Dear PLM and OpenText community,
We as Product and Solution Management of SAP PLM and SAP Extended ECM (xECM) by OpenText are often confronted with myths and rumors on the capabilities and future of both solutions. When the partnership was established years back, we had agreed on a common positioning and working model and we would like to highlight the core value proposition of the two solutions to make sure, everyone in the community is aware of our current state and our joint offering alignment. We have teamed up to debunk some of the myths and provide an accurate overview of the compelling benefits of how both solutions complement one another:
When do I position SAP xECM by OpenText and when do I position SAP DMS?
Answer: Both SAP xECM by OpenText and SAP DMS are an integral part of the SAP Solution portfolio. SAP xECM by OpenText has its strengths in the management of unstructured information, especially managing business documentation and documents associated with SAP driven business processes. SAP DMS has its strengths when it comes to structured documents, but not limited to the engineering area. There is no black and white answer and the positioning needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis. We understood that further clarification is required by the community on the strengths of both solutions in the many possible business contexts. To better support you in the future, SAP and OpenText are publishing best practice business use cases to help guide our joint field constituents, customers and prospects on the aligned positioning along our value maps to establish guidelines and assistance in structuring the right solution based on engagement needs.
Does it make sense to position a combination of SAP xECM by OpenText and SAP DMS?
Answer: Yes. Both SAP xECM by OpenText and SAP DMS have unique capabilities that complement each other. SAP xECM by OpenText provides an enterprise-wide backbone for managing unstructured content across its lifecycle with a DoD 5015.2 certified Records Management and enables users to access content from a variety of user interfaces including Microsoft SharePoint® and Microsoft Office. SAP DMS provides capabilities for document control, updating bills of materials or the native integration with the SAP change management. Consequentially, many customers decide to implement integrated scenarios where, DMS documents are created, updated, and released in SAP DMS and then published in SAP xECM by OpenText so they are connect with other enterprise content and become accessible for other departments or external partners. To benefit from the capabilities of both products it is recommended to consider such integrated scenarios when documents are managed in SAP DMS already today.
I keep hearing rumors that SAP DMS is being discontinued in favor of SAP xECM by OpenText – is that true?
Answer: False. SAP DMS is part of the SAP ERP product and will receive standard support until 2025, as of current planning. We would like to correct this thinking as we have and will continue to provide you, our customers, with the solutions to make your company a best run company.
I have heard that SAP DMS is in maintenance mode only and it is not being further developed?
Answer: SAP DMS is a very mature solution with a very broad user base, a track record of delivering value and the solution continues to get regular development updates. Examples of the last years’ improvements include but are not limited to -- the creation of a Webdynpro User interface, integration of the Visual Enterprise Viewer in both GUI and Web UI as well as an enhancement of the architecture with service-based interface layers. We have just finished a Customer Connection Cycle and a second cycle of Customer Connection DMS is already running now.
SAP Easy DMS has an end of maintenance date December 31, 2017 in the product Availability Matrix – what does that mean?
Answer: SAP Easy DMS is also part of the Business Suite and thus will receive maintenance until 2025 as of today. Easy DMS as a frontend component depends on the underlying Operating system and the respective product version will be released for as long as the latest tested Windows Operating System Version is supported by Microsoft. When a new Windows version becomes available, easy Document Management gets tested and based on the results we will either create a new version or extend the support period accordingly.
Sincerely,
Garrett Miller Frank Spiegel Patricia Nagle
VP LOB R&D/Engineering Product Manager PLM Vice President
SAP Solution Management SAP Product Management OpenText
