The internet offering provided by Zen has been awarded "PSN" or Public Service Network accreditation recently for the IP VPN offering it provides. This award allows the independent connectivity service to provide its solutions to a range of public sector organisations, including NHS hospitals and local authorities.
In simple terms, the PSN accreditation signifies that Zen's protocols and infrastructure are robust and secure enough to carry sensitive public sector data safely. In order to demonstrate this efficiently, Zen has had to go through stringent testing to receive CESG Assured Service certification for telecoms, known as "CAS(T)". The company has also been required to go through an extensive IT health check.
CAS(T) certification demonstrates evidence that a network has been built, operated, and managed in a way that can effectively meet strict standards for availability and security. What's more, the certificate outlines Zen with "trusted supplier" status for its public service contracts.
The Challenge of Achieving Accreditation
The award of PSN accreditation is no small thing for businesses today, and this development shows all of the hard work that the Zen team has done - specifically because they managed to achieve the certificate so quickly. According to the technical director of Zen, Jon Bauer, it was crucial for Zen to achieve this accreditation because it gives them the "opportunity to support a whole new sector".
However, besides the chance to work within the public sector, Zen also believes that the accreditation goes to show their customers - from all networks - just how seriously they take the security of data and information. The Zen network, and the management responsible for supporting that network has achieved incredible standards to be recognized as a public-sector supplier.
