Computer Weekly articles from February 2002

Computer Weekly archives from February 2002

diary.
February 7, 2002... FEBRUARY 11 Real Time ClubConference: Building Britain's brainpower. Royal Institution, Albemarle Street, London. Details: www.scale21.org; Info@scale21.org.uk. 12 Bristol Branch (with Project Management Specialist Group)The...

IT consultants to get their own BCS group.
February 7, 2002... T he BCS will create a new specialist group for IT consultants at a meeting to be held next week, following huge demand from members and non-members in both consultancies and user companies, writes John Kavanagh. The Consultancy Specialist...

inside the bcs.(BCS Industry Structure Model)
February 7, 2002... n Five new job functions have been added to the BCS Industry Structure Model (ISM), the internationally recognised set of training and development standards for IT specialists, following an extensive review by the Communications Management...

Working towards the paperless office.
February 7, 2002... Cambridgeshire Council uses CRM to ease the burden of keeping paper files on 12,000 new students a year Cambridgeshire County Council is using customer relationship management (CRM) software to help it deal with student loan applications...

Monkey impressionist is IT's strongest link.
February 7, 2002... Twelve years of IT knowledge was unlikely to help Ben Baskaran when he faced the formidable Anne Robinson on TV gameshow The Weakest Link, writes Nathalie Towner. But Baskaran, who was recently promoted to assistant director for...

Could Bristol be the new London?(Best International survey)
February 7, 2002... Bristol has experienced a 10% increase in employment over the past year, making it the highest growth area for jobs in England. But there is more to life than work, and IT professionals who have moved around a few times will be well aware that...

three peaks.
February 7, 2002... It's time to register for the annual Vanco Three Peaks Challenge, which gives teams of IT professionals the chance to climb the three highest mountains in the UK to raise money for needy children around the world, writes Nathalie Towner. ...

Growth in IT spend falls to 7%.(Computer Weekly/Kew Associates survey)(Statistical Data Included)
February 7, 2002... John Riley There will tighter belts all round this year as IT spend growth is set to drop to 6.9% this year from 2001's 8.4%, the fourth successive annual drop and the lowest rate of growth in nearly a decade. However, the actual size...

Clear and present danger: why we refused to give up.(Column)
February 7, 2002... The loss of Chinook ZD576, with its four crew and 25 VIP passengers, was more than a helicopter crash. It led to a notorious and flagrant injustice. The pilots were blamed, not because anyone had any specific, certain knowledge of their...

Graduate salaries rise by 8%.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 7, 2002... Bill Goodwin Starting salaries for graduates going into the IT profession are rising despite the economic slowdown. Graduates can expect to earn an average of [pound]20,500 - up [pound]1,800 from a year ago - with the highest starting...

Microsoft forces software rethink.(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas More than three quarters of companies have analysed their software investments more closely following Microsoft's controversial licensing changes, according to this week's Computer Weekly/Harvey Nash Big Question survey. ...

Intel users face 64-bit price hike.(Intel McKinley)(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Eric Doyle Intel users should brace themselves for a price hike when the chip giant launches its new 64-bit processor later this year, analysts have warned. The next generation of Itanium chips, codenamed McKinley, will carry larger...

ICL will become Fujitsu in April.(Fujitsu Services)(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Antony Adshead IT services giant ICL will complete its transition to the Fujitsu brand in April when it begins trading as Fujitsu Services. ICL - which has been involved in a number of troubled high-profile public sector IT projects -...

No quick fix for training firms hit by ILA collapse.(Individual Learning Account)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Bill Goodwin and James Rogers Prospects for an early replacement for the Government's ill-fated Individual Learning Account (ILA) scheme faded this week, after the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) embarked on an informal...

in briefa.(Government Activity)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Government unveils e-voting pilot projects The Government has unveiled plans for May's council elections which could pave the way for online voting in the UK. The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions has confirmed that...

VICTORY!(software flaw could have caused Chinook crash)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Lords confirm our stand - software flaw could have caused Chinook crash Tony Collins An historic House of Lords report has this week vindicated a five-year campaign by Computer Weekly for justice after the crash of Chinook helicopter...

