Computer Weekly articles from June 2005

Computer Weekly archives from June 2005

Drinks maker raises a glass to new SAP workflow system.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Drinks maker Scottish Courage is to automate the processing of more than 180,000 invoices each year via a service from Graphic Data Online (GDO), in a bid to improve the efficiency of running SAP. The company receives about 180,000 purchase...

acquisitions; Sun buys out StorageTek for [pounds sterling]2.3bn.
June 7, 2005... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Sun Microsystems is to buy StorageTek in a [pounds sterling]2.3bn deal that will create a giant network computing and data management firm. Users stand to gain from an end-to-end storage line and...

Software; Upgrade dilemma confronts users as Windows 2000 support expires.
June 7, 2005... Extended support is only alternative to Windows 2003 upgradel Expected release of Longhorn in 2006 forces tough decisions Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Standard support for Windows 2000 runs out at the end of this month,...

jobs market; Councils woo top staff with lifestyle perks.
June 7, 2005... Survey shows local authorities competing well on IT recruitment l Flexible working and benefits balance higher private sector pay Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Local authorities are competing well with the private sector...

security; Second-hand hard discs found to hold recoverable sensitive data.(Tash Shifrin)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Tash Shifrin computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Financial and commercially sensitive data is routinely left on used hard discs, which are sold without being properly wiped, research has shown. More than seven in 10 used but functional hard...

IN BRIEF.
June 7, 2005... Red Hat launches open source directory server Open source software provider Red Hat has launched a directory server based on technology acquired by the company from AOL/Netscape. Red Hat Directory Server runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux,...

IN BRIEF.
June 7, 2005... May sees 380% rise in virus-carrying e-mails The number of e-mail messages infected with viruses soared in May, with an increase of more than 380% on April, according to managed e-mail service provider Postini. It said it had intercepted...

Downtime.
June 7, 2005... Sun forks out $50m to show its sharing side Sun Microsystems has spent $50m on a new image that uses a wavy line and the word "share" alongside its familiar diagonal emblem. Money well spent? David Mitchell, practice leader for the...

e-crime; New law for ID thieves.(online identity fraud)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Tash Shifrin computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk People who commit online identity fraud could face 10 years in jail under a bill published by the government last month. The Fraud Bill creates a new fraud offence carrying a maximum 10-year...

PC & desktop ; Datacentre blade PCs create secure desktops.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk IT managers are starting to deploy an alternative to both the traditional PC and the dumb terminal, by stationing secure fat client blade PCs in the datacentre, with network access to a port at...

Somerfield signs [pounds sterling]3.3m Epos deal.(electronic point of sale and back-office system)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Supermarket chain Somerfield has awarded a [pounds sterling]3.3m contract to Torex Retail to implement an electronic point of sale and back-office system across 225 of its UK stores. The Iridium Epos system and the Prism back-office system...

servers; Broker switches to blades running Windows 2003.(EasyBroker using Blade servers)
June 7, 2005... Financial services firm switches trading services to Windows 2003l Hosted infrastructure allows EasyBroker to add and remove servers at will Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Financial services company EasyBroker has migrated its...

The facts that shine through smokescreen surrounding HM Revenue and Customs.
June 7, 2005... Government IT Will civil servants' reactions scupper CIO's modernisation agenda? Tony Collins tony.collins@rbi.co.uk When Steve Lamey addressed more than 100 IT executives at the Park Plaza hotel in London's Victoria two weeks...

HP's move to Itanium gathers momentum with Nonstop servers based on 64-bit chips.
June 7, 2005... Integrity Nonstop server can scale to 4,080 Itanium 2 processors l It has virtual application environment and built-in clustering technology Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Hewlett-Packard has introduced Nonstop servers based on...

HP updates Proliantfault monitoring tool.(Hewlett-Packard latest version fault monitoring, inventory reporting and configuration management tool)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Hewlett-Packard has unveiled the latest version of its fault monitoring, inventory reporting and configuration management tool for Proliant, Integrity and HP 9000 systems. Sim 5.0 supports HP's...

A CIOstands up for openness.(HM Revenue and Customs)(Chief Information Officer)
June 7, 2005... Steve Lamey, chief information officer at the newly merged HM Revenue and Customs, has set himself the task of removing major inefficiencies. He has discovered, for example, that staff in each of the UK's 72 tax offices do things differently....

