Computing articles from September 2008

Computing archives from September 2008

Time to head for the cloud?
September 4, 2008... Byline: Linda More Time to head for the cloud? Linda More explains how new approaches to delivering computing resources via the web are reshaping enterprise IT (Cloud computing has the potential to reshape IT provision over the...

E-paper displays are an open book.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Guy Kewney E-paper displays are an open book A revolution is on the way A- but only once the user interface issues are solved ( One of the remarkable things about future display technologies will be their ability to run on...

Agreements need a strong delivery focus.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Michael Porter Agreements need a strong delivery focus In the light of the credit crunch, the fast-changing world of IT requires a completely fresh approach to contracts A- and not just new contracts (There is rarely...

Upgrades for mindsets rather than machines.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Peter Cochrane Upgrades for mindsets rather than machines Peter Cochrane says IT leaders must embrace new ways of delivering business value to protect their future Visit any modern organisation and there will be signs of...

Turning adversity into an advantage.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Rob Lambert & Chris Edwards Turning adversity into an advantage IT chiefs under pressure to make cost cuts can turn the situation to their benefit, say Chris Edwards and Rob Lambert (There are clear indications that the...

Share and share alike.
September 4, 2008... Share and share alike The over-zealous application of laws governing file sharing will particularly affect people with disabilities, says david banes (Over the past five years, file-sharing technologies have become synonymous in...

Looking to the future.(Interview)
September 4, 2008... Byline: Martin Courtney Looking to the future Dell chief executive Michael Dell talks to martin courtney about the way the company continues to adapt to major changes in the industry (Last year, after a series of corporate...

Delivering power where iti?1/2s needed.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Angelica Mari Delivering power where it's needed Online gambling firm Betfair is putting its money on grid computing and virtualisation to underpin global expansion, says Angelica Mari (Online betting firm Betfair is...

E-crime fighters share know-how.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Tom Young E-crime fighters share know-how UK prosecutors lead the way in setting up data-sharing scheme tom young The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is taking the lead in establishing an information network for...

The best has just got a whole lot better.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Computing The best has just got a whole lot better ( Welcome to the new-look Computing A- now incorporating our sister paper IT Week. More than 35 years after Computing was first published, this issue marks a significant...

How to introduce cloud computing into your organisation.
September 4, 2008... How to introduce cloud computing into your organisation Many enterprise IT professionals regard cloud computing as being an inferior form of outsourcing. This reflects the fact that most cloud-based services are still not up to enterprise...

IT departments remain wary of cloud computing.(Brief article)
September 4, 2008... IT departments remain wary of cloud computing Janie Davies IT departments are not ready to embrace the on-demand computing model, according to Mike Lynch, founder and chief executive of search specialist Autonomy. IT chiefs remain...

IE8 is praised but doubts over compliance remain.
September 4, 2008... IE8 is praised but doubts over compliance remain daniel robinson The latest preview release of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) browser has drawn mixed reactions from testers, with some praising its performance while others...

Dumping goes unpunished as agencies pass the buck.
September 4, 2008... Dumping goes unpunished as agencies pass the buck Rosalie marshall The Environment Agency (EA) has yet to investigate claims that UK computer waste is being illegally shipped to West Africa, insisting that the dumping of IT waste in...

Google offers corporate video.
September 4, 2008... Google offers corporate video Phil Muncaster Google has extended the functionality of its hosted applications product with the launch of Google Video, a new multimedia collaboration service for the corporate market. Google Video...

Keys to entering the cloud.(Interview)
September 11, 2008... Byline: Lisa Kelly Keys to entering the cloud Lisa Kelly talks to IT chiefs who are blazing a trail for cloud computing in the banking, environmental services and advertising sectors, and asks whether the concept really holds water ...

We make IT an irrational beast.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Martin Butler We make IT an irrational beast IT leaders are waking up to the impact that human behaviour has on corporate computing (Behaviour is a hot topic in many disciplines, particularly economics and finance. It has...

In the eye of the storm.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Janie Davies In the eye of the storm Mike Lynch, head of enterprise search vendor Autonomy, tells Janie Davies how a wave of unstructured data is sweeping through the world of business, bringing with it new challenges A- and...

Working together is the only way to succeed.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Michael Kenworthy Working together is the only way to succeed Whitehall can learn a lot from councils about how best to implement shared services, writes Michael Kenworthy Central government appears to have an issue with...

