Computer Weekly articles from July 2003

Computer Weekly archives from July 2003

NEXT MOVE.
July 1, 2003... The question Why am I struggling to get an IT job? I am currently working in a primary school. I decided a couple of years ago to retrain as I was very interested in IT. I could not afford to leave work, so I joined a training...

British Computer Society; More training needed to meet security threats.
July 1, 2003... John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk IT specialists need more training in how to build systems that prevent security breaches and comply with the law, and end-users need to learn how to preserve evidence to aid police with...

Doctors demand process change before ITroll-out.
July 1, 2003... Lack of change management could jeopardise national IT programme changes to working practices before systems are rolled out. This lack of a major change management project is seen by many doctors and IT specialists as a fundamental flaw...

Don't confine IT training to the classroom.
July 1, 2003... e-learning Should employees be taught in the classroom, on the web, or both? With one quarter of businesses introducing e-learning, what opportunities does it hold for IT? Andy Favell computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk With its potential...

Are you paying too much?(telecommunicatins charges)
July 1, 2003... Opinion Pete Smith Help is at hand for checking your telecoms charges Did you receive a home phone bill this month? Did you check it? Most of us just look at the bottom-line figure, see the cost is about right and pay the bill....

IT will drive the future.(such as Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS))
July 1, 2003... Opinion Steve Norris How technology can improve UK traffic congestion In the UK we are fortunate to have centralised integrated traffic management centres in nearly all our cities. These systems control all traffic signals and...

Downtime.
July 1, 2003... How to make friends and influence people While the Friends Reunited website has put many old acquaintances back in touch, it is also proving effective in separating people from their current jobs. Last week one employee was forced to resign...

E-learning consortium offers online MS training to Leonard Cheshire charity staff.
July 1, 2003... smart projects Disability charity Leonard Cheshire joins e-learning consortium Ross Bentley ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk Leonard Cheshire, the UK's leading disability care charity, has joined an e-learning consortium with five other...

workplace; Office whingers ailment identified.(post-traumatic embitterment disorder)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ross Bentley ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk Most people whinge about their job at some time or another but employees who continually moan about work could be suffering from a medical condition similar to the post-traumatic stress experienced...

mobile; Windows Mobile 2003 fails to impress analysts.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Karl Cushing karl.cushing@rbi.co.uk Industry analysts have been largely unimpressed by Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC, the latest version of its Windows CE .net-based operating system for handheld computers. Key...

RSI; Online advice service can help RSI sufferers.(from AbilityNet)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Karl Cushing karl.cushing@rbi.co.uk ITcharityAbilityNethas launched a free online service to combat repetitive strain-related injuries, which it claims account for 5.4 million lost working days and costs industry [pounds sterling]3bn a...

EDI; Asda anticipates major savings from switch to web-based EDI.
July 1, 2003... l Move follows milestone US roll-out which paid for itself within monthsl Asda could save staff costs through using web rather than X.25 skills Antony Adshead antony.adshead@rbi.co.uk US retail giant Wal-Mart's roll-out of...

mainframes; Power drives take up of flagship IBM box.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... James Rogers james.rogers@rbi.co.uk US insurance giant Farmers Insurance Group has bought a z990, IBM's new flagship mainframe, to serve as the backbone of a web-based claims processing system. UK users are also set to harness the...

Over 80% of doctors not consulted over NHS IT.
July 1, 2003... NHS it plan The vast majority of doctors are still in the dark about the government's [pounds sterling]2.3bn plan to overhaul NHS IT, according to a survey jointly commissioned by Computer Weekly and The Times. James Rogers examines the...

Disney keeps global SAP roll-out on track by making local executives responsible.(working with Pricewaterhouse-Coopers UK)
July 1, 2003... ERP Disney overcomes problems with finance and payroll data by getting users on-board Mike Simons mike.simons@rbi.co.uk The Walt Disney Corporation has just completed a major update of its UK back-office business systems. The...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... The ISPs' dilemma: who decides what is spam? Adam Jones IT consultant, Matchtech Group As a regular receiver of junk e-mail, I can understand the point made by Dave Gordon (Letters, 17 June) that it should be stopped at source....

mobile; Mobile payments to be launched next year.(Industry Overview)
July 1, 2003... Daniel Thomas daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk The first industry-wide mobile payments platform will launch next year with the intention of driving more than one billion annual m-payment transactions within the next four to five years. The...

