Computer Weekly articles from March 2003

Computer Weekly archives from March 2003

Companies still get the basics wrong on e-business security.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Web server flaws, poor authentication mechanisms and faulty log-out facilities are the most widespread e-commerce security vulnerabilities, according to new research from NTA Monitor, writes Daniel Thomas. The internet security testing firm...

You'll never get web services off-the-shelf.
March 6, 2003... Are web services all hype? Leading analysts addressed the issue at a meeting last week. Cliff Saran reports Web services are set to provide users with a standard way to link IT systems together through enterprise application integration....

Honeywell outsources to BT.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas Manufacturing giant Honeywell has signed a five-year outsourcing deal with BT for the provision of communications and networking services across its 220 European sites. The value of the contract was not disclosed but it...

Corporate IT chiefs predict more job cuts.
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas More than 50% of European IT directors expect further redundancies within their companies over the next two years, according to a survey of 570 IT chiefs from 12 countries. The storage-related research, released last week...

Larger companies still failing to see payback from their CRM systems.
March 6, 2003... New research reveals many corporates are unhappy with their customer relationship management software, writes Daniel Thomas Businesses will spend about pound sterling35m on CRM in 2005, according to analysts' predictions, yet...

UK users are in no hurry to upgrade to MS Office 2003.
March 6, 2003... Karl Cushing IT user groups have cast doubt on the likelihood of UK organisations upgrading to Microsoft's XML-based Office 2003 ahead of the launch of the beta 2 version due to the level of infrastructure investment needed to run it. ...

Gazetteer will ease congestion.
March 6, 2003... Transport for London is to develop its own street gazetteer to tackle traffic congestion, writes Nick Huber The recent launch of London's congestion charge scheme has highlighted the pivotal role of technology in reducing traffic...

Law firm eases e-mail mountain.(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer )(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is planning to roll out an e-mail management system to help its lawyers better manage the estimated 50,000 e-mails it receives every day. The company, which has 2,400 lawyers...

Capita to profit from IT revamp at records bureau.
March 6, 2003... The Criminal Records Bureau is failing to deliver key services, but payments to its supplier are set to rise James Rogers IT Services firm Capita expects to double the profits it generates from its pound sterling400m Criminal Records...

Storage specification helps hospitals move to electronic archiving.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Cliff Saran An evaluation group based at St George's Hospital in south London has identified a way of storing medical images without using proprietary medical imaging systems. The Department of Health has set a deadline of 2006 for all...

Survey finds big variation in ERP costs.(by analyst firm Ovum )
March 6, 2003... Cliff Saran The cost of enterprise resource planning systems can vary from c3,000 (pound sterling2,000) per seat to as much as c87,000 depending on how the software was implemented, a survey by analyst firm Ovum has revealed. Ovum...

Retail group overhauls systems.(Nisa-Today's )
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas Nisa-Today's is completely restructuring its IT systems, in a project it describes as one of the most important ever undertaken by the business. The company, the UK's largest buying group for independent retail and...

Sad inevitability of criminal records failure.
March 6, 2003... Watchers of large-scale government IT projects will have experienced a feeling of deja vu last week. The grim news that the Criminal Records Bureau system is drastically inadequate and has been poorly managed has a weary, sad inevitability...

ROI suffers as firms buy too many CRM licences.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas Companies are buying more customer relationship management software licences than they need, raising the total cost of ownership unnecessarily, Gartner warned this week. New research from the analyst firm has revealed...

First 3G phones unlikely to offer business benefits.
March 6, 2003... Antony Adshead Business users and analysts were cautious about the launch of Hutchison's "3" third-generation mobile phone services this week. The launch - the first 3G offering in the UK - took place despite the fact that customers...

Police hamstrung by UK's outdated computer laws.
March 6, 2003... Bill Goodwin Police investigations into thefts of company databases are being hampered by out-of-date computer crime laws, Scotland Yard's computer crime unit said this week, in a move that will intensify calls for a review of the UK's...

Littlewoods IT staff face the axe.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas Retail group Littlewoods has confirmed it is to cut 66 jobs in its central IT department following the separation of its home shopping and high street divisions. The company said 228 jobs will go as a result of the...