A potent combination.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Louise Taylor A potent combination Enterprise mash-ups have attracted significant attention, but IT chiefs should be aware of the risks involved, says Louise Taylor (Enterprise mash-ups are developed by integrating...

Is mani?1/2s best friend a roboti?1/2s worst enemy?
September 11, 2008... Byline: James Woudhuysen Is man's best friend a robot's worst enemy? As consumers start to explore the benefits of mobile robotics, a potential rival to the technology is emerging from an unlikely source (Last month, Gartner vice...

Hot seat.(Interview)(Brief article)
September 11, 2008... Byline: n/a Adrian Gowans is the IT manager at consultancy Glasshouse Technologies, where he is responsible for global IT and network operations How did you get into the IT profession? It stemmed from being interested in...

Contactless payment gets ready for London 2012.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Dave Bailey Contactless payment gets ready for London 2012 Mobile payment trial is a success, writes Dave Bailey (Europe's largest trial of near-field communications (NFC) technology for mobile payments represents the first...

IT revamp to boost child support.(Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission )
September 11, 2008... Byline: Tom Young IT revamp to boost child support New investment in IT and tighter contract management should help the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission avoid the costly mistakes made by the CSA, writes Tom Young ...

Whitehall is learning from its mistakes.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Computing Whitehall is learning from its mistakes (It is the government's favourite response to any inquest into the failure of a major IT project A- "We have learned the lessons". Not surprisingly, such a response elicits...

VoIP to take centre stage in RSC telecoms overhaul.
September 11, 2008... VoIP to take centre stage in RSC telecoms overhaul Rosalie Marshall The Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC's) IT department has taken advantage of a [pounds sterling]113m redevelopment programme to implement a centralised IP telephony...

Elderly to be monitored remotely.
September 11, 2008... Elderly to be monitored remotely Tom Young Health authorities in Northern Ireland are seeking suppliers for a service to remotely monitor the health of 5,000 patients with long-term medical conditions. In January this year...

Broadband gap may get wider.
September 11, 2008... Broadband gap may get wider Dave Bailey A report from the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) has warned that the gap in broadband speeds between metropolitan and rural areas will continue unless some lateral thinking is deployed. ...

Microsoft closes gap on VMware.
September 11, 2008... Microsoft closes gap on VMware Daniel Robinson Microsoft has substantially improved its virtualisation support in a move that could position it as a stronger competitor for VMware and enable businesses with a Windows-based...

Group to study the economics of IT security.
September 11, 2008... Group to study the economics of IT security Phil Muncaster The government-backed Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (CSKTN) is to set up a new group tasked with identifying economic issues affecting the IT security...

In search of a silver lining.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Martin Courtney In search of a silver lining Most corporate IT leaders will remain reluctant to use cloud-based services until the benefits are made clearer, says Martin Courtney (The concept of cloud computing is being...

Hot Seat.(Interview)(Brief article)
September 18, 2008... Sandra Harper is the support services manager at Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust, where she delivers IT to 1,800 staff If you weren't working in the IT sector, what would you be doing? I have a background in nursing, so I...

Business should use IT to its full potential.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Steve Hipwell Business should use IT to its full potential Now more than ever IT teams should be looking to exploit technological advances to give their organisations a sustainable competitive advantage ( In the current...

Iti?1/2s time to revive some chilling ideas.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Clive Longbottom It's time to revive some chilling ideas The problems of cooling energy-hungry datacentres could be addressed using some very old technologies (Over in Australia recently, speaking at a datacentre...

Security know-how must reach the widest audience.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Raj Samani Security know-how must reach the widest audience Raj Samani says that if IT systems are to become more robust, users need to be empowered Last week marked the fourth annual Global Security Week, an event...

Open sourcei?1/2s dark side.
September 18, 2008... Byline: David Boutcher & Bob Stankey Open source's dark side Businesses need to be very careful with open-source software as legal compliance has become increasingly important, say David Boutcher and Bob Stankey (Increasing...

Which browser is best for business?
September 18, 2008... Byline: Daniel Robinson Which browser is best for business? The browser war is hotting up. Daniel Robinson keeps tabs on the latest developments (Until recently, Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominated the web, with as much as 90...

For the childreni?1/2s sake.
September 18, 2008... For the children's sake With the latest deadline for vital enhancements to the Integrated Children's System looming, Janie Davies asks whether the troubled project, which aims to enhance protection for vulnerable children, is ...