RFID ; Wal-Mart's RFID plan too; aggressive for suppliers.(warns Meta Group)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Daniel Thomas daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk Wal-Mart's intention to use RFID tags on products from its top 100 suppliers by 2005 is too aggressive and will lead to major problems for supply chain partners, analyst firm Meta Group said last...

offshore outsourcing; Unions warn MPs of risk to UKIT jobs from offshore outsourcing.( Amicus MSF, Unifi and the Communication Workers Union )
July 1, 2003... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk IT union leaders are set to meet MPs later this month to tell them that offshore outsourcing poses a serious threat to UK IT and communications jobs. A delegation from Amicus MSF, Unifi and the...

Laptops and Citrix servers ensure baby gets its number.(by Southend NHS Trust midwives )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Southend NHS Trust midwives will be able to register NHS baby numbers from patients' homes using laptops with Citrix Metaframe connections to the central server. Under the NHS Baby Numbers Initiative, a child receives its unique number on the...

Perot loses bid to stop [pounds sterling]10m case.(brought by former employee, Michael Johnson)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk Michael Johnson, a high-flying IT professional who claims his life was ruined when he was falsely accused of fraud, has won the right to continue a [pounds sterling]10m legal action against his...

Perot claims it was misled by vetting firm in senior IT manager's [pounds sterling]10m slander case.(Zephon Employee Screeinng)
July 1, 2003... Perot case IT manager sues Perot over comments allegedly made to vetting agency Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk A computer services company, at the centre of a [pounds sterling]10m claim for defamation and breach of contract,...

public sector; Government processes not moving with the times.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Government processes are in need of modernisation if it is to benefit from new IT systems, said e-envoy Andrew Pinder, speaking in London last week. Pinder said tax systems were a prime example of...

telecoms; Call costs cut at customers' expense.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Antony Adshead antony.adshead@rbi.co.uk Analysts have warned that mobile phone operators may try to increase charges on data services after they failed to overturn a Competition Commission ruling in the high court last week. ...

security; Iris scans of little value without standards.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Government plans to install iris scanning machines in UK airports will be of limited use unless more progress is made towards international standards in biometric technology, experts said this week. ...

software; Manugistics asked to repay failed project costs.
July 1, 2003... l Manugistics software considered "not fit for purpose" Wincanton used US logistics software for UK trucking business Antony Adshead antony.adshead@rbi.co.uk Logistics firm Wincanton is in discussion with enterprise software...

Web EDI forces suppliers to change tactics.(Asda)
July 1, 2003... retail Asda's switch to web EDI will make suppliers comply and competitors catch up will bring cheaper and easier support of supply chain systems for top-tier enterprises, but can increase costs for those lower down the supply chain. ...

awards; Tif rewards the best ITprojects.(Corporate IT Forum)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... John Riley john.riley@rbi.co.uk IT managers and staff from retailer Marks & Spencer and bank clearing house Bacs won accolades for their IT projects at the Corporate IT Forum's (Tif) annual awards last week. Marks & Spencer won...

Gallery hopes to woo more visitors through mobile phones.
July 1, 2003... The National Gallery is to send images of its pictures direct to mobile phones. High-resolution images from the gallery's website will be sent to users' handsets. The image can be stored as a background or forwarded to another user. Charlotte...

the infrastructure forum; The headache of PDAs.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The headaches experienced by IT managers in the 1980s when end-users bought PCs on petty cash for business use have returned with a vengeance with personal digital assistants. Managing the influx of PDAs into end-user departments is the...

Apache is no cowboy web server.
July 1, 2003... hot skills In the SSL/CW list of top IT skills, Apache is number 69 Nick Langley computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk What is it? Apache is far and away the most popular web server, with more than double Microsoft's market share. But...

Inside the BCS; Institute mergers will strengthen BCS role.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The proposed merger of three engineering institutions will strengthen the BCS' role as the professional body for the IT industry, the society has said. The BCS has given "a warm welcome" to the proposed merger of the Institution of...

Stopping the Spammers.
July 1, 2003... With nearly one in two e-mails being junk, consumers could stop doing business electronically. Danny Bradbury finds out how spammers work and what IT departments can do to fight them Asimple invitation enticing people to a reception for a...

