Computer Weekly articles from October 2004

Computer Weekly archives from October 2004

Code of good practice can be used as a guide for performing IT jobs.
October 5, 2004... John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk A code of good practice for IT specialists which also serves as a guide to performing specific IT jobs has been introduced by the BCS after two years' development. The BCS said the code was...

making more of moore's law.
October 5, 2004... Keeping to the rule that processing power will double every 18 months is a tough challenge, but developers have a few tricks up their sleeves in the battle to create ever more powerful computers, as Danny Bradbury explains It is funny how...

Reading a sealed letter - making anti-virus measures and encryption work together.
October 5, 2004... Many users want encrypted mail, but it can harbour viruses and dubious content BYLINE: Phil Cracknell Tech talk How do you scan encrypted e-mails for viruses or malicious content? This is a dilemma facing many IT directors as the...

Broadband hits five million user milestone as take-up gathers pace.
October 5, 2004... l UK broadband lines forecast to reach eight million next year l Analyst predicts falling prices, new suppliers and VoIP will drive adoption Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The number of UK broadband subscribers passed the...

outsourcing ; EDS pressed to give guarantees to IT staff over offshoring.(Union Amicus)
October 5, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Union Amicus is pressing EDS to sign an agreement guaranteeing terms and conditions for any of the company's IT staff who may be affected by offshore outsourcing deals. Peter Skyte, national officer...

Follow basic principles to take the guesswork out of supplier choice.
October 5, 2004... No-nonsense shopping advice for IT directors Julia Vowler computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Selecting the right software product has always been a difficult task. This summer Newham Borough Council attracted international attention when...

Making measurement meaningful for business managers.
October 5, 2004... What Business Really Wants From IT, by Terry White Measurements must result in something - they must have a reason to exist. A measure is pointless if it does not cause something to happen. Although there are many...

Mother wins IT position.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk A 32-year-old mother of three has begun a career in IT after attending a year of evening classes at her local college. Karen Robson, who studied while working as a care assistant, beat more than...

Seminars aim to clarify licence issues.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk IT managers can get a free refresher course in the complexities of software licensing next month. Morning seminars on licensing are being held by Out-Law, the publishing division of law firm Masons,...

Bespoke IT can be cheaper in the long run.(tailor-made software)
October 5, 2004... Buying tailor-made software can avoid the need for lengthy consultancy work BYLINE: Tim Considine Opinion Why are so many companies willing to pay vast sums of money for IT products that require months of expensive consultancy to...

Software can help answer regulators' questions.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk A new product from datawarehouse specialist Kalido could help IT directors comply with corporate governance regulations and provide a clearer picture of how different divisions and brands within a...

Number of women in IT industry falls by almost half in four years.
October 5, 2004... l Number of women in IT drops to 53,700l Decline started at the end of the dotcom booml Lack of part-time IT work may be a factor Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk The number of female IT professionals in the UK has fallen from...

Lack of youngsters could create skills shortage.
October 5, 2004... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk Employers could face skills shortages as the demand for IT professionals picks up, following a sharp decline in the number of young people entering the profession. The proportion of youngsters...

rationalisation; Spanish practices to rule in Abbey-Santander deal.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Will Hadfield and Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Spanish bank Santander Central Hispano will drop much of Abbey National's IT infrastructure and migrate the UK bank to its own systems if its [pounds sterling]8bn-plus takeover bid goes...

Housing group's IT team improves quality and helps to speed up service for tenants.(Walsall Housing Group)
October 5, 2004... Management software helps Walsall group to redeploy Wan resources Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk Walsall Housing Group has reduced system downtime and increased the control it has over an expanded network by introducing IT...

IT industry must have the freedom to grow.
October 5, 2004... conference season In the third of our series on the IT policies of the main political parties, the Conservatives explain why a light touch from government is the best approach BYLINE: Michael Fabricant Opinion Earlier this year, I...

systems; Britannia reaps reward from [pounds sterling]60m IT project.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Britannia Building Society has completed a three-year, [pounds sterling]60m project to replace its main IT systems. Britannia estimates that it will make [pounds sterling]137m from increased...

government IT; Virtualisation speeds Revenue's apps roll-out.(Board of Inland Revenue, virtualisation software)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The Inland Revenue is to use a software virtualisation platform to simplify and accelerate the deployment of some 600 applications used by its 70,000 staff. The Revenue bought the...

