Fujitsu has migrated the University of Bath Innovation Centre’s spreadsheet based business network system to a cloud-based offering.

The University of Bath’s Innovation Centre, which operates business networks such as the Assisted Living Action Network, LowCarbonSouthWest.co.uk, OpenMIC and SiliconSouthwest.co.uk, provides access to expertise, skills and contacts to new business enterprises that spring up from the University work along with privately-owned start-ups.

Earlier, the Innovation Centre used a spreadsheet based system to handle the networks and their members.

However, due to various business constraints, including an inbuilt data security problem surrounding the storage of offline spreadsheet files on a public server, the need for an alternative method of tracking memberships was identified.

The Innovation Centre has selected to deploy a solution from enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.com, after investigating various solutions.

The new offering, which can also be accessed through Salesforce.com’s iPhone app, has offered different team members with varying levels of access within the secure, cloud-based system.

The Innovation Centre director Simon Bond said Fujitsu was integral in sculpting the installation into a manageable package that suits their current needs and if they need more power in the future, it’s there.