Data Strategy articles from December 2007

Data Strategy archives from December 2007

LEADER: In government we trust...perhaps not.
December 17, 2007... So, farewell ID cards. Can anybody now expect the public to accept the transfer of its personal information to the Government following HMRC's data loss? What that incident revealed is the cost-driven culture under- pinning the way the public...

Calls for Government data culture to change.
December 17, 2007... The HM Revenue & Customs data loss has sparked calls for a dramatic change in the culture of data protection within the public sector. Thinktank Demos, which publishes its report on the politics of data sharing, For Your Information, this...

IN BRIEF: Green policies still lacking in centres.(Brief article)
December 17, 2007... One-third of UK data centres do not have a green policy. According to a survey by Aperture Technologies, 90 per cent have monitoring systems, but two thirds are using these to measure the power consumption of racks, not as part of a carbon...

Nectar named Client Brand of the Year.
December 17, 2007... Nectar, the retail-based loyalty scheme operated by Loyalty Management Group, has been named Client Brand of the Year at the Data Strategy Awards 2007. Over half of all households in the UK participate in the scheme, which has 15 consumer...

Facebook poked over privacy fears.
December 17, 2007... A new data-sharing initiative by Facebook is coming under fire from users for breaching their privacy. Facebook Beacon is a core element of the social network's advertising system. The 44 partner websites can add actions taken by consumers on...

IN BRIEF: IAB adopts DMA email guidelines.(Brief article)
December 17, 2007... The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has endorsed the Email Marketing Best Practice Guidelines drawn up by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) UK. This marks an important step in the drive towards establishing a consistent approach across...

Marketers struggle with time and relevance.
December 17, 2007... Improving the relevance and timeliness of messages are the two most significant challenges faced by marketers, according to a survey by Unica. Senior and board level marketers from 47 companies with turnovers between E200m and E5bn named...

CORRECTIONS: Callcredit and Netstore.(Correction notice)
December 17, 2007... We would like to point out that Callcredit is the provider of the bank account verification tool mentioned in the November issue of Data Strategy. Netstore is an IT security and outsourcing provider, not an online retailer as stated in...

Business intelligence user gap widens.
December 17, 2007... A new study carried out by analyst firm IDC has found that while leading companies are now using business intelligence (BI) for operations as well as strategic decision making, average companies are still relying on gut feel. As a result, they...

IN BRIEF: Experian moves data storage in house.(Brief article)
December 17, 2007... Experian has ended its existing outsourcing arrangement and is moving its data management inhouse, following the decision to implement a solution from SoftCo. Storage and management of statutory documents filed at Companies House will now be...

Alterian signs first digital marketing partner Carat.
December 17, 2007... The digital marketing arm of Carat UK has signed up as a partner with Alterian. Carat Digital will use the enterprise marketing platform to provide analytics, data visualisation, email marketing and reporting, and to improve customer...

News International hires Occam for data pooling.
December 17, 2007... News International has appointed Occam as its strategic provider of prospect pool data following a competitive pitch. The new solution will support circulation, subscription and reader offers across the entire News International portfolio,...

IN BRIEF: BBC Magazines improves quality.(Brief article)
December 17, 2007... BBC Magazines is deploying Matchcode Commercial from Capscan to validate business customer address data by its advertising sales department. The system will ensure address data is captured accurately to reduce the risk of unpaid invoices and...

Haven Holidays to automate marketing.
December 17, 2007... UK holiday specialist Haven Holidays is implementing a complete marketing automation solution from SAS to support enterprise-wide marketing initiatives, designed to provide improved access to its customer base and reduce costs. Dawn Macey,...

UKChanges unveils online data component.
December 17, 2007... UKChanges has launched the second phase of its online service provision with the introduction of a data supply component. The company aims to remove barriers to adoption of buying data via the Internet by simplifying and speeding up the...

