Short takes on this week's news
John Lewis cuts invoice approval times
John Lewis has installed a new business process management
system, designed to reduce delays in the approval of
non-merchandise invoices at 26 UK stores. SoftCo’s accounts payable
software has been integrated with Peoplesoft, John Lewis’
enterprise resource planning system, and replaces paper-based
processes. The implementation has cut invoice approval times from
seven days to two days.
Application development high on list for
SMEs
Application development, web design, and security assessment and
implementation are the IT consulting services most in demand from
small and medium-size enterprises this year, according to a survey
of 780 IT decision makers by Forrester Research.
Vodafone goes live with 3G broadband
network
Vodafone has gone live with the UK’s first high-speed 3G network
and is now selling “3G broadband” datacards. Vodafone is offering
mobile users in major cities up to 1.8mbps of bandwidth downstream,
and 384kbps upstream – about four times the speed of current 3G
networks. The service is based on High Speed Downlink Packet Access
– a software upgrade to the radio network.
Council CIOs face budget delays from
Whitehall
Council IT directors face uncertainty over their budgets because
Whitehall is delaying the publication of a new set of public sector
spending targets. A discussion document on proposed council budgets
from 2008 to 2011 had been due by 25 July. Councils are expected to
cut their back office costs by an average of 20% using shared
services.
Most Oracle database outages fault of
hardware
Most outages in Oracle databases are caused by hardware
problems, not security problems, according to a survey of the
US-based Independent Oracle User Group. Members said hardware
problems caused about half of the downtime incidents in Oracle
databases over the past year. The survey also revealed that more
than 70% of companies had suffered from a database crash lasting
more than an hour over the past 12 months.
Unilever advances global plan with mobile
VPN
Unilever is deploying Netmotion Mobility XE mobile virtual
private network technology as part of its global plan to provide
line-of-business applications to staff via Windows Mobile
handhelds. The software will be used by the field sales team to
gain secure access to information and allow them to submit sales
orders for immediate processing while on the road.
Hovsepian replaces Messman as Novell CEO
The Novell board has replaced chief executive Jack Messman with
Ron Hovsepian. Hovsepian has been seen as a potential successor to
Messman since his arrival at the software firm from IBM in
2003.
DSG turns to electronic invoicing for cost
savings
Dixons and Currys retail group DSG International is to abandon
paper invoicing in favour of an electronic system using the OB10
electronic invoice exchange. OB10 hosts a global e-invoicing
network that allows invoices to be transmitted directly between
suppliers’ billing systems and buyers’ enterprise resource planning
or accounting systems. DSG expects the move to bring significant
cost savings and improve back-office efficiency.
Housing Association rolls out new VoIP
system
Nottingham Community Housing Association is to roll out a voice
over IP system to help it cut costs.With 10,000 tenants, the
association is the largest locally based housing provider in the
East Midlands. The IP environment, which will be delivered by
ntl:Telewest Business, will combine data, voice calls and internet
access over a single network, delivering “significant savings”,
said the association.
Number plate recognition cameras nab illegal
cars
The government is to deploy a fleet of wheel-clamping vans that
use number plate scanning technology to take untaxed and illegal
cars off the road. The vans’ automatic number plate recognition
cameras will scan number plates and check them against the Driver
and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s database. The vans will be operated
by car-parking group NCP, which has won a three-year deal with the
DVLA.