November 2007 Newsletter

Service Delivery

During the last few months Rob Shepley, our Service Delivery Manager, has been placing considerable emphasis on customer satisfaction. He has undertaken a number of initiatives that have led to us improving both the quality and quantity of feedback we receive from customers and ensured that we have acted on the results.

Post-support call survey

The first measure has been to improve the support survey that is sent out at the completion of every support call. By making this shorter we have been able to greatly increase the number of responses we have received and as a result have seen a jump in our customer satisfaction index from 68.4% in March of this year to rates now regularly over 80%.

Company satisfaction survey

In addition to this regular feedback we will also be sending out a bi-annual survey that will ask for feedback on all parts of the company, not just support. This will ensure that everyone in Salford Software is aware of our customers' needs and will enable us to improve service levels in every department. The first of these is here, and to provide an added incentive all participants in the survey will be entered in a free prize draw for £200 of Amazon vouchers.

Open Support customers

Rob has also made direct contact with a significant number of our Open Support customers and collected some interesting feedback. Generally, this feedback is good, but there are some areas that need improving:

• More proactive support
• More telephone communication
• More flexibility in our services

All the feedback is being incorporated into our Continual Improvement Service Plan (CISP) and being actioned accordingly.

If you have any comments you would like to make to Rob, he can be contacted on 0161 906 2305.

Technical Support

We have continued to invest in our skills base by adding two more engineers to our support team. This has given us additional resource in the following areas:

• Linux
• ZENworks and eDirectory

One of the people we recruited was previously a subject-matter expert who had worked for Novell and demonstrates the high skill level that we look for in our support staff. This ensures that when you ring our support desk you will always be able to get through quickly to the expert in your particular problem.

Business development

We're delighted to introduce two new members of the team. Claire Goldberg joined us in September as a senior account manager. Claire will be managing Further Education and NHS customers in the North of England and Scotland. Andy Ostcliffe also joined the team as a Senior Account Manaduring September and is responsible for Local Government and Further Education Customers in the South.

Formed only 12 months ago, the business development team at Salford Software was tasked with taking the company and our solution set into new and emerging market areas. According to the team manager, Steve Dobson, the last 12 months have gone by in a haze due to the number of new opportunities the team has uncovered and won.

These have included key wins in:

• Havering College - IDM solution
• Bucks and Chiltern University College - Identity with Microsoft Exchange Project
• British Red Cross - support services plus Linux roll-out
• Aberdeen City Council - Phases I and II of an IDM project

In addition to this there have also been numerous projects that we have been involved with in the NHS that have utilised our entire range of services and solutions.

All these successes helped the team to achieve sales figures over 30% on budget and has led to a doubling in the number of personnel. Commenting on the successful year, Steve said,

"The unique solution set and skills that Salford Software offers have enabled us to win business in new markets and expand our offerings even further. This in turn will help our existing HE customers as we will be constantly improving the quality and scope of the service we offer to them as a result."

Development

GPAS 4.2

A new release of GPAS has now been made available for download on the Salford Software Customer Portal

This release has many improvements over the previous GPAS 4.1.x suite, with new versions of all GPAS components - the Admin Interface, Log Daemon and the NetWare Spooler.

A full installer is available which allows for the installation of GPAS 4.2 into new environments. This can be downloaded from the "GPAS 4.2 Install" link on the Portal. The installer provides support for both GPAS for NetWare and GPAS for Windows.

To simplify the operation for users already running versions of GPAS for NetWare 4.1.x, upgrade packages are also available to allow upgrading the GPAS Admin Interface to version 4.2.0 and also the GPAS Spooler, GPAS Log Daemon and OS-native components.

Please see the release notes available with each download for a complete list of improvements and fixes.

New kiosk software and GPAS 'talkback' client

The new and improved GPAS kiosk software for TT Transactional kiosks is currently in private beta and will be available shortly, as will the new GPAS 'talkback' client for Windows workstations. Check the forum for the latest information on these releases.

Remote Services

We are in the process of updating both the Remote Analyser and Remote Monitor products. This includes adding IDM support to Remote Analyser. Support for SLES and OES Linux as Remote Analyser targets is currently in development.

Due to demand we are steadily introducing new products that our Remote Monitor service supports. This includes support for GPAS, ZENworks, Novell Storage Manager as well as core services including - DHCP, SLP, File and Print

Power saving

We have had a number of requests to develop more software to work with ZENworks. In particular there has been interest in developing power saving utilities to power down PCs after a certain period of inactivity or at a particular time. If you have upgraded to Windows Vista then you already have more control over power settings via group policy, but most people are often unaware that much of this functionality is already available with Windows XP. In addition, ZENworks includes Wake-on-LAN software to wake up PCs at a particular time.