IN BRIEF: Club Canvasse expands database.(Brief article)
December 17, 2007... Transactional data pool Club Canvasse, from Experian, has increased to 15 million multi-buyers in 2007, up 36 per cent from 11 million in 2005. Total customer transactions covered by the database are now worth #17 billion, an increase of 63...

DataFlux focus on data governance.
December 17, 2007... DataFlux has added a new module for its Accelerator solution designed to allow real-time monitoring of data quality. Customer Data Control provides an easy-to-build data quality monitoring framework that can interact with CRM and ERP systems...

Why recession is not all bad news.
December 17, 2007... Increase in debt, the sub-prime market going pear-shaped, house prices dropping and 78 per cent of Londoners think we are heading for a recession. Sounds great - at least for most data people who are working on customer databases. Dotcom...

LETTER: Furthering the cause of the data industry.(Letter to the editor)
December 17, 2007... While much of the attention following the Data Strategy Awards has been around the innovative and exciting data initiatives that are being employed across the UK market, I just wanted to thank all involved with Data Strategy for the work you...

LETTER: Embracing technology.(Letter to the editor)
December 17, 2007... As new media is integrated into the marketing mix, the pressure on business to be responsive is increasing. It is extraordinary that organisations are still reliant upon manual processes for managing marketing activities. The majority of...

LETTER: Data Summit 2008.(Letter to the editor)
December 17, 2007... Well done to Data Strategy for having the foresight and leadership to pull together a programme of events that will no doubt spark passionate discussion on the issues that matter most to data practitioners. I am looking forward to having the...

IT departments can not work in a vacuum.
December 17, 2007... IT strategy and its full alignment with organisational goals and directions, plus the need for better communication between business and technology, were the subject of a one-day conference held in London recently by DAMA UK. Chris Potts,...

Data that doesn't do the business.
December 17, 2007... Business-to-business data files can vary in price by as much as #40 per 1,000 records to #200 for the same quantity. Is this huge range of prices representative of an equally large variety in the quality of product? Emily Cubitt investigates...

DATA FINANCIALS: Could 'Data-gate' turn into The Day of the Jackal?
December 17, 2007... All you ever wanted to know about making profit from data but were too afraid to ask Fears that the loss of 25 million personal records somewhere between a HM Revenues & Customs office in Tyne and Wear and the National Audit Office in...

LEGAL COLUMN: Susan Mann, counsel at Reed Smith Richards Butler.(Column)
December 17, 2007... On October 18, discs containing personal data on about 25 million UK citizens were "lost" when HMRC tax officials sent information containing personal data of approximately 7.5 million families receiving Child Benefit proceeds to government...

CASE STUDY: Securing success.(Case study)
December 17, 2007... Sapphire assisted law firm Irwin Mitchell to pass audit and achieve global certification in information security management Irwin Mitchell is the fourth largest UK law firm, employing over 2,300 staff throughout the UK and Europe. The firm...

DATA INTEGRITY: Get personal.
December 17, 2007... As digital marketing threatens to blur the definition of personal data, the Information Commissioner has sought to clarify matters. Has he succeeded? David Reed investigates Personal data has always seemed like a fairly easy definition to...

DATABASE SOFTWARE: Counting the cost.
December 17, 2007... For many SMEs, the cost of implementing effective database software can be prohibitive. This is particularly true where business growth is likely to be rapid. David Reed reports Economies of scale can be found for virtually every product...

THE BACK ROOM: A data strategist for all seasons.(Interview)
December 17, 2007... Data Strategy talks to data practitioners who toil unnoticed behind the scenes Q What is your name and job title? Michael Collins, data strategist at Caspian Partnership and Visiting Lecturer in Database Marketing and CRM at a number...

Facebook: A double-edged sword?
December 17, 2007... Is Facebook like, the most totally brilliant thing ever, yeah? Or could it be one step on the slippery slope that leads to you losing your job and perhaps the eventual end of civilisation? The Information Commissioner has recently warned...