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TMCNet: Pirean: Oxfordshire County Council selects Pirean Compliance:One to help meet Government Connect target

[October 19, 2009]

Pirean: Oxfordshire County Council selects Pirean Compliance:One to help meet Government Connect target

London, England, Oct 19, 2009 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Pirean, a leading delivery partner for IT Security and Service Management, today announced that Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) has selected Pirean Compliance:One to securely manage access to software applications for over 100,000 students and staff. This selection will enable OCC to meet critical targets set by the Government Connect initiative and Data Protection Act while streamlining access to digital resources at the county's 285 educational facilities.


Pirean Compliance:One, built to provide a robust framework for complex Identity, Access and Audit Management functions, will save IT administrators hundreds of work hours while improving the end-user experience through offering a self-service provisioning solution from a centrally managed console. The solution provides clarity and control over which users can access which resources.

Through choosing Compliance:One, OCC will be able to manage the integrated secure single sign-on to users registered within 300 separate databases, simplifying the process for both administrators and end users as the system manages the security infrastructure which parents use to access the council's systems remotely to monitor each child's curriculum and progress.

"Compliance:One has been selected for its ability to integrate with the systems we use from Capita, Citrix and RM which are vital for our delivery of e-learning" explains Stephan Conaway, Head of ICT Services at Oxfordshire County Council.

Going forwards, Compliance:One will play a key role in assisting OCC to meet critical requirements under Government Connect, a pan-government programme providing an accredited and secure network between central government and every local authority in England and Wales. The network is known as GCSX (Government Connect Secure Extranet). GCSX is part of the wider Government Secure Intranet (GSi) and provides connectivity to nearly all-central departments.

The project for OCC is part of the UK governments' substantial investment in e-learning technology and materials in schools in England and Wales. The effective use of high quality, digital interactive materials can enhance the National Curriculum and focus on the talents and abilities of individual pupils. Parents can also monitor and contribute to their child's learning through the portal, as well as enabling schools to offer extended learning to the parents themselves.

"The problem many county councils are finding is that these types of learning portals require technology from several vendors and trying to secure and manage so many disparate systems is incredibly complex and expensive," explains Mike Cartwright, CTO for Pirean, "Compliance:One provides a powerful framework to integrate each element and provide a single security and management platform irrespective of which combinations of web presentation technology, Virtual Learning Environment provider and database technology are used during the creation of the service ." With Compliance:One, county councils can define policies for access control and security, which each school can use with self-service web technologies. The system implements a closed-loop solution for policy enforcement, account provisioning and audit. The centralised and accurate reporting of application usage will provide OCC information that can be used for more efficient asset management and reduction in on-going software costs of ownership.

Compliance:One was originally designed to meet complex compliance requirements within large financial institutions, organisations which need to assign policy driven, secure and audited access to hundreds of applications for tens or even hundreds of thousands of users spread across disparate locations.

"The worlds of education and banking may appear to be quite different, however the needs of managers and staff actually mirror the relationship between teachers and pupils when it comes to providing access to applications - whether that's a brokerage system or an e-learning platform, the processes are very similar," explains Mike Cartwright, CTO for Pirean, "One of the key features of Compliance:One is a library of application interfaces that spans hundreds of common (and bespoke) systems allowing us to quickly bring software into a common management framework." The solution rollout commences in October 2009 and will streamline rights management and ensure the security of the council's systems and data, providing a central management and oversight capability. Compliance:One will also offer each educational establishment customisable interfaces, tailored reporting and key security compliance in line with UK Government Connect requirements.

About Pirean Pirean is a leading systems integrator and consultancy delivering real-time business and service assurance through solutions for infrastructure and application management.

Working in partnership with Pirean, your business will quicklyrealisethe full potential of your technology infrastructure. We focus on helping our clients to achieve their business goals and providing them ongoing support through proven capabilities in: - Business Consulting - Technology Consulting - Software Development and Application Delivery - Tailored Managed Services and Solution Assured Support We deliver the visibility, control and automation capability that you need from your infrastructure and applications to deliver robust, highly available and streamlined business services while managing risk and compliance. Our unique blend of services and capabilities enable us to help you take a strategic view of your business; where you are, where you want to go and how to better leverage the resources you have to get there.

Pirean are one of Europe's Leading IBM Premier Business Partners, having been awarded IBM Tivoli's AAA Accreditations for a range of products in both the IT Service Management and Security portfolios. Accolades include the IBM 'Business Partner Innovation Award' and 'Beacon Award Finalist - Outstanding Service Management Tivoli Solution' in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

We deliver expert support for Infrastructure, Service and Security Management platforms using IBM technologies throughout the life of your solution from design and build through delivery and into ongoing performance improvement and support.

CONTACT: Anne Harding, The Message Machine Tel: +44 (0)1895 631 448 Tel: +44 (0)7887 682 943 e-mail: anne@themessagemachine.com Pirean WWW: http://www.pirean.com ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.

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