Why business intelligence is essential to eDiscovery
Business intelligence is a critical tool for legal operations and their in-house legal teams to improve matter management and drive informed strategic decision-making to improve efficiency and reduce costs. At the same time, good business intelligence tools can help legal teams better budget, properly manage day-to-day legal operations—including the daunting task of resource allocation across multiple matters—and catch problems before they occur and easily keep other stakeholders informed.
Axcelerate introduces enhanced BI for faster decision-making and cost control
In CE 22.4, OpenText Axcelerate introduces a new business intelligence platform powered by Magellan Business Intelligence and Reporting (MBIR), integrated into the platform, for legal teams to derive deeper insights faster for better oversight of projects, to more easily assess reviewer productivity and see where and why overturns are occurring.
The addition of MBIR reduces the need for custom configuration of dashboards, enhances usability and provides new insight within individual reports with more robust menus. Reviewers and review project managers can better forecast the effort required to complete projects, see the bottlenecks across projects by individual reviewer and assure that overturns won’t cause an eleventh-hour threat to completing projects on time.
Specific capabilities empower legal operations and their stakeholders to:
See the details across projects to make sure they are resourced for success from the outset;
Avoid productivity losses that could compromise completion dates by seeing how individual reviewers are progressing to guide them back to path early; and,
Effectively audit and manage overturns to train reviewers and avoid substantial rework late in the project timeline.
Fully embedded capabilities for optimal out-of-the box performance
Axcelerate’s new business intelligence framework is based on the OpenText™ Magellan™ Business Intelligence and Reporting (MBIR) platform.
By embedding the world-class MBIR capabilities into Axcelerate, OpenText is able to provide enhanced functionality, increased value and is now able to fully control the quality that is delivered. MBIR is not a bolt-on application – the Magellan Text Mining Engine libraries have been fully ingested into Axcelerate for optimal performance. The enhanced value comes at no extra cost and eliminates the need for third-party reporting tool add-ons.
All business intelligence reports have been transformed in the new platform with additional avenues of insight available. 22.4 will also include a new audit logging report to track when users log in and out of Axcelerate so review project managers can monitor review activity by user.
In most large organizations, sensitive, private, harmful, or even inappropriate content exists untethered somewhere within an enterprise and understanding the usage of that sensitive content is important. There are tools to search for that sensitive content today but combining that data with usage data to get that deeper analysis is difficult to obtain at scale.
Magellan Data Discovery allows business users and analysts to quickly access, blend, explore and analyze data without depending on IT or data experts. It’s a general-purpose analytics tool that covers the entire analytics life cycle and can be used for several purposes while solving different problems in different business areas or industries.
A prediction created by Magellan Data Discovery based on supplied historic data
Some of the things you can do with Magellan Data Discovery include:
Load, cleanse, explore, enrich, analyze, predict
Manage large volumes of data at high speed
Allows for dynamic interaction with data
Built-in analytical techniques as well as exploring
Drag-and-drop analysis on the fly; no predefined queries
Using machine learning to uncover risky content
Magellan Risk Guard uses machine learning (ML) to uncover harmful, sensitive and inappropriate text, images, video and audio files within organizational content.
Magellan Risk Guard project status page showing documents classified by risk
Available as an artificial intelligence (AI) product and information risk management service, Magellan Risk Guard allows organizations to discover and address risky content with just a few clicks to increase compliance and improve data governance.
Some features of Magellan Risk Guard include:
Auto-classification of files against defined risks levels
Customizable risk levels
Content from file system or content stores
Remediation by taking actions on the files
Securely govern the information lifecycle
Extended ECM is an enterprise content management platform that securely governs the information lifecycle by integrating with leading enterprise applications, such as SAP®, Microsoft® 365, Salesforce and SAP SuccessFactors®. Bringing content and processes together, Extended ECM provides access to information when and where it’s needed, improves decision-making and drives operational effectiveness. For this solution, Extended ECM is the content store, organized in a structure, controlling access rights, that Magellan Risk Guard is crawling.
Bring together usage data and risk analysis for actionable insights
Magellan Data Discovery CE 22.4 provides the ability to analyze risk analysis data from Magellan Risk Guard combined with usage data from Extended ECM to get the full scope and true understanding of how sensitive content has been used.
Magellan Data Discovery showing a Venn diagram of overlapping risk classifications
With this solution, organizations can analyze documents by risk, by type, by creator, by time, or by analysis state, that is, how risky is the content, in a tool, purpose-built to analyze and find answers from large amounts of data, fast.