Marketplace Training courses.
July 1, 2003... Security Name of course: Complying with 1998 Data Protection Act Town/city:Reading Date: 9 July Fee: [pounds sterling]495 + VAT Organiser: Ultima Business Solutions Contact: 01189-027298 '...

employment; Unions seek talks in IBM contracts.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Union leaders have written to IBM requesting clarification of controversial changes to its staff contracts. IBM is threatening to sack hundreds of its employees unless they sign new contracts that slash...

audit; MoD IT will face gateway review.(Ministry of Defence)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... James Rogers james.rogers@rbi.co.uk The Ministry of Defence's massive [pounds sterling]4bn IT overhaul will be subject to the government's gateway review on managing major projects, officials have confirmed. David Rennison, a...

Economist cio summit; IT's job is to shape firms.
July 1, 2003... IT should be at the heart of corporate planning and not be seen as an ancillary service. That was the view expressed at the recent annual Economist CIO Summit by Christine Ashton, chair of the British Computer Society's Business to IT...

IN BRIEF.
July 1, 2003... Barclaycard signs [pounds sterling]60m chip and Pin deal Barclaycard Merchant Services has signed a five-year deal worth [pounds sterling]60m with payment specialist Ingenico to supply new payment terminals. Barclaycard will overhaul its...

Face up to offshore politics.
July 1, 2003... As the holiday season approaches, the thoughts of even the most dedicated staff are drifting overseas. For a growing number of cost-conscious UK companies, eager to reduce IT costs, India is the prime destination. But not for sightseeing. The...

qualifications; New diploma options.
July 1, 2003... A qualification in modelling business processes has been added to the options in the business systems development diploma run by the BCS Information Systems Examinations Board. Topics include identifying, modelling, evaluating and improving...

Make yourself an indispensable employee.
July 1, 2003... preparing for job cuts If your company is looking to make redundancies, how can you improve your work, your attitude, your skills and your training to avoid becoming a target? Candice Goodwin computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Financial...

It industry charity ball; Two days left to get tickets to the ball.
July 1, 2003... There is still time to book tickets for the IT community's main charity event of the year: a glittering evening out in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, to raise funds for Barnado's. The event takes place in just two days' time, on 3 July. Join...

offshore outsourcing; Arrogance of the IT contractors.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Cliff Saran Tech talk The pages of Computer Weekly have recently seen a spate of articles and letters from readers debating for and against using offshore outsourcing and cheap foreign labour. Supported by the Professional...

Inside the BCS; More BCS groups for members.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... IT people are getting extra opportunities to get together through an expansion of the BCS network. Three branches have been revived, two new sub-branches are being set up and two new overseas sections have been established. The...

RedDot's content management keeps the Royal Shakespeare Company up-to-date.
July 8, 2003... smart projects Royal Shakespeare Company adopts content management system Ross Bentley ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk The Royal Shakespeare Company has incorporated a content management system into its website to enable the site's writers...

64-bit computing; Itanium stumbles on software code.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... look carefully at which applications they plan to deploy on Itanium II as some contain Java, which may not be able to run optimally. "Before you buy 64-bit Intel, understand your system fully. Check where you have Java running," she said....

British computer society; BCS and professional groups call for wider university IT research.
July 8, 2003... John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Important research in IT and other areas will be closed down if the government pushes ahead with plans to concentrate funding on a few elite universities, the BCS and 10 other bodies have warned....

E-gov success depends on Whitehall mandarins.
July 8, 2003... In March 2000, Tony Blair enthusiastically brought forward ambitious targets set the previous year to make all government services available online. In the heady dotcom euphoria, everything must have seemed possible - at least to policy makers...

New laws to tackle the spammers.
July 8, 2003... Lawyer Sarah Ahmad explains how new legislation could help fight spam Unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, is a growing problem for companies that rely on e-mail for business operations. Daily, millions of pounds are lost as a result of...

Missing computer system puts children at risk.(the Children and Family Court Advisory Service )(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Mike Simons mike.simons@rbi.co.uk Some of the UK's most vulnerable children are being put at risk because a government agency set up to protect them lacks a vital computer system. With two children a week dying from abuse,...

Let interims fill in when insiders will not do.
July 8, 2003... interim managers They may be able to rescue an organisation from an acute lack of skills at short notice, but IT directors should consider their effect on the workforce Julia Vowler computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The market for interim...

