Computer Weekly readers' have their say
Public confidence? Now what would that be?
In your front page report
(
Computer Weekly, 9 January), you quote the Office of Government
Commerce as saying that certain disclosures about the ID cards
project "could damage public confidence."
How is it possible to damage something that does not exist?
Neil Harvey
Testing times could be result of poor
discipline
It is good to hear that the Identity and Passport Service is
strengthening its testing programme for IT projects
(
Computer Weekly, 16 January). But your article also says "The
EPA2 system as delivered was considerably more complex than
initially intended," and this innocent sentence may well cover a
multitude of sins - in other projects as well as this one.
Without all the facts, one is tempted to ask whether this was
because the system as originally planned did not do the job
properly - in which case, the original systems analysis was at
fault or was it perhaps that forces either within the agency or the
supplier thought it would be good to take the opportunity to expand
on the original specification while the system was in design?
In which case, the underlying problem is really a lack of self
discipline, either in a corporate or a personal sense, depending on
how and at what level the decisions to enhance were taken.
Inadequate testing is only the means of delivery of the problem
- the root causes usually go further back.
Charlie Davies, Homeless International
Training is key element in cutting staff
turnover
The joint
Computer Weekly/Computer People survey (Computer Weekly, 9
January) raises some interesting challenges for business leaders in
the IT sector.
It is clear, as your research suggests, that the idea of raising
salaries to generate staff loyalty no longer works. Offering
satisfying and challenging work is certainly one way to attract the
best talent, but is it enough?
A number of research projects conducted over the past two years
by the Chartered Management Institute support much of
what your survey outlines, but they also demonstrate that how
organisations treat their staff is crucial in retaining the best
talent. Individuals within the IT industry are motivated by a sense
of purpose in their work and the opportunity to develop a clear
career path.
Our survey shows that employee turnover in the IT industry is
almost 11% - more than double that of the retail and food and drink
industries.
Unless organisations recognise this and offer support through
training and qualification, or by providing a clear sense of
direction, staff turnover will continue to increase.
Jo Causon, Chartered Management Institute
Why software licensing can feel like a
migraine
I was heartened to read Cliff Saran's article on
software licence management (Computer Weekly, 9 January). For
years, companies have been under the thumb of their suppliers in
the area of software licences.
While it is imperative that companies keep track of their
software licences in both an economical and legal fashion, this
becomes more of a problem the larger the organisation because of
the large number of packages involved. When you include tracking
updates to packages and the software that remote workers use, the
headache turns into a migraine.
Every company should be able to create a breakdown of its
software licences for legal, financial and organisational reasons.
If companies have fewer licences than applications, this can result
in legal and financial consequences. On the other hand, companies
can often waste money by purchasing software licences for packages
which are not used.
The impact of this over- or under-purchasing varies from package
to package Microsoft Office, for example, has relatively
inexpensive licences, but the cost of having unnecessary licences
for Microsoft Project can be extortionate.
However, the article does not exactly make it clear how software
as a service and managed application services will solve this
problem.
New delivery methods and hosting technologies will make the
day-to-day running of the applications easier, but I do not see how
this negates the need for IT managers to hold licences for legal
reasons, so I am sure that the headache will continue throughout
2007.
Stephan Glathe, enteo Software
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