Customers hit by billing problems as O2 migrates to new CRM system.(customer relationship management)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... l O2 consolidates legacy systems onto integrated billing and CRM systeml System fault causes incomplete bills to be sent to 1.5 million customers Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Mobile network operator O2 has suffered...

Lufthansa embarks on three-year project to overhaul aging systems.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... l Airline's cargo division to spend [pounds sterling]32m on making systems more efficient l Tibco software will be used to link more than 50 applications Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Lufthansa Cargo has embarked on a...

banking; Banks use card fraud software against phishers.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk Banks are using software originally developed to prevent credit card fraud to detect money laundering by criminal gangs responsible for a spate of e-mail phishing attacks. The anti-fraud...

Wirral lights the way to electronic records.(Wirral Hospital NHS Trust)
October 5, 2004... NHS IT Wirral NHS Trust has been blazing the e-records trail for a decade. Involving clinicians closely has resulted in a success the national programme could do well to copy Tony Collins tony.collins@rbi.co.uk Frank Burns has no...

public sector; Broadband value pack.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Will Hadfield computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Public sector bodies can save up to two-thirds of the cost of broadband by arranging contracts through the Department of Trade & Industry's broadband aggregation programme, rather than going...

e-government; E-gov sites 'must pass Google test'.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Will Hadfield computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Local government e-champions should shut down their websites if they fail to appear on the first page of a Google search, the government's head of e-delivery has warned. The Cabinet Office...

mobile; DHL gives drivers PDAs to improve workflow.(personal digital assistants)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk DHL's same-day delivery division is to equip 700 drivers with integrated personal digital assistants and phones to cut costs and improve workflow. The courier firm has signed a deal with...

Train firms automate rail enquiries.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The Association of Train Operating Companies is to use speech recognition technology to deliver updates on delays and engineering work to passengers. BT will provide an automated telephone...

Network Rail's [pounds sterling]30m best-of-breed project arrives on track, on time and under budget.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... l IT services set up for 6,000 new users at more than 300 locationsl Difficult programme delivered on time and under budget Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Network Rail has completed a six-month, [pounds sterling]30m IT...

Tesco relaunches its RFID scheme.(radio frequency identification)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk Tesco is to roll out radio frequency identification technology across its entire supply chain infrastructure, starting with its largest stores. Unlike US retailer WalMart, Tesco said it would not be...

Users face five years of patching pain as security flaws keep rising.
October 5, 2004... Force suppliers to act on vulnerabilities or pay the price, leading security experts warn users Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk Businesses will face another five years of battling with serious security vulnerabilities and...

NHS IT; Wirral hospital is 'years ahead' on patient records.(National Health Service, Wirral Hospital NHS Trust)
October 5, 2004... Tony Collins tony.collins@rbi.co.uk A hospital trust in Wirral headed by a former NHS IT chief is forging ahead with a new birth-to-death, community-wide electronic health record that it says is years ahead of plans for a national...

IT minister; IT press gives early warning says O'Brien.(IT minister Mike O'Brien)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... John Riley john.riley@rbi.co.uk Newly appointed IT minister Mike O'Brien has praised the role of the media in alerting government to IT problems. Speaking exclusively to Computer Weekly, he said, "It is only through the TV and...

NHS IT; NHS fines BT for missing spine targets.(National Health Service, British Telecom)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The national programme for IT in the NHS has fined BT for failing to meet targets for the national data spine for care records, a core part of the programme. "There was a reduction in...

Blunkett targets six million passengers in e-borders pilot.(David Blunkett, home secretary, UK)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Bill Goodwin bill.goodwin@rbi.co.uk The government is stepping up its drive to introduce biometric ID cards with David Blunkett, the home secretary, using last week's Labour Party conference to announce Project Semaphore. The...

