From Legacy to Cloud: OpenText’s Path to Modern CCM

Customer Communications Management (CCM) has long been a cornerstone of successful enterprises. Legacy CCM systems—once the backbone of high-volume document generation and transactional communications—are now struggling to meet the exponential expectations of today’s digital-first customers.

As we move into the experience economy, where personalization, omnichannel delivery, and compliance are mission-critical, transitioning from legacy systems to modern, cloud-based CCM is now a necessity, not a luxury. At the forefront of this transformation is OpenText, a global leader in information management solutions, guiding organizations on their journey from legacy infrastructure to agile, secure, and future-proof cloud CCM.

In this blog, we will unpack OpenText’s strategic vision, explore the business and technical drivers behind the shift, detail OpenText’s cloud CCM capabilities, showcase best practices for migration, and offer a roadmap for organizations seeking to modernize and future-proof their customer experience.

What is Legacy CCM?

Legacy CCM refers to the traditional, on-premises software platforms that produce structured communications such as statements, bills, policy documents, and letters. These platforms were designed for high-volume print output, often siloed within specific departments (finance, claims, customer service), and are deeply embedded in critical business processes.

Pain Points of Legacy CCM

1. Siloed Operations and Limited Integration

Legacy CCM systems are often isolated across departments, making it difficult to obtain a 360-degree view of customer interactions or manage communications consistently across the enterprise.

2. Complexity and Technical Debt

Custom code, aging infrastructure, and skills shortages among legacy system administrators increase technical debt, operational risk, and maintenance costs.

3. Compliance and Security Risks

Legacy systems can struggle to adapt to evolving compliance regulations (GDPR, HIPAA), putting organizations at risk of fines and reputational damage.

4. Inability to Meet Modern CX Demands

Customers expect real-time, interactive, and personalized communication via their channel of choice—including email, SMS, mobile apps, chat, and social media. Legacy CCM systems are ill-equipped to deliver such dynamic, omnichannel experiences.

5. Cost and Scalability Constraints

Hardware limitations, on-premises licensing, and manual workflows lead to high operational costs and poor scalability, especially when business needs fluctuate.

6. End-of-Life and Vendor Support

Many legacy CCM vendors have announced end-of-life for aging products, forcing organizations to confront difficult choices about upgrade paths and future support.

The Imperative for Modernization

Why Modernize Now?

• Digital-First Expectations: 64% of consumers wish companies would respond faster to their changing needs. [Accenture]
• Competitive Pressure: Customer experience is now a key differentiator—companies that fail to modernize risk losing their customer base to more nimble competitors.
• Regulatory Compliance: Compliance requirements are increasing in scope and complexity across industries.
• Remote Work and Flexibility: Cloud technologies provide the flexibility needed in today’s distributed work environments.
• ROI and ROE: Modern solutions boost both Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Experience (ROE) by increasing productivity, reducing risk, and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Signs It’s Time to Modernize

According to OpenText, you should consider CCM modernization if:

• Your business is unable to address new communication needs.
• You struggle to gain insights into customer preferences and behaviors.
• Legacy applications reduce productivity or are costly to amend.
• Modern solutions could simplify your business processes.
• You’re considering cloud-based solutions for future readiness.

The Shift: From CCM to CXM

A critical aspect of modernization is the evolution from Customer Communications Management (CCM) to Customer Experience Management (CXM). This shift expands the focus from transactional, document-centric communications to holistic, personalized customer journeys.

Key Differences

• CCM: Focuses on producing and distributing documents.
• CXM: Encompasses all touchpoints, experience orchestration, analytics, personalization, and two-way engagement—delivering seamless, consistent customer journeys.

OpenText’s Vision

OpenText’s Experience Cloud is purpose-built to support this transformation, providing a unified platform for omnichannel CCM and CXM with deep analytics, automation, and AI-powered personalization.

OpenText’s Cloud-Native CCM Solutions

OpenText™ Experience Cloud is a cloud-native CCM platform that unifies content, communications, data, and analytics to deliver personalized, compliant customer experiences across channels. It supports digital transformation by centralizing engagement strategies while offering flexible scaling. As a SaaS solution, it runs on public, private, or hybrid clouds—enabling smooth, disruption-free transitions.