By combining data from Extended ECM, organizations have access to usage statistics that can be used to identify high-risk documents with or without activity. Organizations can also identify documents containing a defined value, such as identifying documents that mention a certain person, a particular bank account, or a certain phone number.
This powerful combination of data discovery and analysis also finds relationships between risks inside documents. For instance, which documents, with high levels of activity, contain a username and a password. These capabilities allow organizations to gain even deeper insight into sensitive content or content elements within documents used often by employees.
The growing need for virtual workplaces has accelerated government migration to the cloud. Almost half of government organizations worldwide are now using cloud services, according to the World Bank’s Digital Development Partnership. Many of these government agencies are enjoying benefits like cost savings, scalability and flexibility, but some remain hesitant to make the leap. This is largely due to security, privacy and vendor lock-in concerns, as well as the cost of moving away from legacy infrastructure.
A summary of the benefits of public cloud deployment from the World Bank’s Digital Development Partnership
Many of these hesitations are addressed in the World Bank’s list of common global government misconceptions about migrating to the cloud. This list includes concerns about migration costs, data security, privacy, sustainability and scalability. With each concern, the World Bank provides a reality-based view and case studies of global governments proving these concerns to be misguided. For example, the World Bank cites savings of 10-20% of an agency’s annual IT operating budget and cited the Israeli Ministry of Tourism as a proof point.
Solutions to transform the public sector
OpenText has developed a cloud-based solution specifically designed for the public sector that address many governments’ concerns and provide peace of mind for agencies considering a move to the cloud.
Cloud for Government from OpenText combines our most widely adopted content services solutions including content capture, storage and document organization with archiving, records management and imaging. It enables secure storage of electronic documents in a manner that complies with government standards, while eliminating the expense and waste of paper-only processes. These offerings simplify security processes, providing automatic updates for cloud-optimized applications and infrastructure that allow national institutions to focus on modernizing business processes and enhancing the citizens’ experience, rather than on data center operations and compliance.
Cloud for Government extends the modern, cloud-optimized benefits of information management to government agencies while adhering to ever-tightening and constantly changing security requirements. These offerings include:
OpenText™ Extended ECM for Government provides a digital file system that manages the lifecycle of content for public sector organizations. This solution was designed to bring government agencies out of legacy, paper-only processes while helping them maintain strict government compliance regulations. OpenText xECM for Government easily integrates into existing enterprise applications such as SAP®, Salesforce® and Microsoft® 365, and scales to support large volumes of content, allowing agencies to expand the solution as they grow.
OpenText™ AppWorks is a low-code development platform that helps government agencies build engaging, smart and easy-to-deploy process-automation applications. Integrating this solution within a government agency allows you to achieve operational efficiencies and innovate on demand while remaining compliance with strict governance requirements.
A case study in collaborative innovation
A U.S. government agency providing health services to the military needed to streamline disability processes for veterans. The legacy process required beneficiaries to manually enter information, causing inaccuracies and delays and adding a “time tax” to veterans who were burdened with data entry and making manual corrections. With case management and reporting from Cloud for Government, the agency can now automatically capture all necessary information, easing the burden on veterans and accelerating application approvals.
OpenText and AWS
OpenText has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as our preferred public cloud partner to deliver information management cloud solutions to the global public sector. OpenText selected AWS as a partner because of its vast experience in the global public sector and its capabilities as a leading cloud hyperscaler. The breadth, reliability and scalability of AWS will allow us to bring information management solutions securely to public sector organizations around the world.
Learn more about how OpenText is driving innovation for government agencies with Cloud for Government.
During or after an incident, there may be a need for forensic analysis on the endpoints involved in a breach or compromise. This blog discusses Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) targeted evidence collections as they relate to endpoint analysis using the latest capabilities of OpenText™ EnCase™ Endpoint Investigator.
The overall goal of the endpoint analysis is to identify the actual business impact of the compromise and tell the story of what happened. It is also important to make sure any malicious files are identified. The findings from the forensic analysis can be essential inputs to remediation planning, which ideally should be developed during the overall investigation.
As an example, in a recent dead-box analysis of an incident involving an Emotet infection, OpenText Security Consulting Services found a persistent application that was missed when the client’s IT department attempted to clean an infected driver for re-use. The network was again compromised, allowing the attacker to regain access, and nullifying the entire remediation effort.