Standard Chartered Bank follows open source path.
October 5, 2004... John Riley john.riley@rbi.co.uk Standard Chartered Bank is running its wholesale and retail banking systems in nine countries almost entirely on open source software. In a series of stealth projects, starting in Pakistan and Dubai, the...

don't be an outlaw.(rapid data retrieval)
October 5, 2004... The Freedom of Information Act and other laws are putting pressure on companies to supply data quickly or suffer penalties. Jessica Twentyman reports on rapid data retrieval The IT team at UK-based holding company Centrica faces some tough...

egg ahead with saN.(Egg Banking PLC, storage area networks)
October 5, 2004... Online bank Egg increased data capacity and transfer speeds with its San strategy. And that was just for starters. Mark Vernon reports As the world's largest pure online bank with almost 3.5 million customers, internet bank Egg has come a...

Restructured NCC aims to help IT play a pivotal role in UK business.(National Computing Centre)
October 5, 2004... User group expands and restructures John Riley john.riley@rbi.co.uk Last week the National Computing Centre acquired its third user group in two years, restructured a mix of acquired and indigenous services into a new brand called...

infrastructure; IT successes are built on rock of Partenon.
October 5, 2004... Nick Huber and Will Hadfield nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Bank Santander is well versed in the challenges of large IT integration projects following mergers and acquisitions. The group is migrating its core IT systems onto a single...

Surrey secures mobile phone calls.(University of Surrey)
October 5, 2004... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk A team of University of Surrey scientists has developed technology that can deliver end-to-end security and confidentiality for mobile phone calls. Many users do not realise that when they...

strategy; Abbey bets bank on consolidation and virtual call centre.(Abbey National Bank)
October 5, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk A datacentre consolidation and an update of its call centre technology are among the main IT projects under way at Abbey ahead of the Santander takeover. The bank is hiring contractors from India to...

The best ways to link your branch offices.
October 5, 2004... Be sure to establish your business needs before connecting different sites I look after IT for an independent chain of 14 estate agencies. In IT terms each branch operates as a discrete unit. Now we want every desktop throughout the chain...

a tapeless world.
October 5, 2004... With 80 directly attached systems to upgrade, engineering consultancy Arup chose a radical solution - to junk DAS and move toward a single, tapeless solution. Candice Goodwin reports From the Sydney Opera House to Gateshead's Angel of the...

BCS growth shows IT's rising status.(British Computer Society)(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... John Kavanagh computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Rapid growth in BCS membership is a sign that IT is starting achieve similar status to that of established professions such as engineering, according to BCS chief executive David Clarke. ...

3Com kit aids integration.(Brief Article)
October 5, 2004... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk 3Com has brought out a family of switching products that make it easier for users to integrate wireless and wired data networks. The products include an enterprise-class wireless switch, a...

Making legacy attractive.(shortage of mainframe computer professionals)
October 5, 2004... Friendly interfaces can revitalise mainframe projects BYLINE: David Chalmers Opinion Skills shortages in IT are a major headache for directors. Shortages increase labour costs and cause delays that threaten project completion. ...

controlling interests.
October 5, 2004... Who controls IT is moving to the top of the agenda as small and medium-sized enterprises gain a greater grasp of the importance of implementing IT and communications technology to best effect. Helen Beckett offers an overview of the findings of...

The law's not a chore.(data protection laws)
October 5, 2004... Gillian Cameron Opinion Data protection laws may seem onerous for small firms, but not if common sense processes are put in place as early as possible Data protection and privacy legislation can be a compliance headache for SMEs....

Defence in depth.(networked data storage systems)
October 5, 2004... Ian Bond Opinion Putting storage on the network has brought many benefits but it has also widened the security threat. Protecting the perimeter is no longer sufficient One of the shifts in IT departments over the past five years...

Apache and Tomcat are free but not easy.
October 5, 2004... hot skills If you want to work on web operations, Apache and Tomcat are useful skills Nick Langley computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk What is it? Apache is not just the leading open source HTTP web server, it also has more than twice...

STORAGe GAIN MINUS PAIN.
October 5, 2004... The pressure to cut storage costs is stronger than ever in response to the burgeoning volume of data. Danny Bradbury investigates the best ways to ease the burden of data management Are your executive users stalking the corridors with a...