Tax shake-up could cost pensions firms millions.
March 6, 2003... Nick Huber A government proposal to simplify UK pension schemes could mean financial firms have to spend millions of pounds to make their IT systems compliant, experts have warned. The government consultation paper proposes to tax all...

Scotland Yard slams ISPs for lack of co-operation in tracing hackers.
March 6, 2003... Bill Goodwin Police investigations into computer crimes are being hampered by poor co-operation from some of the UK's internet service providers, a senior detective claimed this week. Detective sergeant Steve Santorelli, a senior...

XML link boosts bookings.(Holiday Store)(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas The Holiday Store has seen a tenfold increase in online bookings generated through Lastminute.com since implementing XML software to link to the online leisure and travel portal, the tour operator revealed last week. The...

CeBIT visitors will find IT suppliers are desperate to save them money.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Cliff Saran Exhibitors at CeBIT will be striving to prove they can deliver cost savings to IT directors. CeBIT, which is the world's biggest IT trade exhibition, starts next week in Hanover. Hitachi Data Systems is planning to...

MasterCard blocks net fraudsters.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Bill Goodwin MasterCard International has begun the roll-out of a secure system designed to prevent fraudsters using stolen credit card details to place orders over the internet. Securecode, which is being offered to banks and online...

B&Q uses .net to cut stock losses.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Daniel Thomas B&Q has cut stock losses by 15% since implementing a database that allows managers to access and analyse shrinkage data from any part of the group, the DIY retailer revealed this week. The Shrinkage Information Database,...

NHS projects could be delayed as IT bosses struggle to get funding.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... James Rogers NHS IT managers have described their confusion about how they obtain a slice of the pound sterling2.3bn allocated by the government to overhaul health service systems. Despite the money being "primarily dedicated" to...

Revenue gets tough on PC misuse.
March 6, 2003... Tony Collins The Inland Revenue has sacked two staff for misusing their computers in a crack-down that could see tax officers disciplined for as little as e-mailing a greeting card. An internal notice issued to tens of thousands of tax...

British computer pioneer dies.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Lindsay Clark British computer pioneer Roger Needham died last Saturday following a short battle against cancer. After a lifetime at the cutting edge of academic research into computing, Needham founded Microsoft's research operation...

AXA deal breaks the mould.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... Nick Huber An innovative [pounds sterling]630m deal between AXA and IBM for "on-demand" computing has been hailed as breaking the mould of traditional outsourcing deals by not transferring IT staff to the supplier. Under the six-year...

dpm's diary; c p bound.
March 6, 2003... Monday Feeling most unwell and confused all day. Unwell as in: stomach like a cement mixer with worn-out bearings and head like two demons fighting over a kettle drum. Confused as in: why is this? Sunday being my regular alcohol-free day....

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 6, 2003... Why do suppliers still bug us? From David Crocker I wish to take issue with the assertion made by Richard Hough (Computer Weekly, 27 February) that: "Everyone knows there is no such thing as bug-free software." Nothing could be further...

The Big Question: Office 2003.(Brief Article)
March 6, 2003... The next release of Microsoft's productivity suite, Office 2003, is due out in a few months. Do you plan to upgrade to it? Few UK IT managers plan to upgrade to Microsoft's latest productivity suite, Office 2003, which is due to be released...

Professors propose quest for systems that never fail.
March 6, 2003... Two of the big computing issues - developing systems that never fail and getting computers to act like humans - have been proposed as long-term research projects by a group of top UK university professors, writes John Kavanagh. These...

Bloogle and the blogosphere.
March 6, 2003... Google has bought Blogger, but how will it use it to improve its web mining capabilities? Last week I wrote about the currently fashionable area of blogs. Now, as if on cue, comes the announcement that Google1 has bought Blogger2, one of...

IT bosses spare the axe.(Gartner gives ignored advice)
March 6, 2003... IT leaders are rejecting advice from analyst firm Gartner to scrap up to a quarter of their organisations' IT projects to improve success ratios, writes Jane Dudman IT directors and project managers have rejected a recommendation from...

