IT Week (UK) articles from September 2007

IT Week (UK) archives from September 2007

Does Symbian mean business?
September 3, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Does Symbian mean business? Symbian is in serious danger of being squeezed out of the corporate market by more business-friendly rivals Do mobile applications matter to your business? If so, which platform...

Licence management: is help at hand?
September 3, 2007... Byline: Roger Howorth Licence management: is help at hand? The next release of Windows Server should include much-needed tools to simplify licence management One of the more keenly awaited features of Microsoft's forthcoming...

Jury still out on laser printer pollution.
September 3, 2007... Jury still out on laser printer pollution Are ultrafine particles emitted by laser printers damaging to office workers' health? Evidence that particle emissions from laser printers are harmful remains elusive, but a new report...

BT strives for reliability and efficiency.
September 3, 2007... Byline: Martin Courtney BT strives for reliability and efficiency The giant's datacentre chief discusses operational threats and energy saving methods IT Week: What does your job as BT's global head of datacentres involve? ...

Hosted software fixes expense claims.
September 3, 2007... Byline: James Murray Hosted software fixes expense claims Concur's Raj Singh explains why using paper to handle expenses is a broken system IT Week: Could you summarise the spend management functionality Concur Technologies...

Wisdom of EU telco plan questioned.
September 3, 2007... Wisdom of EU telco plan questioned Industry experts share mobile operators' concerns over plans for an EU telecoms watchdog Businesses and consumers across the European Union (EU) could look forward to cheaper mobile phone calls and...

Iti?1/2s getting harder to get away from it all.(Viewpoint essay)
September 3, 2007... It's getting harder to get away from it all Advances in unified communications are threatening to make care-free holidays a thing of the past Having just come back from two weeks away from the office, during which time I had no access...

Sun throws its weight behind SyncML.
September 3, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Sun throws its weight behind SyncML The IT giant is to integrate technology from Synchronica into its Java Communications Suite Open standards could see a boost in the mobile arena thanks to Sun's...

IT fails the A-level test, again.
September 3, 2007... Byline: James Murray IT fails the A-level test, again The claims that A-levels are getting easier hide the problem of falling numbers in technical subjects Thank God August is over. Stories about sharks off Cornwall and scientific...

Converged comms brings challenges.
September 3, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Converged comms brings challenges Lars-MichaA'l PaqvalA[c]n of Telepo explains why enterprise mobility is at a turning point Converged communications is growing in importance in the business world, but...

Microsoft steps up BI push.
September 3, 2007... Microsoft steps up BI push James Murray Microsoft is set to accelerate its drive into the business intelligence (BI) market this autumn after confirming a 16 October UK launch date for Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. The...

Sugar sweetens CRM for non-techies.
September 3, 2007... Sugar sweetens CRM for non-techies Martin Veitch Competition in customer relationship management (CRM) software is about to heat up again with open-source developer SugarCRM set to release a major upgrade of its platform in late...

Intel beefs up security in vPro.
September 3, 2007... Intel beefs up security in vPro Daniel Robinson Intel has officially launched an updated vPro desktop platform for businesses. Previously codenamed Weybridge, the upgrade adds new hardware security features designed to protect against...

Migration tool gains flexibility.(Laplink Software's PCmover 3)(Brief article)
September 3, 2007... Migration tool gains flexibility Laplink Software has released a new version of its PCmover tool that helps transfer user environments from one PC to another, adding much greater control over which applications and files are migrated. The...

Virtualisation advances set VMworld buzzing.
September 3, 2007... Virtualisation advances set VMworld buzzing Martin Veitch SWsoft plans to snatch attention away from host VMware at the VMworld conference in San Francisco next week by showing off its pending first release of Parallels Server for Mac...

Vodafone 3G moves up a gear.
September 3, 2007... Vodafone 3G moves up a gear Dave Bailey Vodafone will begin offering its enhanced 3G mobile broadband devices from today. However, the mobile operator will not start rolling out its actual High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)...

