IPS Chosen To Customize and Expand Sun Java Enterprise System (JES) for CIRA (County Information Resource Agency).

The customized JES solution provides CIRA with a robust mail environment that integrates a single sign-on for the JES Mail, Calendar, and Address Book and provides a central online communication center, called Communications Express.  This updated mail domain is both redundant and scalable, allowing plenty of room to accommodate new mail controls and advanced protection from SPAM and malicious viruses.  Additionally, the IPS customized LDAP and user controls gives CIRA the ability to administer over 150 domains, serving approximately 3,000 users.

September 1, 2004
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The Situation

These days, with 3000+ users, it doesn't take long for a mail environment to be inundated with SPAM and virii. And, with high-level county users, such as judges, sheriffs and the like, it is not only vital, but mandated that electronic communications are protected and maintain a high percentage of availability. As the mail system became more taxed by "junk mail", it also was becoming more important to it's users as they grew to depend on it for their day-to-day communications. In turn, as the users became more familiar with the system, they needed a way to share the information that resided within the system and collaborate across counties. That's when CIRA turned to IPS to design and implement a custom enterprise solution for CIRA's mail environment that was compliant with federated standards.

Communication and Collaboration Services

Giving county officials the ability to share information across the state of Texas is one of the core charters of CIRA.  The CIRA System's communication and collaboration services enable the secure interchange of information among diverse county communities, thereby accelerating enterprise decision-making and taking productivity to the next level.  Specific capabilities include messaging, real-time collaboration, calendaring, and scheduling in the context of the user's county environment.  Users can communicate and collaborate across a broad range of services to increase productivity as well as employer, partner, and customer satisfaction.  CIRA will greatly benefit from consolidating heterogeneous communications infrastructures, resulting in reduced complexity and cost.

Enterprise Security & Automated Lockout

The type of information that transpires across the CIRA mail environment is confidential and requires resilient security measures to help prevent access by unauthorized or malicious users. To promote prevention of system compromise, SSL encryption was implemented and a CIRA System Lockout Application was created which automatically locks out users who attempt to circumvent the authentication process. The CIRA System Administration Panel gives administrators control of what users are locked out and easy management to lock/unlock users, as appropriate. Additionally, IPS implemented the JES Network Identity services. The Network Identity services improve security of key corporate information assets by ensuring that appropriate access control policies are enforced across all communities, applications, and services on a global basis. These services work with a repository for storing and managing identity profiles, access privileges, and application and network resource information.

Improved Usability and User Experience

Ensuring a consistent experience for users during the migration transpired into continued trust of the CIRA System. Customized interface components were used to ensure that the CIRA brand was carried across the new web interface and additional links were also added to improve the sites usability and user experience.

Seamless Migration

Migrating to an enterprise level system is no easy task. It takes careful planning and scrutiny to develop a migration plan that ensures data is consistent and limited interruption for the user. The IPS Test Procedure encompassed many detailed tests which ensured a successful migration.

Documentation and Version Control

An extensive documentation repository was developed to ensure that each step of the process was commented and versioned, for later referral and use.

About Innovative Productivity Solutions, Inc.

Innovative Productivity Solutions, Inc. (IPS) provides strategic enterprise software solutions for companies and organizations that increase productivity and profitability.

Contact Innovative Productive Solutions, Inc. at 2376 Bulverde Rd, Suite 112, Bulverde, TX, 78163-4593, US; Tel: (210) 587-7985. To learn more about IPS visit the company’s Website at http://www.ips-inc.net/ .

For Additional Information:
Butch Carruth
Tel: (210) 587-7985

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