Opinion
Opinion
Business applications
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AI tapped for citizen outreach as India goes to the polls
Political parties in this year’s high-stakes elections are leveraging AI for the first time, but measures to curtail misuse must continue to evolve with the rapid developments of the technology Continue Reading
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Software AG IUG 2024: Process mining as GenAI democratisation candidate
The Software AG International User Groups conference in Dublin heard about how generative AI large language models could democratise business process mining and management Continue Reading
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How Southeast Asia’s largest bank is riding the AI wave
DBS has scaled its AI capabilities across all parts of its business to deliver tangible outcomes and productivity gains Continue Reading
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The shifting winds of SAP's cloud strategy
In 2023, SAP's strategic pivot towards cloud-centric innovation produced a wave of discontent among its vast on-premises customer base Continue Reading
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The race to regulate AI: 2024 unpacked
EU’s AI Act is set to become ‘gold standard’ of AI regulation. Will other countries adopt the same high standards or like the UK opt for a light touch in favour of growth and investment? Continue Reading
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Mitigating the risks of modern application development
Organisations need to have visibility over their software supply chain, secure and monitor interfaces to legacy systems and adopt zero trust to mitigate the risks of modern application development Continue Reading
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Tech trends: what will be hot in 2024?
Five major technology trends for 2024 Continue Reading
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AI will create a thousand Post Office scandals
Critical computing expert Dan McQuillan weighs in on the proliferation of artificial intelligence throughout the public sector and the potential this opens up for a slew of new IT scandals Continue Reading
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2024: The year Generative AI is let out of its cage
Instead of worrying about AI taking over their jobs perhaps people should wonder if their work will be taken over by a new starter who knows how to use AI. Continue Reading
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Paula Vennells fails to practice what she preaches in Post Office scandal
Reverend Richard Coles tells Computer Weekly how a recent ITV drama ‘moved and enraged’ a public that had missed the unfolding of the biggest miscarriage of justice in modern history, in front of their noses Continue Reading
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Redefining the cyber domain to tackle the challenges of tomorrow
Emerging technologies have brought about a new age of cyber – and we need a 360-degree collaborative approach more than ever to succeed Continue Reading
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Trauma and fear means victims of the Post Office scandal are suffering in silence
Just like victims of child abuse, it is likely that issues of trauma, fear, feelings of shame and a complete loss of trust in authority are some of the powerful inhibitors preventing victims of the Post Office scandal from coming forward Continue Reading
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The future of business software will put users front and centre
Today, quantum computing and AI; yesterday, cloud and blockchain. As sure as Moore’s law, there is always a Next Big Thing Continue Reading
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As the jobs market evolves, maximise opportunities, mitigate AI risk
Heather Thomson, Director of Skills and Talent at The Data Lab urges society to keep calm and focus on the opportunities afforded by artificial intelligence Continue Reading
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How to solve the computer evidence problem
The Law Commission is in disgrace for its historic misrepresentations of IT experts when pushing a change to the law on the use of computer evidence through Parliament. Continue Reading
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The cause of the Post Office Horizon scandal? The Law Commission? Judges? Lawyers?
The appropriateness of the current law on the use of computer evidence in court is under the spotlight following Post Office scandal revelations Continue Reading
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Ethical perspectives on ChatGPT
In the final of three essays, Marc Steen uses ChatGPT as a case study for how to use different ethical perspectives, and practical steps people can take to start incorporating ethics into their projects Continue Reading
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Privacy and participation – technologies to open data for innovation
The Open Data Institute has launched Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and participatory data programmes. The ODI’s Calum Inverarity explains why they matter Continue Reading
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We have lift off… The opportunities and risks of generative AI
How you can use AI to benefit your business while navigating the risks Continue Reading
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Post Office scandal inquiry phase four: Here come the lawyers…
The Post Office scandal was triggered by computer errors, but the cover-up and miscarriages of justice implicate the Post Office, government and lawyers, as professor of law and ethics Richard Moorhead explains Continue Reading
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Regulatory ‘lacuna’ around facial recognition threatens rights
The UK is heading for a “legal quagmire” around live facial recognition if the government and regulators do not take action to rein in use of the technology before it becomes ubiquitous Continue Reading
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Security Think Tank: A brief history of (secure) coding
From controlling who was allowed to work with IBM mainframes to present-day DevSecOps techniques, the concept of secure coding has a longer history than you might think Continue Reading
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Using quantum computing to make better human decisions
Paul Martin, Quantum lead at PA Consulting explains how quantum computing can be pressed into practical service by business decision makers Continue Reading
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Software for environmental, social, and corporate governance
In the last few years there has been an explosion in software to track and report on ESG data in financial services. What are the main features to look out for? Continue Reading
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What will be trending in technology in 2023?