Green scheme may cut power bills.
September 3, 2007... Green scheme may cut power bills James Murray Electricity bill rebates for firms that adopt energy-saving technologies could be on the cards after PC power management specialist Verdiem revealed last week that it is in talks with...

Centennial updates SAM tools.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster Centennial updates SAM tools Phil Muncaster Software asset management (SAM) tools vendor Centennial Software has launched a new product designed to enable firms to control their software licensing more...

New risks go unchecked.(Brief article)
September 10, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster New risks go unchecked Phil Muncaster Many enterprises are still not mitigating the IT security risks posed by Wi-Fi networks, voice over IP (VoIP) and USB devices, according to a new survey released last...

Why iti?1/2s better to re-use than recycle.
September 10, 2007... Byline: James Murray Why it's better to re-use than recycle Few would question the need to recycle old hardware, but some experts argue that there is a stronger environmental and economic case for extending the useful life of IT...

Your green IT questions answered.
September 10, 2007... Byline: James Murray Your green IT questions answered In our recent BusinessGreen web seminar on the practical steps IT managers can take to limit their firm's environmental footprint, we put viewers' questions to a panel of three...

Why IT is cleaning up its act.(Viewpoint essay)
September 10, 2007... Byline: James Murray Why IT is cleaning up its act Over the past few years the IT sector has transformed itself from an industry with the kind of environmental record that made strip mining look pretty conscientious into a...

Can Google do the business?
September 10, 2007... Can Google do the business? Google is speeding ahead with its productivity applications, but are they a sane choice for the enterprise? There is intense interest in the idea of online productivity suites, but real-world usage is more...

You must try before you buy.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Madeline Bennett You must try before you buy C&W's chief information officer outlines his strategies for running a global IT operation As chief information officer at telecoms giant Cable & Wireless (C&W), Mark Dearnley...

Yet more wireless to worry about.
September 10, 2007... Yet more wireless to worry about Wireless USB technology deployments need careful thought before being allowed on business premises Yet another wireless technology looks set to put in an appearance soon, in the form of Wireless USB...

Help users to help themselves.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Alistair Dabbs Help users to help themselves Some IT departments are needlessly making work for themselves by blocking users from self-help tools Back in the days when I was a wage-slave and subject to the passing whims of...

Mobile apps make rapid advance.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Mobile apps make rapid advance Alison Henderson explains how enterprise mobility is recovering from earlier set-backs Mobility has not lived up to its early high expectations, but things are beginning to...

Breakthroughs brought down to size.
September 10, 2007... Breakthroughs brought down to size A new book argues that innovation is little more than a natural consequence of collective endeavour Scott Berkun worked on the team that built Microsoft's Internet Explorer. His new book, The Myths of...

Ofcom says mobile web market is set to explode.
September 10, 2007... Ofcom says mobile web market is set to explode The regulator predicts uptake will soon reach a tipping point A report by regulator Ofcom released late last month revealed increasing convergence of data and voice services in the UK...

Time for security to catch up comms.
September 10, 2007... Time for security to catch up comms Ben White explains how web security will adapt to the growth in internet communications IT Week: What is the gap in the market that Star Technology Services is hoping to fill? White: Not many...

Vendors smarten up VoIP performance.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Vendors smarten up VoIP performance New software from EMC and NetQoS can help firms better manage their IP telephony Companies looking to improve the management and performance of their IP telephony systems...

TCS plots high-end services.
September 10, 2007... Byline: James Murray TCS plots high-end services James Murray Indian IT services giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is to launch a new services programme next month designed to help firms optimise their entire IT ecosystem. ...

SP1 set to lift Vista uptake.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson SP1 set to lift Vista uptake Daniel Robinson Microsoft is hoping that progress with its Service Pack 1 (SP1) update for Windows Vista will kick start more enterprise migrations to its latest desktop...

Web 2.0 tailored for business users.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster Web 2.0 tailored for business users Phil Muncaster Enterprise adoption of Web 2.0 technology has received a boost with the launch of new tools for developers and business users designed to improve...