On XP it is possible to control power settings by calling powercfg.exe as part of a scheduled action (type powercfg /? for more information on what you can set). If you need to shutdown a PC at a particular time, then a scheduled action can call shutdown.exe.

If you need something more advanced, then please let us know and we will be able to put something together for you.

Professional services

Aberdeen Council – Phase II

We are currently involved with putting the final touches to phase II of the Identity Management Solution at Aberdeen Council. Following on from our successful implementation of phase I, this involves connecting the ID vault to the Council's HR system.

The finished system will support some 14,000 government employees at around 100 council sites and will cover - central IT systems, employee identity badges and access to buildings.

York College

York College recently completed its move to a new £60M campus located to the South West of the City. Salford Software were contracted to provide a new Identity Management system in time for the opening in September of this year.

We implemented a solution based on swipe-cards for all students and staff. When first swiped, the cards automatically retrieve data from the student record system and create the relevant accounts for file & print, e-mail and Blackboard the VLE and portal for students. The card is then needed whenever access to resources is required and ensures the correct charge-back is made to the student or staff member when necessary.

Additionally, the system ensures that information is synchronised between the student and their course data.

South Lanarkshire College – Phase II

In our previous newsletter we mentioned that we were working on Phase I of South Lanarkshire College's IDM system. This is now complete and by linking all their systems into one identity management solution it will give the 5,000 students and 300 staff easier access to the college.

We are now working on the requirements analysis for Phase II which will integrate a proximity system to the solution, similar to the Oyster cards used on the London Underground. As well as giving access to buildings it will also provide easy and fast connectivity to:

• File and print resources
• Moodle VLE
• Student record system

Connecting for Health

The Connecting for Health programme aims to bring modern computer systems into the NHS which will improve patient care and services. As part of this Novell has been funded to implement best of breed systems utilising:

• Identity Manager
• ZENworks Desktop Management
• Single Sign on

There are now a number of Beacon sites around the UK where these solutions are being implemented so that other NHS bodies can see their benefits.

Salford Software is proud to announce that we have been selected as one of only 3 supplier organisations to sit on the NHS partner council and provide advice and guidance on these solutions.

Oracle

We are now starting to work more closely with Oracle with a view to integrating their IDM solution into our overall portfolio.

This will further strengthen the experience and knowledge that we possess as the UK leader on IDM solutions for higher education and can only benefit all our customers.

Training

Novell Access manager 3

Novell Access Manager 3 represents the next generation of access management and federated identity solutions. It introduces new "in-the-flow" technologies and SSLVPN functionality that broaden its access-management capabilities as well as supporting a broad range of platforms and directory services. Novell Access Manager provides an advanced solution to secure your infrastructure, prevent information theft and protects the privacy of people inside and outside the organisation.

The 3 day course that we are currently running will enable you to:

• Install Novell Access Manager
• Configure Novell Access Manager IP settings
• Configure Public Certificates
• Set up Novell Access Manager policies
• Configure SSL VPN
• Create a shared identity

Novell Identity Manager 3.5

The New Year will see the launch of the new IDM 3.5 fundamentals course. In the meantime we are getting a good take-up for Advanced Technical Training for IDM 3.5. This 4 day classroom course will enable you to:

• Configure the password management between Novell eDirectory and Active Directory
• Gain a very thorough understanding of Policy Builder by creating policies used for user provisioning. The class focus will shift from XML and XSLT to Policy Builder.
• Learn how to customise your drivers with Policy Builder
• Implement tips and tricks for installation, configuration and customisation of Identity Manager drivers with iManager 2.0.X
• Learn how to implement Entitlements in your environment and work with the Designer application tool
• Learn how to manage Identity data between systems using real world software

For full details of the latest dates for all our Novell, Microsoft and Linux courses see http://www.salfordsoftware.co.uk/training/

Sales

University of Bedfordshire

Increasing competition between higher education (HE) establishments is leading many of them to look at ways of differentiating themselves from the crowd. Such a situation was faced by the University of Bedfordshire, with a main site in Luton and other locations across Bedfordshire, the establishment has over 16,000 students and 1,200 staff to look after.

The University's management decided that improving student recruitment and experience would provide a clear differentiation over other HE establishments. By attracting students in over the Internet and allowing them to sample courses, they believed that they could turn more enquirers into applicants and so increase student numbers.

Enterprise portal

Key to this strategy was the need to implement an enterprise portal that would enable the new student recruitment plans as well as improving the learning experience of registered students. Management at Bedfordshire recognised that an important prerequisite to this was the introduction of a campus-wide identity and access management solution that would effectively provide the "plumbing" for the enterprise portal.

