Lab system supplier gets N3 nod

Labs system software supplier Technidata UK has announced that it has become among the first independent software suppliers to be given the right for their products to connect to N3, the new NHS network being installed under the National Programme for IT.

Paul McKenna, implementation and training manager at Technidata UK, told E-Health Insider that a company employed by Connecting for Health had visited their premises to check their security levels: "For us to become a trusted third party connection, we had to go through a number of processes… It involved us inviting an external auditor who audited our processes and our offices."

The audits had only recently been reinstated, explained McKenna. Upon the completion of the checks, the external auditor employed by CfH told them they were among the first to be allowed

The N3 connection, which is contracted to run at speeds of 80Mb, will be used to update the company’s TD-Synergy laboratory information software and provide remote support. Previously, any updates that needed to be made for the company’s customers either had to be done over a secure modem connection or by actually visiting the site.

Mike Ketterman, technical manager at the company, said that the connection meant that they could "replace installation software by transmitting it directly to customers’ servers, enabling users to be up and running in hours rather than days… It is less intrusive to user IT operations as it reduces the need for site visits."

The majority of the company’s customers have already been connected to N3, with a small remainder still waiting to be hooked up, explained McKenna.

Dave Simm, general manager of Technidata UK, told E-Health Insider that connection with N3 would be good in the long term for the TD-Synergy software: "The way the software has been developed fits nicely within N3."

Simm added: "Because high levels of security are built into the N3 architecture, and because it is more robust, the need for network management is greatly reduced."