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Weighing up the hidden costs of convergence
I agree with your article saying that VoIP was designed for a
trusting world and that current technology for securing it is
immature (Computer Weekly, 2 May).
But the argument about whether it is cost effective is a hard
one to call. Dropping in VoIP without security gives minimum cost
but maximum risk. But putting in a security solution will cost you.
Plus, the set-ups can be complicated and people who are both
security and VoIP-savvy are thin on the ground.
VoIP behaves differently from most IP traffic, so it is more
susceptible to certain kinds of attack. This is something the
article doesn’t really go into, other than the fact that people
might develop viruses to capture VoIP traffic.
Security is not just about confidentiality; integrity and
availability come into it as well. Confidentiality and integrity
are understood for existing IP traffic and there are existing
techniques that can be deployed for VoIP.
Keeping VoIP available introduces new challenges, which is where
many problems are likely to show up. VoIP is much more sensitive to
network characteristics such as latency.
If everything goes over IP, you will have problems if anything
disrupts your networks. That is not a reason not to converge, it is
a reason to understand the risks, build them into your cost model
and either accept them or pay more and do something about it.
VoIP within your own Lan is one thing. As you follow its logical
progression, and push it out to partners and customers over
networks that are out of your control, you are entering a much more
exposed world.
Rhodri Davies, technical architect, Vistorm
Read article about
Mobile technology can offer SMEs the
chance to get an edge over big players
Shared services projects should start small
I am writing regarding your article “Cabinet Office sets target
on public shared services” (Computer Weekly, 4 April).
The public sector is starting to recognise the benefits of
sharing back-office functions. Although it is encouraging to see
the Cabinet Office supporting this, there is indeed a need to
express caution when formal standards are set and a political
framework established.
Large scale shared services projects will be hard to get off the
ground, due to existing supplier contracts that have not yet
expired, sunk cost investment that has not yet reached end of life
and the public sector procurement process.
If shared services projects, as advocated in the
Transformational Government Implementation Plan, are to be
successful quickly, they need to be flexible, agile and adaptable.
The implementation plan should encourage smaller local initiatives
that can grow, sharing more services over time.
A proliferation of smaller projects may provide yet another
impediment to large scale projects but what is better: impose the
unachievable or encourage the quick win?
David Blundell, chief operating officer, Netstore
Why 75% should not be the pass mark for IT
I read the title of your article “IT’s business value is on the
rise, say CIOs” (Computer Weekly, 9 May) with optimism. Many of the
statistics provided were fairly reflective of the industry at
large.
However, is the fact that only 75% of IT directors feel that
their board understands the importance of IT really that
encouraging? Should our industry be satisfied when one in four
businesses does not recognise its value?
Evidence from The Standish Group, which found that 70% of
software projects are considered unsuccessful, seems to reinforce
the way in which percentages of failure are considered acceptable
in IT. Is there any other industry sector in which such a high
level of failure is tolerated or accepted?
The biggest challenge for all IT heads is to bring IT projects
in line with the successes of other business functions. Only then
will IT get the board-level recognition and appreciation it so
deserves.
Paul Taylor, Borland
IT must be incorporated into the business
ethos
It’s great to see that in most cases the board is felt to have a
good understanding of IT (Computer Weekly, 9 May). However, as over
a third of CIOs say end-users are failing to keep them updated on
changing business requirements, it appears that this understanding
is sorely lacking at grass roots level.
IT staff are under growing pressure to achieve ROI within
increasingly contracted timeframes, but ROI will only be realised
if business planning incorporates IT from the start.
IT staff need to work with the board to ensure technology
strategy is incorporated into the organisation’s ethos, to avoid
playing catch-up for eternity.
Richard Hall, CTO UK, Avanade
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