IT Week (UK) articles from September 2005

IT Week (UK) archives from September 2005

Homework growth tests support systems.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. As many as one in 10 UK employees now works from home, according to research published last week. Experts argued that businesses would perform better if they improved IT and security support for their remote staff....

Bank outsourcing deal shares risk.
September 5, 2005... Dutch bank ABN Amro signed contracts last week worth a total of EUR1.8bn with five separate outsourcers, leading experts to predict that more firms will divide IT projects between multiple service providers. IBM will oversee infrastructure...

Microsoft snaps up VoIP specialist.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Microsoft claimed a bigger stake in the internet telephony market last week with its acquisition of US voice over IP (VoIP) specialist Teleo. The deal is seen as a move to counter similar offerings from search giant...

Skills gaps will widen if ageism persists.
September 5, 2005... Another fall in the number of pupils taking IT-related A-levels makes it all the more necessary for recruiters to abandon their preference for youth. Last month saw the latest A-level and GCSE results arrive to the usual cries of dumbing...

TomorrowNow looks to expand.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... TomorrowNow, a support services firm acquired by SAP in January, is ramping up efforts to sign UK customers, and considering expanding its offerings to support further product lines. The US-based firm, which offers support for PeopleSoft...

XML boost for OpenOffice beta.
September 5, 2005... Open-source developers have made available the second beta of OpenOffice version 2, intended for use by a wide range of people to help find and fix bugs. The beta includes a new database module and the Oasis OpenDocument XML file format,...

Patent laws back on the agenda.
September 5, 2005... Byline: James Murray. The European Parliament returned to work last week facing renewed calls to harmonise laws governing software patents. The calls followed the rejection in July of a controversial directive on patents for Computer...

Tivoli backup system protects laptop files.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. IBM's Tivoli unit will this month launch a tool that protects data by making continuous backups of documents while users work on them, and can also send copies to a remote server for added protection. IBM...

Oracle boosts content control.
September 5, 2005... Oracle beefed up its enterprise content management (ECM) tools last week, announcing the availability of its Collaboration Suite 10g. The suite, originally due in the first half of the year, is the firm's first serious push into ECM....

Siebel pushes hosting and SOAs.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Madeline Bennett. Siebel is set to expand its OnDemand hosted customer relationship management (CRM) offering this autumn, and make a major push into the service-oriented architecture (SOA) arena - a market that the firm expects to...

Public fears e-trade risk.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. Most British people believe online retailers are not doing enough to prevent internet fraud, according to a report due later this week from e-payment specialist eFunds. Only 17 percent of the 1,000 people...

Win Server 2003 moves forward.
September 5, 2005... Microsoft has made the first release candidate of Windows Server 2003 R2 available for download. RC0 is the first release candidate since the product went into beta. It is an update of Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1. The final...

Partners eye BS7799 security spec.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Madeline Bennett. Uptake of the BS7799 security standard looks set to grow, because large companies will turn to the standard to guarantee adequate levels of protection across their partner chains, according to consultancy...

Comment - IT buyers must focus on function. Many IT professionals are as guilty as consumers of letting fashion steer their technology purchases.(Column)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Martin Butler. During a discussion the other day I was reminded about how much control the big players in the IT market really have. I was talking about a company that specialised in business process management systems. I use the...

Comment - Chinese dragon could lift Dell PCs. There is a good case for Dell to concentrate on services and servers - and shift PC making east.(Column)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Tony Westbrook. Apparently, Dell's results last quarter, to the end of July, were disappointing. Chief executive Kevin Rollins said the company sold too many low-end machines, and that meant profit rose "only" 15 percent year on...

Special Report - Managing email - Getting to grips with message overload. In the first of a two-part report, IT Week looks at the dangers firms face if they fail to manage their email systems.
September 5, 2005... Email systems have become the central knowledge repositories of organisations, providing an audit trail of communications with colleagues, customers, business partners and authorities. Now email is perhaps the most critical application that...

Special Report - Managing email - Legislation - Email and the law.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Claire Pope. Electronic content is treated in the same way as physical documents under UK laws governing libel, fraud and corporate conduct. - The UK Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to gain the consent of...

Enterprise Week - Datacentre design guide splits experts.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Industry experts appear divided over the value of the recently released Telecommunications Industry Association TIA-942 standard, which is intended to define best practices and design considerations for building...

