Computer Weekly articles from March 2002

Computer Weekly archives from March 2002

next move.
March 7, 2002... Should I become a student again? I am working as an analyst/programmer and part-time database administrator (DBA) in a mainframe environment using Cobol and CA-Datacom. I wish to develop my career and learn new skills to become an Oracle...

events.
March 7, 2002... MARCH 11 LONDONXML and Web services 2002 Three-day international user conference01483-469088 13 HANOVER, GERMANYCebit 2002Seven-day trade fair with more than 8,000 exhibiting companies www.cebit.de 13 LONDONProject...

diary.
March 7, 2002... march 11 Hampshire BranchThe virtual railway. 7pm, HC024, Herbert Collins Building, Southampton Institute. Details: www.asment.com/diary/. 11 London West BranchEnterprise application integration: another TLA or a major challenge...

Consultancy forum highlights skills gap.
March 7, 2002... A skills gap between system development and IT consultancy has been highlighted by the first meeting of the new BCS Consultancy Specialist Group, writes John Kavanagh. Last month's inaugural meeting in London was three times...

Head for the sun.
March 7, 2002... With the UK market for IT contractors hit hard by the economic downturn, it might be worth looking for work in sunnier climes. Karl Cushing considers the prospects With the UK contracting market firmly in the doldrums, and the money and...

Jordan's live Web sprog drop could hit business.(Humor)(Column)
March 7, 2002... UK business could be disrupted by live Internet coverage of big-breasted model Jordan giving birth, an Internet company has warned. Internet systems integrator Packeteer warned that large numbers of people will take advantage of high-speed...

Benefits overhaul brings savings.
March 7, 2002... King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council replaces its old mainframe systems. Karl Cushing reports To help it meet e-government targets and increase efficiency, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council has overhauled its revenues...

Practice can improve interview test results.
March 7, 2002... With selection tests now being used by 40% of companies, dazzling interviewers with stories of how you single-handedly built a mainframe from two ZX81s and a piece of string will no longer guarantee you get the job, writes Nathalie Towner. ...

the problem.
March 7, 2002... Our in-house IT services business unit needs to be re-organised to reflect the increasing "commodity" nature of our IT service provision but must retain an in-house development capability. This requires, ideally, that we have several teams of...

Quality controlled project management.
March 7, 2002... Prince2: a practical handbook, by Colin Bentley Quality is one corner of the cost/time/quality triangle. The customer has to decide where a project's main focus is to be. If you want the product to be cheap, that may have an effect on the...

Are you sharing your office with a pig?
March 7, 2002... People fall into one of five categories of office animal, according to a survey conducted by inkjet shopping site oink-oink.com. And the state of your desk is the big giveaway, writes Nathalie Towner. The research found that one of the...

inside the bcs.
March 7, 2002... n Abbey National, Ford, IBM and the Scottish Parliament are among the 40 organisations to achieve the new BCS Information Quality Systems at Work standard within a month of its launch. The standard recognises employers committed to best...

Achieving a VoIP roll-out without tears.
March 7, 2002... Insurance house Lloyd's of London has just adopted a Voice over Internet Protocol system. Julia Vowler talks to the IT chief who nursed users through the transition Taking a punt at new technology is always a tough call for an IT director...

Don't use ROI in investment decisions.
March 7, 2002... stuart ruben opinion I am a hard-bitten chief executive officer and my staff tell me that we must invest millions in a customer relationship management system or an e-commerce trading exchange or a system to link the components of the...

Where are NTOs' successors?
March 7, 2002... The Government's record on creating an environment attractive to e-businesses is less than perfect. Now the training infrastructure must change without ministerial assistance BYLINE: ian bruce opinion Is the Government all spin...

No plan for disaster recovery.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Karl Cushing Six months after the September terrorist attacks in the US European firms are still not doing enough to prepare themselves to deal with disaster. Analyst firm IDC has found that the majority of European enterprises with...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 7, 2002... EDS and Labour blow Cool I was pleased to read "Are the wrong skills being fast-tracked by Whitehall?" (Computer Weekly, 21 February). I am a Cool:gen developer finding it increasingly difficult to obtain contract work. EDS is now the...