Persistent application associated with Emotet in the users NTUSER.DAT Run key.
In these types of investigations, immediate and accurate answers are needed, so to avoid having to forensically image an entire drive – either in person or over the wire – then spend time processing the entire image to analyze evidence as it relates to relevant artifacts.
Ideally, we want to connect to the live endpoint once it is identified, then use a method to extrapolate only artifacts that are of forensic interest. Using Endpoint Investigator with a custom collection condition, we can do just that.
In a malware campaign or an insider threat scenario, what are those artifacts?
To start, we want to identify any malicious applications that are in play. Then, we want to determine initial infection vector, we want to track user activity, and we want to identify all other endpoints involved.
Here are a few starting DFIR collection points used by our Security Consulting Services’ incident responders:
For application use:
ActivitiesCache
AmCache
ShimCache
SRUDB
PreFetch
For persistence:
Registry
For user activity:
Forensic Journaling
ShellBags
JumpLists
RecycleBin
EventLogs
In addition to this list, we always want to try to get a RAM dump, as well as an image from Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). On a 100GB endpoint user drive, the collection should be reduced by as much as 99% depending on the size of the NTJournal, Registry files and other artifacts.
Without a collection condition, we must export these artifacts manually. To save time and to make sure we consistently export the relevant artifacts across all investigations, we use a custom Collection EnCondition.
Running the Collection EnCondition on a partition in a physical disk image.
Getting to the point where you can use the Encondition
When acquiring data over a network, we will want to preview the evidence first. If we are working from an image file, we must first load it into the Endpoint Investigator interface. No matter the collection method, once evidence drive is shown, we can double click the EnCondition in the lower right of the interface to run it.
Creating a Lx01 of the Collection Condition parsed files.
This will filter the view to the parsed files. We select, using the blue tick, all the files that we want to collect, then we right click, and we select “Acquire > Create Logical Evidence File”. Finally, we complete the dialog box as we would for a standard acquisition.
The result of running the collection EnCondition on a 4 TB drive.
We see that we were able to reduce the time to collect significantly, as well as the size of the dataset. In this example of a 4TB drive, we have a sub-set of relevant evidence that is only 446MB. We can now process the subset of data from our image to conduct our analysis.
Currently, the Incident Response Collection EnCondition (version 09012022) contains the code to collect the following artifacts:
Any file with a .log extension
All Registry Files including the user’s NTUSER.DAT registry files
All Prefetch files
The SRUDB.dat
The $MFT
The $UsnJrnl
The $LogFile
Any file with a .lnk extension
Windows .evt and .evtx Event logs
The Amcache.hve file
The SetupAPI.dev.log
The $Recycle.bin
All Cookie files
Chrome, IE, Edge, Firefox and Safari browser artifacts.
The Activitiescache.db
The following executable type files; exe, applications, hta, scr, bat, jar, jse, js, vbe, vb, vbs, pptm, docm, dotm, xlsm, dll.
Targeted Digital Forensics and Incident Response Evidence Collections using EnCase enables organizations to collect relevant artifacts during an incident response investigation, and this can be done efficiently using EnCondition. In the next blog, we will discuss why these artifacts are relevant. We will also look at how to parse some of these files with EnCase and others with open-Source tools written specifically for these artifacts.
The OpenText Security Services team uses their extensive experience to identify an organization’s security risks and work with them to keep systems protected, offering multiple services to address cybersecurity and privacy objectives.
If you are attending Enfuse 2022, consider attending the SC17 - Dissecting an Intrusion on October 6th 11:45 AM – 12:30 PM in Lando 4304 to further learn about conducting IR investigations using EnCase.
Engage with OpenText Security Consulting Services for assistance with your EnCase Endpoint Investigator or for assistance with digital forensics and incident response cases, contact your Client Manager or contact us.
Author: John Minotti, Lead Consultant with the OpenText Security Consulting Services
In my previous blog, the use of EnScript was introduced as a benefit to extend the artifact reach and add custom parsing for the yet supported. This blog will focus on the configuration and use of the Generic SQLite Database Parser, illustrating how custom SQLite queries can be added for one or many SQLite databases, how one or many custom queries can be executed from within the EnScript, and how the exposed data is presented within OpenText™ EnCase™ and as TSV (Tab-separated values).
For review of a single SQLite database that may use a Write Ahead Log (WAL), or for development of relevant SQLite queries, the View SQLite with WAL EnScript plugin will be introduced. Whilst the specific databases mentioned will relate to Apple iOS or macOS, the subject matter explored is directly transferable for any SQLite database.
