§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what cost savings have been made in her Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated. [151046]
§ Ms HewittA Centre of Excellence was established within the Department in June 2003 to integrate the essential functions which underpin the successful delivery of all types of acquisition-based programmes and projects. As cost benefits will not accrue until improvements start to take effect, it is too early to measure cost savings. All Centres of Excellence are currently developing future plans and as part of this process measurement of savings will be defined.
§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether all Information Technology hardware and software products are being properly utilised in her Department. [151056]
§ Ms HewittMy Department has a range of software products and management policies to ensure that its IT is used in accordance with its intended purpose.
All IT services have an aligned security policy setting out the security measures to counter threats including misuse. Staff are advised of these policies and the checks that are made to ensure compliance. The Department's standard desktop service is owned and managed by our PFI partners and has been designed to prevent the unauthorised addition of products and devices. Auditing of this environment is carried out with a mixture of detection software, active monitoring of security logs and non-intrusive checks of data types, keeping in mind the parameters of data protection legislation and complying with OGC guidelines. Allied to these measures are the best practice guidelines available to all staff and line management.
646WNew services must be procured and implemented in accordance with documented procedures which require business and security approval, with major services being subject to OGC Gateway Review.