Play the umpire to manage stress.
July 8, 2003... Greg Rusedski's recent outburst at Wimbledon was judged as a low point in tennis, but many IT managers may sympathise with the pressures of being at the receiving end of dubious decisions and operating in a high-profile environment. ...

security; Virus attacks up 17.5%.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Karl Cushing karl.cushing@rbi.co.uk Last month's Bugbear-B worm was the most pernicious virus in the first half of 2003. Security firm Sophos received reports about 3,855 new viruses, a 17.5% increase compared to the same period last...

High street banks face major IT challenges in complying with chip and Pin technology.
July 8, 2003... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk With the Northampton trial of chip and Pin technology well underway, the high street banks have outlined their plans for rolling out the initiative nationwide. The multibillion-pound programme aims...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 8, 2003... Involving users in design will improve software B F J Cricklewood Woking Software suppliers would be perfectly happy to make their products more reliable if consumers were equally happy to pay higher prices. But are they? I...

public sector; Fire service technology reform.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... James Rogers james.rogers@rbi.co.uk Following the disruption of the recent firefighters' pay dispute, the government has promised greater use of IT as part of its ambitious plans to reform the fire service in England and Wales. A...

mobile; Users put businesses at risk by not securing PDA information.(Pointsec survey)
July 8, 2003... Ross Bentley ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk As the business use of personal digital assistants continues to grow, many organisations are risking the loss of commercially sensitive information. A new survey has shown that users are failing to...

Directors under pressure to do even more for less.
July 8, 2003... Karl Cushing karl.cushing@rbi.co.uk IT directors are bracing themselves for a year of falling IT budgets and "doing more for less" but are hampered by poorly aligned business and IT strategies, according to a recent survey. Nearly...

servers; Butler: 90% of users unaware of server size.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... James Rogers james.rogers@rbi.co.uk Nine out of 10 companies have little idea of their server and storage capacities, according to the latest research from analyst firm Butler Group. The report said server and storage...

spam ; Laws alone cannot turn tide of spam.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Daniel Thomas daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk Unsolicited e-mail is not a problem that will be solved by legislation alone, the e-commerce minister admitted last week. Speaking at a "spam summit" hosted by the All Party Parliamentary...

Hilton invests [pounds sterling]8m to grow web sales.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Hilton International has embarked on an ambitious [pounds sterling]8m e-commerce initiative designed to increase the percentage of rooms sold online from 3% to 20% within five years. The hotel group has made developing its online sales...

outsourcing; C&W's [pounds sterling]1.1bn IBM deal goes sour.
July 8, 2003... early, the consultant said. C&W told IBM in June that it would cancel the supplier's contract to provide support for the telco's IT infrastructure and customer and billing systems at the end of 2003. The deal, signed in 1998, was due to...

cybercrime; IT leaders say UKlaws do not deter hackers.(IT Directors Forum)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Karl Cushing karl.cushing@rbi.co.uk Seventy seven per cent of IT chiefs said the UK's computer crime laws are not very effective at deterring hackers and virus writers in a recent poll. Not one of the 366 respondents felt existing...

e-business ; SMEs drive increase in web activity.(the 2003 Continental Research report)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Daniel Thomas daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk More than 50% of UK businesses expect to increase their spending on online activities in the next 12 months, research has revealed. The 2003 annual Continental Research report, which surveyed...

internet; Firms could be liable for staff MP3 downloads.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Daniel Thomas daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk The music industry's proposals to sue individual computer users who download music illegally could have an enormous legal and financial impact on companies that knowingly permit their employees to...

NHS IT; Innovative local pilots grind to a halt amid nationalfunding doubts.
July 8, 2003... Mike Simons mike.simons@rbi.co.uk Three major NHS IT pilot schemes have ground to a halt amidst uncertainty ahead of the contract awards for the national programme for IT. A private finance initiative pilot project for the...

e-government; Cost of e-government work soars.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... James Rogers james.rogers@rbi.co.uk The cost of e-government to local authorities could be [pounds sterling]1bn more than originally anticipated, analyst firm Kable has warned. Based on implementing electronic government...

