Short takes from this week's news
Brewin Dolphin Securities to use converged
network
Portfolio manager Brewin Dolphin Securities is to roll out a
converged network. The project, implemented by Dimension Data,
involves upgrading voice infrastructures using Avaya Media Gateways
and rolling out 750 Avaya IP handsets along with IP fax system
Rightfax.
DVLA and Passport office link systems for fast
ID
The Identity and Passport Service has linked its systems with
those of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to make it easier
to apply for licences. The DVLA now accepts numbers from digital
passports as proof of identity.
Majority of firms have internet connection
flaws
Some 61% of companies tested have one or more high-risk
vulnerabilities in their internet connections, according to NTA
Monitor’s 2006 Annual Security report. A sector breakdown showed
education had the highest number of vulnerabilities, followed by
government.
The Body Shop wins award for Epos roll-out
The Body Shop’s implementation of new electronic point of sale
systems won project of the year at the Retail Solutions 2006
awards. The project, which involved a rollout of Epos hardware
across 700 stores and back-office IT, delivered a 75% reduction in
till downtime.
SMEs to ‘lead growth’ in European IT
employment
There will be 1.5 million new IT jobs in Europe by 2010, with
SMEs playing the biggest part in IT employment growth, according to
an IDC report. The research, on behalf of Microsoft, suggested that
60% of the new jobs would be software-related.
Microsoft to release server app for
clusters
Microsoft is to release in August an evaluation version of a
server application that enables firms to run multiple
high-performance computing (HPC) programs. Windows Compute Cluster
Server 2003 is Microsoft’s first application in this area. HPC,
which solves complex problems, is used in engineering, medical
research and exploration, but has traditionally been expensive and
difficult to use.
Stitch in time saves nine for Microsoft big
three
Microsoft will today update its applications with a dozen
security patches as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday. Nine of them
are fixes for Windows, two for Office and one for Exchange.
Microsoft said that at least one of the Windows fixes would be
marked “critical”.
Communication ‘blight’ on government
outsourcing
Government outsourcing projects suffer from miscommunication,
misunderstanding and mistargeted investment, according to a report
from PA Consulting. Organisations have trouble interpreting and
agreeing IT outsourcing objectives, PA found. “Most outsourcing
deals are doomed before they begin, as insufficient attention is
given to planning and due diligence,” the report said.
British Library boosts web content storage
The British Library is adopting a new data security system that
will enable it to safely store web publishing content. The library
will use the nCipher system to time-stamp and digitally sign every
item stored in its National Digital Library, which is expected to
amass up to 300Tbytes of content over the next five years.
Businesses spend £4.6bn on application
integration
Companies spent £4.6bn on application integration and middleware
worldwide last year – a 7.1% increase over 2004 – according to
Gartner. Technologies are evolving rapidly, and suppliers are
making fundamental changes to products, embracing standards and
targeting vertical markets, said the analyst firm, which is running
an application integration and web services conference in Barcelona
this week.