Macro 4 ILMLink 1.0 achieves SAP-certified integration with SAP NetWeaver® Information Lifecycle Management

Macro 4 supports SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management to help address compliance challenges, maintain optimum system performance and reduce costs.

Crawley, UK, October 21, 2010 – Macro 4, an SAP® software solution partner, today announced that its Macro 4 ILMLink 1.0 software, part of the Columbus solution suite, has achieved certified integration with the SAP NetWeaver® Information Lifecycle Management component. Through this integration, customers can use Macro 4 ILMLink, together with SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management, to manage the long-term retention of data and documents to better meet compliance, legal and operational requirements, while lowering costs. “We’ve been involved in archiving data and documents from SAP applications for a number of years and have helped many organizations benefit from lower costs, improved performance and easier legal compliance as a result,” said Lynda Kershaw, marketing manager at Macro 4, a software and services company with expertise in document and data management. “Employing ILM strategies is a natural progression for companies that are already archiving today and want to transition to more granular data-retention management capabilities using features such as e-discovery and legal hold to help manage data required as part of legal cases, for example. This is a relatively simple step, as existing archives can be easily information lifecycle management-enabled. Achieving SAP certification of Macro 4 ILMLink is important for Macro 4, as it allows us to more fully support our customers in this process.” High-profile legal cases have highlighted the need for technology to help businesses to retain data over the long term in line with regulatory retention requirements, access it immediately when needed, and decommission it once its legal expiration date has passed. “In fact, it can be just as important to show that data has been destroyed in line with regulations as to safeguard that all data relevant to a legal case – including documents such as emails – can be produced in a timely fashion,” noted Kershaw. “And many organizations need a way of managing retention policies in order to comply with regulations such as the Sarbanes Oxley Act and the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) stipulations. Through Macro 4 ILMLink’s integration with the data archiving and retention management capabilities of SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management, customers can address these issues.” Customers can define information lifecycle management (ILM) retention policies to automatically archive historical information onto the Macro 4 content server as the data and documents age and no longer need to remain in the live SAP system. This frees up the database and reduces the processing workload to help maintain optimum system performance and reduce storage costs, as well as streamlining backups and restores. Once in the content server, the stored information will continue to be controlled by SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management and managed according to ILM policies that tie in with compliance requirements, including retention and deletion policies. Through the integration of Macro 4 ILMLink with SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management, Macro 4 can also help customers in decommissioning or consolidating legacy installations of solutions from SAP and other vendors. Historical data from multiple legacy systems can be stored on the Macro 4 content server, allowing the original systems to be switched off to free up resources. The legacy data can remain accessible via the current SAP solution installation and be placed under the control of the policies specified in SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management. About SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management With SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management, SAP provides the tools and technologies to support information lifecycle management activities that meet enterprise needs for data retention, data destruction, and compliance with legal and regulatory mandates. The solution delivers the following business benefits: Increased productivity – Automates all aspects of handling an organization’s data, rather than just automating storage procedures Reduced total cost of ownership – Optimizes use of resources and reduces administrative costs while decommissioning legacy installations of SAP and non-SAP solutions Compliance with legal requirements and internal service-level agreements – Can implement storage systems that understand and act on data using user-defined rules Reduced risk – Users experience greater system availability with faster backup and recovery Maintained flexibility – Adapts to the never-ending flow of new regulations and requirements SAP, SAP NetWeaver and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.