Sainsbury's extends payroll contract.(Northgate HR deal)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Sainsbury's has extended its contract with Northgate HR to provide a full bureau payroll service for 140,000 employees across the retailer's 727 stores. The deal builds on an existing contract signed in 2003 to provide payroll services for...

enterprise software; Unilever to use SAP simulator to train staff.(simulation software)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Unilever is to use a simulation programme to train 10,000 staff to use its SAP R/3 applications. The company, which owns brands such as Persil, Flora and Marmite, will use OutStart's Softsim...

Firms warned they may be targets of Trojan spies.(computer crimes investigations)
June 7, 2005... Bill Goodwin and Hazel Ward bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk UKbusinesses should take urgent steps to check their systems are secure, police have warned after discovering one of the world's largest industrial espionage and hacking operations....

compliance; Oracle hub aids firms' financial reporting.(Financial Consolidation Hub software)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Tash Shifrin computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk A new tool from Oracle aims to ease financial reporting and aid compliance with business governance rules. The Financial Consolidation Hub, a component of Oracle's Corporate Performance...

Whitehall says no to Freedom Act requests 2.
June 7, 2005... Tony Collins tony.collins@rbi.co.uk Whitehall officials have refused requests under the Freedom of Information Act to publish the results of Gateway reviews on high-risk IT-related projects at the NHS, the Child Support Agency and on a...

nhs it; Doctors concerned over decision to drop IDX.(United Kingdom. National Health Service)(Lindsay Clark)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Doctors' leaders are concerned that a decision by Fujitsu Services to drop software firm IDX from its implementation of the [pounds sterling]6.2bn Connecting for Health could create further...

public sector; Cuts to hit more council IT staff.(information technology workers at Bradford City Council)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Bradford City Council has increased the number of IT staff threatened by redundancy because of [pounds sterling]160m funding cuts, according to public sector union Unison. Unison regional...

software; MS to open up Office 12 documents with XML.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Internet data standard will be default for saving files in next Office release l Format will improve interoperability and file and data management Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Microsoft will make XML the default for...

mobile; Microsoft to launch rival to Blackberry e-mail system.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Microsoft has developed a rival technology to Research In Motion's Blackberry push e-mail system, which it claims will be easy to operate and can scale to thousands of users. Speaking at the...

How to protect your systems.(personal desktop security measures)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Gartner said businesses should protect desktops from attacks of this type by deploying: Host-based intrusion prevention software that includes behaviour-based detection to block unknown executables, and signature-based anti-virus and...

Liverpool installs ticketing software.(Liverpool Football Club)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Liverpool Football Club is installing software to help it allocate tickets more fairly, improve customer service and reduce the costs of processing ticket applications. The Talent Sport package runs on the IBM iSeries platform and ensures...

dpm's diary; c p bound.(Calendar)
June 7, 2005... Monday It is good to be back on terra firma. Our open boat finally made landfall on the Cornish coast this morning. The tiger jumped off and slipped away. I told the police about the mad cook, the turtle and the floating island, but they...

BYte night; Sleep on the streets to help young homeless.(information technology professionals aid to children's charities)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... For a complete contrast with the IT charity ball, IT professionals can sleep rough overnight near London's Tower Bridge in September for charity. For years, hundreds of senior IT professionals have been sleeping out for Byte Night, which...

Walk the walk to help fund Barnardo's centre.(charity walk by information technology workers)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... This month IT professionals and their families can visit parts of the capital not normally open to the public, in the Great London Walk in aid of Barnardo's. This year's IT charity walk takes place on Sunday 26 June, starting in the...

Fujitsu abandons joint working.(Fujitsu Services contracts)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... In January 2004 Fujitsu Services became the last supplier to be contracted as a local service provider to the national programme for IT in the NHS. A key feature of its bid was joint working with BT, the LSP for London, and software...

Spyware threat to computer systems.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... Spyware consists of "executables" that infect computers used to visit malicious websites or reply to mass e-mailings. Most anti-virus and anti-spyware tools rely on the mass propagation of viruses and spyware to create signatures of the bad...

ITCHarity Ball; Ball gets the Hollywood treatment.(Intellect IT Industry Charity Ball in London aid to Starlight Children's Foundation)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2005... The annual Intellect IT Industry Charity Ball in London on 7 July is the highlight of the IT social calendar. Last year's event raised more than [pounds sterling]50,000. This year's ball is in aid of the Starlight Children's Foundation,...

