Microsoft Ireland and The Cara Group have won a major IT contract with Cork County Council that will involve the consolidation of up to 60 servers into a single server operating system based on Windows Server 2003 for the management of more than 1,200 PC users throughout the organisation.
The main objective of the project is to boost overall productivity of Cork County Council and its constituent departments and lower the total cost of ownership of its infrastructure.
Cork County Council is also in the process of upgrading its desktop operating system to Microsoft Windows XP aimed at improving the Council’s desktop infrastructure in terms of security, network capability and advanced recovery options.
Other aspects of the project include improved access and communication facilities and security offered by Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and easier deployment and management of Active Directory.
“As the country’s largest council we are focused on constantly improving the services we provide to the people of County Cork and improving the effectiveness of our technology systems is a key part of that strategy,” said Cork County Council’s IT director James Fogarty.
“The services that we provide cover a multitude of concerns, from planning and development to economic growth, from active community participation to environmental conservation. A stable and efficient IT infrastructure is critical in terms of helping us to deliver these services,” he said.
By John Kennedy