Microsoft steps up web client effort.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Martin Veitch Microsoft steps up web client effort Microsoft is ramping up its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering to tempt users interested in moving to web-based services. The firm last week released a free software...

Tie-up boosts Googlei?1/2s corporate credentials.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Martin Veitch Tie-up boosts Google's corporate credentials Martin Veitch Web-based productivity applications will take a stride towards enterprise acceptance today when Capgemini announces services capabilities designed to...

Boost for Bluetooth call quality.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Boost for Bluetooth call quality Daniel Robinson CSR has unveiled a new generation of chips aimed at extending the battery life of mobile phones while also boosting the quality of calls made using Bluetooth...

Fibre Channel puts on burst of speed.
September 17, 2007... Fibre Channel puts on burst of speed Next-generation storage components will boost performance for high-end users Storage equipment vendors Emulex and QLogic will ship the first 8Gbit/s Fibre Channel (FC) components for storage area...

A better way to back up data.
September 17, 2007... A better way to back up data Virtualisation can overcome the limitations of traditional backup systems and ease disaster recovery Judging by some of the virtual machine (VM) management tools I have encountered lately, server backup...

Service to offer web-based Windows.
September 17, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson Service to offer web-based Windows Start-up Nivio aims to provide access Windows and business applications via a browser Businesses have grown used to applications delivered as a web service, but one...

Smarter tools for picking brains.(Interview)
September 17, 2007... Smarter tools for picking brains Web 2.0 is great for bouncing ideas around, says Trampoline founder Charles Armstrong IT Week: As chief executive and founder of enterprise Web 2.0 firm Trampoline Systems, at what stage of maturity is...

ECM can scupper financial misselling.
September 17, 2007... ECM can scupper financial misselling New legislation is awakening insurers' interest in software to streamline operations Enterprise content management (ECM) has emerged as a major priority for European insurance firms, with increasing...

Cisco jumps on pre-n bandwagon.
September 17, 2007... Cisco jumps on pre-n bandwagon The networking giant's latest Wi-Fi system should boost market confidence in the standard Networking giant Cisco announced its first products based on the unratified 802.11n wireless standard earlier this...

Interneti?1/2s demise is greatly exaggerated.
September 17, 2007... Internet's demise is greatly exaggerated Bandwidth-hungry apps are unlikely to cause the web to collapse, whatever the scare stories say The internet is coming under increasing strain from a growing range of sources. More people are...

Rivalry fuels storage advances.
September 17, 2007... Rivalry fuels storage advances Mid-sized firms gained new storage options this month as competition in the sector hots up Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and Adaptec both launched new storage arrays last week, as they continue to try to...

Oracle broadens telecoms foothold.
September 17, 2007... Oracle broadens telecoms foothold The vendor's acquisition of network analytics firm Netsure beefs up its comms portfolio Database giant Oracle is hoping to boost its next-generation networking credentials with its agreement to acquire...

The Foleo was a distraction best forgotten.
September 17, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson The Foleo was a distraction best forgotten Palm's axing of the Foleo allows it to refocus on developing its own platform and updating its Treo range Palm's decision to cancel its Foleo mobile companion...

UK data laws to grow some teeth.(Interview)
September 17, 2007... UK data laws to grow some teeth GuardianEdge's Alan Fudge says US-style data breach notification laws are heading this way IT Week: What are your thoughts on the recent Information Commissioner's annual report on data privacy? ...

Salesforce plans platform push.
September 17, 2007... Salesforce plans platform push Martin Veitch and david neal Salesforce.com kicked off its Dreamforce conference in San Francisco yesterday, and is likely to use the event to provide a catch-up on the progress of its recently launched...

Infor mimics Facebook.(Brief article)
September 17, 2007... Infor mimics Facebook Infor last week became the latest enterprise applications specialist to adopt Web 2.0 tools when it launched Infor365, a Facebook-like online support portal that is designed to enable customers to access and share...

