Novell delivers Intelligent Workload Management for the NHS

UK National Health Service benefits from Novell enterprise infrastructure software and services in preparation for the UK Government Cloud Computing Programme

Novell announced it has extended its deal, estimated at 6 million pounds, with the National Health Service (NHS) to provide enhanced IT security as well as infrastructure software and collaboration solutions across the organisation. The agreement will help lay the foundations for the UK Government Cloud Computing Programme and support the NHS' ongoing commitment to green IT.

Novell will provide the NHS with:

• Open Enterprise Server 2 and Storage and Access Manager to act as the operating system backbone to support over 300,000 users
  
• ZENworks Configuration Management for remote management, enabling IT teams to issue updates and fixes remotely
• Patch Management, Asset Management and SecureLogin have been added as part of a key initiative to do more to keep patient records secure and confidential
• Teaming+Conferencing for real-time collaboration and communication between departments

The deal brings to life Novell's Intelligent Workload Management (IWM) vision to create a path for the NHS to apply identity management and security to workloads that will run in the cloud. Intelligent Workload Management will enable IT teams at the NHS to manage and optimise computing resources in a policy-driven, secure and compliant manner across physical, virtual and cloud environments.

Mark Ferrar, strategy director at the NHS comments, “One of the goals for the NHS is to achieve greater value from its infrastructure. Standardising on open source not only reduces costs, but will also underpin two key strategic initiatives for the NHS – reducing our environmental impact and moving towards a cloud computing environment. The Novell contract will ultimately improve the working lives of more than 530,000 healthcare professionals, benefiting over 50 million patients. ”

Javier Colado, president EMEA at Novell, says, “The NHS is one of Novell's most important customers in Europe. Using Novell's Intelligent Workload Management solutions will help the NHS keep patient data safe, streamline operations, boost green IT and prepare to move to a cloud computing IT environment. We look forward to working closely with senior members at the NHS over the next three to five years to make these plans a reality."