In Depth

In Depth

IT hardware

• E-mail back-up keeps Arup on move

  Engineering consultant Arup Group has rolled out back-up technology to ensure that 800 engineering specialists can continue to receive e-mails in the event of a server failure.  Continue Reading

• Internet's hardware complexity to make way for a simpler optical core

  Over the next decade the technical core of the internet will become much simpler, with optical technology dominating in switchers and routers, according to this year's BCS Lovelace lecture.  Continue Reading

• Hot skills: Developers given choice of languages with SQL Server

  Existing Microsoft skills let developers fast track  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary 11 July 2006

  There are no programmers any more; only a dwindling band of ageing men and women slyly slipping a few bits of C++ here and there into the cracks in the great parameterised global information framework.  Continue Reading

• Next move: Should I study system analysis at university?

  Expert advice for readers' career problems  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Boardroom bafflement, council services, NHS IT

  Have your say at computerweekly.com  Continue Reading

• Vista drives a hardware shake-up

  When Vista and its server version, Longhorn, finally arrive, they will herald a change in basic hardware requirements, especially for desktop systems  Continue Reading

• The price of datacentre reliability

  Building a datacentre is one of the most expensive tasks an IT director can face. Understanding where the costs and benefits lie is a key first step to success  Continue Reading

• Making the right datacentre decisions

  Datacentres are one of the largest capital investments in enterprise IT. With costs frequently running to tens of millions of pounds for the datacentre itself, and spiralling energy costs adding to the maintenance side of the price equation, ...  Continue Reading

• Child Support Agency IT in crisis

  The public spending watchdog the National Audit Office has published a damning indictment of the Child Support Agency and its procurement of IT systems.  Continue Reading

• Web will become omnipresent service platform, conference told

  “As a general rule the web does not work very well on mobile devices at the moment, even though almost two-thirds of mobile devices are web capable,” Dominique Hazaël-Massieux of the W3C Mobile Web Initiative told the BCS-sponsored World Wide Web ...  Continue Reading

• Last chance to book your place at the industry ball

  There is only a fortnight to go until this year’s Intellect IT Industry Charity Ball, which takes place on Tuesday 27 June.  Continue Reading

• UKCMG celebrates 21st anniversary

  The UK Computer Measurement Group’s annual conference will take place from 26 to 28 June at the Chesford Grange Hotel, Warwick.  Continue Reading

• Growing support for open option

  Support options are increasing in variety and quality for the growing number of companies adding open-source components to their IT infrastructure  Continue Reading

• UK IT leaders plan a night under the stars for charity

  About 250 senior IT professionals will take part in the annual Byte Night charity sleep-out on London’s Embankment on 22 September in an effort to raise £300,000 to combat child homelessness.  Continue Reading

• Public sector: In at the cutting edge

  Public sector staff are plugging into an array of new technology which has boosted efficiency and cut costs. Arif Mohamed reports  Continue Reading

• Above average spending on IT shows life insurers' growing reliance on technology

  Business Focus is a weekly column providing at-a-glance statistics and commentary on spending priorities and trends in particular sectors. This week we look at the life insurance industry.  Continue Reading

• Open source is facing a long climb

  CIO Index: Computer Weekly's survey of IT leaders reveals the rise of mobile IT and voice over IP, but open source and service oriented architecture have yet to take off  Continue Reading

• Data recovery: Eliminate the weak links in back-up

  Every company must have a comprehensive back-up and continuity plan to cover data loss, but checks must also be made on the back-ups themselves.  Continue Reading

• British Airways cites IT investment as key factor in 20% profit increase

  Investments in IT have played a key role in boosting British Airways’ profits by 20% to £620m in the face of rising fuel prices and growing competition from no-frills airlines.  Continue Reading

• Out of the office but in the know

  The impact of wireless technology pervades our lives. The ability that it confers to work while on the move has filled airport lounges with executives feverishly toggling a Blackberry or tapping at a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA).  Continue Reading

• Business and IT leaders to discuss future of the web

  The global World Wide Web Conference (WWW2006), which comes to Edinburgh next week, is set to be one of the most influential IT events in the UK this year.  Continue Reading

• Vista packs the prettiest of punches

  The next version of Windows offers some productivity improvements over XP, but its advanced graphics capabilities will trigger a multimedia onslaught  Continue Reading

• Britannia ready to roll out storage virtualisation to check server growth

  Britannia Building Society is extending its use of a storage virtualisation tool that enables it to duplicate key systems for investigating problems in a live environment without affecting normal back-end services.  Continue Reading

• Your shout: website speed, sat nav

  Computer Weekly readers have their say  Continue Reading

• Collaborative IT is the way forward

  Capgemini global chief technology officer, Andy Mulholland, talks about his vision for where IT is heading, and the need to move away from centralised IT  Continue Reading

• Storage: Is your company data well preserved?

