Page 62 - Remembering ISTEL
P. 62
Remembering ISTEL
CDC - The Heart of BL Systems
In March 1976 the decision was made to consolidate the major general purpose
IBM computers in BL Cars in a purpose built centre at Redditch The reasons
behind this big step were mainly to:
●Make available comprehensive computer services equally and
economically to all sites, not just the larger ones.
●Achieve significant economies in computer rental costs by better
utilisation
●Provide a very high level of total security for data and machines which
are becoming increasingly vital to the operation of the Company
●Maximise the effective use of skilled and scarce professional computer
staff
●The CDC. as it is commonly called, was completed in March 1978
●Progressively, with preparation starting well before the building was
completed.
BL Cars computer work was
transferred from the previous
general purpose data centres
at Solihull. Longbridge and
Cowley, on to the four
computers housed at the CDC.
The changeover was
completed at the rate of one
data centre every two months
and finished in December
1978. This ensured that the
whole CDC project was
completed on time and within
budget
The CDC is the hub of a country-wide telecommunications network linking its
computers to individual plants and offices. There are now several hundred
computer terminals around BL from which users have access to the computer
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