Prime minister must act as MoD defies the Lords.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas The Government is facing mounting pressure to overturn the Ministry of Defence's verdict of gross negligence against the pilots of Chinook ZD576, following this week's historic House of Lords report which exonerated the men....

Did MoD keep Blair in the dark about software?
February 7, 2002... Tony Collins Handwritten notes by the prime minister, Tony Blair, denying that there is new evidence about the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash, are in direct conflict with the House of Lords select committee report published this week....

The Lords saida.(Boeing Chinook MK2 helicopters had faulty software)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... The Verdict "We have considered the justification for the air marshals' finding of negligence against the pilots of ZD576 against the applicable standard of proof, which required 'absolutely no doubt whatsoever'. In the light of all...

The road to justice.(Chinook ZD576 crash blamed on software)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... 1994(2 June): Chinook ZD576 crashes killing all on board. An RAF Board of Inquiry (BOI) is formed. 1994Unknown to crash investigators, the MoD draws up a legal case against the suppliers of the Chinook's Fadec software. 1995Two air...

Let the Internet foot the billing process.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... adrian stafford jones opinion The Government has introduced legislation to ease the financial burden of late invoice payment that is crippling UK businesses. Yet few organisations seem likely to risk jeopardising key business...

Rise of the new consultant.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... roy stead opinion A new breed of consultant is emerging from the death throes of the contractors' market IT companies use contractors and consultants, but what is the difference between the two? Traditionally, consultants are...

Feeling the pinch.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Money may be too tight to mention right now, but IT spend is set to pick up soon. John Riley reports IT directors and managers are beginning to feel the pinch, especially in large companies, as IT budget growth falls towards its lowest...

Share your service vision.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... philip king real world Shared service centres are fast becoming a fact of business life. Designed to administer routine processes cost-effectively, such a centre unites disparate systems within a common process framework. They...

Take the pain out of outsourcing.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Software development is part of your investment in your business, so decisions to place contracts offshore should not be taken lightly, says Ross Bentley. India-based developer NIIT has issued a practical guide to ensure successful...

Maths is not our strong point.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Computer Weekly has been given a sneak preview of the early findings from the Scale 21 report on what it takes to be a success in the IT industry. Nathalie Towner reports Today's IT professionals may have more in common with Alistair...

An ABC guide to data migration.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... To achieve an effective migration to a new system, first invest some time and effort in cleaning your data Gigo - garbage in, garbage out - is one of the most ingrained principles of IT, but it can still be the last thing on anyone's mind...

letters.(Abstract)(Letter to the Editor)
February 7, 2002... Emperor's new clothes? From Simon Mallett Peter Spencer's comments about "Gate Zero" (Computer Weekly, 24 January) can be made about most of the new ideas in project management and it is not limited to government. Last year I went...

Farmers hope to reap benefits of B2B trade.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas The first online trading hub for the UK farming community, which went live last week, has been heralded by analysts as the beginning of a new era for business-to-business (B2B) e-marketplaces. Analyst group Gartner said...

Cowboys take government training scheme for [pounds sterling]65m ride.(Individual Learning Accounts scheme)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... The Individual Learning Accounts scheme is an expensive shambles. Aside from fraudulent claims for training not provided, the quality of some that did materialise was far from acceptable. Bill Goodwin reports The Government began a formal...

Microsoft licensing boss quits.(Duncan Reid)(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... James Rogers The man responsible for launching Microsoft's controversial new software licensing strategy in the UK has left the company to start a new role working with under-privileged children. Duncan Reid, former Microsoft UK...

Net marriage auction bags bride [pounds sterling]251,000.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... The Birmingham woman who auctioned her hand in marriage on the Internet found out her true value last week - [pound]251,000. Kay Hammond, 24, claimed she was too busy to find a partner, and advertised herself on QXL. The auction site...

McDonald's takes the mobile plunge.(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas Fast food giant McDonald's will this week launch what is said to be the largest UK retail mobile marketing campaign to date, a move that could boost the fledgling market. Low costs and large potential audiences could make...

Microsoft on the spot.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Lindsay Clark talks to Microsoft's UK managing director Neil Holloway about the impact of the company's licensing changes Last year, corporate IT departments reacted to the announcement of a new licensing scheme from Microsoft as if a bomb...