This year will be a bit year for IT spending despite the prospects of recession, inflation and rising costs. But companies will focus more on technology that delivers measurable pay-offs Continue Reading
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How ITV built a data team from scratch
Clemence Burnichon, director of data innovation at ITV, describes how the broadcaster has built a data management and analytics team Continue Reading
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Protecting children as they spend years in virtual worlds
To protect children online, we must now focus on pre-emptive and robust regulation around immersive technologies Continue Reading
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Why robots will make work more human
Smart technology should be about making people’s lives easier, freeing them up for judgement-based tasks and giving them the data and information they need for smart decision-making Continue Reading
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How government can capitalise on a revolution in data sharing
Alison Pritchard, deputy national statistician at the Office for National Statistics, says the new government Integrated Data Service enables tackling questions that we don’t yet know we need to answer Continue Reading
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Data-driven decision making will fail – and here is why
Marc Warner, CEO at Faculty, contends that corporate organisations need to go through a cycle similar to the development of scientific thought – from divination, via data deluge to theoretical understanding Continue Reading
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Everything you wanted to know about the metaverse
Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but the unique qualities of digital assets mean they do not easily fit into the age-old legal concept of ownership Continue Reading
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Data-driven government needs practical steps
We should build data platforms for government with the same techniques used in creating anything digital, argues Jim Stamp, head of data at Made Tech Continue Reading
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ODI: Smart data promise could founder against paywalls
The Open Data Institute’s Mahlet Zimeta examines the government’s smart data plan, which could boost competition and empower the public, but needs to be set up to allow rapid creation of new markets without barriers Continue Reading
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The evolution of threat modelling as a DevSecOps practice
Threat modelling is becoming ever more integrated into software architecture design. Here, Stephen de Vries of IriusRisk looks at the evolution of the process Continue Reading
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Why the world needs tech standards for UN Sustainable Development Goals
Chaesub Lee from the ITU argues that the world needs technology standards to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Continue Reading
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Data leaders need to overcome their fears and unlock their creativity
Author and data management consultant Caroline Carruthers argues that data leaders need to tap into their creativity to make their analytical work pay off Continue Reading
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Move with the times – in defence of WhatsApp in government
Former minister and current member of the House of Lords argues that the UK government needs to move with the times and embrace new communications tools such as WhatsApp Continue Reading
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Harnessing the promise of data from space services for a better Earth
Mark Chang, an aerospace, defence and security expert at PA Consulting, looks at the actions that organisations need to take to harness the potential of space services data Continue Reading
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Succession in the world of ERP
Succession planning is not a simple business, especially in the age of the Great Resignation Continue Reading
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How to leverage the artificial intelligence solar system
With great excitement around artificial intelligence, organisations should be aware that for successful implementation, AI must be approached specifically and strategically, as part of the technology universe Continue Reading
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Totting up a decade of ones and zeros at the ODI
As the Open Data Institute turns 10, managing director Louise Burke reflects on its first decade and what comes next Continue Reading
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Why it makes sense to use best-of-breed SaaS to power a business strategy
A hybrid multicloud model is playing an ever greater role as the IT platform of choice in driving a business-first strategy Continue Reading
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Why CIOs must prioritise system integration in 2022
System integration is a core part of operating enterprise systems. How can it be simplified? Continue Reading
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How data sharing and collaboration can solve great challenges
Daniel Hirst and Arjan Dhaliwal from Ordnance Survey argue for the value of data sharing, collaboration and data skills enhancement to address social, ecological economic problems Continue Reading
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ERP: Join the dots faster with ready-made ecosystems
Pre-integrated IT has a long and honourable history, and it has a role to play in the mesh that makes up cloud-native enterprise systems Continue Reading
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ERP and the cloud
Work to your agenda – not someone else’s Continue Reading
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Cloud enterprise applications need great developer tools too
Developer and quality assurance tools play an important role in safeguarding cloud enterprise applications from disruption Continue Reading
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Subpostmasters won their David and Goliath battle, but initial goal still not reached
Despite exposing the Post Office Horizon scandal, Alan Bates, the former subpostmaster who drove the campaign for the truth, says the goal of repaying people what they lost has not yet been achieved Continue Reading
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The complementary strengths of AI and human intelligence
Kathy Peach, director at Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, describes projects the organisation supports that explore the interaction between artificial and human intelligence Continue Reading
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A trial relying on computer evidence should start with a trial of the computer evidence
Learning from the Post Office Horizon scandal - the most widespread miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history Continue Reading
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Ready for Oracle E-Business Release 12.2 by new year 2022?