Meeting targets to cope with a growing population.(Brief article)
September 18, 2008... Meeting targets to cope with a growing population Like many of the councils that struggled to meet the original 31 March deadline for the phase 1B implementation of the Integrated Children's System (ICS), Redbridge Council has put huge...

Integrated Children's System.(Brief article)
September 18, 2008... The Integrated Children's System (ICS) is the cornerstone of government efforts to build an integrated care system to support case workers dealing with vulnerable children. Phase 1 Councils were expected to implement a system that was...

On the path to glory.
September 18, 2008... On the path to glory We are pleased to announce the shortlists for the Computing Awards for Excellence 2008. For the fourth year running we have received a record number of entries, 10 per cent up on the previous high last year. And the...

Glitch adds to pressure on LSE.
September 18, 2008... Glitch adds to pressure on LSE Growing competition means the exchange can ill afford any more outages Tom Young The IT problems that stopped the London Stock Exchange (LSE) trading for several hours last week highlight the...

Why IT is getting greener.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Tom Young Why IT is getting greener New research reveals that energy costs and regulatory pressure are among the main factors driving green IT strategies. Tom Young reports (Reducing IT energy costs has become the most...

Threshers toasts benefits of supply chain revamp.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Rosalie Marshall Threshers toasts benefits of supply chain revamp Project has increased profit, writes Rosalie Marshall (Threshers is overhauling its legacy IT systems to gain more control of the key IT processes that...

Ensure your recovery before the disaster.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Computing Ensure your recovery before the disaster ( Disaster recovery can be one of those topics that only gets discussed when something goes wrong. Like encrypting government data, it can prove to be a classic "shutting the...

Virtualisation gears up for the cloud at VMworld.
September 18, 2008... Virtualisation gears up for the cloud at VMworld Computing staff At this week's VMworld conference in Las Vegas, vendors lined up to show off their new virtualisation options, with a focus on cloud computing. VMware unveiled two...

Suppliersi?1/2 green credentials come under the spotlight.(Brief article)
September 18, 2008... Suppliers' green credentials come under the spotlight Tom Young Companies are becoming far more rigorous in examining the environmental credentials of third-party IT suppliers, according to a report from Forrester Research out today....

High-tech vehicles to bring major fires under control.
September 18, 2008... High-tech vehicles to bring major fires under control Tom Young Nine high-tech fire-fighting vehicles have been put into operation this week to provide a mobile control base for major incidents. The Enhanced Command Support...

Berners-Lee forms web foundation.(Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web Foundation)(Brief article)
September 18, 2008... Berners-Lee forms web foundation David Neal Web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee has announced the formation of the World Wide Web Foundation, which has been awarded a $5m ([pounds sterling]2.8m) seed grant to advance the web. Berners-Lee...

Lib Dem NHS IT vow At the Liberal Democratsi?1/2 annual conference in Bournemouth this week, party leader Nick Clegg and shadow chancellor Vince Cable made it clear that they would seek to ditch remaining delayed components of the NHS computer system, as well.(Conference news)
September 18, 2008... Lib Dem NHS IT vow At the Liberal Democrats' annual conference in Bournemouth this week, party leader Nick Clegg and shadow chancellor Vince Cable made it clear that they would seek to ditch remaining delayed components of the NHS computer...

MEPs to vote on telecoms reforms Dave Bailey.
September 18, 2008... MEPs to vote on telecoms reforms Dave Bailey MEPs will vote on new European telecoms reforms next week. The proposal for a Europe-wide telecoms regulator is likely to be kicked out, but plans to force ISPs to reveal details of...

Clouded in uncertainty.
September 25, 2008... Byline: John Salmon Clouded in uncertainty John Salmon warns that for some companies the legal risks of using cloud-based services can far outweigh the business benefits (Business leaders are becoming more open to the idea of...

Prudent planning is key to harnessing the cloud.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Martin Atherton Prudent planning is key to harnessing the cloud Martin Atherton says cloud computing can be enormously attractive to business users, but they need to plot a careful migration course (IT and the business...

Paying by results can reduce costs.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Andrew Parker Paying by results can reduce costs Businesses can reap substantial rewards from new approaches to fixed-price service (Many enterprises turn to external service providers for application-related services....

IT sleeping partners help the homeless.
September 25, 2008... Byline: JP Rangaswami IT sleeping partners help the homeless IT professionals are helping to end youth homelessness by giving up their time, money A- and their own beds A- in support of Byte Night (Big companies don't necessarily...