YOUR SHOUT; Have your say at ; computerweekly.com.(Letter to the Editor)
October 5, 2004... The high price of ITsystems for GPs Alan Stewart As an ex-nurse - now a network manager - and husband to a practice nurse, I have been following the articles regarding IT in the NHS and GP practices with some interest (Computer Weekly,...

one-stop data shop.
October 5, 2004... Consolidation of resources can put your business ahead of the game, improving access and management, cutting costs and enabling legislative compliance, writes Hamish Macarthur As we become more dependent on the use of information in our...

Standard cure for GPs' IT.(general practitioner)
October 5, 2004... Systems must meet universally agreed requirements BYLINE: Kirsty Trigg Opinion GPs are deeply concerned about the possibility that their existing IT systems are not going to be available to them under the new plan for local...

British computer society; Swift action by IT staff saves software firm from bandwidth-draining zombie server.
October 12, 2004... l Network performance was deterioratingl Server found to contain hundreds of music filesl Incident management plan minimised damage Ross Patel computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Strong security-incident management saved a large software...

Increase your chances with the perfect CV.(curriculum vitae)
October 12, 2004... job applications You may think you have honed your CV skills to perfection, but with fierce competition for the best IT roles, are you confident you can catch the recruiter's eye? Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk IT jobseekers need...

Bloomberg trades up its IM services.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Bloomberg is to use software hosted by Orchestria to support its instant messaging and e-mail services. The global news and information provider will use software from Orchestria, called Active Policy Management, to help users of its terminal...

oracle takeover bid; PeopleSoft users look to new chief executive for merger reassurance.(.)(Oracle Corp.)(PeopleSoft Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk PeopleSoft and JD Edwards users gathered at London's ExCel conference centre last week with the future of their supplier in doubt. The PeopleSoft Connect conference followed hard on the heels of...

Derby's virtual private network enables flexible working and boosts public service.
October 12, 2004... smart projects Secure remote access helps council staff and supports e-gov initiatives Karen Gomm karen.gomm@rbi.co.uk Derby City Council has improved online access to council services for both the pubilc and its staff by...

Isolation does not foster innovation in IT.
October 12, 2004... Bola RotibiTech talk A failed application development project not only has cost implications that could affect the company's finance, but its effect on business strategy could leave embarrassing questions from shareholders for the board to...

Migrating from Exchange will not be cheap but new applications can boost efficiency.
October 12, 2004... Jessica Twentyman computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk When Microsoft ends support for its Windows NT 4 operating system on 31 December, it will mean the end of the line for millions of corporate users of its Exchange 5.5 e-mail software. ...

Involve IT from the start to ease pain of mergers and acquisitions.
October 12, 2004... Glen Witneyand Neil Boss Opinion "The integration programme is on track. It is only IT that is behind." A comment along these lines usually occurs within a month of a business undergoing a merger, if not sooner. In the worst cases, IT...

McLaren Mercedes fine-tunes engine design with SAP.(Team McLaren Mercedes)(SAP AG)
October 12, 2004... Team McLaren Mercedes, the Formula One motor sports team, is running a pre-integrated version of SAP to help optimise the engineering and production operations at its Mercedes-Benz Formula One engine division, Mercedes-Ilmor. An application...

E-business; FTSE sites fail to meet access rules.(Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange )(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk Eighty one per cent of FTSE 100 companies do not comply with guidelines on making websites accessible for disabled users, a survey has found. Overall, 57% of the large UK companies surveyed by web...

leadership The IT director who is n.(information technology)
October 12, 2004... Chris Potts Opinion IT directors are struggling to be treated as an equal by their executive colleagues because they talk and act like suppliers. If you behave like a supplier people will treat you like one. It does not matter...

Zombies in business suits: how to beat the sinister side of spamming.
October 12, 2004... Pete Simpson Opinion Spam is driving IT departments crazy. Unsolicited e-mail wastes network and storage resources, steals staff time and diverts IT resources to managing defences and poring over quarantine lists. Spam zombies are...

outsourcing; Firms need in-house skills after outsourcing.
October 12, 2004... Nick Huber nick.huber@rbi.co.uk European companies have become more experienced at handling large IT outsourcing deals but need to pay more attention to the IT staff who do not transfer to the supplier, according to a report from...

