The Department of Land Affairs (DLA) has signed a three-year contract with Telkom to provide it with a new network system.
In a statement, the department said: “The DLA will be introducing a modern-day technology network system, called the virtual private network (VPN). The implementation of this state-of-the-art system is well on track and the testing of network connectivity has already been completed.”
The DLA previously operated the SITA-managed Government Central Core Network (GCCN), but found the network was riddled with problems. While issues with the SITA network were raised repeatedly in 2004, the contract to migrate to the Telkom system was only signed in 2005, after a decision was taken to manage its own network when SITA failed to resolve issues brought to its attention.
“This decision was taken a few years back, but the implementation has only been finalised now. There were problems which were raised with SITA in the past but couldn't be resolved. We had issues with speed and response, says Simon Vilakazi, business analyst at the DLA.
“It has been a complex project”, says Vilakazi. He says that there were delays due to lengthy negotiations which took place with Telkom, SITA and the DLA. Vilakazi adds that the project only gained momentum last year, and then a team was set up and a deadline decided on.
The implementation of the VPN network was completed last week and this week the department will monitor the network performance.
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