Planning an escape route; Negotiate termination rights at the start of a contract.(computer industry outsourcing contract)
June 7, 2005... Everyone is keen to obtain a bargain, whether it is a new TV in the January sales or a cut-price corporate desktop agreement. But as deals grow, so do the risks, and that big desktop outsourcing deal may bring a reduction in quality rather than...

BRITISH computer society ; IT debate proposes single-term delivery on government projects.
June 14, 2005... Individuals need more freedom to challenge ministers' decisionsl Openness needed to better understand risk and best practice John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Government IT projects should last no longer than the time between...

recruitment; Employers advised to improve interview methods in tight market.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Tash Shifrin computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Employers must change the way they interview potential staff or risk losing out in the war for talent, IT recruitment experts have warned. The number of skilled IT staff available has fallen...

software; Office 12 to allow direct links from documents to back-end systems.
June 14, 2005... Office XML format will reduce file sizes by up to 75% with Zip compression l Tagged data can be integrated into back-end applications and databases Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Companies will be able to link data from...

education; Courses filling up as students decide IT is no longer geeky.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk More students are applying for IT courses and the IT profession is losing its geeky image as technology increasingly becomes part of everyday life. Nine out of 10 graduates believe IT is a...

servers; Major server advances by next year.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Module). The chip will support 32Gbytes of memory - four times the current 8Gbyte maximum. The bandwidth of the memory will also be boosted by 33% to 6.7gbps, Pappas said Hingley said applications likely to take advantage of this include...

SMARt projects Quality Assessment Innovation Project fosters innovation in education; City University London to use e-learning data to improve effectiveness of courses.
June 14, 2005... Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk City University London is to use software to collect and review student performance data to improve educational standards. The university is one of four institutions participating in the Quality...

recruitment; Firms confident they can recruit despite increasing demand for skilled employees.
June 14, 2005... Companies are not reporting skills shortages in any great volumel Survey suggests outsourcing and training are plugging skills gap Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk Employers are confident they will have no problems recruiting IT...

outsourcing ; Offshore outsourcing encourages more effective ITmanagement, says Forrester.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Offshore deals require careful monitoring and managementl Firms use offshoring to deliver flexible business processes Mike Simons mike.simons@rbi.co.uk Offshore outsourcing can be the catalyst for effective internal IT management,...

Users setting up their own disaster recovery sites.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Mike Simons mike.simons@rbi.co.uk Businesses are increasingly creating internal disaster recovery sites, Forrester analyst Colin Rankine told the GigaWorld IT forum in Prague. Consolidation among disaster recovery service...

servers; Unisys powers up.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Unisys is to introduce a service that lets users easily access extra processing power when needed. With capacity-on-demand, servers are sold with more processors than the user initially pays...

ID cards Experts offer alternative, less-risky model for national identitycard scheme ; Billions could be cut from cost of ID cards without compromising security, says LSE.(London School of Economics)
June 14, 2005... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk The government could cut billions of pounds from the cost of its ID card scheme by abandoning its plans for a central population register, without compromising its plans to fight ID theft, terrorism...

outsourcing; Dissatisfaction with offshore deals rises.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Companies that outsource their IT operations to offshore locations are increasingly dissatisfied with the service they are getting, according to a new survey. The annual offshore outsourcing...

software; SQL Server 2005 due in November.(Microsoft introduce Visual Studio 2005)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Microsoft will release SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005, the next versions of its enterprise database and application development environment, in early November. The company will also...

AA calls in BT and Panasonic for roadside laptop support.(contract with British Telecommunications PLC, Matsushita Electric Corporation of America)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... The AA has signed a three-year, multimillion-pound deal for BT and Panasonic to manage and support its mechanics' laptops. The deal represents the first contract BT and Panasonic have struck since the companies decided to partner on field...

Minister rejects claims ID cards are high-risk.
June 14, 2005... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk The government launched a robust defence of its multibillion-pound ID card programme last week, rounding on critics that argue the scheme is too risky and too complex. Tony McNulty, the Home...

retail; Dixons uses virtualisation to cut its servers.
June 14, 2005... High availability issues prompt retailer to dump multiple server farms l Entire infrastructure redeveloped to be more application-centric Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Retailer Dixons is virtualising applications so they...

