13.11.07
Remote access system helps ‘fast track’ railway engineering projects
AEP Netilla Security Platform provides secure remote access to critical design and planning systems at First Engineering
Secure remote access technology is helping First Engineering, the UK rail services company, to mobilize project management teams up to 100 times faster for nationwide engineering and maintenance projects.
The AEP Netilla Security Platform from AEP Networks provides First Engineering’s project engineers and project managers stationed around the country with secure remote access to critical design and planning systems and site and safety documentation residing on the organisation’s Glasgow corporate network.
“Before we installed NSP, we didn’t have a reliable, easy to use system for staff to access resources when working on site from client and partner premises or while on the move. This inevitably led to lengthy delays at the start of projects, while project managers collated all the documentation and information they might need. It also meant staff lacked an effective way of collaborating and staying in touch during the course of projects,” said Alan Roberton, IT manager at First Engineering, which provides total solutions to the rail industry including communications, power systems, signalling, track renewals and specialist construction work.
The NSP appliance, an independent device that manages all aspects of remote access, sits on First Engineering’s LAN which covers 40 sites. It works with Windows Terminal Server to provide ‘thin’ web-based access to corporate systems, including the organisation’s Primavera P3 project management software, AutoCad design system and IFS Enterprise Resource Planning software. A quarter of the First Engineering’s workforce, 500 employees, are currently authorised to use NSP. The system was installed and rolled out with the help of leading systems integrator, Enforce Technology.
“It’s becoming increasingly important for us to work closely together in client and partner offices and the NSP allows us to access all of our core systems rapidly,” explained Roberton. “In one recent example, the system’s remote access facilities meant we were able to set up a project team in Lichfield within hours, instead of what could have been weeks, when we were engaged by Network Rail to work on the high profile project to widen the existing railway between Armitage with Handsacre and Tamworth as part of the West Coast Mainline upgrade.”
NSP integrates with First Engineering’s Windows Active Directory and uses the VASCO two-factor authentication system for effective security. The VASCO key fobs, which are given to all authorised remote workers, generate a security code which has to be entered to enable the workers to log on to the system.
The NSP is a Secure Sockets Layer, Virtual Private Network solution which relies on the standard SSL web protocol designed for server authentication, data encryption and message integrity over internet links. It is specifically targeted at providing easy access to Windows Terminal Server applications via the internet through an embedded thin client technology.
Alan Roberton commented: “The NSP was chosen due to the seamless integration with Windows Terminal Server and the ability to use two-factor authentication out of the box. Remote access is now simple for the end user, through Web-based access to the NSP menu system; no messing about with dial-up settings, VPN clients or modem cables.”
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