Sothebys joins eBay in online auction venture.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas In a classic example of the old embracing the new, Sotheby's, the world's oldest fine art auctioneer, and eBay, the online marketplace, are to join forces on the Internet. The alliance, announced last week, involves three...

Births and deaths to be registered online.(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... James Rogers The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has unveiled ambitious proposals to introduce electronic registration of births, deaths and marriages in England and Wales. Len Cook, registrar general for England and Wales,...

IT sheds nerd image.(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Nathalie Towner The results of the largest ever survey, backed by Computer Weekly, of IT professionals will be announced at the Building Britain's Brainpower conference on 11 February at the Royal Institution. The Real Time Club...

Halifax cuts virus infections.(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Bill Goodwin The Halifax bank claims to have dramatically reduced its computer virus infection rate after a major re-design of its anti-virus defences. The company claims to have reduced the infection rate on its 30,000 client PCs,...

[pounds sterling]5m boost for fight against online fraud.(Abstract)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas The Department of Trade & Industry has launched a [pound]5m campaign aimed at stamping out rogue online traders, in a bid to support trading standards officers and boost consumer confidence in e-commerce. The package,...

IT revamp precedes relaunch.(Selfridges)(Abstract)
February 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas store chain Selfridges is revamping its IT systems in preparation for the opening of two new stores in Birmingham and Manchester. The retailer plans to open in the centre of Manchester in September and in Birmingham 12...

Tivoli server management extended to Lotus Domino.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2002... Tivoli's server health management and planning toolset will be extended to the forthcoming Domino 6 server, writes Eric Doyle. The move underlines IBM's plans to offer tighter integration of its software products across the Lotus, Tivoli,...

Compaq vanquishes appliance servers with its Proliant blades.
February 7, 2002... Compaq claims it has condemned appliance servers to niche markets with the release of its blade servers. The company believes today's users want flexible, re-usable servers rather than dedicated systems, writes Eric Doyle. Blade servers...

EC trading laws change.
February 7, 2002... UK e-business law is set to change as EU states attempt to achieve parity of rights for consumers and suppliers. It is time to prepare for the consequences of that change, writes Ross Bentley Amazon's fourth-quarter move into profit is...

Open source will break the proprietary stranglehold on corporate IT, says IBM.
February 7, 2002... IBM has predicted that open source technologies will break the stranglehold that proprietary systems have on large IT departments. Speaking at the Linuxworld conference in New York last week, William Zeitler, senior vice-president of IBM's...

Will the suppliers break Linux?
February 7, 2002... jack schofield tech talk Proprietary Linux systems could undermine the open source dream The world's biggest computer company is now run by a Linux weenie. Samuel Palmisano will officially take over as chief executive of IBM on 1...

Upgraded Sun Cluster released.(Sun Microsystems' Sun Cluster 3.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 7, 2002... Sun Microsystems has released an enhanced version of its Sun Cluster 3.0 software in a bid to boost service levels and reduce downtime in clustered server environments. Enhancements include the ability to dynamically reconfigure a Sun...

Reasons to be cheerful.(IT spending will be up in UK in 2002)
February 7, 2002... 2002 will be the biggest IT spending year ever IT spending in the UK will hit its highest peak ever this year, growing at seven times the rate of inflation and more than three times faster than UK gross domestic product. Let's repeat...

dpm's diary; c p bound.
February 7, 2002... Monday I received a call from Answar Cloudy who passes, with a lot of help from a certain three-tower building on the outskirts of Reading, as technical strategy guru to Andrex Pindown, the government's e-annoy. "Mr Bound," he...

Getting into project management.
February 14, 2002... I work for an IT outsourcing firm providing first line support for an investment bank in the City. I have an Msc in business IT and will be doing the Prince2 exam next month. I do not want to lag behind in new technology but I have lost...

NHS adopts computer driving licence scheme.
February 14, 2002... The National Health Service is to adopt the European computer driving licence (ECDL) user skills qualification as a standard for its 700,000 staff, writes John Kavanagh. The initiative is aimed at giving everyone from porters to senior...

inside the bcs.
February 14, 2002... n Research into the gap between IT and business people, its impact on project success or failure, and the concerns and issues facing people working to bridge the gap has been launched by the BCS Business-IT Interface Specialist Group. The...