Date for the end of Premier Support for Release 12.1 of Oracle E-Business Suite is 31 December 2021 Continue Reading
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Harness data to make better business conversations
Productive business conversations require a data culture underpinned by data literacy and balanced by humanistic values Continue Reading
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Watching me, watching you – challenging the rise of digital surveillance at work
Unprecedented levels of digital monitoring at work is embedding a culture of surveillance, despite workers’ opposition to the practices, says Prospect Union Continue Reading
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UK AI strategy focused on economic growth, resilience and ethics
Chris Eastham of law firm Fieldfisher looks at the government’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, and the merits of the 10-year plan and its approach Continue Reading
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Using geospatial data to unlock innovation in the property sector
Louise Weale from Ordnance Survey argues that geospatial data is key to unlocking business innovation in the property sector Continue Reading
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Can we rely on AI?
As artificial intelligence comes increasingly to bear on human lives, how ought we to address social and ethical concerns? Is a tighter symbiosis between human systems and AI systems the way forward? Continue Reading
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Why the Post Office Horizon scandal kept me awake at night
Reverend Richard Coles tells Computer Weekly why there needs to be a statutory public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal Continue Reading
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How to tackle intellectual property crime
Crimes against intellectual property are big business for organised crime groups, commercial competitors and foreign states alike. In the first of a series of legal columns, David Cowan offers a practical approach Continue Reading
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Post Office’s full and final settlement with Horizon scandal victims in plain English
The legal settlement with subpostmaster victims of the Horizon scandal that the government and the Post Office say is “full and final” is anything but Continue Reading
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Employees must be given the right to disconnect
As enterprises increasingly turn to workplace monitoring technologies and more of the workforce moves to remote or hybrid working, unions are campaigning for workers’ ‘right to disconnect’ and not engage in digitally enabled work after hours Continue Reading
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Healthcare digitisation at point financial services was in 1990s
For all the talk about digitised healthcare, the sector is only where banking was in the 1990s. How can it catch up? Can the Covid-19 pandemic crisis be a catalyst? Continue Reading
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Why Brexit will make software licence transfers and database copyright harder for UK firms
Brexit will make it more difficult for UK companies to sell unused software licences and to enforce their database rights in Europe. Firms will face a legislative disadvantage over AI-generated databases Continue Reading
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Let’s build on the innovation shown by UK tech during pandemic
The UK’s technology sector has innovated and shown leadership through the Covid-19 crisis, particularly with developments in AI. It is now time to maintain and build on that progress, so the UK remains a global force in tech innovation Continue Reading
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HANA or ‘na’?
With alternatives abundant, many organisations are holding off on enterprise software upgrades Continue Reading
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Why automation isn’t always an improvement
Automation can help organisations run more efficiently, but only if the most inefficient steps in a business process are fixed first Continue Reading
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Love (and impact sourcing) in the time of Covid
Amanda Lewis, a lawyer specialising in IT outsourcing, describes the diversity and inclusion work of Digital Divide Data Continue Reading
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Digital leaders and the widening divide
This year’s Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey shows a widening of the digital business divide, with companies that have already adopted digital technologies more likely to accelerate those investments than those still in the planning stage Continue Reading
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Data institutions play critical role in solving global social problems
Nigel Shadbolt, co-founder of the Open Data Institute, argues that a new breed of data institutions have a key role to play in unlocking the social and economic value of data Continue Reading
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How Schrems II will impact data sharing between the UK and the US
At the end of this year, the UK will no longer be subject to the EU’s treaties, opening the way for it and the US to finalise a new trade relationship. Could the UK leave EU data protection standards behind? Continue Reading
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Coronavirus: Five-step action plan to keep SAP ticking
All businesses have been impacted by the coronavirus lockdown. As the economy starts moving again, how should SAP projects proceed? Continue Reading
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Why you should think before you Zoom
Feel free to use Zoom during the coronavirus lockdown, but think before you discuss anything confidential Continue Reading
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CCRC findings on subpostmaster prosecutions reveal incompetence of successive governments
Former subpostmaster who took on the Post Office in a multimillion-pound legal battle speaks out. Continue Reading
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What is the Post Office board doing to right the Horizon wrongs?
