Oldham Council deploy Open Source software to deliver low cost services to schools
The Unity Partnership ICT department, working on behalf of Oldham Council has migrated infrastructure delivering Internet connectivity to all schools in the borough to Open Source software to lower costs and improve operational performance.
Sirius Corporation plc, the European Open Source services group, has
been selected by Agilisys, Unity Partnership’s ICT Service Provider, to
assist in the development of a high speed web delivery and filtering
solution for Oldham's schools. The new system will filter Internet
content delivered to Oldham's 112 primary and secondary schools through
a 56Mbs connection.
Sirius was selected by Unity Partnership because it has a successful
track record working on similar projects for Carmarthenshire County
Council and the Yorkshire & Humberside Grid for Learning.
Unity Partnership became interested in Open Source software when
investigation proved that it could be combined with existing branded
software to deliver a faster, cheaper and more scalable solution to
their client.
In this case, the Open Source web proxy Squid, MySQL and Linux have
been used in combination with Websense, a market-leading web filtering
technology, to protect Oldham's school children from accessing
inappropriate content on the Internet.
David Honeywell, Programme Manager, Unity Partnership said: “We like
MySQL because it's free and simple to use if you have a background in
Microsoft databases. Squid is also the basis of large web-filtering
solutions deployed to schools elsewhere in the UK.
“Sirius has the experience to advise us on how to deliver better
services to our clients using Open Source software and we believe that
the combined efforts of our organisations have generated an innovative,
robust and cost effective solution for schools in the Borough.”
Mark Taylor, CEO, Sirius Corporation said: “We are delighted to be
working in partnership with Unity Partnership. They are one of a
growing number of ICT service providers who are working with Open
Source software to deliver better value in ICT procurement.
“Despite the lack of political will within central government, more and
more local councils are using Open Source software because it costs
less and reduces the risks associated with technology lock-in.”
