ANS announces patent-pending NHS Smart Card solution to enable single sign on for NHS employees.

Currently, NHS Smart Cards are being issued to local Trusts nationwide to meet the requirements of the National Programme for IT ("NPfIT"). NHS employees are required to logon twice to both national and local applications - involving a complex method of authentication which decreases individual productivity and increases security risks; added to this are the management and administration challenges that face IT departments with multiple logins.

Associated Network Solutions PLC ("ANS" or "the Company"), a leading information technology solutions provider and winner of the annual Inner City 100 Award, announces today the successful development of its SmartID solution, which enables NHS employees to sign on to their National and Local applications at the same time, without multiple logins, using their supplied NHS Smart Cards.

The patent-pending technology, which has been developed by ANS, has been demonstrated to NPfIT as a time-saving and secure solution, to counteract multiple logins. ANS is currently piloting SmartID with a number of Trusts in the UK and, following the completion of the first pilot by the end of April 2005, the Directors believe that a significant number of orders will follow.

Through a single user interface, SmartID makes use of the existing credentials on the NPfIT Smart Card to authenticate the user to the local network, allowing employees to use the same smartcard and pin to access all their applications. User credentials are fully encrypted and communication between the client and the authentication service is totally secure. In this way, SmartID provides a simple and efficient logon procedure - enabling staff to be more productive in their use of NPfIT applications.

ANS has maintained a strong presence within the NHS for nearly 10 years. With over 300 customers, its NHS Specific solutions include secure Remote Working Portal, Staff Provisioning and Web Content Management. All the solutions, including SmartID, operate in any network environment and are tailored to each Trusts' individual requirements.

Managing Director of ANS, Scott Fletcher, commented:

"SmartID is the only solution in the UK that can overcome this challenge within the NHS, whilst not adding unnecessary management overheads. We are very excited about the benefits it can deliver and will be investing in our sales channels over the next two quarters to take advantage of this opportunity. The recent acquisition of Medifile is our initial activity in this area".

He added:

"SmartID is exclusive to ANS and works in any network environment. In this way, it liberates the Trusts' IT infrastructure and we can deliver a cost-effective, valuable solution. There is a requirement within every Trust for SmartID, and ANS can deliver to each and every one."