Hot Seat.(Interview)(Brief article)
September 25, 2008... Byline: n/a Barry Lowry is head of IT Assist, the Northern Ireland civil service shared services centre for ICT, where he manages 180 staff If you weren't in IT, what would you be doing? I fell into IT by accident 27 years ago when...

Why iti?1/2s high time we made IT history.(Viewpoint essay)(Brief article)
September 25, 2008... Byline: n/a Why it's high time we made IT history Technology is poorly applied because IT leaders fail to appreciate its business role, says Colin Beveridge The first decade of the 21st century is all but ended and yet...

Give your career a shot in the arm.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Steve Carroll Give your career a shot in the arm Anyone looking to pursue an IT career within the health service must be able to demonstrate good communications skills and an appreciation for the strong public service...

IT speeds BA aircraft turnarounds.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Angelica Mari IT speeds BA aircraft turnarounds Digital pens have cut the time it takes to prepare flights for departure Angelica Mari British Airways (BA) is using digital pen and paper technology to speed up the...

VMware strategy raises concerns.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Rosalie Marshall VMware strategy raises concerns VMworld visitors' enthusiasm for the virtualisation giant's new cloud-oriented products was tempered with concerns over control and privacy issues, writes Rosalie Marshall ...

Firms take virtual route to desktop savings.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Rosalie Marshall Firms take virtual route to desktop savings IT chiefs cite better security and faster deployment as key advantages (Electronics supplier NEC has deployed virtual desktops to 12,000 employees in one of the...

Egg keeps costs down by poaching students.(Egg Banking PLC)
September 25, 2008... Byline: Angelica Mari Egg keeps costs down by poaching students An IT academy set up in partnership with a local university is helping Egg to limit the amount it shells out on technology development, writes Angelica Mari ...

Public sector project of the year.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Janie Davies Public sector project of the year NHS Connecting for Health A- NHS Pathways NHS Pathways is a clinical support system designed to help 999 call handlers assess levels of urgency, thus improving response times...

Private sector project of the year.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Janie Davies Private sector project of the year The Computing Awards for Excellence, the Oscars of the IT industry, take place in London on 5 November. Janie Davies turns the spotlight on the organisations nominated for two of...

Tough times mean IT must fight to survive.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Computing Tough times mean IT must fight to survive (It is impossible to separate the turmoil in the financial services sector from the prospects for IT professionals. The finance industry is the biggest spender ...

Smart meters will shake up utilities.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Tom Young Smart meters will shake up utilities Power firms must devise systems to collect and share vast data loads Tom Young Smart meters have been promoted by power companies as a step to more energy-efficient...

M&S bows to ICO pressure and encrypts staff laptops.
September 25, 2008... M&S bows to ICO pressure and encrypts staff laptops Tom Young Marks & Spencer (M&S) has dropped its appeal against an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) following the completion of a laptop encryption...

Scheme to nurture security skills.
September 25, 2008... Scheme to nurture security skills Phil Muncaster Security training provider ISC2 will today launch a new certification programme designed to improve the security credentials of software developers and ultimately raise the standard of...

Fresh funds flow into e-learning.
September 25, 2008... Fresh funds flow into e-learning Tom Young A programme to give eight million users single sign-on access to online learning materials has secured funding for the next three years. Nearly 500 organisations, including over 90 per...

Ikea assembles new systems to boost online sales.(Brief article)
September 25, 2008... Ikea assembles new systems to boost online sales Angelica Mari Ikea hopes to improve its multi-channel offering via the rollout of new supply chain systems. The furniture giant is developing new sourcing and distribution...

Sirius joins Becta list Open-source software supplier Sirius has joined an officially-sanctioned list of education IT providers i?1/2 the first time that the list has included non-proprietary vendors. Becta, the agency responsible for IT in schools, chose 1.
September 25, 2008... Sirius joins Becta list Open-source software supplier Sirius has joined an officially-sanctioned list of education IT providers A- the first time that the list has included non-proprietary vendors. Becta, the agency responsible ...

Microsoft aims HPC Server at Wall St.
September 25, 2008... Microsoft aims HPC Server at Wall St Dave Bailey Microsoft is looking to increase its sales in the high performance computing (HPC) market following the release this week of Windows HPC Server 2008. The official launch took place...