Enterprise Week - Microsoft virtualisation advances.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth in San Francisco. Microsoft announced details of the forthcoming upgrade to its Virtual Server 2005 server virtualisation software at Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco last month. The upgrade, which is due...

Enterprise Week - Comment - Intel adds detail to virtualisation plans. How will companies benefit from the new virtualisation capabilities that are coming in a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD?
September 5, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. At its IDF conference in San Francisco last month, Intel briefed software developers with details of the VT virtualisation capability that will be added to nearly all its processors for servers, desktops and mobiles....

Comment - Are we casting the net wide enough? The capabilities of the internet are expanding all the time but your average web user tends to be oblivious to these new net gems.(Column)
September 5, 2005... Byline: David Neal. It is not for me to tell you just how useful the internet is. Of course, it is very useful and most, if not all of you reading this will use the net at least once a day. In fact, why not go to Google now and find out...

Client Week - Intel focuses on power efficiency.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Intel will next year introduce processors designed to offer better performance per watt rather than ever higher clock speeds. The future chips will use a new architecture combining technology from the Pentium M...

Client Week - Microsoft ships early beta of filing system.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Microsoft last week made available a beta version of its WinFS next-generation filing system to subscribers of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). But although WinFS was originally intended to form part of the...

Client Week - Disk format aids data law compliance.(Brief Article)
September 5, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. Plasmon has introduced a new format of ultra density optical (UDO) media designed to help data storage archives to comply with regulations. The new write-once disks enable records to be selectively destroyed, helping...

Client Week - New gadgets suffer old failings. The good news is that technology is advancing, the bad news is that reliability is being left behind.(Column)
September 5, 2005... I am growing increasingly fed up with things that mysteriously cease to function. Especially since my list of non-working devices is growing longer and, more to the point, ever more unpredictable. It started innocently enough with an...

Network Week - Intel and Cisco team on security. Voice, wired and wireless infrastructure.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Intel and Cisco have announced they are collaborating on a project which could improve wireless performance and network security for companies. The arrangement extends a previous alliance, and requires Intel to...

Network Week - IP quarantine strengthens LANDesk tools.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. LANDesk last week upgraded its popular security software by including new IP quarantine capabilities and network access control features. The firm has added what it calls Trusted Access Technology to its Security...

Network Week - Comment - Conferencing gets a new look. Video conferencing could take off at home and at work thanks to new standards for IP systems.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Bill Pechey. Ever wondered why companies rarely use video conferencing to communicate with suppliers and customers? The main reason is that it's too expensive and inflexible over ISDN; companies would much prefer to use their...

Management Week - Cost-cutting drives outsourcing.
September 5, 2005... Byline: James Murray. Firms outsourcing IT development work are increasingly motivated by the desire to save cash rather than the wish to utilise service providers' specialist skills, according to a report last week from analyst firm Evans...

Management Week - BSI standards to help biometric integration.
September 5, 2005... Byline: James Murray. IT managers considering biometric technology to enhance security and tighten identity management were given new guidance last month with the launch of international standards for biometric systems. The guidelines from...

Management Week - Appliance keeps emails compliant.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. Email security specialist CipherTrust last week released a new version of its gateway security appliance, which it said will help firms comply with internal and external rules and make it easier for administrators...

Management Week - Comment - Chief executives need your advice. Firms are being too cautious about investment and innovation - giving IT chiefs a big opportunity.
September 5, 2005... Byline: James Woudhuysen. In these pages, I've long argued that the crisis in mainstream management presents IT chiefs with an opportunity. Nowadays, many chief executives don't accept that they should take risks. They also fret about the...

Management Week - Process Management Interview - Business rules polish processes. The head of software vendor Ilog explains how rules-based systems can empower staff.
September 5, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. IT Week: As chief executive of business-rules systems vendor Ilog, can you explain how business rules differ from business processes? Pierre Haren: They serve different purposes but are complementary. The talk...

Conferencing gets a new look.(International Telecommunication Union standards for videoconferencing)
September 5, 2005... Conferencing gets a new look Video conferencing could take off at home and at work thanks to new standards for IP systems Ever wondered why companies rarely use video conferencing to communicate with suppliers and customers? The main...

