Last week, Micro Focus announced that it is partnering globally with Citadel to Deliver Content Manager Select Software as a Service in the cloud based on the Citadel-IX Platform. IDM asked Brandon Voight, Regional Director of Sales, Information Management to outline the new Micro Focus SaaS offering.

IDM: There are a number of local Micro Focus Partners who offer CM or CM Select in as either on-premise, cloud hosted or as a SaaS configuration. So, CM Select SaaS is the first cloud solution offered direct from Micro Focus?

BV: Content Manager (still lovingly known as TRIM and RM) has been the foundation of electronic records and document management for over 30 years. In that time, most governments and universities in Australia and New Zealand have come to rely upon Content Manager to capture, manage, and secure their information, and meet compliance requirements. The new Micro Focus Content Manager SaaS provides a modern alternative to the traditional, standard software installation on a customer’s infrastructure. In recent years, an increasing number of tech-savvy government agencies and universities are recognising the many benefits of cloud-computing. But more than that, they are using this technology to more efficiently manage their information, better serve their customers – the citizens of Australia and NZ - and reduce their costs and risks. All this seems to indicate that given the direction in which the EDRMS industry is moving, there’s never been a better time to embrace the cloud.

IDM: Is the relationship with Citadel to provide Content Manager Select on Citadel-IX as a Service an exclusive relationship for SaaS deployment, i.e. will other Micro Focus partners continue to be able to provide Content Manager Select as a Service?

BV: Micro Focus has many partners in Australia and New Zealand, indeed, more than half our customers are currently looked after by our wonderful partners. Some of our partners have even built their own value-added solutions and integrations, such as advanced workflows, on top of Content Manager – which are fantastic! Some of our customers who are looked after by our partners have their software installed on-premise, and others in the cloud. Of course, this will continue, but the new Select Software-as-a-Service will be sold directly as a Micro Focus SaaS solution.

IDM: Micro Focus delivers a number of its solutions through a SaaS model. Why was the decision made to offer CM Select on C-IX rather than hosted by Micro Focus?

BV: The Micro Focus Content Manager Select SaaS solution is a Micro Focus solution. Customers will be speaking with our sales, operations, and support staff. The C-IX platform is a partnership between Microsoft and Citadel, where Citadel have very successfully customised the Microsoft Azure platform for Content Manager. It is in a protected environment, highly available and highly secure, and ISO certified. It has about 23,000 daily users at the moment. Rather than re-invent the wheel, we decided to build upon this tried and tested platform to develop our SaaS offering to customers. Both our partners Citadel and iCognition offer their customers the choice of on-premise or SaaS solutions for Content Manager. Both partners are well-respected and both have trusted and robust SaaS offerings.

IDM: If a local partner offers CM Select in a SaaS configuration, can they call it CM Select SaaS?

BV: Our cloud offering for Content Manager is titled Micro Focus Content Manager Select Software as a Service. As mentioned, our partners Citadel and iCognition both have SaaS offerings for Content Manager, and both have opted to give them their own names, with their own branding and identity.  Also as mentioned earlier, some of our customers who are looked after by our partners have their software installed on-premise, and others in the cloud. The new Select Software-as-a-Service will be sold directly as a Micro Focus SaaS solution.

Micro Focus will be showcasing CM Select SaaS at the upcoming Realize 2021 event being held in Canberra this August and as a nationwide virtual event. Dates and venues to be announced soon.