Flexibility is key to usability.
March 13, 2003... As wireless networks develop they are taking usability problems to new levels, and systems need to be flexible so they grow with the needs of both users and support staff BYLINE: ann light opinion Do you remember the days when...

inside the bcs.(British Computer Society)(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... n IT specialists, user companies and suppliers have just over a month left to enter the BCS IT Professional Awards. An amalgamation of the industry's longest-established and most prestigious awards, the BCS IT Awards, and the BCS Management...

Why WLans and 3G must settle their differences.
March 13, 2003... jeremy green opinion Two technologies can chase one market if roaming is enabled The relationship between public wireless Lans based on 802.11x and next-generation mobile networks is a complex one. WLans pose a clear threat to...

Cutting ; the corporate cables.
March 13, 2003... Wireless networks are becoming more popular in smaller companies, but how can enterprises overcome the implementation challenges? Danny Bradbury reports For an industry that has historically concentrated on staying connected, it is ironic...

London's cybercrime squad.
March 13, 2003... Scotland Yard's Computer Crime Unit is cash-strapped but is still catching the crooks, writes Bill Goodwin Scotland Yard's computer crime unit does not hit the headlines very often, but behind the scenes, its small, highly qualified team of...

Good news in the gloom.
March 13, 2003... As the downturn continues, two developments announced this week brighten the outlook Gartner's latest Symposium took place this week against the beguiling backdrop of Florence in spring; but not even this inspiring locale could spark...

Are you top of the pile?
March 13, 2003... Although there may be a general downturn in the IT jobs market, there are more senior posts being advertised. Julia Vowler asks four IT headhunters what qualities business leaders are looking for Last month's Computer Weekly/SSP salary...

Is the threat of cyberterror genuine?
March 13, 2003... pete simpson opinion Roads gridlocked, trains colliding, power outages - these are the images that spring to mind when one envisages the threat of cyberterrorism. The prefix "cyber" generally refers to the internet and the web,...

[pounds sterling]17.5m BT deal enables broadband gaming links.
March 13, 2003... Arcade game machine network operator Inspired Business Networks has signed a pound sterling17.5m three-year deal with BT to ADSL-enable more than 3,000 gaming machines, writes Antony Adshead. The deal - which is claimed to be the biggest...

Get a hand with the career climb.
March 13, 2003... As IT professionals reach the "tech" glass ceiling, many consider taking a management qualification, Ross Bentley looks at the options As their careers develop, many IT professionals will find themselves moving into management roles. ...

Council's [pounds sterling]150m BT venture.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... James Rogers Kate Mountain, chief executive of the Society of IT Management, has welcomed Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council's decision to enter into a 12-year, pound sterling150m joint venture deal with BT. She said, "I think this...

Oracle employees get their own manicurist.
March 13, 2003... It's a tough time for IT suppliers and the stress is obviously showing at Oracle. Is a bout of nail-biting the reason behind a recent job advert calling for a "very special, highly professional manicurist" to work on site at the Redwood Shores...

OFT system could let rogue traders gain loan licences.(Office of Fair Trading )
March 13, 2003... James Rogers The Office of Fair Trading could be issuing consumer credit licences to traders with criminal convictions thanks to a combination of inadequate IT and red tape, a report from the National Audit Office has warned. Auditors...

Taxi location service hailed.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Daniel Thomas An innovative new location-based service launched this week across three of the major mobile operators' networks promises to make hailing a London taxi easier and more reliable. The service, developed by mobile systems...

Software gives drugs giants an edge.
March 13, 2003... Daniel Thomas Two of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies have revealed how software systems are helping them to gain competitive edge in a market where gaining knowledge quickly is vital. AstraZeneca, which spent pound...

SMEs kept in the dark on tax perk.(Federation of Small Businesses )(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Antony Adshead The Federation of Small Businesses has slammed the government's attitude to the promotion of IT after it emerged that few firms are aware that they can get 100% tax rebates for IT purchases. The limited-period offer ends...

E-envoy drops in to boost low web use in Newcastle.
March 13, 2003... The e-envoy visited the North East last week to push the region's low internet use. James Rogers reports Tap-dancing pensioners and a photo shoot with former England football star Peter Beardsley are all in a day's work for e-envoy Andrew...

UK colleges exhibit at CeBIT.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Cliff Saran Representatives from 18 UK universities are heading to Hanover to show the best of UK technology at the CeBIT trade fair. "The UK is leading-edge in many technologies," said Peter McDermott, director of marketing and...