As a digital forensic examiner, you might have a collection of SQLite queries that can be used in any or all of your DFIR examinations. These might have been created over a period of time and stored in a text file with other SQLite queries grouped by a common theme, such as:
macOS
iOS
Apple Photos
Web Browser Artifacts
This is great and admit as a forensic examiner myself I have followed a similar practice. The relevant query for a given database can be copied and pasted from the text file into a SQLite viewer and executed. Could this process be made more efficient in a time when work-loads and quantities of data in the forensic examination are increasing?
Using the Generic SQLite Database Parser, EnScript can improve workflow, following some initial configuration. The basic premise of the EnScript is to utilize built-in EnCase SQLite parsing functionality to automate the running of one or more SQLite queries against one or more SQLite databases. The EnScript can be configured with the name of the SQLite database as a parent folder for one or more child objects; custom SQLite queries that can be executed against said database.
Take for example the Photos.sqlite database used by the Photos app on both iOS and macOS. Querying this database can allow the examiner to quickly and easily identify photographs that have been:
Modified by the user in the Photos app
Deleted and referenced in the Recently Deleted album
Contain relevant location data.
As an examiner of the SQLite database and user of the EnScript, it might be advantageous to formulate a naming convention to allow the query to be easily identified. In the following example, the SQLite query name begins with either iOS or macOS to easily identify and differentiate.
Example Generic SQLite Database Parser configuration, illustrating Photos.sqlite, with multiple SQLite queries for iOS or macOS
Multiple output options are available, bookmarked directly in the EnCase case or exported and saved as a TSV file for later review in third party applications, such as Microsoft Excel.
Output from the Generic SQLite Database Parser, shown as an EnCase bookmarks or externally for use with applications such as Microsoft Excel
Given the plethora of Open Source research and information relating to DFIR, an abundance of SQLite queries exist and are available from multiple and respected sources. These can be included for use with the Generic SQLite Database parser, configuring as described above.
It is recommended that the SQLite query being used is validated to ensure it produces expected results. Even if a SQLite query worked for a SQLite database from a given version of an app or mobile OS, it does not mean it will continue to provide required results for later versions.
It is also worthwhile to consider the use of the View SQLite with WAL EnScript plugin. This allows a single SQLite database and Write Ahead Log (WAL) to be temporality exported from the EnCase case and viewed with a third party viewer of choice. The use of this EnScript plugin is beneficial when:
Developing custom SQLite queries for use with the Generic SQLite Database Parser
Validation of a custom SQLite queries before configuring them for use with the Generic SQLite Database Parser
Ad-hoc review of a relevant database, from an app or OS artifact that is not common to #DFIR examinations and might not be beneficial to include in the Generic SQLite Database Parser
General review of a SQLite database that uses write ahead logging
The use of both the Generic SQLite Database Parser and View SQLite with WAL Plugin as described cannot be recommended enough. Their use has been, and continues to be, invaluable and are used on a frequent basis. Whilst this blog has been written with respect to mobile device examinations, the EnScript programs mentioned are equally valuable to the examination of and research relating to operating systems such as macOS.
In 2020, five years’ worth of digital adoption for citizens and businesses happened in about eight weeks. Government agencies worldwide were able to pivot to 100% digital services in a matter of days, a level of public-sector agility and innovation never seen before. As the world works to put the pandemic behind us, how do governments build upon this momentum?
The massive increase in demand for digital citizen services along with the trend to remote work and the need for increased inter-agency collaboration to ensure rapid and effective service delivery are forces driving change. The result is a permanent shift in both operating models and citizen expectations.
Rapid delivery and heightened effectiveness of new digital systems will enable governments to accommodate these shifts going forward. However, many of the weaknesses within government systems remain as reliance on legacy and outdated technology continues. Gartner® estimates that by 2023, more than 60% of governments will have tripled citizen digital services, but less than 25% will be integrated across organizations’ silos.[1]
Building agility and flexibility
Governments must find ways to infuse innovation in everything they do. This means quickly developing and deploying systems that can exploit citizen data and insight to deliver new levels of experience and optimize operational performance.
Increasingly, governments are looking to cloud-based low-code development platforms to accelerate innovation and provide critical citizen services. Indeed, Accenture suggests the low-code revolution will unleash a ‘Cambrian explosion’ of innovation.
