Security upgrade planned for SI DHBs

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eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

South Island district health boards are looking to implement a cloud-based solution to protect their information systems and thousands of devices.

The request for proposals says the South Island Alliance “is looking for an end point protection solution that protects South Island DHBs’ information systems including internet gateways, servers and desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablet computers”.

The EPP must be a cloud solution and also include maintenance, technical support and training for the DHBs.

The Alliance represents Canterbury, West Coast, Southern, South Canterbury and Nelson Marlborough DHBs, which it says “operate in a fiscally constrained environment and have not previously had full EPP”.

“There will need to be a balance between financial cost and the degree of protection/risk,” the RFP documents say.

The contract is expected to start this May or June with options to extend up to seven years. South Canterbury DHB has a three-year agreement already in place but may join the new contract when this expires.

The Alliance wants at least one licensing solution partner for the all-of-government Microsoft Cloud, Software and Services Agreement to submit a solution under that agreement, as it plans to compare uplifts to the MCSSA with local reseller support services with non-Microsoft market solutions.

“We want modularised pricing so that we can see what a minimum viable anti-virus solution would look like and if we can choose to add optional modular components on contract award or during the contract term,” it says.

The Alliance hopes the DHBs will opt for a single solution for the South Island, but says there must also be the ability for each DHB to have their own instance, as different DHBs will be able to award to different respondents.

No centralised regional operational funds have been requested for the solution.

Systems already in use at the DHBs include Sophos, Mimecast, Bitdefender and Cylance.

Devices deployed at four South Island DHBs

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