Chinese dragon could lift Dell PCs.
September 5, 2005... Chinese dragon could lift Dell PCs There is a good case for Dell to concentrate on services and servers - and shift PC making east Apparently, Dell's results last quarter, to the end of July, were disappointing. Chief executive Kevin...

IT buyers must focus on function.
September 5, 2005... IT buyers must focus on function Many IT professionals are as guilty as consumers of letting fashion steer their technology purchases During a discussion the other day I was reminded about how much control the big players in the IT...

Intel focuses on power efficiency.
September 5, 2005... Intel focuses on power efficiency Daniel Robinson Intel will next year introduce processors designed to offer better performance per watt rather than ever higher clock speeds. The future chips will use a new architecture combining...

Microsoft ships early beta of filing system.(Microsoft WinFS)(Brief article)
September 5, 2005... Microsoft ships early beta of filing system Daniel Robinson Microsoft last week made available a beta version of its WinFS next-generation filing system to subscribers of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). But although WinFS was...

Disk format aids data law compliance IT Week staff n Plasmon has introduced a new format of ultra density optical (UDO) media designed to help data storage archives to comply with regulations. The new write-once disks enable records to be selectively.
September 5, 2005... Disk format aids data law compliance IT Week staff n Plasmon has introduced a new format of ultra density optical (UDO) media designed to help data storage archives to comply with regulations. The new write-once disks enable...

Email and the law.(Brief article)
September 5, 2005... Email and the law n Electronic content is treated in the same way as physical documents under UK laws governing libel, fraud and corporate conduct. n The UK Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to gain the consent...

Intel adds detail to virtualisation plans.
September 5, 2005... Intel adds detail to virtualisation plans How will companies benefit from the new virtualisation capabilities that are coming in a wide range of processors from Intel and AMD? At its IDF conference in San Francisco last month, Intel...

Business rules polish processes.
September 5, 2005... Business rules polish processes The head of software vendor Ilog explains how rules-based systems can empower staff IT Week: As chief executive of business-rules systems vendor Ilog, can you explain how business rules differ from...

Microsoft virtualisation advances.
September 5, 2005... Microsoft virtualisation advances Roger Howorth in San Francisco Microsoft announced details of the forthcoming upgrade to its Virtual Server 2005 server virtualisation software at Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco last month....

Datacentre design guide splits experts Roger Howorth n Industry experts appear divided over the value of the recently released Telecommunications Industry Association TIA-942 standard, which is intended to define best practices and design consideratio.
September 5, 2005... Datacentre design guide splits experts Roger Howorth n Industry experts appear divided over the value of the recently released Telecommunications Industry Association TIA-942 standard, which is intended to define best practices and...

Cost-cutting drives outsourcing.
September 5, 2005... Cost-cutting drives outsourcing James Murray Firms outsourcing IT development work are increasingly motivated by the desire to save cash rather than the wish to utilise service providers' specialist skills, according to a report last...

Appliance keeps emails compliant Phil Muncaster n Email security specialist CipherTrust last week released a new version of its gateway security appliance, which it said will help firms comply with internal and external rules and make it easier for admini.
September 5, 2005... Appliance keeps emails compliant Phil Muncaster n Email security specialist CipherTrust last week released a new version of its gateway security appliance, which it said will help firms comply with internal and external rules and make...

Intel and Cisco team on security.
September 5, 2005... Intel and Cisco team on security Dave Bailey Intel and Cisco have announced they are collaborating on a project which could improve wireless performance and network sec- urity for companies. The arrangement extends a previous...

IP quarantine strengthens LANDesk tools Dave bailey n LANDesk last week upgraded its popular security software by including new IP quarantine capabilities and network access control features. The firm has added what it calls Trusted Access Technology.
September 5, 2005... IP quarantine strengthens LANDesk tools Dave bailey n LANDesk last week upgraded its popular security software by including new IP quarantine capabilities and network access control features. The firm has added what it...

BSI standards to help biometric integration.
September 5, 2005... BSI standards to help biometric integration James Murray IT managers considering biometric technology to enhance security and tighten identity man- agement were given new guidance last month with the launch of international standards...

Are we casting the net wide enough?
September 5, 2005... Are we casting the net wide enough? The capabilities of the internet are expanding all the time but your average web user tends to be oblivious to these new net gems It is not for me to tell you just how useful the internet is. Of...

