Carmarthenshire county council has selected open source
specialist Sirius Corporation to build an e-mail system that can
host an inbox for 40,000 users across its schools.
The new open source system will use a web-based interface to
help IT staff set up and manage new accounts for pupils and
teachers at the council’s 15 secondary and 125 primary schools. It
will also allow administrators to monitor usage and swiftly block
e-mails with inappropriate content.
Carmarthenshire council’s ISP officer, Giles Nunn, said, “We
looked at a number of proprietary solutions to develop our current
e-mail system but they simply weren't scalable or were just too
expensive.
“The open source e-mail solution provided by Sirius Corporation
was not only the most technically advanced but offered the lowest
total cost of ownership.”
The Carmarthenshire move comes amid increasing interest in the
potential of open source products to reduce costs. It follows
Oxfordshire county council’s installation of a Linux system to
handle internet access for its schools.
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