Department of Justice plans major IT security investment


13 Jul 2006

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is prepared to invest in a major enterprise firewall implementation for its new data centre in Dublin’s city centre that will support between 1,000 and potentially 3,000 users on an “anywhere, anytime” basis in Ireland and overseas.

According to a tender published by the Department, it is seeking the outright purchase, installation, maintenance and support of enterprise-class perimeter defence gateways, otherwise known as firewalls, in a dual-tier configuration to enable the creation of one or more demilitarised zones between the external tier and internal users.

The awarded contract will run for 12 months with an option to extend the contract for a further three years.

The department said it has made a strategic investment in Citrix technology through which all applications are delivered. “The department intends to continue to derive maximum benefit from this investment,” it said.

The Citrix architecture has enabled the delivery of the department’s desktop to its staff on an “anyplace, anytime” basis, which has resulted in flexibility advantages for e-workers, staff working overseas and decentralised offices.

All IT services are currently provided from a single location, which serves as a communications and services hub for the Department of Justice’s network.

The department is currently in the process of fitting out a new data centre site in its Pinebrook House building to replace the existing infrastructure in the Ardilaun Centre.

The Department of Justice issued the tender to acquire new firewalls to secure the new data centre in Dublin’s city centre.

In its tender document, the Department of Justice says it will look favourably on any system with advanced Citrix capabilities.

The department said it is looking for firewalls that can support sites with 1,000 to 1,500 or more users. However, the new firewalls must be capable of also supporting a future expansion to a site that can host 3,000 users.

By John Kennedy