Police and DfES check out 160 possible abuses of ILA.
March 7, 2002... As MPs seek an explanation for the debacle over Individual Learning Accounts, Capita and government officials present differing recollections of events. Bill Goodwin reports More than 160 learning providers are under investigation by the...

A step in the right direction.
March 7, 2002... The sector-wide software deals signed last week mark a turning point in government procurement The Government's efforts to negotiate a software licensing deal with Microsoft have been well documented but who could have expected that...

Abbey keeps Web page-count lean to keep customers keen.
March 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas reports on how a wide-ranging review of e-commerce sites found that users were suffering from "Net-blur" because of too much content and too many bells and whistles Last week Abbey National said it has seen a marked...

Amex-IBM deal leaves 2,000 ITers facing culture change.
March 7, 2002... If size really does matter in outsourcing last week's $4bn (?2.8bn) deal between American Express and IBM Global Services should leave those who put it together feeling pretty smug. In what is thought to be the biggest outsourcing deal in...

IBM pressured to reduce theentry point for workload pricing.
March 7, 2002... James Rogers IBM has came under pressure to reduce the entry point at which it switches to workload charging on its z/series mainframe servers. Speaking at last week's UKCMG industry forum in London, Phil Payne, analyst at Isham...

Safeguard our e-heritage says TV star Grossman.
March 7, 2002... James Rogers A group of high-profile public sector bodies came together last week to highlight the work of the Digital Preservation Coalition to ensure that the UK's digital cultural heritage is accessible for future generations. ...

Future of iTV depends on retailer investment.
March 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas Retailers looking to take advantage of interactive TV as a sales channel need to widen product ranges, focus on programme integration and work with digital TV providers to drive awareness, Forrester Research has said. ...

Bankruptcies in telecoms put users on alert over contracts.
March 7, 2002... Telecoms suppliers, ISPs and hosting companies have been having a hard time, reports Andy Favell. The trouble is, when they suffer, everyone else in business suffers too The number of financial failures among companies serving the...

Government portal woos new users.
March 7, 2002... Ross Bentley AFTER relaunching with a new "future-proof" infrastructure, the Government's UKOnline citizens' portal is now planning additional services to attract more users. The site, which is based on an Oracle/Vignette platform,...

Mobile skills are key to the future.
March 7, 2002... E-business applications skills are rapidly falling from favour, according to the most recent SSP/Computer Weekly survey of IT skills and salaries. But it is a little early to start poring over those old mainframe textbooks just yet. We are...

OU commits ?12m to support e-studies.
March 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas The Open University has outlined plans to use Internet-based technologies to boost its distance learning services, as part of a ?12m funding initiative. The university, which has 150,000 students online, will use the...

Cool reaction to ADSL price cuts.(BT's decision to cut wholesale ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, access prices)
March 7, 2002... Antony Adshead Users and analysts gave a cautious welcome to BT's decision to cut wholesale ADSL access prices by almost half. The telecoms giant said last week that it would offer broadband access to service providers for ?14.75 per...

Software warning for e-gazetteer plan.
March 7, 2002... Nick Huber Local authorities taking part in a key e-government project have been warned not to use unaccredited software suppliers. Plans to create the UK's first national land and property database - a key plank in delivering...

Telecoms failures put users at risk.
March 7, 2002... Andy Favell user businesses will be in trouble as telecoms companies and network suppliers go to the wall in a market that is over-supplied and under intense financial scrutiny. Industry experts have warned that customers must be ready...

EU law moves the national goalposts for online firms.
March 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas Online retailers must draft their terms of business carefully to avoid being sued by foreign consumers under new European Union legislation, lawyers have warned. The Brussels Regulation, which became law on 1 March,...

A little egg on Egg's face.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Nick Huber Egg, the Internet bank, was red-faced last week when its Web site crashed on the day it revealed preliminary results for 2001. Egg customers were unable to access accounts on their Web site for about an hour last week...

Palm's spring collection.(Palm m130 and m515)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 7, 2002... Handheld computer manufacturer Palm launched its spring collection in the US this week. New additions include the entry-level m130 and the premium m515. The firm has also launched a Bluetooth Secure Digital Input/Output card that grants...