Public sector; CSA system's 'significant problems'.(Child Support Agency )(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... James Rogers james.rogers@rbi.co.uk The Child Support Agency's new IT system is beset by serious problems, according to a damning report from the Public and Commercial Services trade union. In an official submission to the work...

public sector; Whitehall could merge Customs and Revenue IT.
July 8, 2003... l Major review team looks for savings in departments' systems l They have similar customers and processes and spend billions on IT Tony Collins and Mike Simons tony.collins@rbi.co.ukmike.simons@rbi.co.uk Top civil servants are to...

Sharp skill for thin clients.(Citrix Metaframe Access Suite)
July 8, 2003... Nick Langley computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk What is it? Five years ago the fat client/thin client debate was raging. Fat clients were full-function PCs, stuffed to the gills with locally-held copies of applications. Thin clients were...

National Computing centre; 'No change' staff hamper business.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Resistance to change in the business hampers about 50% of IT managers, to judge from the National Computing Centre IT Strategy Survey 2003. The survey of members, responded to by 428 organisations employing more than 20,000 IT staff, found...

self-help; Power napping proved to aid concentration.(according to Harvard University)
July 8, 2003... Sarah Jackson computerweekly@rbi.co.uk An hour's nap at work may help IT programmers to write better code, according to recently published research. Traditionally seen as the preserve of older people or the very young, experts now...

project management; It's all systems go - but keep users in the loop.
July 8, 2003... Lisa Clark Tech talk Inadequate end-user training is often the culprit behind the failure of a new enterprise system to deliver tangible business benefits. The root of the problem is that many IT projects lack sponsorship from...

retail ; Firms must allow time for chip and Pin test.
July 8, 2003... l Pre-testing key to success of anti-fraud projectl Retailers must allow six weeks to test chip and Pin technology Daniel Thomas daniel.thomas@rbi.co.uk Retailers must not underestimate the complexity of the testing process...

ageism; New report uncovers consequences of ageism.(according to MaturityWorks)
July 8, 2003... Ross Bentley ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk Ageism has consequences far beyond the workplace. For 78% of older people who say they have been victims of ageism, their experience continues to scar their lives. In a report from...

Plan for winning projects.
July 8, 2003... Chris Purrington Opinion Why the IT department deserves a seat on the board There is no doubt that today's IT director carries more responsibility than ever before. In a digital economy, systems failure can have dire commercial...

mainframes; Connectivity suite helps Dudley keep e-government goal in sight.(Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council uses NDL's Active Host Publish)
July 8, 2003... l NDL software will put back-end services online in the Midlandsl Geographically-based contact centres will go on trial next year Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has begun using a suite of...

The metadata detectives.
July 8, 2003... Andrew Pearson Opinion BYLINE: Document histories can expose more than you intend Last week saw further intrigue surrounding the government's pre-war "dodgy dossier" on the threat posed by Iraq. By investigating author...

Downtime.
July 8, 2003... Shy about off and near? Try going right With companies falling over themselves to move chunks of their IT overseas it was only a matter of time before consultants coined a cheesy term for it. We have had offshore outsourcing and...

Users upbeat about value of IT to business.(Corporate IT Forum )
July 8, 2003... Tif conference As the risks of outsourcing become more apparent, IT leaders find themselves in a strong position to lobby for influence in the boardroom John Riley john.riley@rbi.co.uk Delegates were bullish at IT's position at...

UKCMG; Technical staff take an interest.(UK Computer Measurement Group conference)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... A wish to understand management and IT strategy issues has spread through to the technical IT community, judging from this year's annual conference of the UK Computer Measurement Group (UKCMG). Asset management and server consolidation were hot...

the corporate it forum; M&S takes prize for profitability at Tif's annual awards ceremony.(Marks and Spencer)
July 8, 2003... IT managers and staff from Marks & Spencer, the bank clearing house Bacs, Cheshire County Council and East Midlands Electricity won accolades from their peers for successful IT projects at The Corporate IT Forum's (Tif) annual awards recently....

The corporate it forum; Tif thrives despite IT's poorshowing.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2003... Despite the economic uncertainty, The Corporate IT Forum has continued to grow, said chairman Jonathan Mitchell at the user group's annual conference. It has about 140 corporate members paying from [pounds sterling]4,750 to [pounds...

Keep your head in the face of redundancy.(Column)
July 8, 2003... Helen Beckett computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Between January and September last year 36,000 UK IT employees were made redundant, according to Amicus, the IT professionals' trade union. Careers in the technology industry have always been...