  Your data is only as good as the media it is stored on and the format that it is stored in, writes Danny Bradbury – and in the long term, both are transient at best  Continue Reading

• Air ambulance speeds up rescues with NHS broadband net

  The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has reduced the time taken from receiving an emergency call to getting in the air from seven to two minutes, after linking its computer systems to three local ambulance services through the NHS N3 broadband network.  Continue Reading

• BCS honours inventor of the web and computer imaging pioneer

  Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the World Wide Web Consortium, is to be awarded the BCS Lovelace Medal in recognition of his contribution to the development of IT.  Continue Reading

• CIOs are optimistic, although some see a lack of business support

  In the first of Computer Weekly's comprehensive surveys, we asked COIs to rate the factors affecting the success of IT within their organisation, and found that many still feel their firms lack the processes, understanding, training and ...  Continue Reading

• New-look Computer Weekly greets 40th year

  Computer Weekly today celebrates its 40th anniversary year by moving to a new compact format and unveiling an exciting programme of editorial innovations.  Continue Reading

• Drive dysfunction? The disc doctor can help

  Efficient PC usage depends on maximising the capabilities of the hard disc. Third-party software may offer advantages over what is available on your operating system  Continue Reading

• Hot skills: Novell’s Open Enterprise Server makes the open source connection

  Common open source skills come in handy for Novell work  Continue Reading

• Case Study - Queen's University

  In scientific research, it’s all about having the fastest, most advanced systems to achieve dramatic breakthroughs  Continue Reading

• Security special report: Fingertip security

  The Trusted Platform Module, together with biometrics, can strengthen notebook security, writes Anthony Allan  Continue Reading

• Security special report: Accessing all areas

  The popularity of hotspots is presenting IT directors with the problem of protecting remote users as well as the corporate network.  Continue Reading

• Wal-Mart to adopt latest RFID tags

  Wal-Mart will stop using generation-one radio frequency identification tags by the end of June.  Continue Reading

• Is Linux ready to challenge MS Vista?

  Another turbulent period of change is facing organisations over the next two years. Desktop roll-outs are one of the biggest and costliest headaches for any enterprise, and the prospect of another version of Windows is daunting.  Continue Reading

• Infosecurity preview: Don't lose your best asset

  Companies across the world have always preferred not to reveal details of IT security breaches. To do so could create problems ranging from loss of key information, adverse publicity, loss of trust and legal action by customers, to official censure ...  Continue Reading

• Health officials say IT scheme has enough scrutiny in response to technical audit call

  The Department of Health has reacted with only limited enthusiasm to a call by more than 20 top academics in computer-related sciences for an independent audit of the technical feasibility of the NHS national programme for IT (NPfIT).  Continue Reading

• Annual IT charity ball to be held on 27 June

  At the opposite end of the spectrum to Byte Night is the grandest IT charity event of the year, Intellect's IT Charity Ball, which takes place on 27 June.  Continue Reading

• NHS Focus: Open Letter: Questions that need to be answered

  The IT community's leading academics call for an independent review of the national programme  Continue Reading

• NHS Focus: Top UK IT experts demand audit of troubled system

  Leading computer science experts are this week writing to parliament calling for an independent audit of the NHS national programme for IT (NPfIT).  Continue Reading

• Law firm monitors with Mutiny

  Law firm Bird & Bird has rolled out a network management device to manage 130 servers across 14 offices from its London head office.  Continue Reading

• Packets more punch for mobile data users

  From this summer, the main mobile operators will launch services based on fast mobile technology called HSDPA (High-Speed Data Packet Access).  Continue Reading

• Warning signs surround world's largest IT project

  Computer Weekly has closely followed the national programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS since its inception in 2002. Some of the key events and turning points that led to the call for an independent review of the national programme are outlined below.  Continue Reading

• Questions that need to be answered on NHS IT plan

  Four years ago the government announced to a grateful NHS a national IT programme that would become the world's largest civil computer scheme.  Continue Reading

• Police get Streetwyse to mobile ID checks

  West Yorkshire Police able to access records on the beat via Blackberries  Continue Reading

• Welsh force tackles overheating desktops

  A Welsh police force has solved the problem of over-heating desktop computers by rolling out PC blades.  Continue Reading

• Mobile computing: Where are they and what are they doing?