Business lawyer Nick Gould compares the treatment of subpostmasters by the Post Office in the Horizon IT scandal with the huge HBOS fraud that saw £1bn stolen from small businesses Continue Reading
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Learning from the Travelex cyber attack: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
The key lesson to take from the Travelex breach is that an effective response to a breach is a critical business function and no longer the sole province of the IT department Continue Reading
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The Post Office computer problem that destroyed the lives of pillars of the community
The Post Office’s refusal to believe subpostmasters were suffering losses due to computer system errors was incompetent and cruel Continue Reading
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Industry, academia and government are joining forces to drive AI education
Building a diverse, advanced skills base in the UK will support the thriving technology sector and encourage the adoption of artificial intelligence across the broader economy Continue Reading
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SAP Document Licensing for Indirect Access: The risks that still won't go away
SAP introduced a new licensing scheme last year to reflect indirect access to its system from third-party systems based on document licensing Continue Reading
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Why the rise of IT managed by the business is driving creative thinking
Organisations that encourage business units to implement and run their own IT systems have an edge over competitors that rely entirely on the IT department, research from Harvey Nash and KPMG reveals Continue Reading
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Making the move to cloud work for you
Getting the best out of a move to the cloud means getting the size right, turning off what you don’t need, smart purchasing and continuously decluttering your new environment Continue Reading
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Can we live without passwords?
Can you imagine a future in which we can be secure online without having to remember an unwieldly list of passwords? Solutions are emerging that could make passwords redundant, but there will be other security problems to resolve Continue Reading
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Douglas Engelbart, the forgotten hero of modern computing
Half a century ago, Douglas Engelbart demonstrated an experimental computer that laid the foundations for modern computing. His vision to use computing power to solve complex problems in all areas of human activity has become reality, but not in the... Continue Reading
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Agile becomes mainstream
There are clear parallels between the conditions that led the IT industry to adopt agile approaches and the challenges facing business today Continue Reading
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UK winners and losers in digital tech
The UK's retail and telecoms companies are among the best in the world at digital technology, but a survey of digital leaders shows there is still room for improvement for many UK firms Continue Reading
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Are SAP’s indirect use charges legal?
The German legal system is examining whether SAP can legitimately charge for indirect access to its software from a third-party application Continue Reading
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Mind your drone business
Amazon is just the tip of the iceberg – companies are pouring hundreds of millions into the development of commercial drones Continue Reading
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Big data skills shortages – and how to work around them
Businesses are finding it hard to recruit enough people with big data and analytics skills, but for CIOs there are alternative strategies to consider Continue Reading
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Moving away from analogue health in a digital world
Healthcare records still rely on faxes, email, mail and paper, but the innovative use of technology will lead to major improvements in medical care Continue Reading
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The seven levers of digital transformation
Organisations that embark on digital transformation projects often run into difficulties. Following the seven principles of digital transformation will help them reap the benefits of digital technology Continue Reading
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Driving digitisation: open standards in process automation
Organisations often can’t take advantage of advances in digital technology due to the lack of interoperability in their IT systems in different facilities, but open standards promise a way forward Continue Reading
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SAP licensing – reassuringly expensive?
SAP’s recent settlement with AB InBev has again put audits and licensing under the spotlight. We look at how to get the best value and avoid fines Continue Reading
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How to attract investors for your enterprise software startup
Are you looking to find an investor for your enterprise software company? This expert advice explains what investors will be looking to find in an innovative software business seeking backing Continue Reading
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My brother Lauri Love should have the right to a trial in the UK
Lauri Love should face trial over hacking allegations in a British Court, rather than be extradited to the US, where his extraordinary skills will be lost to society, says his younger sister Continue Reading
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A guide for businesses to China’s first cyber security law
Companies that break China’s new cyber security law may be fined or even have their licence to trade in the country removed Continue Reading
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How AI is disrupting the role of call centres and call centre staff
Artificial intelligence could eliminate many white-collar jobs in coming decades. Its effects are already being felt in the call centre industry, but there is still no substitute for the human touch Continue Reading
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Robots will transform, not replace, human work
Claims that robots will steal our jobs are commonplace – but humans will find themselves working side by side with robots, rather than being replaced by them Continue Reading
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The top 10 myths about agile development
Examining some of the most common misconceptions in the growing field of agile software development Continue Reading
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What is government as a platform and how do we achieve it?
There are lots of discussion going on at the moment about digital “platforms”, and the impact they might have on UK public services Continue Reading
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Watermelon SLAs – making sense of green and red alerts
Often IT SLAs don’t reflect the real service and service experience of users. They also aren’t focused enough on the business results Continue Reading
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Define a software delivery strategy for business innovation – four key steps
As software takes a central role in modern business models, application delivery capability has become the key enabler of disruption Continue Reading
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User acceptance testing needs real training, not just a short course
In spite of its importance, user acceptance testing (UAT) is often chaotic, problematic and ineffective Continue Reading