText™ apps are up-to-date and patched? Is your company at risk because you haven’t implemented critical updates over the years? A health check will show what you are currently using, identifies the currently available versions, and suggests a way to close any gaps.
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OpenText™ upgrade strategy review
For most OpenText™ applications, the latest version is 21.x. Is this what you’re using? If you’ve held off upgrading to the most recent version, it can be helpful to know what an upgrade can do and how much it will cost to upgrade. Many customers are able to remove previously installed customizations with today’s out-of-the-box functionality. A health check includes an estimate of an upgrade, including a review of any custom requirements for your implementation. For clients preparing system upgrades we assess the functionality support differences between OpenText™ system versions and determine what type of upgrade approach is best for the situation. As an extra deliverable, we can help our clients develop an upgrade path and create a time and effort estimate.
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Future roadmap and best practices
At the conclusion of the health check activities, we prepare a report highlighting the team’s findings and recommendations. Some of our clients have found this approach very convenient and helpful for planning the roadmap and continued expansion of their OpenText™ solutions. Recommendations also include best practices.
However, if for some business-specific reasons you prefer to stay in the wait-and-see mode, you may just be looking for the ongoing support of existing implementations. If you’re not on version 16.2 or higher, your support has either run out or is ending at the end of your current contract. If you’re not able to keep up with the product update schedule, you should sign up for some dedicated 3rd party OpenText™ Managed support to be available for emergency situations.
We pride ourselves on providing dedicated OpenText™ health check service and ongoing support for OpenText™ customers, which has been our team’s sweet spot for almost 20 years. We’re always happy to help and are truly committed to help our customers meet their needs today and in the future.