IT Week (UK) articles from April 2007

IT Week (UK) archives from April 2007

Kaspersky keeps laptops clean.
April 1, 2007... Kaspersky keeps laptops clean Security vendor Kaspersky Lab has launched major upgrades to several of its corporate antivirus products, with faster scanning times and performance enhancements. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0 for Windows...

Bad drivers ignore pleas for sleep.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Bad drivers ignore pleas for sleep Vista's hybrid sleep mode promises green benefits but is easily disturbed by incompatible drivers It's good to see that, after seven years or so, the US Environmental...

Curbing IT's thirst for juice.
April 2, 2007... Curbing IT's thirst for juice IBM's Brian Carter discusses the latest innovations in the field of energy conservation Brian Carter works for the environmental affairs team at IBM Global Technology Services. He recently told IT Week...

Pray to the Lords for cheaper roaming.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Pray to the Lords for cheaper roaming Now that the House of Lords is on the carriers' case, is cheaper roaming just around the corner? The shenanigans over mobile roaming charges would be hilarious if they...

Land of hope and glory (and tax).(startups taxes affecting the success of entrepreneurs)(Column)
April 2, 2007... Land of hope and glory (and tax) Is the UK's remorseless taxation system suffocating the nation's plucky band of business entrepreneurs? In the middle of 2006 I met some of the founders of Zopa, a UK-based startup that is now ready to...

Store building made easier n E-commerce software provider DigitalRiver last week launched a major upgrade to its DR GlobalCommerce enterprise platform. It features usability enhancements and aims to give online retailers more control over their sites. It.
April 2, 2007... Store building made easier n E-commerce software provider DigitalRiver last week launched a major upgrade to its DR GlobalCommerce enterprise platform. It features usability enhancements and aims to give online retailers more control over...

Project leaders wear IT blinkers.
April 2, 2007... Byline: James Murray Project leaders wear IT blinkers James Murray Many firms are struggling to implement effective IT governance policies and processes, according to a report on IT governance released last week by analyst firm...

Trend goes on malware patrol.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster Trend goes on malware patrol Phil Muncaster Web and email security firm Trend Micro last week announced new technology to prevent employees from visiting web pages containing malware. The company said the...

Proxy servers pose threat.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Dave BAiley Proxy servers pose threat n Microsoft has issued an advisory to help firms prevent attackers from gaining access to their networks via a malicious proxy server. Proxy servers offer network services to desktop...

IBM taps 3Com for unified comms.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey IBM taps 3Com for unified comms Dave Bailey Server giant IBM last week announced its first unified comms system. The System i Integrated Collaboration suite integrates standard collaboration applications, such...

How to keep energy bills down.(in managing data centers)
April 2, 2007... How to keep energy bills down IT chiefs are under pressure to cut datacentre power bills. So what steps can they take? Analyst firm Gartner recently estimated that by 2008, 50 percent of current datacentres will have insufficient power...

Coders to sit safety exam.(by Sans Institute )(Brief article)
April 2, 2007... Byline: Iain Thomson Coders to sit safety exam n The Sans Institute last week announced a coalition of IT companies to support a new qualification in security programming. The GIAC Secure Software Programmer qualification will...

Benchmarking enters the real world.
April 2, 2007... Benchmarking enters the real world The new TPC-E benchmark should inject a much-needed dose of realism into server testing Benchmarks are something of a curate's egg. The underlying principles of testing are almost always sound, but...

Call centres should move with the times.
April 2, 2007... Call centres should move with the times Poor service from providers makes getting basic IT services into a new home the bane of modern life Ihave recently moved house and discovered just how much work needs to be done to get basic IT,...

PDA mobilises enterprise apps.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson PDA mobilises enterprise apps daniel robinson Symbol Technologies has announced its first new handheld since the firm was acquired by Motorola in January. The MC35 is a semi-rugged device aimed at field...

HTC launches mini laptop.(introduced HTC Shift)(Brief article)
April 2, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson HTC launches mini laptop n Handset maker HTC has unveiled a mini laptop at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) show in Florida. The device is unlike the firm's usual Windows Mobile...

