European food giant chooses Open Source Identity Management

One of Europe's most successful private companies has chosen Open Source software to control its pan-European network. Kepak Group has asked Sirius Corporation to deploy an OpenLDAP-based Identity Management solution to serve its 2000 staff based in Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK.

Kepak will benefit from a secure, standards-based platform that will authenticate Windows users to all network services. The solution is free from licensing charges and, because it is not linked to a single vendor, future-proofs Kepak's IT investment.

The project follows the successful deployment by Sirius Corporation of an Open Source-based e-mail system to Kepak's offices in Ireland and the UK.

Chris Whelan, IT Manager at Kepak said: "Three years ago I realised that many proprietary networking solutions are just Open Source 'under-the-hood'. It didn't make sense to spend money on licensing a product that was essentially free. Sirius Corporation give us the expertise to deploy enterprise-class Open Source technologies with confidence."

Mark Taylor, CEO of Sirius Corporation said: "The project is another milestone in the corporate acceptability of Open Source solutions in a market formerly dominated by Sun and Microsoft. OpenLDAP is the scalable and affordable alternative to Active Directory or SunOne that doesn't place restrictions on your IT strategy in the future."

"Enabling PCs to authenticate email and fileservers is the bedrock of any network. To leave this critical service in the hands of a single vendor locks your business into their upgrade treadmill."

"OpenLDAP is now simpler to deploy and manage. It needs to be considered by anyone thinking about updating their IT infrastructure."

Kepak Group
Kepak Group have a turnover in excess of €500 million and employ over 2000 people. They process in excess of 400,000 cattle, 2.5 million lambs and 15,000 tons of consumer foods per annum. Their nine manufacturing facilities are located across Ireland and the U.K. and they have sales offices throughout Europe and an operations office in South America.

For more information visit: www.kepak.com

Sirius Corporation

Sirius Corporation is a leading European IT services group specialising in enterprise-ready Open Source software including databases, email systems, file & print, directory services, and cross-platform authentication. Client's include blue-chip multi-nationals and public sector organisations.

For more information visit: www.siriusopensource.com

For interviews contact Tom Callway +44 (0)870 608 0063 ext. 6103