Business fears as Whitehall IT crime team loses its chief.
March 7, 2002... Bill Goodwin Businesses are concerned that important government work on computer crime could face delays following the sudden promotion of the senior civil servant responsible for the work to a new post in the home secretary's private...

No rush to roll out Web services.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Daniel Thomas Thirty seven per cent of the IT managers questioned in this week's Computer Weekly/ Harvey Nash Big Question poll said their company has definite plans to implement a Web services project before the end of the year. ...

Windows .net delayed by Microsoft security audit.
March 7, 2002... Cliff Saran cw360.com The much-vaunted Windows .net server from Microsoft has become the first software from the company to be affected by its stronger stance on security. Originally due for release in the first half of 2002,...

Wireless networking set to dominate Cebit show.
March 7, 2002... Antony Adshead Wireless, high-bandwidth networking and storage are set to dominate next week's Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany - the biggest IT trade show in Europe. In his keynote speech at the show, Microsoft's president and...

MPs back Computer Weekly campaign.
March 7, 2002... Parliamentary reporter MPs from all parties this week voiced their support for Computer Weekly's campaign to update the UK's cybercrime laws. The campaign, launched last week, aims to co-ordinate industry pressure to modernise the UK's...

Government strikes sharp software deal.
March 7, 2002... James Rogers The success of the Government's software licensing negotiations with three of the world's major suppliers will become apparent over the next few months. Bob Griffith, national secretary for the Society of Information...

MoD opts for Airwave service.
March 7, 2002... James Rogers The Ministry of Defence is to adopt the controversial Airwave digital radio service for secure military radio communications on the UK mainland. David Lynam, director of equipment capability at the MoD, said, "The Airwave...

Accounting on the Web.(use of Extensible Business Reporting Language)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Nick Huber Microsoft has lent its weight to a new Web-based data format for financial reporting that could slash company reporting costs and fast-track investor access to key company information. The software giant this week used the...

in brief?
March 7, 2002... Ballmer threatens to withdraw Windows Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive, threatened to withdraw Windows from the marketplace in a video deposition to the long-running anti-trust case in the US in which nine states and the District of...

Councils eager to check out software licence deal.
March 7, 2002... James Rogers Public sector IT specialists are eager to see how they could benefit from the Government's new software deals with Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and IBM/ Lotus. The landmark deal, which the Treasury hopes will save ?100m,...

Weblogic Workshop makes Java objects more accessible to coders.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Weblogic Workshop, formerly known as Cajun, is spearheading BEA Systems' campaign to attract one million developers to its Web services platform, writes Eric Doyle. Following Microsoft's release of Visual Studio .net, the Java world is...

Nexsi develops system for integrated Web services management.
March 7, 2002... Network specialist Nexsi Systems has developed a Web content services system that promises wire-speed processing of Layer 4 to 7 services, such as firewalls, virtual private networks, security processing acceleration and routing, writes Eric...

PeopleSoft to focus on vertical CRM.
March 7, 2002... PeopleSoft plans to focus on vertically oriented customer relationship management (CRM) packages this year, setting its sights on providing specifically tuned functionality for different industries. "2002 is very much about vertical...

BEA beefs up e-business platform.(Product Announcement)
March 7, 2002... BEA Systems is making a strong bid to retain its leadership in the e-business platform stakes by filling out its product line and slimming down its infrastructure, writes Eric Doyle. At its eWorld Conference in San Diego, BEA released a new...

The boring world of PC evolution.
March 7, 2002... A couple of genuine innovations highlight the staid pace of IT progress The launch of Microsoft's Xbox games console is one of the most interesting things to happen in the PC hardware business for years, except for one thing: it is not a...

Intel hypes up a threaded future for chips.
March 7, 2002... A t the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the company announced the development of a new processor in the Itanium range and released its first pure Xeon processor for dual-processor e-business servers, alongside the complementary E7500...

ATMs to top up pre-pay telephones.
March 7, 2002... Moves to allow pre-pay phone users to top them up at cash machines will raise profile of m-commerce Nick Huber Mobile phone customers will be able to use automated teller machines (ATMs) to top up pre-pay telephone accounts within the...