Solid businesses must be transparent.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Tim Anderson Solid businesses must be transparent Companies that offer open access to all relevant data will see their customers more often Internet-hosted applications are not just about low maintenance and access from...

Dell to help manage datacentres.
April 2, 2007... Dell to help manage datacentres Scott Ferguson Dell last week unveiled a new business unit, the Dell Data Center Solutions Division, that is focused on designing and customising datacentres for corporate customers. By positioning...

Storage gets Defensics.
April 2, 2007... Storage gets Defensics n Security testing specialist Codenomicon last week announced a new tool designed to protect storage resources. The Defensics Filesystems & Storage toolset is built to detect security vulnerabilities in file...

Fraud fighters required.
April 2, 2007... Fraud fighters required Bill Hughes, head of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), admits that the agency's first year has been "a curate's egg: good in parts". The bad parts centred on the difficulty of amalgamating Soca's...

Communication is key for law firm.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Madeline Bennett Communication is key for law firm The new head of IT at Bevan Brittan plans to focus on telephony infrastructure IT Week: As head of IT for a multi-site law firm, what are your key aims? Clive...

Letting the workers choose their PCs.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Lem Bingley Letting the workers choose their PCs Entrepreneur and BT veteran Peter Cochrane has controversial views on corporate IT Perhaps because of the 23-year stretch he spent rising through the ranks at BT, Peter...

Is it time for IT to unionise?(trade union for developing IT skills)
April 9, 2007... Byline: James Murray Is it time for IT to unionise? A strong IT trade union could help tackle the skills crisis and attract more graduates to the sector Several weeks ago IT Week published a letter from a Paul Sladen on the...

Grandfather clause ticks off Linux set.
April 9, 2007... Grandfather clause ticks off Linux set A GPL provision to prevent Novell/Microsoft-type agreements may not pacify the open-source community The latest draft of the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) has caused more ructions in the Linux...

Firms overlook excess servers.
April 9, 2007... Firms overlook excess servers n Many UK firms are unknowingly running redundant servers in their datacentres, and are missing the chance to achieve substantial cost benefits through consolidation. Michael Evans, managing director...

Apple catches the eye of corporates.
April 9, 2007... Apple catches the eye of corporates Steve Jobs' rebuilt company has a puncher's chance of making serious inroads into the business market Many years ago I wrote a column that suggested Apple's days of relevance to business were...

Browser aids mobile web.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Browser aids mobile web n Microsoft has released a preview of a browser designed to enable full web pages to be viewed on mobile devices. Deepfish technology uses server-side code to render web pages as a...

XIP phones to boot up in a Flash.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson XIP phones to boot up in a Flash Daniel Robinson Memory chip maker Spansion has announced a Flash architecture that it said can boost performance, cut the cost of phone handsets and extend their battery...

E-skills sows confusion over roles.
April 9, 2007... Byline: James Murray E-skills sows confusion over roles James Murray IT skills body E-skills UK has defended its new IT Professional Competency Model following suggestions that the latest skills framework could confuse IT...

Oracle fails to cap Red Hat growth.
April 9, 2007... Oracle fails to cap Red Hat growth Martin Courtney Linux giant Red Hat has recorded a mixed bag of financial results for its fourth quarter ending 28 February, but appears to be standing up well to growing pressure from Oracle. ...

First Direct upgrade scores low marks.
April 9, 2007... First Direct upgrade scores low marks One bank's attempt to toughen up online security has left users battered, bemused and feeling insecure First Direct recently "upgraded" its online security, which is to be applauded. After all,...

Mobiles get down to business.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Mobiles get down to business Recent developments are about to turn smartphones into clients capable of handling serious applications A quiet revolution is under way that could transform mobile devices and...

Base stations bring 3G indoors.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Base stations bring 3G indoors Dave Bailey A recent report by research firm Analysys predicted that indoor base stations using, for example, 3G radios will be a key driver for fixed mobile substitution (FMS),...

TLD could keep accounts safe.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster TLD could keep accounts safe n Internet oversight body Icann should set up a new top level domain (TLD) for banks to reduce the incidence of banking fraud over the internet, according to web security vendor...

Banks to handle e-fraud reports.
April 9, 2007... Banks to handle e-fraud reports Phil Muncaster UK firms should be able to report online fraud more easily in future, thanks to legislation that came into force last week that makes financial institutions the first point of contact for...