Bleak outlook for IT spend.
March 13, 2003... Gartner kicked off its Spring Symposium with a keynote address that painted a bleak picture of IT spending for 2003. In an interview with Computer Weekly, keynote speaker Steve Prentice, Gartner's chief of research, hardware and systems...

Visa looks to run banks' payment switching after network overhaul.
March 13, 2003... Credit card company Visa proposes a solution to the problems posed by banks' ageing systems. Nick Huber reports Visa's European arm has revealed ambitions to route payments for banks over its revamped network and process direct debits and...

Scotland Yard looks to set up crack cybercrime unit.
March 13, 2003... Bill Goodwin Scotland Yard police chiefs are considering plans to create a computer crime unit of up to 25 detectives to investigate hacking and virus attacks against businesses in London and to provide specialist computer forensic...

Coors Brewers plans to build on [pounds sterling]100m e-buying foundations.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Daniel Thomas Coors Brewers is planning to extend the scope of its e-procurement initiative, after processing pound sterling100m worth of transactions through the system, the company said last week. Coors, the UK's second largest...

Integration and speed are IT chiefs' key goals.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Application integration and developing the IT infrastructure to speed up business processes were the key concerns of IT directors at the Gartner Symposium. Ben Ashford, performance and assets manager at BT Exact, said, "We have a stack of...

Climate of fear in the NHS.(National Health Service)
March 13, 2003... NHS IT: Users and suppliers are afraid to speak out against the Department of Health. Tony Collins reports Suppliers have joined users in speaking confidentially about the climate of fear in the NHS which stops them openly criticising the...

Bacs splits IT department in two.
March 13, 2003... Nick Huber UK clearing house Bacs has restructured its IT department as part of a drive to develop new payment technology for banks and expand into the European clearing market. The restructuring, which follows a wide-ranging business...

BT cuts contractors' rates.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Antony Adshead BT could face a workers' revolt after it forced its contract IT staff to change employer and take a wage cut of 12.5%. The unrest emerged after BT signed a single-agency agreement with Hays IT for the provision of all...

Last chance to squeeze suppliers.
March 13, 2003... Gartner symposium: Cliff Saran and Joe O'Halloran report from the European IT conference Analyst firm Gartner has advised users to negotiate smart, flexible contracts and licensing with suppliers now, before consolidation in the IT...

Number of IT workers goes up.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Bill Goodwin The number of people employed in the IT profession rose slightly this quarter, but not enough to herald a recovery in the jobs market. The number of employed IT professionals has risen by less than 1% to 914,000, fuelled...

First National IT staff cleared.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Nick Huber The IT department of a subsidiary of Abbey National has been vindicated after an investigation into alleged fraud over IT contracts. It was claimed that First National staff took kick-backs in return for placing orders with...

Register your team for some sporting madness.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Karl Schneider On your marks, get set, go - and register for Computastars, the IT industry's very own sporting extravaganza. A cross between Superstars and It's a Knockout, Computastars is a challenging, fun team event that can be...

Users to benefit from changes to Microsoft server licensing.
March 13, 2003... Mike Simons Microsoft is changing its per-processor server licensing model from 1 April, and enterprises running high-end servers could benefit significantly. Analyst firm Gartner said organisations that use partitioning to segregate...

Union warns of strike over [pounds sterling]1.5bn outsourcing deal at Royal Mail.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Nick Huber Fresh doubts were raised this week over Royal Mail's plans for a pound sterling1.5bn IT outsourcing deal after unions threatened industrial action unless concerns over pensions and job security were addressed. The proposed...

ISPs reject 'unworkable' e-mail monitoring code.(Brief Article)
March 13, 2003... Bill Goodwin Internet service providers have rejected the government's latest proposals for a code of practice on storing e-mail and web records for viewing by law enforcement agencies and government bodies as "unworkable". Industry...

NHS ITchief threatens to exclude whistleblowers.
March 13, 2003... IT suppliers critical of the pound sterling2.3bn national IT programme have been told not to talk to the media Tony Collins The head of IT in the NHS has told suppliers they could be removed from shortlists for contracts and excluded...

dpm's diary; c p bound.
March 13, 2003... Monday There are few things more likely to get me started on a Monday morning than a circular in the post from HM government. This one is about the need to maintain vigilance lest the forces of darkness (23 million Iraqis, peacemakers,...