Homework growth tests support systems.
September 5, 2005... Homework growth tests support systems Phil Muncaster As many as one in 10 UK employees now works from home, according to research published last week. Experts argued that businesses would perform better if they improved IT and security...

Microsoft snaps up VoIP specialist.
September 5, 2005... Microsoft snaps up VoIP specialist Dave Bailey Microsoft claimed a bigger stake in the internet telephony market last week with its acquisition of US voice over IP (VoIP) specialist Teleo. The deal is seen as a move to counter similar...

Bank outsourcing deal shares risk.
September 5, 2005... Bank outsourcing deal shares risk n Dutch bank ABN Amro signed contracts last week worth a total of A[currency]1.8bn with five separate outsourcers, leading experts to predict that more firms will divide IT projects between multiple service...

Skills gaps will widen if ageism persists.
September 5, 2005... Skills gaps will widen if ageism persists Another fall in the number of pupils taking IT-related A-levels makes it all the more necessary for recruiters to abandon their preference for youth Last month saw the latest A-level and GCSE...

XML boost for OpenOffice beta.
September 5, 2005... XML boost for OpenOffice beta Open-source developers have made available the second beta of OpenOffice version 2, intended for use by a wide range of people to help find and fix bugs. The beta includes a new database module and the...

Patent laws back on the agenda.
September 5, 2005... Patent laws back on the agenda James Murray The European Parliament returned to work last week facing renewed calls to harm- onise laws governing software patents. The calls followed the rejection in July of a controversial directive...

Tivoli backup system protects laptop files.
September 5, 2005... Tivoli backup system protects laptop files Daniel Robinson IBM's Tivoli unit will this month launch a tool that protects data by making continuous backups of documents while users work on them, and can also send copies to a remote...

dud -do not use.
September 5, 2005... New gadgets suffer old failings The good news is that technology is advancing, the bad news is that reliability is being left behind I am growing increasingly fed up with things that mysteriously cease to function. Especially since my...

dud -do not use.
September 5, 2005... Chief executives need your advice Firms are being too cautious about investment and innovation -- giving IT chiefs a big opportunity In these pages, I've long argued that the crisis in mainstream management presents IT chiefs with an...

Microsoft business apps take on more roles.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Microsoft last week announced plans for role-based templates for its business applications, to better meet the needs of mid-market firms, and said it will unify the products under a new Dynamics brand. Microsoft...

Firms see mixed pay-off from IT.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Many firms say they do not get a satisfactory return on investment (ROI) from IT services and applications, according to an IT Week survey. HP, IBM and Fujitsu were the only services vendors that satisfied more than half of their customers...

Big firms to haggle over BT prices.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Large organisations may see lower telecoms bills, following Ofcom's proposals to allow BT to negotiate high-value accounts more freely. Under current rules, BT must apply standard line and call charges even to its...

Comment - Squabbling IT bosses hide a happy truth.(Column)
September 12, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Google and Microsoft may be at daggers drawn, but such competition should be welcomed for spurring more low-cost deals for buyers. Lawks a mercy! The rough boys from over the pond are fighting again. Microsoft...

Mozilla updates Firefox browser.
September 12, 2005... Mozilla has released a beta of the next version of its Firefox browser, which includes features to simplify rollouts across multiple desktops and speed up installation of browser updates. Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, said the...

Salesforce CRM links more apps.
September 12, 2005... Hosted customer relationship management (CRM) firm Salesforce.com will this week reveal progress in making its Multiforce environment home to third-party web apps. At the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, the firm will showcase...

Minister hails high-tech schemes.
September 12, 2005... Byline: David Neal. A government-backed event to promote IT last week highlighted light-touch regulation, investment, and collaboration with industry as vital elements for the future success of the UK economy. Addressing the i2010...

USB drive functions as a mobile workspace.(U3, Redwood City, CA)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Mobility firm U3 will next week unveil the first products based on its Smart Drive platform, which enables USB Flash drives to store applications and data and could remove the need for some staff to carry a laptop...

HP updates storage line.
September 12, 2005... HP announced major updates to its data storage and archiving products last week, aimed at improving the backup process and streamlining storage policy management. New ProLiant servers configured with Microsoft Data Protection Manager and...