HP aims new switches at core.
September 17, 2007... HP aims new switches at core Dave Bailey HP has launched a series of high-availability ProCurve core switches, targeting Cisco's 5400 and 6500 series models that are the standard in the industry today. The 8212zl is a 9U...

IBM to finally join OpenOffice.
September 17, 2007... IBM to finally join OpenOffice IBM will contribute to the development of OpenOffice.org software with accessibility enhancements, features and code quality. IBM is joining the OpenOffice community now because of the recent acceleration...

Threats require a united defence.
September 17, 2007... Threats require a united defence Phil Muncaster IT security experts must pool their resources and work together more efficiently if they are to combat the increasingly converged nature of enterprise security threats, according to...

Rival quad-core chips target datacentres.
September 17, 2007... Rival quad-core chips target datacentres Daniel Robinson Servers are to get a boost from new quad-core chips from Intel and AMD. The rivals are targeting datacentres with promises of better virtualisation, greater memory capacity and...

Diversity defuses skills time bomb.
September 17, 2007... Diversity defuses skills time bomb Madeline Bennett Firms need to update their recruitment policies to protect against future IT skills shortages, according to experts speaking at a recent digital skills event in London, hosted by...

Flash gears up for SAN role.
September 17, 2007... Flash gears up for SAN role Martin Courtney and Martin Veitch Texas Memory Systems (TMS) will raise the bar in solid-state storage in November by introducing a storage area network (SAN) appliance featuring 2TB of Flash capacity...

Negotiating the licensing maze.
September 17, 2007... Negotiating the licensing maze Miro Consulting partner Eliot Arlo Colon on why firms need help negotiating licences The current complexity of enterprise software licensing and negotiating is demonstrated by the existence of a growing...

IT chiefs are now playground monitors.
September 17, 2007... IT chiefs are now playground monitors The proliferation of social networking tools in the workplace is becoming a major headache for IT managers I feel sorry for you IT managers and directors. Not only do you have to keep up with a...

ESX slims down for fast rollout.
September 17, 2007... ESX slims down for fast rollout Martin Veitch Last week's VMworld conference in San Francisco illustrated the current high interest in virtualisation with a flood of major releases. Perhaps the most significant release was that of...

Deal to bolster Cognos BI.(Business Intelligence )(Brief article)
September 17, 2007... Deal to bolster Cognos BI James Murray Cognos has revealed details of how it plans to integrate analytics software from Applix into its portfolio after confirming earlier this month that it is to acquire the vendor for $339m. The...

Will HDTV really save the planet?(High Definition Television)
September 24, 2007... Byline: James Murray Will HDTV really save the planet? Videoconferencing now offers a genuine and compelling alternative to business travel They say you won't believe it until you've seen it but, according to those in the know,...

Mobile users hurt in legal crossfire.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Bill Pechey Mobile users hurt in legal crossfire 3G tech patent holders' pursuit of litigation is costing firms dear by increasing the price of handsets In the past few months there has been an unusually large amount of...

BT feels heat from LAN extension rivals.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey BT feels heat from LAN extension rivals BT's 10Mbit/s leased line services may lose ground to more affordable wireless alternatives Red-M has launched a package that is designed to rival BT's 10Mbit/s LAN...

Help with the patching and mending.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Help with the patching and mending A free utility from Secunia eases the onerous task of keeping up with the latest software The impending arrival of Service Pack 1 for Vista A- less than a year after the...

Can online crime ever be beaten?
September 24, 2007... Can online crime ever be beaten? A new report offers an insight into the scale of e-crime and what can be done about it A new report has once again highlighted the increase in internet crime, leading to renewed calls for better crime...

Why ITi?1/2s gender bias has to end.
September 24, 2007... Why IT's gender bias has to end Europe's economic health depends on the IT sector making itself more attractive to women The falling number of young people entering the IT sector coupled with the growing number of technology...

LogMeIn brings feeling of closeness.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson LogMeIn brings feeling of closeness The updated service will make using a remote PC a lot more like sitting right in front of it A major update of LogMeIn's remote access service aims to make viewing and...