RFID; Microsoft to aid RFID deployment.(radio frequency identification)
June 14, 2005... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Microsoft has unveiled plans to develop an IT infrastructure to support the deployment of radio frequency identification technology. Built on top of its .net Framework for web services, the...

police IT Basic information sharing between forces should be implemented by year end ; Home Office yet to clarify how police IT systems should be managed nationally.
June 14, 2005... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk If you have an important deadline to meet, the last thing you want is for your role to change. And if it did, you would want to know how as soon as possible. The Home Office does not appear...

innovation; Good ideas and simple IT reap retail rewards.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Retailers could reap huge rewards by using relatively simple technology in an innovative way, delegates at the Retail Solutions 2005 show were told. Although RFID is seen as the future of theft...

IT skills scheme aims to reduce productivity gap within three years ; Industry throws weight behind skills action plan.
June 14, 2005... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk A national IT skills action plan backed by employers, the government and universities aims to reduce the productivity gap between the UK and its European rivals within three years. The...

networks; SportsWorld aims for IP savings.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk SportsWorld expects to save [pounds sterling]500,000 over the next three years through the use of broadband and IP communications, including wireless technology. The sports retailer has signed a...

purchasing; Gartner: don't let hype drive security spend.(information technology spendings)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Organisations should not let "over-hyped" security threats influence their IT investments, Gartner has warned. The analyst firm used its security conference in the US last week to focus on...

security; US military hacking suspect freed on bail.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk A British computer hacker wanted by US authorities for allegedly causing [pounds sterling]375,000 in damage to US military networks has been freed on bail. Gary McKinnon from north London is...

NHS IT; Early adopter trust left in the lurch after key NHS supplier is dropped.
June 14, 2005... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk A major West Country hospital has been left to cope with a legacy patient administration system following Fujitsu Services' decision to drop a key subcontractor from the Connecting for Health...

outsourcing; CBI aims for 30% savings from outsourcing IT support functions.(Confederation of British Industry)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The Confederation of British Industry aims to save 30% of its IT services budget by moving functions off-site in a [pounds sterling]2m, five-year deal. Supplier Getronics will provide an...

retail; Red tape hinders Tesco RFID plan.(ultra high-frequency standards based on EN302208)
June 14, 2005... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Plans by Tesco to roll out the UK's largest radio frequency identification project are being held up by red tape surrounding ultra high-frequency tag technology. The supermarket chain plans to...

service oriented architecture; BEA offers tools for building SOAs.(service oriented architectures)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk BEA has released the first of its Aqualogic products, which are designed to help application developers create service oriented architectures (SOAs) more quickly. SOAs enable organisations to...

Big advances in server power in six months.(changes in Intel PC server architecture )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Intel will next year deliver major changes to the PC server architecture that will boost hardware performance, allowing larger, more memory-intensive applications. The advances are so significant...

security; ITmisuse in government still an issue.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk Computer-related fraud, virus attacks and staff viewing inappropriate material on the internet at work are the most frequent security issues reported in the public sector, the Audit Commission has...

case study; BAAreaches halfway in major IT consolidation.
June 14, 2005... Airports authority rolls out thin client system l Number of applications slashed from 2,300 to 540 l Per-seat costs down as support calls are reduced Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Airports authority BAA has reached the...

Professional recognition will aid business integration; Raising the status of IT.
June 14, 2005... David Clarke Opinion Many of us in the IT sector have the same financial and social responsibilities as people in regulated professions such as architects, construction engineers, accountants or even medical staff. IT systems are...

application development; Alpha tool speeds web database development.(Data-2-the-Web for MySQL)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Alpha Software has launched Data-2-the-Web for MySQL to allow developers to create web-enabled databases more quickly. The company said its tool could build web databases in less than 10% of the...

open source; Red Hat makes patent reform a key strategy.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2005... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Red Hat is to make the drive for industry patent reform a key part of its open source strategy. At last week's Red Hat Summit in the US, Red Hat deputy general counsel Mark Webbink pushed a...

application development Traditional methodologies are no longer meeting user needs; Agile software method focuses on business value to maximise return on investment.
June 14, 2005... Roy Singham Tech talk How many times have we heard about IT projects failing? Companies are not learning from their mistakes and I believe that corporate IT in 2005 is broken. A report from Forrester Research stated that about a...

more for less.
June 14, 2005... IT leaders will be focusing on how IT can enable business change when they meet at the Tif annual conference later this month. Ross Bentley gets a preview from three key speakers Change is the watchword as businesses strive to react to...