Low-code platforms empower public sector workers to quickly and easily deliver new capabilities on demand, without having to rely on hard-pressed development teams. In effect, the people who best understand citizens’ needs are those who can help create the systems to fulfil those needs.
Major benefits of low-code development include adapting to the future of work and enhancing citizen experience and cross-agency collaboration.
Be remote, in person or something in between
The future of the workplace, in terms of where and how employees will work, has yet to play out. The pandemic changed the dynamics, potentially for good, leading agencies to rethink how to keep personnel productive yet safe.
The cloud gives organizations the flexibility to support a hybrid workforce, easily scaling to support remote employees — another strategic enabler. With data in the cloud, agencies can enable real-time, multi-site and collaborative access, ensuring that current work processes and responsiveness remain intact from anywhere.
Get closer to citizens
Citizens increasingly demand digital experiences like those delivered by the private sector, and low-code is key to helping the public sector catch up. Digital transformation is allowing agencies to elevate citizen engagement, improving end-to-end service delivery with omni-channel interactions that are personal and on-demand.
Cloud-based citizen experience management solutions allow for tailored communications with each citizen based on how they want to engage, while incorporating self-service access to better utilize internal resources. The cloud will play a key role in helping organizations run a more efficient digital government and changing how employees deliver services to give citizens the ease of engagement they deserve.
Collaborate, develop, deliver
The more intelligent and connected the government agency, the more opportunities that low-code solutions can power innovation and growth. Cloud-based low-code is proving to be the conduit to improved internal and external collaboration, enabling cross-agency exchanges and the creation of ‘digital ecosystems,’ comprised of partners, suppliers and other stakeholders working together to develop and deliver new citizen services. An ideal test environment, agencies are also taking advantage of increased computing capacity to quickly scale and test ideas and models.
Other public sector benefits for cloud-based low-code include:
Creating proofs of concept. Low-code tools offer a way for citizen developers to show government executives their ideas and working proofs for improved applications or entirely new systems at little cost.
Increasing task efficiency. The reduced amount of development time required for low code makes it ideal for delivering small applications and automation to increase everyday task efficiency and shrink workflows.
Avoiding the “good idea paradox.” Low-code solutions let citizen developers convert good ideas into simple apps that can convince the business of the value for full-scale development, ensuring ideas move from concept to reality.
Empowering remote work. With many staff members still working from home, IT teams can’t cope with the variety and volume of network connections, application preferences and much-needed features. Equipped with low-code tools, employees can build what they need when they need it.
The decade ahead promises continued acceleration of IT modernization, with agencies recognizing the cloud as the strategic enabler to ramp up innovation, lean on automation and deliver the digital services that citizens demand.
Cloud for Government from OpenText™ allows governments worldwide to place business goals before technical requirements when modernizing their IT systems. The solution speeds innovation and delivery cycles to create a new world of agile and responsive government.
[1] Gartner, Hype Cycle™ for Digital Government Technology, 2021
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark, and HYPE CYCLE is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Research tells us that learning new skills benefits our brain. It increases neuroplasticity which is the brain’s ability to change and adapt through different experiences. That’s a good outcome in our personal lives.
Learning new skills or improving existing skills drives many positive outcomes in our professional lives as well. It increases our confidence, boosts our value as employees, enables us to become more proficient at our jobs and ultimately, can lead to promotion or other types of recognition.
OpenText™ Learning Services wants to help you increase your brain health and raise your profile at work, so we’ve made a couple of improvements to the ways we schedule training. These improvements have been made to deliver convenience, reliability, and confidence to our learners.
First, we have guaranteed to run classes on our training schedules. We know you want training delivered by a subject matter expert within a certain time period. Finding a course that is guaranteed to run allows you to schedule your training with 100% confidence in acquiring the skills you want, when you want them, with an expert instructor.
We’ve made it easy to identify these classes in our online course calendar. Simply select the product suite that reflects your training needs, the time period in which you want to attend the class, your geographic region, and then check the ‘guaranteed to run’ checkbox. Your search results will only include the guaranteed to run options.
Use the Course Calendar to find ‘guaranteed to run’ classes
Secondly, we’ve scheduled selected courses to run as half-day classes versus full day. Customers told us they were more focused and engaged in a half-day class and better able to absorb what they were learning. Use the online course calendar to search for the product training you need. When reviewing results, check out the session duration column to see if the course is available in the half-day format.
