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IT should open its arms to non-technical
recruits
Sandra Smith, Head of information systems, Toshiba
I agree that
business and
education must work together to help bridge the IT skills gap.
One answer to the problem is to employ and train graduates and
non-graduates from a much broader degree spectrum, beyond
traditional IT qualifications.
A non-technical degree can be just as valuable as an IT,
mathematical or scientific one, if it teaches graduates
self-discipline, team-working and cognitive skills. With blurred
boundaries between technical and non-technical roles, the softer
skills are becoming necessary earlier in IT careers.
The government has to some extent responded to this, having
introduced IT degrees encompassing job-specific technical skills
and core non-technical skills. But more UK companies need to offer
apprenticeships to their new workers to give them hands-on
experience in the workplace.
Ultimately, IT departments need to take responsibility for
attracting and recruiting a wider range of graduates,
school-leavers and existing workers, and for providing support,
training and relevant experience for them.
With a bit of foresight and some willingness to invest in
people, it really should be feasible to turn the skills shortage
around.
Bring the penalties for breaching SLAs into
line
Paul Carter Hemlin, Blake Newport
I agree with
Bill Goodwin's
article "Too many SLAs don't measure up" - IT contracts all too
often suffer from an overdose of service level agreements
(SLAs).
Although I also believe that if applied correctly SLAs can be
more "carrot than stick" in incentivising a supplier's performance,
does the issue not lie equally with the sums at risk for failure,
which are significantly lower in IT and telecommunications
contracts than in other industries?
Take a typical construction contract. Liquidated damages are
often payable in the event of a delay or default in performance
these are damages that are calculated and agreed at the time of
entering the contract and are a genuine pre-estimate of loss. If a
£15m supermarket is delayed, for instance, the contractor could
find itself out of pocket for anything up to £250,000 per week.
True, the consequences of a breach of an IT service contract are
less predictable and usually less absolute, but the fact remains
that they are also all too often removed from the commercial norm.
Is it not about time that performance, responsibility, risk, and
reward went hand in hand?
Keep the doors closed and costs down in
datacentres
Russell Stevens, Regional director, Avocent
I read with interest your
article "Want to cut
costs? Then go green".
There are a number of simple steps that organisations should
take to reduce the energy used as a result of running their
datacentre.
Datacentre activity accounts for a significant proportion of the
overall IT carbon footprint. Indeed, the draft Climate Change Bill,
released in March, identified that datacentres consume 1.5% of all
UK electricity.
Although not a new concept in the datacentre world, taking a
"lights out" approach is not only a by-product of remote management
capabilities but, if followed, will significantly reduce energy
used and in turn carbon emissions produced.
Overheating and cooling of equipment in the datacentre is still
a key concern for businesses. One way to regulate the temperature
and get the most out of air-conditioning systems is to keep the
doors closed to allow for better heat regulation. Having staff
regularly walk in and out of the datacentre will require the
air-conditioning to work faster and use more power to stop
equipment overheating.
With the arrival of the mega datacentre and the expected rise in
the capacity and energy needs of big business, looking at putting
in place a more efficient IT infrastructure and making changes to
wider businesses processes will all help towards reducing the
amount of energy used.
More information
www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7040/7040.pdf
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