MAKETRACKS.
June 14, 2005... Sally Flood investigates the fastest ways for SMEs to gain major business benefits from the application of mobile technology. Being clear about your business goals from the start is key Mobile and wireless technologies can deliver...

wireless wises up.(Small and medium sized enterprises )
June 14, 2005... Wireless networks are easier to install and cheaper than ever, and they are making their mark with smaller firms. Helen Beckett looks at how the market is evolving and options for SMEs Wireless local area networks (WLans) are fast becoming...

delivering profits.(job delivery application used at Klicka Couriers, Courier Management Systems )
June 14, 2005... Three years ago Klicka Couriers used mobile applications to automate its job delivery systems. Helen Beckett finds out how early investment in the technology has benefited the company The courier market is highly competitive and margins are...

five star reception.(Stretton Hall Hotel using secure virtual private network )
June 14, 2005... Setting up a secure virtual private network at Stretton Hall Hotel was a tricky process. Helen Beckett discovers how it was done on a relatively small budget and how it has increased the hotel's profits Stretton Hall Hotel is an elegant...

access all routes.(smart phones at business)
June 14, 2005... Smartphones can make calls, check e-mails, access the web and manage information. Ideally suited to SMEs, there is a wide choice of devices for the mobile office. Arif Mohamed takes a look at what is on offer For small and medium-sized...

systems design The wide range of business and ITskills needed to manage the design and deployment of modern, large-scale IT projects must not be taken for granted; Role of the IT architect needs recognition.
June 14, 2005... Andras Szakal Opinion Difficulties with secrecy, accountability, failure to adequately scope projects and poor migration planning have been highlighted as a cause of serious problems in IT projects. Organisations have struggled...

workflow systems; B&Q boosts efficiency and cuts costs by replacing e-mail with workflow software.
June 14, 2005... retail Companies revealed how improved communications could boost the bottom line at the Retail Solutions 2005 show, and Microsoft unveiled plans for RFID software Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk DIY retailer B&Q has improved...

hot skills JScript is Microsoft's open source counterpart to Javascript; 'Quick and dirty' coding language acquires increasing sophistication.
June 14, 2005... Nick Langley computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk What is it? VBScript may be better known, but JScript, Microsoft's other scripting language, is used widely in Active Server Pages (ASP) programming, and system automation and administration...

Lack of mandatory power has not stopped Pito.(Police Information Technology Organisation)
June 14, 2005... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Pito has not been standing still on national projects while the Home Office makes up its mind about the organisation's future. The Pito-lead Airwave project, which some expected to be difficult...

mobile means agile.(bespoke system usage)
June 14, 2005... Philip Neame Opinion A survey by Morgan Stanley revealed that mobile and wireless systems are one of the top three priorities for business spending in 2004/2005. Mobile solutions are providing businesses with real competitive...

inside the bcs; BCS awards deadline is drawing near.
June 14, 2005... John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The final deadline of 24 June is fast approaching for entries for the 2005 BCS IT Professional Awards, run in association with Computer Weekly. The categories for the Individual Excellence...

Don't take rap for lax security.(information technology security issues)
June 14, 2005... IT departments were under fire again last week when the Audit Commission published a report on IT fraud and abuse in the public sector. The lurid headlines it provoked, about a tidal wave of porn downloads by civil servants and public...

British computer society ; Measuring value is top priority for IT leaders.
June 21, 2005... BCS survey highlights IT bosses' concern about falling and static budgets l Security issues and need for professional skills also high priorities John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Measuring the value of IT to justify...

inside the BCS; Last chance to enter professional awards.
June 21, 2005... John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk IT specialists and teams have just three days left to enter the 2005 BCS IT Professional Awards, run in association with Computer Weekly. The Individual Excellence Awards categories are: IT...

my take; Sue Yoe, director of ; IT and office ; services at APACs, ; guides you through ; this week's issue.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2005... Closer to home Danny Bradbury reports on a different twist to the outsourcing model, looking at companies which are closer to home in terms of both distance and cultural affinity. Software project managers have always wrestled with the...