Computer Weekly readers' give their views
Why can't we join the sheep on broadband?
The members of the Communications Management Association (CMA)
have got it right (Computer Weekly, 7 February) - broadband is
neither ubiquitous nor reasonably priced.
On the Isle of Mull, it seems almost every sheep has broadband.
But here in the Thames Valley - the English silicon corridor -
broadband is still not available to all homes and businesses.
Not only that, but many of us suffer flaky 512 connections but
pay the same as those who get a solid 2Mbytes.
Kevin Fiske
Why price is not the key to broadband
take-up
Regarding Antony Savvas' piece "Broadband is too pricey, say
users" (Computer Weekly, 7 February), I was surprised to hear that
such a high percentage of businesses are concerned by price,
because in our experience, high levels of service and customer
support rate as far more important. The main requirements we come
across include high quality, reliable connections and
responsiveness to any problems.
According to BT, coverage for broadband connections to UK homes
and businesses is over 99%, which begs the question: where and why
can't the 54% of businesses quoted get the service?
Expectations of the quality of broadband services have increased
dramatically in recent years, and broadband has now achieved
commodity status among UK businesses.
Most businesses are now focused on the next step up, namely
voice over IP and convergence, both of which require significant
increases in bandwidth, which standard broadband connections cannot
always provide.
Conleth McCallan, Datanet
Mobilised workforce raises security concern
The news that by 2008 there will be over 500 mobile phone and
PDA models on offer (Computer Weekly, 7 February) comes as no
surprise, as the demand for mobile devices goes from strength to
strength.
However, CIOs must also consider and address the risks of
mobilising their workforce. An increasing number of stories are
circulating about data theft in organisations being an "inside job"
and devices such as high-capacity PDAs or other portable devices
make stealing data from the network easier than ever, not to
mention virtually untraceable.
With the inevitable increase in the movement of corporate files
to and from portable devices, it is vital that firms invest in
implementing safeguards to avoid data leaks. CIOs must ensure
flexible working does not lead to lax IT security standards.
Matt Fisher, Centennial Software
The lessons of IT history are still being
ignored
One hope that many of us had when Y2K hit the headlines was that
the industry would start to learn some important lessons from
history. Two major stories published in Computer Weekly (7
February) show it hasn't.
The first was the failure of Lloyd's of London to get end-user
buy-in for Kinnect. I suspect the real reason was the same as when
the Stock Exchange's real-time system went belly up a couple of
days after Big Bang in 1985: the overworked IT people had got it
right but couldn't persuade the big shots who run the Square Mile
to devote sufficient resources to correct sizing and parallel
running.
Perhaps there was a similar lack of commitment among the top
management at Lloyd's.
The second story was about using water to cool equipment. In
theory, great. But does HP think that all sites have free or
low-cost electricity? I wouldn't be surprised if this doubles the
power bill.
Chris Youett
Remote working not just an emergency
measure
Mark Hanvey highlighted some interesting points in his article
"Are you ready for a crisis?" (Computer Weekly, 7 February). I
found his assertion - that businesses considering staff working
from home in the event of a disaster would benefit from a cheaper
and more flexible method of business continuity - absolutely on the
mark.
However, it overlooks a key point - that the benefits of remote
working go far beyond making provision for times of crisis.
Business continuity plans have become increasingly sophisticated
and with complex arrangements designed to re-house critical staff
and provide rapid access to data and telephony systems offsite,
considering the real viability of flexible staff working will
indeed be key to maintaining "business as usual" in the event of
business disruption.
Yet, if businesses are prepared to put in place facilities that
enable staff to work from home in times of disaster or crisis,
there is no reason why such technology can't be deployed day to
day.
There needs to be a shift in management's mindset towards
flexible working. As more staff begin to request the ability to
work remotely, and with the increasing importance to roll out
cost-effective business continuity strategies, organisations can
begin to explore the value of flexible working in day-to-day
business as well as crisis planning.
Graham Chick, GemaTech
It's time to consign the spreadsheet to
history
It came as no surprise to hear that the Chartered Management
Institute's survey revealed an over-reliance on spreadsheets for
compliance monitoring (Computer Weekly, 7 February).
People have become emotionally attached to spreadsheets - they
come bundled in standard desktop software, appear to do the job,
and users feel proud of the macros and special functions they can
build into them, no matter how unreliable they are.
What's more worrying is the fact that many respondents felt
there is no real alternative. In fact, modern business intelligence
tools - which make it easy to import data from multiple sources and
provide a much more accurate view of a business' performance than
the dreaded spreadsheet - would enable businesses to banish Excel
for good.
Kevin Prone, ZEDA
Where can I find an electronic green box?
I am a long-standing reader of the electronic version of
Computer Weekly. I was about to archive some of my older copies
when I saw the entreaty to recycle after use.
Can you, or any reader, point me towards suppliers of electronic
green boxes? Or is this a new venture possibility?
Peter Monk
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