Identify half-day classes
Whether it’s a guaranteed to run class, a half-day class or any of the other training options available in the OpenText Course Catalog, our goal is to help you acquire the skills you need to be successful in your role. And if your brain gets a bit bigger and a bit smarter along the way, then that’s an added bonus!
In the public sector, cloud deployment is increasingly becoming a key enabler for digital transformation. Governments are looking to meet citizen expectations for convenient, digital experiences while managing vast amounts of data spread across disparate systems. And, with technical resources in short supply, many government organizations are struggling to innovate with current systems and infrastructure.
Government cloud services offer public sector organizations innovative ways to cut costs and deliver services, quickly pivot to new business models, create engaging customer experiences, enable remote work and learning and automate business processes.
Why now is the time to move to government cloud services
The 2021 Center for Digital Government (CDG) Cloud Migration Survey found that 70 percent of government organizations plan to migrate some workloads to the cloud in the next 12-18 months. The top use case cited for migrating to the cloud was citizen-facing web applications.
Source: Center for Digital Government
One reason for the increase in governments’ migration to the cloud is the success of related cloud security programs, such as FedRAMP in the U.S.
FedRAMP is a set of data security guidelines established in 2011 that prescribes the security requirements and processes cloud service providers need to follow to be approved for use by the government. Similar security programs include Protected B in Canada and the Information Security Registered Assessors program in Australia. These initiatives aim to ensure that government data stored in the cloud is protected and secure, while saving time, money and resources.
Benefits of moving to the cloud
Another reason for this sector’s interest in cloud is simply the many benefits this model offers, , including innovation and AI, storage savings, and automatic security and product updates—meaning no downtime for government users.
Security and compliance
The cloud has transformed the way many agencies use data information systems, and with those changes have come concerns about data integrity and security. Compared to legacy, custom-built applications housed locally, however, the cloud is well equipped for cyber security. For starters, cloud providers are continually upgrading to the highest levels of information security and data protection. Plus, regular back-ups and the ability to restore data can help ensure business continuity in the case of a security event. In addition, regulations in many countries mean that cloud suppliers must meet stringent requirements to stay compliant, giving government security organizations confidence that the cloud solutions they have adopted are as secure as possible.
At OpenText™, we help many security-conscious organizations improve their processes. .For example, the Department for International Development (DFID) recently implemented OpenText Content Suite and OpenText Remote Cache when its existing electronic document and records management solution no longer met its needs. Faced with potential security risks and impacted knowledge-sharing as users began relying on local hard drives, DFID turned to OpenText to implement a managed cloud solution, which has improved user adoption and compliance, reduced document retrieval from minutes to seconds, and eliminated data loss.
Flexibility and efficiency
With a cloud service provider, agencies no longer need to worry about relying on limited resources, buying and housing servers and hardware, updating software or data protection. Using the cloud makes it easy to add and change services without the hassle of work stoppages or adding or removing digital space. This flexibility means that new services and applications can be brought online quickly to help boost employee productivity and efficiency. Plus, moving to the cloud ensures that software is always up to date.
Data integration
The public sector is facing a “data tsunami,” as the volume of data that agencies must handle—and the silos in which they are stored—increases exponentially. Moving to the cloud can break down those silos, allow quick and easy sharing of information and ensure there is one true, verified version of that information. It also delivers the scalability to accommodate growth in data and the ability to make that data available to systems—such as artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics—where it delivers the most value.
Collaboration and innovation
Beyond just sharing documents, cloud services also allow government employees and contractors to access documents from anywhere in the world. This allows agencies to create digital ecosystems of partners, suppliers and other entities to work together on the development and delivery of new citizen services.
Leveraging hyperscalers
Many public sector cloud migration strategies began as an initiative to reduce the costs associated with running their own data centers. By adopting a cloud transformation strategy, government organizations can leverage hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to replace physical data centers with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and migrate their on-premises workloads onto the organization’s managed cloud environment.
OpenText and AWS have partnered to bring government cloud solutions to the global public sector, delivering enterprise-wide content services that automate workflows and manage all forms of content throughout their lifecycle. Learn more about the benefits of this partnership in our eBook.
Cloud for Government from OpenText
At OpenText, we offer government agencies a bundled solution to deliver digital cloud services. The Cloud for Government solution from OpenText combines OpenText™ AppWorks™ and OpenText™ Extended ECM for Government to enable a seamless shift to digital that transforms how agencies work and collaborate, resulting in more agile and resilient operations.