Key Features and Capabilities

1. Omnichannel Communication Management
   OpenText Experience Cloud supports consistent, personalized communication across all touchpoints—print, email, web, WhatsApp, RCS, mobile apps, and more. A centralized interface ensures coherent messaging, brand consistency, and a seamless customer experience across all channels and devices.
2. Cloud-Native Architecture and Scalability
   Built on a microservices architecture, the platform offers high availability, elastic scalability, and CI/CD pipeline support. It’s cloud-agnostic—deployable on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or OpenText Cloud—enabling performance at scale and flexibility in deployment.

• AI-Driven Personalization with Experience Aviator
  Experience Aviator uses generative AI to deliver hyper-personalized content at scale. By analyzing customer data and context, it creates tailored content, adapts in real time, and drives more meaningful interactions—all backed by enterprise knowledge bases.

• Robust Integration Ecosystem
  With prebuilt connectors and open APIs, the platform integrates with leading systems like Salesforce, Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, Guidewire, Duck Creek, and Temenos. These integrations ensure real-time access to customer data and streamlined communication workflows.
  
  
• Enterprise-Grade Security and Compliance
  Security is core, with encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access, audit trails, and compliance with GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, and ISO 27001—ensuring data protection and regulatory confidence.
  
  
• Intuitive, Low-Code Design Environment
  Business users can easily create and manage templates using a drag-and-drop, HTML5-based low-code interface. This accelerates development, reduces IT dependency, and enables quick responses to changing needs.
  
  
• Advanced Analytics and Optimization
  Built-in analytics provide real-time performance insights. Dashboards, A/B testing, and journey analytics help fine-tune engagement strategies and improve conversion rates through data-driven optimization.
  
  
• Accelerated Legacy Migration Tooling
  OpenText provides tools to automate migration from legacy systems like StreamServe, xPression, Classic Exstream, and others. These tools reduce manual effort, cut risk, and speed up cloud CCM adoption.
  
  

The Business Case: Benefits of OpenText Cloud CCM

Adopting OpenText’s cloud-native Customer Communications Management (CCM) platform delivers strategic value across operational efficiency, customer engagement, and regulatory compliance. Below are the key business benefits that make a strong case for transitioning to OpenText Experience Cloud:

1. Faster Time-to-Market
   With its cloud-native architecture and streamlined workflows, OpenText Experience Cloud shortens the development, approval, and deployment cycle of customer communications. This agility helps organizations quickly adapt to customer needs, regulatory shifts, and market changes—keeping them competitive.
2. Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
   Eliminating on-premises infrastructure and reducing custom development significantly lowers capital and maintenance costs. Cloud deployment eases IT workloads, while centralized updates and scalability reduce hidden operational expenses—delivering long-term savings.
3. Enhanced Agility & Innovation
   The flexible microservices architecture supports rapid innovation and seamless scalability. Organizations can introduce new features, explore emerging channels, and integrate with evolving systems—without disrupting current workflows.
4. Superior Customer Experience
   OpenText enables real-time, hyper-personalized communications across email, mobile, web, print, and social channels. This consistent, relevant engagement strengthens trust, improves satisfaction, and boosts customer lifetime value.
5. Future-Proof Compliance
   Built-in compliance features like automated checks, audit trails, and policy-based governance ensure alignment with global regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. This reduces compliance risk and accelerates response to regulatory changes.
6. Workforce Empowerment
   Intuitive low-code tools allow business teams to create and manage communications with minimal IT support. This accelerates campaigns, removes bottlenecks, and frees IT to focus on strategic priorities—fostering a more agile, empowered enterprise.
7. Proven Success
   Trusted by 9 of the top 10 Fortune 500 life insurers and 7 of the top 10 global banks, OpenText Experience Cloud has driven measurable gains in customer satisfaction, efficiency, and compliance—proving its value at enterprise scale.

The OpenText Cloud CCM Migration Roadmap

OpenText’s Accelerated Modernization Program (AMP)

OpenText’s Accelerated Modernization Program (AMP) provides a structured, proven framework for modernizing from legacy Customer Communications Management (CCM) systems to the cloud. This phased approach ensures minimal disruption, faster value realization, and long-term transformation aligned with business goals.

Phase 1: Assess and Deploy

• Current State Assessment: Evaluate business needs, technical debt, and existing communications landscape.
• Future State Design: Collaborate on a tailored vision—how Experience Cloud will address unique challenges.
• Quick Wins Identification: Target high-impact, low-complexity use cases to demonstrate rapid value.

Phase 2: Modernize, Adopt, and Manage

• Custom Migration Plan: Map legacy templates, workflows, and integrations to cloud-native equivalents.
• Migration Tooling: Leverage automated tools to accelerate template, asset, and logic migration—minimizing manual work and business disruption.
• Managed Adoption: Provide training, success, and managed services to ensure user adoption and operational stability.

