AppTier

BACKGROUND

Can you provide a brief description of your company?

We are a pharmaceutical company.

What is your position within the company?

I am Director within the IT organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main objective for undertaking the project?

Our goal was to provide a more rigorous and disciplined approach around management of documentation that is used within our GXP environments. We also used it within regulatory submissions.

Before you started working on the project, what had you used historically?

It was all paper-based.

SOLUTION

How did you discover and choose to work with AppTier?

We brought in three other consulting organizations, and it didn’t work out. We were desperate to find the right consultant. I have a preference for working with smaller boutique consulting organizations. I reached out to the owner, Pete Fucarino. We started the engagement and discussions with Pete and his team.

What stages of the project are they involved in?

They’ve been involved with pretty much every stage, from establishing direction to helping me formulate strategy. They assisted with actual deployments, training, development, and testing.

Why did you choose OpenText compared to other ECM competitors?

It was primarily due to the functionality of OpenText and the ability of the vendors to demonstrate their capabilities.

How long ago was the project completed?

We’re still in the process and have not completed the project. We have a fairly small team. We will continue to deploy various functionalities throughout the organization. I anticipate this project to last probably another three or four years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How satisfied are you with the work AppTier has delivered?

I don’t think we would be where we are without the support of AppTier. I don’t believe that the other consulting firms that we worked with have their technical capabilities. Those firms don’t have business analysis capabilities that AppTier brings to the table.

How happy are you so far with OpenText as a platform?

We don’t have a lot of direct involvement with the vendor itself. The tool set has some limitations, we’re a little disappointed with those capabilities. Overall, I think most of the interactions that we’ve had with Open Text has been through our vendor AppTier.

When working with AppTier, is there anything that you find to be unique compared to other developers or consultants that you’ve worked with?

I think that the relationships that they’ve developed and nurtured are important. I think their work ethic is second to none. Apptier really does have a, “We’re going to get this thing done on time” attitude. They deliver a very quality product. Technically, they are very astute. They serve in an advisory role, recognizing that ultimately the decision is mine. However, they also provide a service by helping me avoid pitfalls. They’ve done a wonderful job of preventing us from going through the improper channels or down improper paths.

Is there anything you would do differently a second time around or think that AppTier can improve upon?

Yes, there are some things they take initiative on that I don’t deem a priority. Sometimes, a little bit better communication would be appropriate.

BACKGROUND

Could you give me a brief description of your company?

My company is a privately held investment company. We do investments in distressed assets. Also, we own eight to twelve operating companies. We also operate and lease aircraft.

What is your position within the company?

I’m the Chief Information Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your company’s business goals or reasons for undertaking this project?  

The goal was the installation of the Open Text product, Livelink, in 2004. I was not here then. I came after the project started. The goals at that time were to install a document management system because there was nothing in existence.

SOLUTION

And what was your process for selecting AppTier to work with?

I’m familiar with AppTier. I’ve worked with them since 1998. Peter Fucarino was the consultant that worked on-site. I had worked with him when I was with AT&T Broadband.

What were some of the main traits that you were looking for?

We needed a licensed expert. He worked with us when I was with MediaOne, which became AT&T Broadband and then Comcast. He was brought in to install the document management system.

Why did your organization select OpenText?

We were very familiar with Open Text. We knew who the other players were in the market. We decided that we would continue with Open Text. It met all of the requirements that our group had outlined at the time.

Can you tell me about the scope of the project?

Yes. All those steps and it was multiphase. We broke it down by business units. The first phase was to roll out the system to one business unit and get them trained. It was a project that was quite expensive. It lasted for about a year-and-a-half. There were other parts of the project besides the document management system. AppTier created a physical objects database within Livelink that tracks collateral documents for the legal department.

Was AppTier involved in all aspects of the project?

Yes.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms?

No, I don’t remember what it was in dollar terms. Once that project was done, they continued to support us through upgrades. Anytime a new patch or release came out, they were there to help support us. Additionally, we are in a managed services contract now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project? 

Livelink is the repository of all our corporate documents. We were successful because we instituted it for many work groups. It supported the whole back office.

Did you have positive feedback from the employees?

Our sales group likes to save documents where they traditionally put them and some resist change. We had an internal struggle trying to get the staff to not save documents in their laptop and instead start saving on Livelink. They had to learn to use the document management system. For the most part, the feedback was positive.

Is there anything unique or special about AppTier compared to some of the other companies that you’ve worked with?

Yes, I had actually contracted with another professional services firm for Open Text at the time. I was not satisfied with the results of that work, so I went back to AppTier and they finished the project for me. AppTier has a depth of experience and knowledge that is better than all other consulting companies I've worked with.

Looking back on the project, is there any area that you think they could improve or you would do differently?

I would have seriously looked at whether or not we needed to use the Livelink Explorer Client. Since we placed it with Enterprise Connect, our staff has liked the Livelink Explorer. They like it because it still looks like the file server where it had folders and folder hierarchy. The organization is similar to folders in a Microsoft Operating System.

However, LiveLink Explorer was difficult for our company to adapt to. It was painful for some of our staff to use at first. It’s not a criticism of AppTier, it’s a criticism of how we did the project. We should have trained people better initially.

When we upgraded last summer, AppTier helped us to upgrade to Content Server 10. We also started using Enterprise Connect since Open Text stopped using Livelink Explorer Client. We’ve had a lot of issues with Enterprise Connect. Users want to use Enterprise Connect because it looks like Livelink Explorer. AppTier has added value by managing the upgrade to Enterprise Connect 10 and keeping us updated on new product offerings.