AppWorks is a low-code development platform that helps government agencies build smart and easy-to-deploy process automation applications while remaining compliant with governance requirements.
Extended ECM for Government provides digital file and case management for modern administration in central, local and municipal government. The solution is FedRAMP-compliant and is the only enterprise content management solution specific to the Public Sector that has undergone rigorous validation by SAP to ensure the highest quality standards.
Learn more about how Cloud for Government from OpenText can help you accelerate digital transformation to boost engagement, productivity and agility.
Information is cumulative, exponential and accelerating. It is everywhere. Frictionless, machine-generated, expanding and disruptive, exploding across all domains.
Information is exponential. So is the opportunity.
OpenText World 2022 is happening on October 4-6 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas (and online). This is the most important OpenText World ever—because we are finally back together. It’s the Great Reunion! We need to catch up on the last three years and talk about the future. There has been an explosion of transformation and innovation since we were last able to gather, and I can’t wait to dive in with you.
This year’s OpenText World will focus on new software for new expectations and how to leverage technology to elevate your business. Information is creating the new digital fabric. Those who can adapt the fastest will win. At this event, you will learn how to unleash your information advantage to build a future of growth in a world of change.
With over 150 sessions, 200 speakers, hands-on labs, networking opportunities, a developer summit and more, OpenText World 2022 is the place to be for the latest insights into everything from cyber resilience to operationalizing sustainability initiatives to leveraging cloud and automation technologies. You’ll also hear from business leaders like Morgan Stanley, Cardinal Health, and Ulta Beauty about how they are driving information-led transformations to succeed.
Attendees will also learn more about OpenText’s Project Titanium, our future platform in the cloud and the next step in our shared cloud journey. We’re accelerating at lightspeed into being a global cloud business. You don’t want to miss it.
Our Amazing Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speakers at OpenText World 2022
Our special guest speaker is Alex Honnold, a professional adventure rock climber who is renowned for his death-defying ascents of America’s biggest cliffs with no ropes, no partners and no protective gear. He also started the Honnold Foundation, a non-profit that helps advance solar energy access in marginalized communities around the world. In this unique discussion, Alex will talk to us about getting out of our comfort zones, managing our mental and emotional states, and staying focused under extreme pressure—literally life and death. This is a speaker who gives a whole new meaning to the term “high” stakes! He truly is an inspiration.
In her talk, Rachel Wilson, Managing Director and Head of Wealth Management Data Security & Infrastructure Risk at Morgan Stanley will describe the risks and threats presented by the current cyber landscape, and how those risks change and grow as companies expand their digital businesses. She will also highlight the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on global cyber risk. Leveraging her experience leading the NSA’s professional hacking mission, she will provide actionable insights on how firms can prevent and respond to ransomware attacks, business email compromise and social engineering scams.
My keynote will explore how the best-run organizations are leveraging their information to out-compete their rivals, become climate innovators and build the information advantage. Welcome to Business 2030. I will delve into how to thrive in a world of hybrid work and the future workforce, integrated machines, digital supply chains, new consumer demands, cybersecurity, sustainability and new priorities. I’m also looking forward to discussing OpenText’s Project Titanium—the platform of platforms—with 100,000 new innovation facets over the next year to help companies solve talent turnover, enhance agility and drive growth.
OpenText EVP & Chief Product Officer, Muhi S. Majzoub, will take the stage to discuss the latest information management technologies and innovations that are enabling companies to master modern work, digitize supply chains, build communication-centric experiences, create a secure information advantage and unleash developer creativity. He will also demonstrate new cloud products and unveil our visionary product roadmap.
New Challenges. New Rules. New World.
Information management elevates every business to be intelligent, connected and responsible—ready for an ever-evolving world. And OpenText is defining the future of information management.
Governments throughout the world are stepping up efforts to modernize digital services to citizens. For example, in the U.S., executive order 14058 on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government states that the “government must be held accountable for designing and delivering services with a focus on the actual experience of the people whom it is meant to serve” and building trust. This includes not only delivering high-quality services but ensuring that those services and the processes that power them are delivered effectively and efficiently.
To meet the goal of increasing trust in government, significant efforts are being made to improve the experience and meet expectations of citizens. But what about the people responsible for delivering the services? Often overlooked is the disparity between how agencies are prioritizing customer experience and employee experience.
How can the public sector retain its top talent?