Clothing firm's security just won't wash.
April 9, 2007... Byline: David Neal Clothing firm's security just won't wash Clothing retailer TK Maxx has delivered a serious blow to shoppers' confidence in its security systems You have to feel sorry for people who shop at TK Maxx, and not just...

Firms miss benefits of shared IT.
April 9, 2007... Firms miss benefits of shared IT James Murray IT managers' efforts to drive through server consolidation projects are being hampered by reluctance among different departments to share computing capacity and poor awareness of the...

How a virus blackened my reputation.
April 9, 2007... How a virus blackened my reputation However good your security processes, you can never lower your guard against infection We all like to think of ourselves as popular, so it comes of something of a shock to find yourself on a...

New banking service to force payroll upgrades.(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... New banking service to force payroll upgrades Phil Muncaster IT managers must start preparing their corporate payroll systems now if they are to take advantage of the Faster Payments Service due to be rolled out by the UK banking...

Web 2.0 content risks hijacking.
April 9, 2007... Web 2.0 content risks hijacking Security firm Fortify Software has discovered a flaw in the JavaScript programming language that could have serious implications for firms using Web 2.0 applications. The JavaScript hijacking flaw lets...

UK outstripped in business IT n UK firms are lagging behind many of their European counterparts in technology use, according to the latest i2010 strategy report from the European Commission. The UK performed well in terms of use of IT in schools and over.(Proactis acquired Alito)(MindTree Consulting launched infrastructure management and technical support service)(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... UK outstripped in business IT n UK firms are lagging behind many of their European counterparts in technology use, according to the latest i2010 strategy report from the European Commission. The UK performed well in terms of use of IT in...

XenSource server reaches further.
April 9, 2007... XenSource server reaches further James Murray and Dave Bailey Open-source virtualisation specialist XenSource last week announced general availability of the latest version of its commercial server product, featuring enhanced...

Contract savings short-lived.(outsourcing contracts)(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... Contract savings short-lived Phil Muncaster Many organisations are tied into unsatisfactory outsourcing contracts because they place too much emphasis on cutting costs, according to management consultancy Compass. Simon Scarrott,...

Suite monitors VoIP quality.
April 9, 2007... Suite monitors VoIP quality Compuware last week released an update of its Vantage application performance monitoring solution, adding tools that enable companies to assess voice over IP (VoIP) performance. Vantage 10 provides managers...

Vendors team up to take on Cisco.(Hewlett-Packard Co.'s ProCurve division partnering with Cisco Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... Vendors team up to take on Cisco HP's ProCurve division has set up an alliance with telecoms and network vendors aimed at providing an end-to-end networking solution that will compete with Cisco. Members of the ProCurve Alliance are...

Speculators spoil .eu anniversary.
April 9, 2007... Speculators spoil .eu anniversary Phil Muncaster As the .eu top-level domain (TLD) celebrates its first anniversary, some experts last week claimed that the actions of domain-name speculators may have scared off potential customers and...

BEA aids SOA migration and Java development.
April 9, 2007... BEA aids SOA migration and Java development IT Week staff BEA last week released its WebLogic Server 10 application server, adding support for Java Enterprise Edition (EE) 5. The latest version is designed to help IT departments...

Dotty sense.(European domain names)(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... Dotty sense A year on from its inception, the European regional top level domain has had mixed success. Despite the registry Eurid claiming that the number of .eu addresses has exceeded all expectations, it boasts only half the...

Admin tools boost PC virtualisation.
April 9, 2007... Admin tools boost PC virtualisation Daniel Robinson Desktop virtualisation could gain more traction in the enterprise, as ClearCube and ScriptLogic both launched management tools this month to make it easier to consolidate PCs as...

Flexible working rights extended.(may effect IT departments)(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... Flexible working rights extended n An update to the UK's flexible working regulations introduced late last week threatens to add to the pressure on enterprise IT departments, but new technologies could help. Alongside parents with...

Companies keep silent on data breaches.
April 9, 2007... Companies keep silent on data breaches David Neal O ne year on from the scrapping of the Confidentiality Charter that let businesses report IT crime in confidence directly to the police, new research by the organisers of the...