The requirement was advertised in the European Journal and subsequently tendered for and won by Salford Software. We proposed a solution based on the Novell Identity Manager and Access Manager products.

Implementation was started in August 2007 and is proceeding smoothly, scheduled to finish in November. When completed it will look after the identity and access requirements of over 17,000 users across the University's many sites.

Neil Turvin, Head of HE sales at Salford Software commented, "This is an important first step for the University of Bedfordshire and by choosing Salford Software and Novell technologies they are in safe hands with a tried and trusted technology base and a partner that understand the needs of HE establishments."

New Solution launched

While identity management solutions will provide effective control over full-time students and staff, dealing with people who are not classed as a permanent user by the organisation can be a major headache. These affiliates include: visiting lecturers, conference attendees or contractors.

To get round this we have recently launched a new product - the Affiliate Record Management System (ARMS). The ARMS solution creates and enables access for Affiliate Members without comprising security. It works with your existing Identity Management System, acting as an additional authoritative source for Affiliate Members.

To find out more about ARMS, please contact us on 0161 906 2233.

University of Kingston

The University of Kingston had previously invested In Microsoft SharePoint as the basis for its enterprise portal. But with over 20,000 students and staff, wanted to integrate an identity management solution to provide a single identity for users across the many faculties, departments and services they offer.

Salford Software was the natural partner for this project and we proposed a solution based on the Novell Identity Manager product. This would enable new users to be immediately productive and gain access to all the necessary resources on the first day. In addition it synchronises passwords across the University to enable users to sign on to all systems with one password. The self-service capabilities also reduce the number of calls to IT support for password resets.

This project perfectly demonstrates our skills and experience with both Novell and Microsoft technologies and shows that a choice of solution from one of these leading manufacturers does not necessary mean that you have to choose all their solutions for future requirements.

To find out how we can help your organisation seamlessly integrate Microsoft and Novell technologies to provide a best of breed solution, please contact us on 0161 906 2233.

New members of sales team

We recently welcomed another new member to our sales team - Simon Bilton. Previously, Simon had been working at Salford Software in the professional services team. He is now using the knowledge and experience gained there to help him look after our customers in the London region.

Matt Dunkin also joins the sales team as a pre sales consultant. Matt has an in depth knowledge of the technologies and solutions most relevant to our customers. We're delighted to have Matt working alongside the team.

Marketing

Events

Salford Software recently ran a number of technical events in conjunction with Novell. Sentinel and ZENworks Configuration Manager featured on the agenda. We received some very positive feedback from attendees. These solutions are of great interest to our customers. If you were not able to attend, please let us know and we can arrange for an account manager to visit you to discuss.

Mid October was a busy time, in conjunction with SunGard Higher Education we sponsored a UCISA event around Portal solutions. The event was well attended by a large number of universities and colleges from the UK and beyond!

Exhibitions and Conferences

As always the sales and marketing team are very busy attending events which give us the opportunity to talk to existing and new customers and create awareness of the services and solutions which we provide.

Most recently we have attended the SOCITM event which took place in Belfast. This event was a first for Salford Software but was a great experience. We were able to introduce our Identity Management solutions to some Local Authorities and discuss other solutions including Asset Management and Secure Remote Access. A prize draw to win an ipod was held, the winner was Andy Smith from POWYS.

Salford Software is looking forward to attending the UCISA CISG conference from 21st to 23rd November in Southampton. We’ll be talking about Framework for Resource Access and Identity Management. Details of the conference can be found here http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/groups/cisg/misgevents/Conference2007/index_html

Awards

During October we were delighted to have been shortisted for not one but two prestigious awards, recognising the valuable services and solutions which we provide.

Channel Reseller News shortlisted Salford Software within the Specialist Reseller Category.

Computing, shortlisted Salford Software for IT Department of the Year.

Partnerships

As mentioned in the Professional Services section of this newsletter, Salford Software is working more closely with Oracle. More recently we are delighted to have become an Oracle Network Partner. This will strengthen the knowledge and skills as the Leader in Identity Management.

Salford Software has recently signed up to the Talis Additions Partnership programme. This partnership will help to enhance the printing, photocopying and library services integration provided by Salford Software. We are delighted to become part of this programme.

Other news

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness and to raise money for the charity, members of staff at Salford Software took part in Wear it Pink on October 26th. Photos of the day will be online shortly.

Michael Longman one of our consultants ran the New York Marathon on 4th November in 4:30:04! Michael was raising money for Children with Leukaemia. If you would like to show your support you can do so here https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/MLongmanNYM07