The perception among federal employees is that agencies are more focused on delivering engaging customer experiences than employee ones. According to Forrester Research, only 21% of global government employees say they have a high-quality employee experience, compared with 31% of private-sector employees. In addition to a favorable work/life balance and flexible working conditions, many highly talented individuals choose a career in the public sector because they want to make a difference and serve a higher purpose. However, to remain competitive in the recruitment and retention of high-quality talent, federal agencies must ensure that the employee experience is optimal. This will serve to deliver better retention rates and bolster trust levels among public servants, too.
Here are three ways that federal agencies can leverage technology to strengthen employee experience, bolster trust and ensure their continued commitment to serving the greater good.
One: Increase productivity and interagency coordination
A frustrated employee is likely to have a deleterious impact on the lives of its citizens. In fact, an Eagle Hill Consulting survey found that 51% of U.S. federal workers believe that the employee experience at their agency directly impacts their ability to serve citizens. Providing more digital options for citizens including self-service through advanced technology can free up valuable time for employees to spend on higher-level work activities and expedite mundane administrative tasks and paperwork.
Execution of tasks often include interagency coordination. Records need to transverse multiple offices, often requiring review and approvals by appropriate personnel and departments along the way. This includes ensuring that there is consistent control over accuracy and auditability of data and that data is fully searchable. Agencies must invest in tools that allow information to be shared and delivered expeditiously (including updates to policies and requirements) and communication to be integrated to remove bottlenecks and ensure consistency in process among federal, state and local government agencies. Equally critical is ensuring that public servants have the tools (such as virtual desktops) to work outside of the office or in the confides of their home in a secure and compliant manner. Warfighters and public servants working in the national security arena present unique challenges, as these personnel are often deployed overseas, working unusual hours and/or earning special pay.
Two: Commit to a privacy-first culture
To build trust, employees need to operate collaboratively and productively on back-office activities, while feeling confident that citizens’ personal and sensitive data is protected and managed compliantly. For federal agencies, the Privacy Act of 1974 establishes a code of fair information practices that govern the collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of information about U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident aliens that is maintained in its systems of records. Agency privacy programs were designed to fulfill the requirements of the Privacy Act and to ensure that personal information in the possession of the federal government is properly used and to prevent misuse and improper disclosure or a record without consent.
Establishing strong information governance and digital records management readily accessible to those employees needed to carry out their service responsibilities while balancing a person’s right to privacy and having this sensitive information safeguarded is key. This includes the protection of stored information and communications being sent over internal or external networks by encryption and an integrated archiving solution for long- term storage, retention management and compliance deletion. It is critical that permissions are restricted to only the appropriate government employees necessary to support the performance of the activities assigned. This involves defining access and privileges uniquely but also to track each worker’s activity within the system with auditability. Advanced security settings can block or mask information relating to citizens’ sensitive data or to restrict users to only have access to specific information or groups.
Three: Demonstrate that personal data is safeguarded
The move to remote work has forced agencies to reevaluate their cybersecurity protections to ensure that sensitive data is adequately protected. Government agencies have been susceptible and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Massive data breaches where hackers have targeted personnel records of government employees have hurt efforts to quell these fears and employee confidence. For example, a massive data breach at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management included highly sensitive data containing information about family members, contacts and psychological information and personal details, and fingerprints. In addition to federal agencies, data breaches have plagued public school districts and colleges and universities. Since 2005, there have been more than 1,851 data breaches in educational institutions with 28,589,864 individual records affected as a result of these breaches. 2020 was one of the biggest years for educational breaches with 2.99 million records impacted in total.
Insider threats are a top cyber security issue in the public sector, both intentional and accidental. Public sector organizations should institute cyber security awareness training (the U.S. requires all federal employees and contractors to pass a course each year, a good idea for all public sector institutions). Deploying robust enterprise content management and security software is a must to prevent unauthorized users access to sensitive information. Cyberattacks become more sophisticated each year, and it is imperative that both public servants and security technology stay ahead of the bad actors.
As agencies’ employee experiences improve, worker satisfaction will rise. They will be spending more time on strategic, high-level activities that deliver on the mission. Agencies will have a more committed and engaged workforce. By focusing on employee experience, the public sector will be in a strong position to keep their top talent satisfied, improve the public trust, build a culture of privacy and safeguard sensitive information. This information advantage will deliver employee experiences that empower workforces and attract and retain talent, providing the public sector a chance to master modern work.
Learn more about how your agency can achieve an information advantage for employees with OpenText.