Virtual world.(Magic Earth's Geoprobe)
February 14, 2002... A saving of $100m in one morning from your IT systems is something all IT managers would like. Karl Cushing finds out how it happened Costs in the oil industry are considerable and mistakes are measured in millions notthousands.Good...

Show me the money.(how to get a pay rise)
February 14, 2002... There is a right way and a wrong way to ask for a pay rise, writes Nathalie Towner In the current economic climate it hardly seems like the best time to ask for a pay rise. Talk of redundancies and cutbacks will naturally put people off...

Council uses Bacs to take control.(Albany Software's Albacs)
February 14, 2002... Castle Morpeth Council benefits from implementing its own Bacs payment system. Karl Cushing reports Castle Morpeth Borough Council in Northumberland has implemented Bacs payment clearing software to allow it to send and receive payments...

Hitting the hot ; spots.
February 14, 2002... Although the number of IT jobs advertised continued to slide in the fourth quarter of 2001, some areas did see improvement. Nicholas Enticknap takes a closer look at the trends in the IT recruitment market IT recruitment remained at a low...

Frazzled ITers find an oriental cure for stress.
February 14, 2002... The increase in work-related stress has got some companies looking east for a solution, and a growing number of firms are recommending tai chi to their workforce, writes Nathalie Towner. Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones once mockingly...

Get your team on the grid for Fantasy F1.
February 14, 2002... It is time to get your entries in for this year's Fantasy Formula One competition, writes Nathalie Towner. Computer Weekly has once again teamed up with Mitech to offer three readers the chance to hurtle round Donington Park at speeds of up...

Don't shut out the head of the helpdesk.
February 14, 2002... It costs little or nothing to include helpdesk managers in consultations about new IT projects, but leaving them out can be a very expensive option. Julia Vowler investigates Helpdesk work may not be glamorous, but that is no excuse for...

A coalition is born.(OpenForum Europe)
February 14, 2002... john riley groundswell This is the year when the open source movement takes a true step towards embracing business. For most IT directors the topic has been a major turn-off to date - messianic techies who scarcely know one end of a...

Prove your business worth.(information technology)(Column)
February 14, 2002... david taylor inside track Take a lead in making sure that IT delivers visible business benefits What goes round comes around. It is amazing how chief executives and chief information officers are again talking about IT departments...

strategy clinic consult the experts.
February 14, 2002... What are the implications for the IT department and the business of 64-bit computing? When should I commit to 64-bit and what preparations should I be making now? Roger Marshall, Elite It is a fair bet that the people telling us that...

Death of the big package deal.
February 14, 2002... charles mindenhall opinion A component-based architecture will cut costs, ease implementation and be future-proof There are few greater sources of frustration for a senior executive than large spend on IT, particularly on big...

XP set to knock out software heavyweights.
February 14, 2002... philip taylor opinion Microsoft's new operating system presents a hefty threat to the enterprise software elite The notion that big is beautiful might have worked once in the enterprise software market, but the arrival of Windows...

Writing is on the wall for library's shelves.
February 14, 2002... As a digital version of the oldest known English language Valentine's Day message goes up on its Web site, James Rogers looks at what other organisations can learn from the British Library's project to digitise its most important documents ...

The revolution is still some way off.
February 14, 2002... Web services have won plenty of attention as the major IT suppliers declare strategies to enable the interoperability of applications over the Internet via XML-based standards, writes Ross Bentley. However, Bola Rotibi, an analyst at Ovum,...

Plan for benefits from contractors.
February 14, 2002... Phil Sheridan, UK area manager, RHI Consulting Building a team to take you through the many IT challenges ahead requires long-term strategic planning. One big question is when to bring in contractors, writes Ross Bentley. According to...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
February 14, 2002... The MoD behaved appallingly From Les Hatton I have just heard the news that the pilots of Chinook ZD576 have been exonerated. Well done for pursuing this over the years. The sad thing is that the families of the pilots had to live...

Firms undervalue IT training.
February 14, 2002... IT training managers in the UK are paid less than their IT department colleagues. Bill Goodwin reports Questions have been raised about employers' commitment to IT training following the publication of research which shows that IT training...

