As part of an upgrade programme involving the use of new, high speed information technology, Statistics SA has installed a second top-of-the-line Hewlett Packard SMP server in a move to enhance its economic statistical reporting.
Previously the Department of Central Statistical Services (CSS), this government organisation is the custodian of statistics for government, and the population at large.
The HP LXR 8000 server was supplied by JSE-listed Datacentrix which has had a successful relationship with the department for the past four years, according to senior account manager Gerhard Gouws,
Statistics SA addresses information from categories such as : demographics, economics and others such as vital statistics, labour related statistics and victims of crime. There are more than 150 statistical series of which the population census forms the largest.
Statistics SA Director: IT, Pieter Gildenhuys, says: "We are responsible for a wide range of economic series, including the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) as well as other vital economic indicators."
Gildenhuys says that a similar server was used for Census 96. "This new purchase forms the second phase of our plan. We also have a third server which is used for Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to present statistics in a more user-friendly spatial format."
He explains that four years ago the old CSS was restructured to meet the needs of the new government and with this came a policy for use of leading edge technology. "Our mainframe systems are now being re-engineered to a client/server platform. We run Microsoft Enterprise and SQL Enterprise under a Novell network."
Gildenhuys stresses that statistics depend entirely on IT. "Computers form an essential component of our business, they are not merely used for office administration. Because of this total dependency we place a high premium on hardware reliability and performance.
"Vendor service delivery on both the hardware and software fronts is also important.
"With these considerations we opted for a turnkey solution and for a single brand. During the Census 96 rollout we decided on HP. Datacentrix - an HP Direct VAR and accredited HP Warranty Centre - won the government tender, coming tops in all requirements of price, performance, after-sales service, support and black empowerment."
Datacentrix is one of Novell`s largest accredited business partners in South Africa and is a leading Microsoft solutions provider at Partner level.
Gildenhuys adds that scalability of equipment is also important. "We use the servers as building blocks and are constantly upgrading our acquisitions, in line with growing needs, and within a tight budget."
The HP LXR 8000 has four Xeon processors, 2-Mb cache processors and close to one Terabyte of RAID storage. In total the department has close to three Terabyte on its server farm.
Datacentrix was also involved with networking infrastructure at Statistics SA, which comprises a WAN covering nine provincial offices, as well as LANs in the provinces.
Datacentrix, together with its partners, black empowerment shareholder Co-ordinated Network Investments (CNI), has an acknowledged track record in terms of empowerment, partnering with a number of emerging black-owned small businesses in South Africa on a wide range of projects.
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