GTMaritime has launched a new software deployment platform called GTDeploy, used to deliver and install security updates on ships at sea without requiring intervention by IT staff.
The system has been designed to make patch management integral to the maritime IT environment, supporting automatic updating to push out software fixes as soon as a newer version becomes available, similar to the process used on smartphones.
GTDeploy can be employed to add, refresh or uninstall security updates, patches or entire applications, allowing fleet IT managers to prioritise their updates based on urgency. If an application needs additional library files these will also be fetched automatically and included in the transmission package.
“Software updates get pushed down the list of priorities for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there are simply more immediate problems that need dealing with, but often this is to do with pressure on budgets – the cost of sending someone out to a vessel may be hard to justify. GTDeploy removes that pressure,” said GTMaritime Head of Operations, Jamie Jones.
The system is airtime agnostic, so it will function regardless of the type of satellite communications set-up on the ship, which GTMaritime notes is particularly relevant for mixed or managed fleets, where ships have different hardware and varying communications configurations.
GTDeploy is built on FastNet, a data connectivity platform developed by the company to intelligently manage ship-shore data flow, comprised of services for encrypting, compressing and prioritising data communications.
