South Essex Partnership NHS Trust Uses Sophos To Secure Networks
South Essex Partnership NHS Trust has deployed Sophos PureMessage and Sophos Anti-Virus to protect its networks from viruses, spam, Trojan horses and malicious spyware. The Trust, which is one of the UK’s largest providers of health and social care services, required a highly effective, low-maintenance security solution. The system was provided and installed by Sophos partner, Access IT.
The Trust, which recognised the need for both email gateway and desktop protection, has an extensive IT infrastructure that consists of more than 50 servers and 1,500 workstations, spread over 35 different sites throughout South Essex. In order to deal with this extensive deployment with an IT department consisting of only five support staff and one helpdesk employee, it was vital to have a system with quick and convenient automatic updating capabilities.
As well as installing the system, Sophos partner Access IT also provided on-site training for the Trust, which services the entire 715,000 population of South Essex.
“Like most organisations, the majority of the Trust’s employees are not IT experts, so putting an anti-virus solution in place that put zero demands on the average computer user was ideal,” said Tony Little, sales and marketing executive, Access IT. “With portions of the Trust’s network consisting of 512K connections, it was vital to keep demands on resource requirements to a minimum so as not to cause slowdowns for the end users.”
“Sophos’s anti-virus solution looked the best on paper and it surpassed expectations when we put it into practice,” said Jason Button, IT&T supervisor, South Essex Partnership NHS Trust. “When the software was installed, we caught 400 viruses, including quite dangerous ones such as Netsky-P. All of these viruses were missed by our previous anti-virus software.”
About South Essex Partnership NHS Trust
South Essex Partnership NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS providers in the country of health and social care services for people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities. It has maintained its position as a three star Trust for the last two years. In South Essex, the Trust covers a population of around 715,000, and has an annual income of £81.4 million to deliver services for local people. It also delivers forensic mental health services for the whole of Essex.
About Sophos
Sophos is a world leading computer security specialist, developing anti-virus and anti-spam software. Headquartered in the UK, the company produces solutions tailored for businesses of all sizes – from small enterprises to global corporations. Sophos is acclaimed for delivering the highest level of customer satisfaction and protection in the industry. The company’s products are sold and supported in more than 150 countries and protect more than 35 million users.
About Access IT
Access IT is a leading Internet Integrator based in the heart of Kent, with clients ranging from SMEs to Corporations, Heath Authorities, Local Government and Educational establishments. Access IT has a long-standing business relationship with Sophos, was amongst the first Sophos Certified Partners in the country, and has been nominated for Sophos Reseller of the Year two years running. www.accessit.co.uk.