Up close and commercial.
March 7, 2002... The personalisable enterprise portal has arrived, and as its value becomes apparent and it is more widely used in bigger companies it will transform the way we do business BYLINE: craig wylie real world After decades of waffle...

Trying to work together.
March 7, 2002... glyn moody getting wired Behind the hype, a realistic assessment of progress on Web services The Web services arena is rather curious at the moment. Although most of the major software companies are doing a lot of talking here,...

Know the dangers of XML.
March 7, 2002... The growing popularity of XML-based software means security risks are increasing, writes Mark O'Neill Back in January, Bill Gates finally conceded that his vision for a Web-based services platform would never take off while security issues...

in brief.
March 7, 2002... n Microsoft has committed further to standardisation of its handheld products on Intel chips by basing its Smart Phone reference design on Intel's Personal Internet Client Architecture (PCA) - the current Pocket PC design is already based on...

dpm's diary; c p bound.(Column)
March 7, 2002... Monday A letter arrived inviting me to spend three days cruising on the MV Auricula. It's IT Defectors' Forum time again. Do I allow myself to be exposed to the shameless blandishments of assorted tin-shifters, outsourcers and...

events.
March 14, 2002... MARCH 19 LONDONThe helpdesk: lip service or life saver?Two-day conferencefor support professionals01689-889100 19 LONDONIT Direction: managing risk, minimising cost, maximising valueOne-day conference020-7920 8481 19 ...

diary.
March 14, 2002... MARCH 14 Advanced Programming Specialist GroupAgent-oriented software engineering. 6pm, Sun Microsystems, 45 King William Street, London. Details: J.J.Florentin@btinternet.com; www.bcs.org/siggroup/advprog/. 14 BCS/Royal Signals...

inside the bcs.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... n Secure use of the Internet and e-commerce will be the focus of this year's annual conference of the BCS Information Security Specialist Group in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, on 21 and 22 March. The event costs ?525 plus VAT to members and ?600 to...

Industry makes a strong challenge for coding cup.
March 14, 2002... Industry teams have won three of the five heats in the 18th annual BCS Programming Competition - putting IT companies well in the reckoning to beat universities in the final for the first time in four years, writes John Kavanagh. Five of...

Date for IT Olympics is fast approaching.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Have you got your Computastars team together? The deadline for entries is fast approaching, writes Nathalie Towner. A cross between Superstars and It's a Knockout, Computastars' madcap sporting extravaganza has something for everyone. And,...

Hitting the mark.
March 14, 2002... Supply chains may be becoming more complex, but that need not mean that the goal of e-fulfilment will be harder to attain. Mark Vernon spies some winners E-fulfilment is a simple word for a complex challenge - the struggle to realign,...

Doctors get patient data on the move.
March 14, 2002... Addenbrookes Hospital is to use mobile PCs to improve efficiency on the wards. Karl Cushing reports BYLINE: Addenbrookes Hospital pilots mobile access to patient records Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge is to pilot a wireless...

Keep track of software licences.
March 14, 2002... Charles Howson, chief executive, Baines & Ernst Beware, your unpaid licence fees will find you out - and when they do you will have to pay dearly for them In February Baines & Ernst Financial Management, a debt management company,...

Web services promise cost savings during a downturn.
March 14, 2002... This week's XML and Web Services Conference finds the sector buoyant. Antony Adshead finds out why Cost savings, business efficiencies and the ability to become supplier-independent will drive a widespread adoption of Web services...

M&S reviews CRM system after drop in productivity.
March 14, 2002... Daniel Thomas Marks & Spencer is conducting a post-implementation review with software supplier Siebel after the customer relationship management (CRM) software that it implemented last July failed to meet productivity targets. The...

It rarely pays to go on the game.
March 14, 2002... Games programming Writing games may sound like an ideal job, but it is one of the worst-paid sectors of IT, writes Nick Langley What is it? Competition in the games business is hotter than ever, with Microsoft's XBox and Sony's...

Software developers fight to the death in the animal world of .net.
March 14, 2002... Software developers are being given a chance to prove their coding prowess in a fight to the death, writes Nathalie Towner. The battlefield is a .net-based Web site called Terrarium, where developers create "smart creatures" and introduce...

