A new Angus Council computer nerve centre has been given the go-ahead by councillors.
It will be built as an extension to the authority’s print unit at the Orchardbank HQ campus and follows approval of a plan brought forward last autumn following major computer problems which closed key Forfar offices for several months.
The issues at the County Buildings led to major disruption for a number of departments and even sparked a criminal investigation.
There were suggestions that foul play could have been involved in incidents which led to the call-out of the fire service to the Market Street offices.
In the wake of the problems, officials identified a number of failings in the existing data centre set-up and recommended development of a specialist facility to safeguard against potentially critical future incidents.
The new facility will incorporate an eco-cooling installation, backup generator, uninterruptible power supply and a fire alarm installation linked to a gas suppression system and other lighting and power services. Work is due to begin in May with an anticipated building completion in October.
The council hopes to have all systems moved to the new infrastructure by the end of this year.
”A fit-for-purpose data centre will improve the environment in which the IT equipment is located, thus extending the lifespan of this equipment and reducing the risk of failure of the IT equipment,” said corporate services director Colin McMahon.
”The consequences of the failure of the equipment cannot easily be quantified but the disruption caused can be severe.”
Tender estimates reveal the cost of the building, incorporating the gas suppression system, to be £185,000, with the bulk of the project, £335,000, taken up by the provision of the specialist engineering equipment.