OpenText has achieved a crucial Australian government security assessment for the cloud edition of its Content Management platform, formerly known as Extended ECM, potentially opening doors to more public sector contracts.

The company earned the assessment under Australia's Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP), which independently evaluates whether technology systems meet strict government security standards. IRAP assessment allows platforms to handle sensitive government data up to "PROTECTED" classification - covering most government operations except the most classified information.

While designed for Australian agencies, the certification also carries weight across the Tasman. For New Zealand government agencies procuring content management solutions, IRAP assessment can be valuable supporting evidence to demonstrate security compliance, but it's not a mandatory requirement.

The IRAP achievement comes as OpenText navigates an expanded product portfolio following multiple acquisitions. The company now offers a range of ECM platforms including Content Manager (formerly TRIM), Content Management (formerly Extended ECM), Core Content, Documentum and eDocs.

Content Manager is dominant in the public sector by virtue of its origins as a record-keeping solution developed for Australian government, while Content Management/Extended ECM has a strong footprint in enterprise markets such as energy, manufacturing and FSI.

The IRAP assessments announced by OpenText apply to the cloud editions of Content Management, as customers who deploy the solutions on-premise must pursue their own IRAP assessment.

Content Manager is available in the cloud through managed service partnerships rather than the standardised Cloud Editions architecture used by other OpenText ECM products. Agencies must deploy it through cloud platforms run by local partners iCognition or Kapish to obtain IRAP assessed status.

OpenText’s Australia and New Zealand Vice President, George Harb, said the assessment aligns with public sector organisations facing growing pressure to modernise while staying compliant.

"Governments across Australia are under increasing pressure to deliver secure and efficient digital services, but many agencies still face major hurdles in moving away from legacy systems, despite the known risks and inefficiencies,” Mr. Harb said.

“This IRAP assessment confirms that OpenText platforms meet the rigorous standards required by government and are ready to support agencies with secure collaboration, strong data governance, and full compliance with Australian sovereignty and cybersecurity requirements,”

“OpenText technologies are already trusted by more than 700 Australian and New Zealand government agencies to manage and secure information, as well as supporting digital services,

“We’ve seen a sharp increase in demand from the public sector for assurance that platforms meet local compliance and data residency requirements. IRAP provides a clear benchmark for security, and we’re seeing agencies use it more actively to guide procurement decisions.

"This IRAP assessment gives our public sector clients confidence that OpenText can support critical operations without compromising security or sovereignty.”

OpenText Core Data Discovery & Risk Insights (formerly Voltage Fusion) has also been IRAP assessed to the PROTECTED classification level.