Downtime.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Support the Morris Minor of IT systems A long-running gripe of users is that software suppliers should give better support to organisations using their older products. This has now been endorsed by Dennis Keeling, chief executive of the...

storage; City firm uses Ethernet storage as hedge against a costly San roll-out.(Brevan Howard)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... l Fund manager aims to keep down its capital and staff expenditurel System will support migration of trade entry system back in-house Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk City firm Brevan Howard has installed an Ethernet-connected...

Some trusts already face shortfall.(Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust)(Lynn and Wisbech NHS Trust)
October 12, 2004... Tony Collins tony.collins@rbi.co.uk Some trust boards are already finding they have large shortfalls in the cash needed to implement the national programme locally. Stuart Threlfall, ICT director at King's Lynn and Wisbech NHS...

open source; Red Hat Linux integrates Netscape.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Red Hat's decision to add Netscape's security and directory tools to its Linux distribution is good news for enterprise Linux users, analysts said last week. The Linux supplier is to acquire...

waste disposal; IT managers ignorant of EC PC recycling laws as deadline looms.(Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive)
October 12, 2004... l Poll found that only half of IT managers knew of the WEEE legislation l Asset tracking is still being done on paper in 60% of firms Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk With less than 10 months to go before PC recycling...

call centres; Avaya lowers call centre cost for SMEs.(small and medium sized companies)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Avaya has introduced a call centre system called Contact Centre Express to simplify and lower the costs of improving customer interaction. Avaya said customer feedback has shown that...

PC & desktop; Tests show users prefer thin clients.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Users prefer a thin client desktop to a full PC for running the same applications, a study by Winterm for Wyse Technology has found. The research involved asking 110 people to conduct a set of...

datawarehousing; Teradata warehouse improves real-time alerts and integration.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Teradata will offer improved real-time database queries and support third-party reporting tools in version 8.0 of its datawarehouse software, which it unveiled on Monday (11 October). The product...

suppliers; Users complain of supplier lock-in.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Users often suffer supplier lock-in and negative experiences when dealing with single-supplier systems, according to survey of 800 senior IT executives. The research, by Dynamic Markets for...

middleware; IBM makes Websphere smarter to improve business continuity.
October 12, 2004... l Websphere 6.0 detects problems and redirects data automaticallyl Rational development tools integrated into new version of Websphere Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk IBM is fleshing out its On Demand computing strategy with the...

training; IT security professionals offered fast-track computer crime course.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Computer Weekly reporter computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk IT professionals looking to gain computer forensic certification are being offered an accelerated six-day course by the Training Camp. The IT training provider said its course is...

remote working; Nike takes central control of teleworkers' broadband links.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Antony Savvas computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk Nike in the UK has set up a centrally controlled broadband provisioning system for its teleworkers. The sports goods manufacturer had left employees who work remotely to arrange their own...

e-government ; Prescott offers councils a bonus of [pounds sterling]150,000.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister last week offered a further [pounds sterling]150,000 of government funding in 2005-2006 to every local authority that submits a "satisfactory" IEG4...

socitm conference; East Riding CRM scoops IT award.(customer relationship management)
October 12, 2004... l East Riding Council wins Excellence Award for secure access portall Portal gives users a single view of 18 council customer service centres Arif Mohamed computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk East Riding Council has won this year's Local...

public sector ; First integrated children's system goes live.
October 12, 2004... l York Council is the first to implement the web-based information systeml Data is accessed in the right form for teachers, social workers and GPs Lindsay Clark computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk The first web-based system to help councils...

asset tracking; IT expertise could help firms keep track of 'human assets'.(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk The processes used within an IT department to track assets could be applied to keeping track of staff across the business, according to PeopleSoft executives speaking at the conference. Peter...

migration; JD Edwards users offered migration aid.(PeopleSoft Inc. enhanced program PeopleSoft Now)(Brief Article)
October 12, 2004... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk PeopleSoft has begun offering users an upgrade option aimed at minimising the cost of migrating to the latest version of its software. The initiative, called PeopleSoft Now, has been put together...

case study; End-users help Chivas achieve rapid roll-out.(Chivas Brothers Ltd.)
October 12, 2004... Cliff Saran cliff.saran@rbi.co.uk Scotch whisky distiller Chivas Brothers has completed a roll-out of the PeopleSoft HCM 8.8 human resources package in just 17 weeks. The tight timescale was achieved by minimising customisation and...