Phase 3: Decommission Legacy

• Phased Decommissioning: Gradually retire legacy applications, with strong archiving and compliance plans.
• Continuous Optimization: Use analytics and feedback to iterate, innovate, and maximize ROI.

Why a Phased Approach?

A “rip and replace” strategy is rarely feasible for large organizations with deeply embedded CCM. The phased approach ensures low risk, business continuity, and iterative value delivery.

Value Mapping and Needs Assessment

OpenText recommends a thorough value mapping exercise, including:

• Business objectives prioritization
• Inventory of current assets, functionality, and integrations
• Employee satisfaction surveys and focus groups
• Gap assessment on compliance, security, and user experience
• Cloud readiness evaluation

Overcoming Migration Challenges

Common Obstacles

• Highly customized legacy systems and undocumented workflows
• Regulatory restrictions on data migration and storage
• Stakeholder change management and buy-in
• Skills gaps among legacy platform administrators

OpenText’s Solutions

• Automated migration accelerators (PDF Design Import, DocX Import, Rationalization tool)
• Deep integration capabilities with both cloud and on-premises systems
• Robust training and managed services to support the transition
• Comprehensive compliance frameworks and support

Real-World Success Stories

1. Insurance Industry Transformation

A global life insurer migrated from a fragmented, on-premises CCM to OpenText Experience Cloud. By consolidating communications and enabling omnichannel journeys, the company achieved:

• 30% faster time-to-market for new products
• 25% reduction in operating costs
• 50% improvement in customer satisfaction scores

2. Banking Sector Modernization

A major global bank replaced legacy document generation systems with cloud-native OpenText Communications. The results:

• Seamless digital onboarding and loan servicing
• Real-time, personalized notifications via SMS, email, and app
• Near-perfect compliance and audit readiness

3. Healthcare Compliance Enhancement

A healthcare provider adopted OpenText cloud CCM to ensure HIPAA compliance, automate patient communications, and integrate with EHR systems, resulting in:

• Automated, compliant document workflows
• Enhanced patient engagement through secure portals
• Operational cost savings and improved care coordination

The Future: AI, Automation, and the Experience Economy

OpenText is continuously expanding its cloud CCM capabilities. Recent enhancements include:

• GenAI-Powered Content Creation: Rapid generation of compliant, personalized content using trusted corporate knowledge.
• Journey Analytics: End-to-end insights into customer interactions and behaviors.
• Seamless Integration: Broader out-of-the-box connectors for CRMs, ERPs, and data lakes.
• Automation and Orchestration: Event-driven triggers, workflow automation, and self-service capabilities for business teams.

The rise of the experience economy means organizations must not only communicate, but orchestrate meaningful, context-aware engagement at every touchpoint. OpenText’s cloud CCM provides the scale, agility, and intelligence needed to thrive in this new reality.

Best Practices for a Successful CCM Cloud Transformation

• Secure Executive Sponsorship: Make modernization a strategic priority, with leadership buy-in and clear KPIs.
• Engage Stakeholders Early: Include business, IT, compliance, and customer experience teams from the outset.
• Map Current and Future State: Document current assets, pain points, and envision the ideal customer journey.
• Leverage Accelerators: Use automated tools and expert services to reduce migration complexity and risk.
• Adopt an Iterative Approach: Modernize in waves, focusing on high-value communications and channels first.
• Train and Empower Users: Equip business users with the knowledge and tools to own and evolve communications.
• Monitor, Optimize, Innovate: Use analytics to track adoption, measure impact, and drive continuous improvement.

Conclusion: The Time to Act is Now

The transition from legacy CCM to a modern, cloud-native platform is more than a technology upgrade—it is a strategic imperative in the digital age. As customer expectations soar and regulatory demands intensify, only cloud-based, intelligent CCM can deliver the agility, compliance, and experiences today’s enterprises need.

OpenText, with its proven Experience Cloud suite and deep migration expertise, is the trusted partner for organizations seeking to modernize at scale. By embracing OpenText’s path, enterprises can unlock faster innovation, superior customer engagement, and long-term competitive advantage.

Are you ready to modernize your CCM and future-proof your customer experience? Connect with OpenText experts at Macrosoft to discover your tailored path from legacy to cloud—and join the leaders who are redefining customer engagement for the future.

ByAllen Shapiro | Published on June 13th, 2025 | Customer Communications Management Solutions, New Technology and Trends