South African Department of Home Affairs Taps Novell for Worldwide Collaboration on Linux

South African Department of Home Affairs Taps Novell for Worldwide Collaboration on Linux

Novell and the South African Department of Home Affairs have announced the launch of a global project to deploy the Novell® GroupWise® collaboration solution running on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server at each of the department’s 635 foreign missions, border posts, and local offices. The project represents one of the biggest Linux-based solutions in the South African national government. As a result, South Africa’s Home Affairs Department gains a reliable, secure collaboration platform that leverages the low cost and flexibility of open source.

“We need follow-the-sun technology, since wherever the sun goes, a Home Affairs official wakes up with the intent of rendering a service” said Kgabo Hlahla, Deputy Director General of Information Systems at the Department of Home Affairs. “Our officials need access to information and communications capabilities at their fingertips. Since we are also dealing with confidential and private information, security is a key priority.”

The Department of Home Affairs is responsible for a range of services for South African citizens, including identity and travel documents, marriage, adoption, and more, and it also handes immigration services for travelers to the country. The Novell-based collaboration project is the second phase of an initiative to modernise and connect the Department’s worldwide branch infrastructure. The rollout will comprise 435 local branch offices, 60 border posts and 120 foreign missions. It will connect 7,500 employees to e-mail and collaboration services this year, expanding to roughly 11,000 employees next year through the Department’s capacity building initiatives. Management and auditing of the worldwide system will be centralized to lower costs and strengthen security.

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