It's time to vote for your ITPersonality of the Year.(Editorial)
March 14, 2002... Computer Weekly Xtra! is on the hunt to find the IT Personality of the Year, writes Nathalie Towner. Our quest is not about tracking down the next Bill Gates or Larry Ellison, we want to reward the person who has the knack of making Monday...

the problem.
March 14, 2002... What does the panel think will be the emerging technologies to have an impact over the coming year? the solution Security and consolidation With planned levels of IT expenditure in 2002 remaining similar to, or in many cases...

Open champions.
March 14, 2002... This week's launch of OpenForum Europe will provide users and suppliers with a place to talk open source seriously. JOHN RILEY reports Alarm at the tightening of supplier software licence regimes and pressure from finance directors to...

No getting off the hook.
March 14, 2002... IT recruitment companies, having fallen on hard times, need to re-evaluate the values that drive them, and put the customer first IT suppliers, and especially recruitment companies, this one is for you. Here you are, in the middle of...

Why deep linking can be dangerous.
March 14, 2002... Deep linking has become the latest hot topic in e-commerce. In the not too distant past Web site owners would have been delighted with any free publicity that links to their sites might have created, writes Michael Clinch. Now, they are...

Microsoft, mobile phone saviour.(Column)
March 14, 2002... simon moores tech talk Irecently upgraded my mobile phone. Of course, that is no big news, many people do the same on a regular basis, dividing the world into several categories of phone ownership: People, like me, who choose a...

Laid-back IT workers miss out on jobs by not doing their homework.
March 14, 2002... Many ITers are missing out on the best jobs because they fail to show enough enthusiasm and knowledge of the company during their interview, writes Nathalie Towner. According to IT recruitment specialists, a common stumbling block is a...

Can BA slash ?45m from its IT budget and keep on flying?
March 14, 2002... Paul Coby has the task of trying to make IT savings of ?45m for "the world's favourite airline". Julia Vowler finds out how he intends to do it without compromising services or demoralising his staff Although Paul Coby, chief information...

Interoperability is key to Web services.
March 14, 2002... Can the problem of interoperability be addressed to make Web services work for business? Users and suppliers have united to form a body charged to make it possible Last month saw an impressive gathering of the great and good in the world...

Garnish IT team with dyslexics.
March 14, 2002... They may find reading difficult, but people with dyslexia have much to offer the IT department as they are streets ahead when it comes to lateral thinking. That is a finding of world authority on dyslexia John Stein, professor at Magdalen...

Sounds like the Cs have it.
March 14, 2002... If telecoms providers want users to upgrade their voice networks, they are going to have to take a leaf from their computing counterparts' books - listen to the customer BYLINE: shubhrajit naha opinion Voice networks are...

Are cards, clubs or clicks best for e-billing?
March 14, 2002... Content providers must find a flexible method of charging for their online services BYLINE: paul hague opinion With the collapse of revenues from Internet advertising, companies now view charging for content as a serious business...

Palm releases tools for OS 5.(Product Announcement)
March 14, 2002... Palm subsidiary Palm OS has released compatibility tools for the forthcoming Palm OS 5, writes Antony Adshead. The tools are aimed at developers who want to test whether existing applications for Palm OS 4.0 will work smoothly on OS 5,...

Multipoint VPN routers announced.(Foundry Netiron 400, 800, 1500 Metro)(Product Announcement)
March 14, 2002... Foundry has released a family of routers for the metropolitan segment of the network which, it claims, are the first to enable multipoint-to-multipoint virtual private Lan services (VPLS), writes Antony Adshead. VPLS is the latest...

Ericsson enters the realm of James Bond with secure phone that does everything.
March 14, 2002... This autumn, Ericsson will release a Symbian-based mobile phone that incorporates a digital camera, a pen-based user interface, Bluetooth support and the new Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) technology, writes Antony Adshead. The...

Citrix to provide portal access to networks from anywhere.(Product Announcement)
March 14, 2002... Citrix aims to give users access to corporate systems from anywhere in the world with a new family of portals and alliances that will enable wireless connectivity, writes Antony Adshead. Citrix will demonstrate the Nfuse Elite "access...