February 24, 2015
Egress Software Technologies today announced the ongoing success of a secure communication project undertaken with Flintshire County Council. Using award-winning encryption service Egress Switch, the council is able to secure and control the sensitive information it needs to share with external third parties, including other authorities; health, social care and education providers; and citizens. In addition, used by all local authorities in North Wales, Switch provides a single platform for secure communication across the region.
Alun Kime, IT Information Manager at Flintshire County Council, explains: “In order to provide services throughout Flintshire and neighbouring counties, the council is required to share a range of personal information with authorised third parties, including NHS and blue light organisations, legal advisors, and care providers.
“In addition to its secure communication functionality, one of the reasons we chose Switch is because it is also used by our neighbouring local authorities, as well as organisations such as North Wales Fire and Rescue Service. As a result, Switch provides a single secure communication platform across North Wales, meaning end-users do not have to deal with four or five different solutions when communicating securely with each other, which would have been the alternative.”
Flintshire County Council provides a variety of services to a population of over 152,000 residents. As a result of the growing need to exchange sensitive information electronically with approved third parties and citizens as part of service delivery, in 2013 the council re-examined its secure data sharing policy and subsequently adopted Switch to encrypt and control this information.
Kime continues: “Not only does Switch fit in with the wider secure information sharing policy across the region, it is also suited to our internal infrastructure. Switch integrates with IBM Lotus Notes and can also be used via the web client, making it suitable for our present email environment. In addition, we have installed Egress Switch Gateway to implement policy at our network boundary and thereby strengthen data protection. The council is currently in the process of moving to Exchange and look forward to the enhanced large file transfer integration available through Microsoft Outlook.
“We have had excellent support from Egress Software Technologies throughout the project, including account management, onsite visits when required, the Egress Customer Service helpdesk and technical articles on the Egress website.”
Kelly McCann, Egress UK Sales Manager, comments: “Throughout our work with them, Flintshire County Council have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to ensuring the highest levels of information security when sharing confidential data electronically. Their choice to implement Switch not only reflects their understanding of the importance of securing this information at an organisational level but also at a regional one too. We look forward to continuing to work alongside Flintshire County Council and other organisations in Wales to provide flexible encryption services that reflect their needs.”