Mobile phone radiation boosts worms' fertility.
February 14, 2002... Experiments conducted by the University of Nottingham have found that mobile phones boost the fertility of earth worms. Nematode worms were found to be more likely to produce eggs if exposed to microwaves similar to those emitted by mobile...

Power firm moves to ASP model.
February 14, 2002... Antony Adshead Light and power supplier Aggreko is consolidating disparate regional IT systems into a global network served from two data hubs in a ?3.5m investment. Aggreko - which supplies temporary lighting and power to events such...

E-voting trials will test the public's enthusiasm.
February 14, 2002... James Rogers An independent review body has urged caution before e-voting is widely used in UK elections. The report from the Independent Commission on Alternative Voting Methods last week called for much greater experimentation with...

Love's labours online.(IT project at the UK's national library)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2002... James Rogers A 15th-century Valentines message on the British Library's Web site is part of a major IT project at the UK's national library. The note, from Margery Brews of Norfolk to her fianc?, John Paston, was written in 1477 and is...

Big euro conversion savings.
February 14, 2002... Antony Adshead Companies preparing to convert their systems to the euro have been urged to select their consultants carefully after a high-tech manufacturer slashed 90% from its consultancy fees by shopping around. Monitor manufacturer...

Targets depend on IT changes.
February 14, 2002... James Rogers Radical changes in the management and procurement of diverse IT projects is essential if the Government to meet its 2005 target for getting services online, says a briefing note from Parliamentary Lobby Group Eurim. The...

Brewers merge e-business platforms in search of profit.(Coors Brewers and Bulmers are to merge their e-business divisions)
February 14, 2002... Daniel Thomas Drink manufacturers Coors Brewers and Bulmers are to merge their e-business divisions, a move that will create the largest online marketplace in the hospitality sector. The merger of Pubserve into the Barbox...

Eurim urges e-law reform.
February 14, 2002... Bill Goodwin An influential IT lobbying group is urging the Government to take urgent steps to update UK laws to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to tackle computer-related crime. Labour MP Brian White, chairman of the IT...

Siebel wins bank deal.
February 14, 2002... Daniel Thomas In an attempt to boost its challenge against the "big four" high street banks, Halifax and Bank of Scotland has rolled out Siebel's e-business application eFinance to support new interest-bearing business current accounts....

BA implements sourcing software.(British Airways using Frictionless Commerce's electronic commerce software)
February 14, 2002... Daniel Thomas British Airways is planning to implement enterprise sourcing software over the next few months, as part of its continuing drive to cut costs across the business. The sourcing software, from Frictionless Commerce, will be...

GM rebuilds SAP system.
February 14, 2002... Mike Simons cw360.com The locomotive unit of General Motors was forced to launch an emergency turnaround strategy after an SAP R/3 implementation brought its spare parts business to a virtual standstill. The company instigated the...

Industry recruits wrong people.
February 14, 2002... Nathalie Towner &John Riley UK industry could be recruiting candidates with the wrong personality type to be a success in IT. A groundbreaking report published earlier this week shows that IT professionals as a group have the wrong...

Anti-fraud smartcard plan gets green light.
February 14, 2002... Mike Simons CW360.com UK banks and major retailers have overcome a year of disputes and agreed to roll out smartcards that authorise transactions using a customer's Pin code rather than a signature. The Association for Payment...

Biometric ID cards promise greater security benefits.
February 14, 2002... James Rogers The Government's plan to examine the use of biometrics on identity cards could bring real benefits to the general public, security experts believe. Biometric technology, which uses fingerprint data and iris scans to...

Users put off AD roll-out.(Microsoft's Active Directory)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2002... Cliff Saran CW360.com A lack of skills and complexity of upgrading have contributed to stalled roll-outs of Active Directory, Microsoft's much-vaunted Windows 2000 directory service system. Analyst firm Giga reported that large...

CRM is key to winning customers.
February 14, 2002... Daniel Thomas Travel companies which do not have a clear customer relationship management (CRM) strategy are in danger of missing out on increased repeat business of up to 60%, according to the head of customer strategy at Thomas Cook. ...