Sage ups mid-market credentials.
September 12, 2005... Byline: James Murray. Accountancy software specialist Sage has upgraded its Application Integration Server (AIS) product, with improved connectors between front- and back-office applications. Experts said the move should further strengthen...

IBM boosts Lotus admin.
September 12, 2005... IBM announced a major upgrade to its Lotus Notes and Domino groupware suite last week, to offer firms better performance and improved administration features. Domino 7 adds new database support, which means the server software could be...

Business users tune out of Wi-Fi.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney. High tariffs and lack of information about readily available public access services are stopping most corporate staff from using Wi-Fi technology when travelling. Research firm Gartner estimates that only 17...

Comment - How to catch online crooks. Computer crime is threatening more and more firms, but the perpetrators are still leaving clues.(Column)
September 12, 2005... Byline: Neil Barrett. Recent reports suggest computer viruses are jumping the "species barrier", with malicious programs infecting mobile phones and other systems. That's no surprise. More and more varieties of computer viruses and...

Comment - Canny firms keep an ear on blogs. The web lets disgruntled customers air grievances to the world, so firms should listen out for them.(Column)
September 12, 2005... Byline: Lem Bingley. Elsewhere in this issue we reveal the findings of our annual ImageTrak survey, carried out by IT Week publisher VNU to determine perceptions among the UK's IT buyers. Part of the study ranks suppliers according to...

Special Report - Managing email - Effective remedies for email headaches. In the second of a two-part report, IT Week looks at how technology and training can make email more manageable.
September 12, 2005... Getting to grips with the growing problem of email overload and its attendant threats to efficiency, security and governance is not easy, but technology solutions combined with process controls and a dollop of good sense will help. The...

Special Report - Managing email - Techniques.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Six ways to control mail. - Training: Invest time in showing users features to prioritise messages through folders, plus signatures and other tools. - Policy: Have a clearly documented and distributed policy...

Network Week - Asic revs up new security appliances.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Broadband access specialist Zyxel last week launched its ZyWall unified threat management (UTM) appliances for small and medium-sized enterprises. The move followed the recent release of UTM appliances from Symantec...

Enterprise Week - Stratus systems cut downtime.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Fault-tolerant server specialist Stratus will this week launch the second member of its new range of Intel Xeon servers. Ground-breaking new rollback software for the system will follow next year, designed to make it...

Enterprise Week - Suite controls crypto keys.(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... UK cryptography specialist nCipher will today launch KeyAuthority, a new key-management suite to help firms reduce the costs of creating, deploying and managing cryptographic keys. The system can help firms to manage and distribute keys,...

Enterprise Week - Comment - Server buyers steer a steady course. Firms are taking a conservative approach to Windows server upgrades, judging by several surveys.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Martin Banks. Analysts at IDC, The Yankee Group and The Robert Frances Group have all recently reported that IT buyers are not making radical changes to deployed server hardware. There is a steady but unexceptional growth in server...

Internet Week - Digital homes set to explode.(The Diffussion Group releases report)(Brief Article)
September 12, 2005... Homes with broadband connections are set to adopt more digital services and products as the distinction between PCs and other electronic kit is reduced, according to predictions in a new report from research firm The Diffussion Group (TDG). ...

Internet Week - Tool spots web application errors.
September 12, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Application management specialist Wily has released a new version of its flagship product. The company said that its Wily 6 software would give IT managers and administrators access to the "black hole" of application...

Internet Week - Comment - The Google OS is a mirage. Google's speciality is contextual advertising; recent additions to the Google empire do not change this.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Tim Anderson. When Google made its move into instant messaging and voice over IP (VoIP) with the release of Google Talk last month, commentators fell over themselves to declare the arrival of Google as an operating system (OS)....

Client Week - Group database improves sharing.
September 12, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. FileMaker has released version 8 of its FileMaker Pro workgroup database, adding features that make it easier to create databases and to share data with other users or organisations that do not have FileMaker. ...

Client Week - IT chiefs must support the home front. Secure links for home workers and roaming employees need solid support from IT departments.
September 12, 2005... The recent news that the UK's growing army of teleworkers receive little or no help from their employers when setting up remote access to the office hardly comes as a surprise. But it does illustrate a continuing dilemma for IT managers: when...