Can Intel change the wireless world?
March 13, 2003... jack schofield tech talk Buying plans should change as a new chip set takes mobile computing to the next level Today, the world has changed. Your buying plans should have changed along with it. The tricky bit is whether to make a...

letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 13, 2003... Capita is to blame for CRB failure From Lee Collins The fact that the Criminal Records Bureau project has failed does not surprise me (Computer Weekly, 6 March). In fact I have been waiting for this news since we handed over a section...

IT must make do with a smaller piece of pie.
March 13, 2003... Analysts agree the new financial year will see little improvement in the economy. How will this affect IT budgets and what should IT chiefs consider when planning for the year ahead? JULIA VOWLER reports Outside the public sector, "IT...

Health care IT staff get new professional body.
March 13, 2003... A professional body for people working in health informatics has been formed to improve their status and ensure high standards as IT becomes increasingly important to health care, writes John Kavanagh. The UK Council for Health Informatics...

Resolving a dispute.
March 13, 2003... Although litigation is the ultimate weapon for organisations in dispute with a supplier, arbitration is a less costly alternative for those that want to protect their reputation and intellectual property from public scrutiny, writes SALLY...

Users will be slow to upgrade to MS Office 2003.(Product/Service Evaluation)
March 13, 2003... The launch of the Office 2003 desktop productivity suite marks Microsoft's latest attempt to get companies to embrace its XML-based vision of web services supported by its .net infrastructure. But whether businesses buy into Microsoft's vision...

I need a new challenge.
March 20, 2003... I am a techie-turned-manager in a small firm that provides outsourced support for a national company. Two years ago I was promoted from senior analyst to operations manager for the outsourced contract. My technical background is in desktop and...

inside the bcs.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2003... n Formal recognition of experience and a chance to get to grips with theory are key reasons for taking BCS exams, says the winner of the annual prize for the highest scoring candidate in the BCS professional examination project management...

Strategy clinic: consult the experts.
March 20, 2003... What do you think will be the next three technologies to have a business impact and why? Power to the citizen Business impact is likely to occur at both the citizen/customer end of the spectrum and within the service management arena....

Beware the lure of cheap chips.
March 20, 2003... Counterfeit microprocessors are on the market. Most counterfeit chips work, to a varying degree, so do purchasers and wholesalers need to worry? writes Stephen Reid. A "counterfeit" article purports to be something that it is not....

Cashing in on the SMS phenomenon.
March 20, 2003... Network firms want to make text messaging pay, writes Nick Langley What is it? The boom in text messaging using Short Message Service (SMS) surprised no one more than the mobile phone companies. Although SMS messages are cheaper than...

Can NHS IT tsar deliver?(Brief Article)
March 20, 2003... john riley groundswell When advertised, the position of NHS IT tsar recently filled by Richard Granger was described as the biggest IT challenge of the decade. That description, say those in the know, seriously underestimates his...

Man versus machine.(Garry Kasparov, Deep Junior)
March 20, 2003... Can a computer ever really think like a human? Ross Bentley reports on the latest battle between a chess legend and his would-be nemesis He is probably the most famous chess champion in history, and certainly the most successful grandmaster...

Fire chiefs find data at their fingertips.(Greater Manchester County Fire Service)
March 20, 2003... Manchester's fire service has improved response times with touch-screen technology, writes Ross Bentley Greater Manchester County Fire Service has installed a 42-inch touch-sensitive plasma screen in its mobile incident control unit to...

Lessons from a giant battle.(Backfire by Peter Burrows)(Excerpt)
March 20, 2003... The merger of computing giants Hewlett-Packard and Compaq was the IT business story of last year. Now a new book, Backfire, lifts the lid on the boardroom deals and courtroom dramas that took place during the high-stakes battle for the soul of...

New printer/copiers will have Java-based networking capability.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2003... Canon is to embed Java-based networking technology in its next generation Image Runner office products to improve integration with mobile platforms, document management and e-mail systems, writes Karl Cushing. The multifunctional embedded...