Chicago, IL., and Long Beach, Calif. - 2003-06-17 - Open Text™ Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC) and First Consulting Group (FCG) (NASDAQ:FCGI) announced today that they are joining forces to meet the growing need for combined collaboration and document life-cycle management solutions in the life sciences industry. The companies will help global pharmaceutical and bio-tech firms meet mounting regulatory and time-to-market pressures with solutions that automate processes, facilitate collaboration among managers, researchers and physicians, and improve the management of important documents needed for regulatory submissions.

Open Text provides Livelink®, the leading collaboration and knowledge management software for the global enterprise, and FCG is the global leader in information-based consulting, integration and management services for the healthcare, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.

The companies will offer combined solutions at a critical time, when the life sciences industry is facing challenges on all sides: Increasingly stringent regulations, an escalating pace of data production and competitive pressures to deliver superior therapeutic products to market quickly. These factors are creating demands for better systems to manage mountains of information and research data, while increasing efficiencies and ensuring compliant processes across the enterprise.

“For our life sciences customers, success hinges on how fast they can gain better control of information and complex business processes, while meeting regulatory demands,” said Martin Sumner Smith, Vice President of Pharmaceutical Solutions for Open Text. “They need scalable, compliance-capable, enterprise-wide solutions with integrated features, such as collaboration, knowledge and content management, and business process automation. With FCG, we’re offering a powerful combination: FCG’s in-depth understanding of biopharmaceutical clients and proven implementation expertise, and Livelink’s collaborative technologies and fast time-to-deploy.”

“FCG has developed an implementation methodology designed specifically for the rigorous regulatory requirements of the life sciences industry. This methodology has provided us with the ability to implement enterprise-wide document management solutions efficiently and with minimal risk,” said Chuck McBride, Executive Vice President and General Manager of FCG Life Sciences. “Leveraging this methodology in the implementation of Open Text’s Livelink suite of solutions will provide significant value to our life sciences clients.”

To offer their solutions, the companies will focus on regulated document control, clinical trials support and validation services, combining FCG’s business consulting and application integration expertise with Open Text’s Livelink solutions designed for life sciences, including:

• Livelink for Regulated Documents: Provides a platform for automating the management of critical documents for drug research and development across a lifecycle, which includes document authoring, reviews, approvals and dissemination:
• Livelink for Clinicals: Offers a complete solution for managing information and reports during the clinical trials phase of the drug approval process. The solution helps companies manage the trials process from launch through “data lock,” the point at which clinical trials can be closed and researchers can begin to assess results.
• Livelink for Collaborative Submissions: Provides an infrastructure that supports the full spectrum of cross-functional collaborative activities around mission-critical submissions, such as new drug applications.

FCG is a leading provider of consulting, software development, systems integration, outsourcing and applied research services for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and other life sciences organizations throughout North America, Europe and Japan. The firm's services increase clients' operations effectiveness, resulting in reduced costs, improved customer service, enhanced quality of patient care, and more rapid introduction of new biopharmaceutical products. For more information about FCG, visit www.fcg.com or call 800-345-0957.

Livelink is the leader in collaboration and knowledge management for the global enterprise. Its richly featured enterprise services include virtual team collaboration, business process automation, enterprise group scheduling and information retrieval services, all tightly integrated into a solution that is easily customized and extended. Livelink is essential to the effective management and development of communities of interest that span organizations and industries. For everything from the creation of complex e-community relationships to the automation of simple e-business processes, Livelink delivers true dynamic collaboration between individuals, organizations and large trading communities. Livelink servers are fully Web-based and open-architected to ensure rapid deployment and easy access to its full functionality through a standard Web browser. For more information, visit www.opentext.com/livelink/.

Since 1991, Open Text Corporation has delivered innovative software that brings people together to share knowledge, achieve excellence, deliver innovation, and enhance processes. Its legacy of innovation began with the successful deployment of the world’s first search engine technology for the Internet. Today, as the leading global supplier of collaboration and knowledge management software for the enterprise, Open Text supports fifteen million seats across 10,000 corporate deployments in 31 countries and 12 languages throughout the world. As a publicly traded company, Open Text manages and maximizes its resources and relationships to ensure the success of great minds working together. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.

Copyright © 2003 by Open Text Corporation. LIVELINK and OPEN TEXT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of Open Text Corporation or other respective owners.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the deployment of Livelink by customers, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks involved in the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the Company's customers and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the final prospectus for the Company's initial public offering of common stock in January 1996, Form 10-K for the years ended June 30, 1996, June 30, 1997, June 30, 1998, June 30, 1999, June 30, 2000, June 30, 2001, and June 30, 2002, and 10-Q for the quarters ending September 30, 2002 and December 31, 2002. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's beliefs or opinions change.

Margaret E. Dobbin
Director, Industry Analyst Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-519-888-7111 ext.2410
mdobbin@opentext.com

Richard Maganini
Open Text Corporation
1-847-961-0662
rmaganin@opentext.com