  To ensure security and compliance, large mobile deployments need to be supported by systems management tools. We look at the options for businesses.  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Be a winnter and bid for your dinner

  Be a winnter and bid for your dinner  Continue Reading

• Banks tread warily over two-factor security

  Trading off customer convenience against security, banks are reluctant to follow the lead of Alliance & Leicester and implement two-factor authentication  Continue Reading

• Reception brings policy makers and users together

  Parliamentarians this month called for more input from IT users to help them identify practical delivery issues that are likely to present problems when implementing some of the upcoming IT-related legislation.  Continue Reading

• Society lends its support as global web experts head for Edinburgh

  The British Computer Society is to be one of the main sponsors of this year's World Wide Web Conference (WWW2006), which is coming to the UK for the first time.  Continue Reading

• High performance servers drive Audi

  In computer aided engineering, performance is key, and equates to a competitive advantage-or disadvantage.  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Now trendy Tony falls flat on his iPod...

  Now trendy Tony falls flat on his iPod  Continue Reading

• Glasgow Council targets savings with £1bn shared services project

  Major public sector organisations in Glasgow have come together in the largest shared services project outside Whitehall.  Continue Reading

• The effective response to computer crime

  Despite large amounts spent on system security and the scale and cost of IT-related crime, many businesses still do not have an incident response plan in place.  Continue Reading

• Finding an elegant way to increase storage

  With e-business and compliance inflating storage requirements, network attached storage and storage area networks are evolving to help businesses scale up.  Continue Reading

• Making the move to Linux

  Cash-strapped SMBs may well consider making the move to Linux-based systems  Continue Reading

• Wireless special report: Manage the explosion

  End-users are enthusiastically embracing wireless connectivity, but IT directors need to take the initiative to ensure risks are minimised and opportunities are exploited, writes Cliff Saran  Continue Reading

• The benefits of Linux for SMBs

  Contrary to seems logical, not many SMBs have deployed open source software. Here is one that has to great effect  Continue Reading

• Security the priority for mobile workforce

  Putting in place an organisation-wide mobility strategy will rise up the IT department agenda in 2006 and this, I am afraid, will cause pain.  Continue Reading

• Intel's multicore PC chip pushes notebook performance a step closer to desktop levels

  The PC business got off to a good start this year with the launch of Intel's new Core Duo - the first mainstream PC chip to provide two processors on a single die, and the first Intel processor to appear in Apple Macintoshes.  Continue Reading

• Stock Exchange begins year-long testing programme for new core trading system

  The London Stock Exchange is in the final stage of an IT systems overhaul.  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Online ID card use warning, MiFID is an opportunity

  Computer Weekly readers' give their views  Continue Reading

• Should you migrate to Vista?

  Microsoft says its Windows Vista operating system will offer improvements in security, usability, stability and manageability - but is this enough to justify a costly upgrade? Cliff Saran reports  Continue Reading

• City-wide wireless network makes a big splash in Bath

  The city of Bath is establishing a city-wide wireless network as part of a research project looking how people will use mobile technology in the future.  Continue Reading

• Finding the right disaster recovery balance

  Find teh answer to a pressing question for SMBs  Continue Reading

• Blackberry or Microsoft for mobile e-mail?

  Last month Microsoft launched mobile e-mail functionality to challenge Research In Motion's Blackberry system.  Continue Reading

• Spoilt for choice with mobile hardware

  An IT director looking to mobilise the workforce can choose from hundreds of devices. Here we provide an overview of the options and how they fit with business needs.  Continue Reading

• 2006, the year for Linux on the desktop?

  IT experts have predicted the eminence of desktop Linux for over 15 years. It may be that this is the year it fulfils its promises  Continue Reading

• MP spells out failings in the Child Support Agency's systems

  As Stephen Timms was setting out his vision of a golden, technology-driven future for the Department for Work and Pensions, Labour MP Frank Field was spelling out his concerns in a letter to Tony Blair about the litany of technological and ...  Continue Reading

• Something for everyone in 2006 IT charity events

  Last year IT professionals gave hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash and time to help charitable causes, and in this, our 40th anniversary year, Computer Weekly will be supporting a range of events to help even more people do their bit.  Continue Reading

• The multifunction printer comes of age

  The all-in-one networked printer/copier/fax has overcome early teething problems to emerge as an attractive option in a world of increasing digital convergence.  Continue Reading

• Standard Life builds VPN

  Financial services company Standard Life is rolling out a virtual private network that will allow 800 staff to access critical business applications securely from any location.  Continue Reading