Box clever to avoid data overload.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Martin Courtney Box clever to avoid data overload Mid-size firms are turning to new hardware and software to tackle growing storage demands Storage vendors are building more capacity and bandwidth into hard disk arrays for...

Servers vendors to ride VM wave.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Martin Courtney Servers vendors to ride VM wave New servers primed to run embedded hypervisors will take virtualisation into the mainstream Within a couple of years, all enterprise servers will come with virtualisation...

Sales channels must converge.
September 24, 2007... Sales channels must converge Stores, call centres and web sites should operate in harmony,says ATG's Barry Coleman IT Week: What does your job as vice president of product strategy at e-commerce software firm ATG entail? Barry...

Network security needs to have depth.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Network security needs to have depth Martin Roesch says UTM appliances alone are not enough to protect extensive networks IT Week: How did you come up with the idea for the Snort intrusion detection and...

Will Silverlight shine as Windows fades?
September 24, 2007... Will Silverlight shine as Windows fades? With Windows-only client apps in decline, a lot is riding on Microsoft's Silverlight cross-platform browser plug-in The other day I attended Microsoft's Mix 07 conference in London, primarily a...

Widgets put firms at risk.(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Widgets put firms at risk Dave Bailey Employees who run widgets and gadgets on their desktop could be compromising their firm's network security, according to a new report from security vendor Finjan. ...

Troux adds BI to platform.(Troux Technologies' business intelligence services)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Byline: James Murray Troux adds BI to platform James murray IT governance software specialist Troux Technologies will tomorrow unveil a major update to its Enterprise Architecture design and management platform, featuring advanced...

Salesforce to offer ECM.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Martin Veitch Salesforce to offer ECM Martin Veitch in San Francisco Salesforce.com is making good on its plan to be an enterprise platform with a forthcoming edition that takes the firm into enterprise content management...

OpenOffice.org enhances suite.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson and Rosalie Marshall OpenOffice.org enhances suite Daniel Robinson and Rosalie Marshall The OpenOffice.org community has released version 2.3 of its open-source productivity suite, adding numerous...

Tools offer graphic IT insight.(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Byline: Phil Muncaster Tools offer graphic IT insight Phil Muncaster in edinburgh IT management solutions provider Axios has unveiled tools to help firms improve the agility and efficiency of their IT service management (ITSM)...

O2 wins iPhone exclusivity deal.
September 24, 2007... Byline: David Neal O2 wins iPhone exclusivity deal Apple has announced that mobile phone operator O2 has won the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the UK. The 8GB handsets will be available at O2, Apple and Carphone Warehouse...

Minister to look into NGN funding.(Stephen Timms)(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Byline: Dave Bailey Minister to look into NGN funding Minister for Competitiveness Stephen Timms has revealed plans to hold a summit later this year to look at the UK's adoption of high-speed next-generation networks (NGNs) for...

Security threat steps up a level.
September 24, 2007... Security threat steps up a level Rosalie Marshall Gartner's IT Security Summit in London last week focused on the dangers to corporate systems posed by emerging "security 3.0-level" attacks that typically exploit vulnerabilities in...

More options for mobile working.
September 24, 2007... More options for mobile working Daniel Robinson Mobile workers looking for access to their corporate systems have two new devices to choose from following releases last week from Nokia and OQO. Last week, Nokia unveiled a...

AMD sees gap for triple-core chips.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Daniel Robinson AMD sees gap for triple-core chips AMD is to include a triple-core chip in its forthcoming Phenom desktop processor range. Phenom, the firm's quad-core chip for desktops, is set to debut in December....

Intel platform delivers power and efficiency.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Martin Veitch Intel platform delivers power and efficiency Martin Veitch in san francisco Intel is to take advantage of new production processes to accelerate processor performance, and will focus on WiMax and USB in a bid...

Firms get more presentation.(Brief article)
September 24, 2007... Byline: David Neal Firms get more presentation David Neal Google has updated its online Documents service, adding a PowerPoint-like presentation creation tool called Presentations. The online-only tool is available as standard...