Why breakthroughs must wildly exceed to succeed.(computer science research)(Column)
April 9, 2007... Why breakthroughs must wildly exceed to succeed Radical new technologies must eclipse incumbents by a factor of 10 to take off n When I was a lad, I was easily excited by technology, and one of my biggest enthusiasms, back in the...

Innovators offer hope of curing spam.
April 16, 2007... Innovators offer hope of curing spam Strato and Tumbleweed's clever solutions may stop systems from drowning in image-based junk email Aren't you sick of so-called anti-spam specialists banging on about how good their solutions are. I...

Firms neglect DNS kit at their peril.(Domain Name System)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Firms neglect DNS kit at their peril Rapid growth in Web 2.0 traffic means firms can no longer get away with skimping on DNS/DHCP kit A few months ago I had a chat with Nominum marketing chief Albert Gouyet,...

IT sceptics will be made to look the fools.(humour)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Alistair Dabbs IT sceptics will be made to look the fools They may laugh now, but those who joke about useless innovations can end up with egg on their face This year's batch of online April Fools' Day gags was noticeably...

Network services take the strain.(Paul Mockapetris on domain name system)(Interview)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Network services take the strain Paul Mockapetris says DNS services have a pivotal role in the Web 2.0 revolution IT Week: As Nominum's chief scientist, do you think enterprises need dedicated appliances to run...

Optimise your site for users, not robots.
April 16, 2007... Optimise your site for users, not robots To drive more traffic to their site firms should improve content, not employ search engine optimisation I dislike the term search engine optimisation (SEO), though I understand its appeal. High...

Staff churn hinders offshoring.
April 16, 2007... Byline: James Murray Staff churn hinders offshoring James Murray Firms that move IT work to India are being advised to do more to tackle the problem of employee churn in that country's IT industry after a survey revealed more than...

Free tool digs out rootkits.(Grisoft Software's AVG Anti-Rootkit software)(Brief article)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Free tool digs out rootkits n Security vendor Grisoft has extended its lineup with a tool to detect and remove rootkits. A rootkit is code that can conceal its presence on a system and is often designed to...

Intel platform aids laptop admin.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Intel platform aids laptop admin Daniel Robinson Intel has officially announced its Centrino Pro laptop brand, designed to bring many of the management capabilities of its vPro business platform to mobile...

Debian boosts Linux support.
April 16, 2007... Debian boosts Linux support n The Debian project team has released version 4.0 of the Debian GNU/Linux operating system, codenamed Etch. Debian 4.0 supports 11 processor architectures and offers a choice of three major desktop...

How Apple chic beat Commodore geek.
April 16, 2007... How Apple chic beat Commodore geek Trailblazing graphics helped the Apple II to outsell Commodore's PET, and paved the way for an IT revolution April 1977 saw the launch, at the first West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco, of...

Google set for ads revolution.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster Google set for ads revolution Phil Muncaster Google recently announced plans to adopt the cost-per-action (CPA) model of online marketing, whereby firms that advertise through its AdWords scheme are charged...

Appliances keep core services running.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Appliances keep core services running Infoblox ID Grid provides a highly resilient platform for delivering core network services The Infoblox ID Grid platform is a system for running core network services over...

Citrix takes virtual route.
April 16, 2007... Citrix takes virtual route Daniel Robinson Citrix has unveiled a product capable of serving up connections to virtual machines and blade PCs that the company said could help organisations save up to 40 percent on desktop management...

Suite aids datacentre analysis.(PlateSpin Inc. developing PowerRecon 3.0 )
April 16, 2007... Suite aids datacentre analysis James Murray Datacentre management specialist Platespin announced a major update to its PowerRecon suite last week, designed to support firms' green initiatives with tools for analysing and modelling...

Intel to unveil vPro updates.
April 16, 2007... Intel to unveil vPro updates Intel is expected to outline updates to its vPro desktop platform at its IDF show in China this week. Ahead of the event, rival AMD said its forthcoming quad-core chips will outperform Intel's, while offering...

HP aims to offer faster, cheaper colour printing.
April 16, 2007... HP aims to offer faster, cheaper colour printing Martin Courtney in Paris HP last week reaffirmed its commitment to reducing enterprise print operating costs with the launch of multi-function printers (MFPs) and usage-based print...