• Business benefits for all in networked storage

  Networked storage technology has been part of a BCS, for some time. However, they are no longer the preserve of large enterprises with plenty of money.  Continue Reading

• IBM alliance to offer new licence and support options for Linux

  IBM has extended the work it is doing with Red Hat and Novell in a bid to make Linux and open source software a more compelling option for IT directors.  Continue Reading

• NHS IT: worthwhile goals, debateable progress

  Richard Granger, the director general of NHS IT, was optimistic about progress on the health service's technology-based modernisation plan when he wrote the foreword to his organisation's annual report.  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Waiter, there's a microchip in my chicken

  Waiter, there's a microchip in my chicken  Continue Reading

• IT and the business forge closer ties

  It has been a successful year for the Atkins Group information systems team, writes IS director Lesley Hume.  Continue Reading

• Bridge gender gap to avert skills crisis, warn top IT women

  Leading female IT professionals have warned that UK businesses and the government have a moral and competitive responsibility to address the looming IT skills shortage by bridging the gender gap in the IT industry.  Continue Reading

• Case study: AutoTrader grids

  In November, magazine and website AutoTrader started to use computing grids to support a rapid expansion of its online motor exchange operations without the need for major capital investment in new enterprise servers.  Continue Reading

• Datacentres move towards a virtual future as cost benefits drive server consolidation

  The datacentre is undergoing considerable change, with more organisations starting to deploy technologies that consolidate their computing resources, bringing cost savings and efficiencies.  Continue Reading

• Storage technologies mature to compete for business on speed, scalability and cost

  How do the leading storage area networking technologies measure up?  Continue Reading

• Global services company slashes number of servers with state-of-the-art datacentre

  Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a global provider of HR and financial services, has gone live with a state-of-the-art European datacentre at an ex-Ministry of Defence site 40 miles north of London.  Continue Reading

• Voice-enabled order picking app boosts productivity at wholesaler

  Grocery wholesaler James Hall & Co is to roll out the Accord Voice Picking system from supply chain software firm BCP across its entire warehouse operation.  Continue Reading

• Portman gets the message with unified comms

  Portman Building Society has deployed a unified messaging system with speech-control capabilities to improve productivity at its head office, customer service centre and across its 114-strong branch network.  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Photocopiers stand by for seasonal crackdown

  Photocopiers stand by for seasonal crackdown  Continue Reading

• Your shout: bird flu warning, IT placements and scientists

  Computer Weekly readers have their say  Continue Reading

• Balancing the benefits and drawbacks of leasing IT infrastructure is essential

  Companies use leasing as a means of acquiring business items for everything from photocopiers to cars. Some firms remain sceptical, however, about the benefits of leasing their PCs. Now the options are even greater - you can lease not only your ...  Continue Reading

• Tuning in to wireless returns

  The Computer Weekly/BT survey has revealed the widespread adoption of wireless technology among large organisations.  Continue Reading

• Mobile IT: Leading the cultural revolution

  With many staff out in the field, local authorities are at the forefront of the move to mobile IT. And for the technology to pay off, staff must understand that old ways of working are gone for good. Lindsay Clark reports  Continue Reading

• What's in store?

  Users stand to gain efficiencies from new storage networking standards. Arif Mohamed guides you through the acronym minefield and explains the benefits to users  Continue Reading

• Who is winning the power game?

  Demand for ever-greater computing capacity is leading to spiralling - and costly - power consumption. Danny Bradbury looks at the best ways to cut costs and boost efficiency  Continue Reading

• Do you operate in a winning workplace?

  Nominate your firm for Computer Weekly's Best Places to Work in IT awards  Continue Reading

• Linux players back LSB standards initiative to improve compatibility

  The open source community is collaborating on a set of binary standards that will increase compatibility among Linux systems, through a project called Linux Standard Base (LSB).  Continue Reading

• Chilly charity sleep-out draws record numbers

  More than 240 IT professionals braved a bitter cold snap to sleep out overnight near London's Tower Bridge in Byte Night's bid to raise over £200,000 to help disadvantaged children.  Continue Reading

• Is your IT department a best place to work?

  Computer Weekly's Best Places to Work in IT awards are aimed at companies that achieve a positive working environment. Here's your chance to nominate your firm.  Continue Reading

• Open wide and say ahh... for wireless

  Mary Finlay is deputy CIO of Partners HealthCare System Inc., the Boston-based parent company for a group of hospitals that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. There, technology is used as a way to improve ...  Continue Reading