FTP - OpenText Legal Hold Integration and Automation

Common Integration Use Cases Between FTP and OpenText Legal Hold

FTP and OpenText Legal Hold complement each other in environments where large volumes of files, exports, and archived records must be preserved for legal, regulatory, or investigative purposes. FTP provides a reliable batch transfer mechanism for moving files from operational systems, shared drives, or partner repositories into the legal hold process, while OpenText Legal Hold ensures those records are identified, tracked, and protected from deletion.

1. Automated transfer of custodial file exports into legal hold review

When litigation is anticipated, IT or records teams can use FTP to move large custodial file exports from file servers, backup repositories, or legacy systems into a secure staging location connected to OpenText Legal Hold. Legal teams can then review the files, identify relevant content, and place it under hold.

• Direction: FTP to OpenText Legal Hold
• Business value: Speeds up preservation of potentially relevant evidence and reduces manual collection effort
• Typical users: Legal operations, IT, eDiscovery teams

2. Batch ingestion of archived business records for preservation

Organizations often store contracts, invoices, project files, or correspondence in archive systems that only support file-based export. FTP can be used to transfer these archived records into a controlled repository associated with OpenText Legal Hold so they can be preserved during investigations or regulatory matters.

• Direction: FTP to OpenText Legal Hold
• Business value: Ensures older records are preserved without disrupting source systems
• Typical users: Compliance, records management, legal counsel

3. Scheduled transfer of custodian data extracts from legacy systems

Many enterprises maintain legacy HR, finance, or document systems that cannot directly integrate with modern legal hold tools. FTP can automate scheduled exports of custodian-related files and metadata from these systems into OpenText Legal Hold, helping legal teams quickly identify who had access to relevant information and what content must be preserved.

• Direction: FTP to OpenText Legal Hold
• Business value: Reduces dependency on manual data collection from legacy platforms
• Typical users: IT, HR, finance, legal hold administrators

4. Preservation of large multimedia evidence files

In industries such as manufacturing, retail, media, and transportation, relevant evidence may include large video files, images, or audio recordings. FTP is well suited for transferring these large files into a secure location tied to OpenText Legal Hold, where they can be retained for litigation or internal investigations.

• Direction: FTP to OpenText Legal Hold
• Business value: Supports preservation of high-volume, high-size evidence that is difficult to move through email or manual upload
• Typical users: Legal, security, operations, compliance

5. Legal hold notification and custodian evidence package distribution

OpenText Legal Hold can generate custodian-specific hold notices, instructions, or evidence request packages. These documents can be exported and distributed through FTP to regional offices, external counsel, or business units that still rely on file-based delivery methods.

• Direction: OpenText Legal Hold to FTP
• Business value: Enables consistent distribution of legal hold materials across distributed or partner-based organizations
• Typical users: Legal operations, external counsel, regional compliance teams

6. Secure exchange of preservation status reports and audit files

Legal teams often need to share hold status reports, custodian lists, and audit logs with compliance, internal audit, or outside counsel. OpenText Legal Hold can export these reports, and FTP can deliver them to designated secure folders for downstream review, archival, or case management.

• Direction: OpenText Legal Hold to FTP
• Business value: Improves transparency and supports defensible audit trails for legal hold activity
• Typical users: Legal, compliance, audit, outside counsel

7. Bi-directional synchronization of hold-related file inventories

In some organizations, FTP is used to exchange file inventories or metadata between source systems and a legal repository. OpenText Legal Hold can receive these inventories to identify held content, while updated hold status or preservation instructions can be exported back through FTP to operational teams responsible for retaining the files.

• Direction: Bi-directional
• Business value: Keeps operational teams aligned with legal preservation requirements and reduces risk of accidental deletion
• Typical users: IT operations, records management, legal hold administrators

8. Offsite preservation of legal hold evidence archives

For long-running matters, organizations may need to maintain separate offsite copies of preserved evidence. FTP can transfer held files from OpenText Legal Hold-managed repositories to secure archival storage or disaster recovery locations, ensuring continuity of preservation even if primary systems are unavailable.

• Direction: OpenText Legal Hold to FTP
• Business value: Strengthens resilience and supports long-term retention obligations
• Typical users: Legal, infrastructure, compliance, disaster recovery teams