Dell gives Axim PDA the chop.
April 16, 2007... Dell gives Axim PDA the chop Martin Veitch Dell is dropping its Axim handheld line in a move that will hasten the disappearance of the standalone PDA industry and points the way to growth in converged voice and data devices. The...

Eco outlook brightens as Green Grid grows.(energy efficiency in data centers)
April 16, 2007... Eco outlook brightens as Green Grid grows When the Green Grid consortium of IT vendors was first mooted by AMD last year, with a remit of establishing industry-wide best practices that would tackle the environmental and energy crisis...

Immigration blues take shine off Orange event.
April 16, 2007... Immigration blues take shine off Orange event Attending Orange's partner conference in Florida presents a daunting challenge n This week, I'm not going to Florida. We journalists get invited out a lot, and yes, after a few decades I...

IBM polishes its free enterprise search tool.
April 16, 2007... IBM polishes its free enterprise search tool Martin Veitch & Phil muncaster In a bid to attract more corporates to unified enterprise search tools, IBM will today launch an updated version of its free OmniFind Yahoo Edition program...

EU sets stage for cheaper roaming.(Brief article)
April 16, 2007... EU sets stage for cheaper roaming Dave Bailey Rules to reduce roaming charges moved a step closer last week, as a European Parliament committee voted to accept proposals to cut the cost of calling from abroad by 70 percent. However, a...

Ubuntu Linux to up VM support.
April 16, 2007... Ubuntu Linux to up VM support n The latest version of Ubuntu Linux will be released this week, adding greater support for virtualisation in its server edition, while laptop users gain better tools for connecting to wireless networks. ...

Business lessons from the dugout.(premiership clubs)
April 23, 2007... Byline: James Murray Business lessons from the dugout Corporates should learn from the way Premiership clubs are using analytics tools to boost team performance It is not often that the world of professional football has anything...

Marketers wary of Google's power.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster Marketers wary of Google's power Phil Muncaster The search engine marketing industry will continue to strengthen over the next 12 months, but Google's dominance could harm firms, according to a new report by...

Benefits of BPM prove elusive.
April 23, 2007... Byline: James Murray Benefits of BPM prove elusive James Murray Growing numbers of firms are deploying business performance management (BPM) systems but many are not getting the expected benefits because of a widespread failure to...

Business PCs to live in a virtual world.
April 23, 2007... Business PCs to live in a virtual world The growing use of virtualisation technology may see physical PCs exist only as consumer items It is widely acknowledged that many technologies start out in the consumer world and eventually find...

E-payment made easier.
April 23, 2007... Byline: IT Week staff E-payment made easier n Google has launched a new e-payment service in the UK that is designed to make online shopping quick and easy. Google Checkout lets buyers using participating stores make purchases...

Channel hopping in cyberspace.(IP television)(Column)
April 23, 2007... Channel hopping in cyberspace IT Week readers will soon be the beneficiaries of exhaustive research into the delights of web TV. Stay tuned Very soon I am to start a period of enforced relaxation in the bosom of my family, and I plan...

Networks tune in to mobile TV.
April 23, 2007... Networks tune in to mobile TV Trials show that mobile TV could amass a worthwhile audience -- as long as the price is right The idea of broadcast TV delivered to a mobile device has been around for a while but interest has been growing...

Intel urges patience over comms.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Martin Courtney Intel urges patience over comms Martin Courtney in Beijing Intel is struggling to meet market expectations for wireless broadband, and last week warned device manufacturers to be patient and avoid rushing...

The next BiG thing, or a whopping great hoax?(broadband through gas)
April 23, 2007... The next BiG thing, or a whopping great hoax? The recent buzz around Broadband-in-Gas has been replaced by an ominous silence n Hoaxes are fun. There was the time I decided to expose a software "awards" festival as the fee-collecting...

Is Fusion beyond Oracle's reach?
April 23, 2007... Is Fusion beyond Oracle's reach? Larry Ellison's plan for global enterprise software domination may be a little too ambitious -- even for him At university I read The Overreacher, a book about the works of Christopher Marlowe, the...