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House
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Department
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Answering member
More
Thomas, Gareth (2)
Legislative stage
Legislation
Subject
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To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and (b) software standard packages used in his Department.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and (b) software standard packages used in his Department.
Asked by
Bob Spink
(Conservative)
Answered by
Gareth Thomas
(Labour; Co-operative Party)
Answering body
Department for International Development
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
1 April 2004
For answer on
19 April 2004
Answered on
19 April 2004
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and
(b) software standard packages used in his Department. [166376]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: Computer hardware and software updates are determined and agreed as part of DFID's e-business, ICT and Knowledge
Sharing strategic studies.
Hardware refresh cycles are subject to a rolling programme based upon the expected life span of the equipment involved--usually
every 4-5 years. Details of the current hardware upgrade plans are at Table 1.
The timing of software updates tends to be driven by the need to deliver additional functionality, to comply with legislative
changes (e.g. payroll) and to remain within support matrices for the products. Details of the current software update plans are at
Table 2.
Table 1: Hardware upgrades
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Hardware type Date purchased Life (years) Upgrade due
HP4 L2000 Mini computer 2000 4-5 2004-05
HP AutoRAID Mini computer 2001 4-5 2005-06
HP5 L2000 Mini computer 2001 4-5 2005-06
HP6 L2000 Mini computer 2002 4-5 2006-07
Compaq Storage Area Networks (3) 2001-03 3-4 2004-07
NT Web Servers (45) 2000-02 4-5 2004-07
Network servers 2001 4-5 2005-06
Desktop pcs 2002 4-5 2006-07
Laptop pcs 2003-04 2-3 2005-07
Printers 2003 3-4 2006-07
PDAs 2003-04 n/k n/k
Copiers 2002 4-5 2006-08
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Table 2: Software Upgrades
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Software description Installed Upgrade path Upgrade due
HP Unix Operating System v11 2001 HPUXv12
2005?
Windows 2000 (network os) 2001 Windows 2003 2004
Oracle v8i (corporate database) 2001 Oracle v9i or 1 0g 2004
CODA v7 (Financial) 2001 1n/k n/k
Rebus v3.4 (HR) 2003 Rebus v 3.6 2004
Citrix XP (Thin client Access) 2003 Citrix (newer version) 2006?
Novell NetWare v 5.1 (network os) 2002 Windows 2003 2005-06
Win98 desktop os (UK) 2002 WinXP 2005-06
Win2000 desktop os (overseas) 2002-04 WinXP 2005-06
Novel GroupWise v5.5 (e-mail) 2002 Microsoft Exchange 2005-06
Microsoft Office 2000 2002 MS Office XP 2005-06
_________________________________________________________________________________________________.
1 Will be reviewed as part of the Aries project and may be replaced.
Subjects
Software; Computers; Department for International Development; ICT; Government departments
Date
19 April 2004
Reference
166376; 420 c392-4W
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in his Department.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in his Department.
Asked by
Lord Allan of Hallam
Answered by
Gareth Thomas
(Labour; Co-operative Party)
Answering body
Department for International Development
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
21 January 2004
For answer on
28 January 2004
Answered on
28 January 2004
Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all
Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in his Department. [151055]
Mr. Gareth Thomas: A series of audit mechanisms are in place within DFID to determine that all IT hardware and software products are
being properly utilised. User guidance on Acceptable Use is in force and is published on the DFID Intranet (InSight).
The arrangements to track hardware assets are as follows:
1. Details of PC and printer hardware are maintained in the Desktop Inventory software package by Peregrine. Equipment is held both
by type and by allocated serial number, and details are entered at the time of issue (or re-4 issue) of to whom equipment is issued
and where it is located. Periodic stocktakes are undertaken to confirm and to update the information held in the inventory database,
and anomalies are investigated.
2. Details of remote working laptop computers are held in a separate Microsoft Access database. This has been found to be more
convenient from a support point of view since laptops tend to require rather more maintenance in service, and more configuration
information can be held in this form of corporate record. Again, the equipment is recorded by a uniquely- allocated serial number,
and is allocated to a named individual.
3. A separate issue and return record is maintained for pool laptops, under which authorised individuals may draw a laptop, and sign
for it when taking it out. Issues are time dependant, with users being responsible for the safe return of the equipment--late
returns are followed up.
The arrangements to record software products in use are as follows:
1. DFID employs a standard desktop system, which is distributed to all users. The latest version of this is locked down--this means
that only the system supervisor can load application software onto the machine, and executable program files cannot be downloaded
from the Internet.
2. The Information Systems Department will load other authorised software for specific individuals or departments who require it,
but not until it has been fully tested to confirm that it does not interfere with any other software loaded on the machine or the
network.
3. The Desktop Inventory product is used centrally to report on what software is loaded on DFID computers, and to check for the
presence of files that contravene the central Acceptable Use Policy. Where suspicious files (eg .MP3, .jpg and .bmp files) are
identified, these are either deleted or the reason for their presence is investigated by the Technical Security Manager.
Software licences are held and managed centrally, as a manual exercise at the moment. A Software Asset Management (SAM) system is
currently under investigation to automate this process.
Operationally, user activity on the system, including file accesses, is logged, and the log files are subject to spot checks. User
Internet activity is likewise logged and available for spot checks--this includes sites visited from remote working systems.
Subjects
Audit; Software; Computers; Department for International Development; ICT; Government departments; Monitoring; Standards
Date
28 January 2004
Reference
151055; 417 c422W
House
House of Commons