In Depth

In Depth

• Video: Highlights from Mobile World Congress 2011

  Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper Research reports on the highlights from Mobile World Congress 2011.  Continue Reading

• Gain a single view of your customer

  Gaining a single customer view is both a regulatory imperative and good for business, at least when joined up with business intelligence. Bloor’s Philip Howard describes the benefits of SCV, especially for financial services, and tells you how to ...  Continue Reading

• Is the UK in danger of squandering its IT talent?

  One of the dangers of the government's Tech City project was illustrated recently with the news that TweetDeck, one of the leading companies in east London's Silicon Roundabout tech cluster, was negotiating its sale to US-based UberMedia for $30m (...  Continue Reading

• Near field comms: How are mobile payments changing traditional banking?

  The e-money wallet is on the brink of becoming a viable technology in the UK. Mobile network operator Everything Everywhere and Barclaycard will roll out the UK's first mobile phone payment systems later this year.  Continue Reading

• Sort your data management to compete in an information economy

  Business environments that demand quick and constant decisions from flatter organisations necessitate more agile data management. Data in and of itself it has little or no value. Moreover, organisations have moved from a database to a document ...  Continue Reading

• BI opens path to business transformation at Logistex

  Storage and materials handling automation company Logistex applied BI to its complex support business. In so doing, it opened a path to wider business transformation.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise backup: Software product upgrades in 2010 surveyed

  Enterprise backup software product upgrades in 2010 included advancements in source data deduplication, unified recovery management, virtual server support and automated agent management.  Continue Reading

• Accenture: Smartphone apps provide ideal model for deterministic software

  Chief information officers should consider the smartphone as their number one target for deploying applications.  Continue Reading

• Do UK IT professionals have the skills to help their companies implement cloud computing securely?

  Majority opinion is that skills are lacking John Colley MD EMEA, (ISC)2 An overwhelming majority of our members participating in the current edition of the (ISC)2 Global Information Security Workforce study have told us that the answer to this ...  Continue Reading

• CIO interview: Colin Rees, IT director, Domino's Pizza

  In his first interview since becoming Domino's Pizza IT director last September, Colin Rees talks to Computer Weekly about the fast-food chain's IT agenda  Continue Reading

• Remote replication: Comparing data replication methods

  Learn how remote replication fits into a disaster recovery plan, as well as the various data replication methods available, such as host-based, array-based and network-based replication.  Continue Reading

• Private cloud computing: Strategic precautions

  One’s very own private cloud may sound like a good idea. But companies need to consider a few aspects prior to adopting private cloud computing.  Continue Reading

• How virtual machine backup differs from traditional backup

  Virtual machine backup can be accomplished with traditional backup tools but can be better effected with snapshots and dedicated virtual server backup products.  Continue Reading

• Idea lab

  Where evolving network concepts come together.  Continue Reading

• RIM demo Blackberry Playbook secure pairing with its smartphones

  RIM demo Blackberry Playbook secure pairing with its smartphones The latest video from Research in Motion (RIM) shows off Blackberry Playbook features...  Continue Reading

• Forrester Research: Mobile applications will empower enterprise business processes

  Despite the boom in consumer use of mobile technology and the increased availability of mobile sites and tools for customer engagement, internal business use remains limited beyond e-mail and calendars. E-mail has seen virtually ubiquitous ...  Continue Reading

• Video: Top ten business analysis trends for 2011

  In 2011, the business analyst will place primary focus on business architecture. The BA's critical thinking ability and unique skills set combination will be relied on to examine the complex, inner workings of the organisation through an ...  Continue Reading

• Storage resource management (SRM) software in a virtual server environment

  Storage resource management (SRM) software has gained extra impetus in a virtual server environment, with products ranging from vendor tools to services in the cloud.  Continue Reading

• Future technology: A booming off-the-shelf cloud computing market, MTI predicts

  UK integrator shares its five future technology predictions for 2011, including forecasts for data centres, virtualisation and off-the-shelf cloud computing technology  Continue Reading

• A black day for data centre carbon emissions

  Learn why it is important to reduce your data centre’s carbon emissions and how to improve your energy efficiency, according to our data centre expert.  Continue Reading

• EMC VNX launch represents a move toward unified branding as well as unified storage

  EMC VNX launch marks a move toward unified branding as well as unified storage, but does a unified brand really indicate a unified product range?  Continue Reading

• MLC vs SLC: Which flash SSD is right for you?

  Which flash SSD you choose depends on the performance you need and the price you want to pay, but the differences are not as great as you may think  Continue Reading

• Enterprise SSD options

  The enterprise SSD comes in a variety of formats, such as within storage arrays and in servers via PCIe cards. Gartner's Valdis Filks talks about which SSDs go where in the storage stack.  Continue Reading

• Chris Mellor on data storage management

  Chris Mellor provides UK data storage professionals with the insight on data storage management and data management software. Find out his thoughts on solid-state drives, FCoE, virtualisation, data deduplication and more.  Continue Reading

• Third-party cloud management tools do the trick

  Cloud customers are increasingly turning to third-party tools or add-on functions to meet specific cloud-management requirements  Continue Reading

• Video: Cross-platform mobile apps without coding

  Spot Specific is a new company due to unveil a cross-platform mobile developer tool during Mobile World Congress next month  Continue Reading

• Case Study: Co-operative Group migrates to Windows 7 on XenApp using App-DNA

  The Co-operative Group is planning to deploy Windows 7 desktop application virtualisation and hot desking in its new head office to reduce carbon emissions  Continue Reading

• Backup alternatives like replication, CDP and snapshots can banish backup headaches

  Backup alternatives such as replication, CDP and snapshots can banish the pain of the traditional backup window. Find out how they work in this podcast interview with Ian Lock of GlassHouse Technologies (UK).  Continue Reading

• Business Intelligence tools critical to an organization’s survival

  Business Intelligence tools have become so pervasive that an organization with business growth as the motto will have to consider it at some point.  Continue Reading

• Video: Facebook users hit by survey scam, Sophos warns

  Facebook users are being hit by a survey scam which is spreading virally across the social network, warns security firm Sophos.  Continue Reading

• What is Near Field Communication (NFC)?

  Near-field communication (NFC) allows data to be exchanged between devices via short-range, high frequency wireless communication technology by combining the interface of a smartcard and reader into a single device.  Continue Reading

• CES 2011: Embrace IT consumerisation

  Industry gurus are warning that the old ways of doing things cannot continue. The idea of travelling to a place of work, working at least an eight-hour shift using tools that work provides dates back to the industrial age. Productivity was a measure...  Continue Reading

• Trends driving storage vendor consolidation and integrated IT stacks

  The Vblock integrated stack from VMware, Cisco and EMC is pulling other companies in its wake as vendor consolidation continues. We look at the storage supplier scene entering 2011.  Continue Reading

• RAID rebuild pain points and the alternatives

  RAID rebuilds can be a particularly time-consuming and risky part of managing a storage array, but new methods such as wide parity and erasure codes promise relief.  Continue Reading

• Storage in 2011: The best and worst case scenario

  As the year dribbles to its conclusion, SearchStorage ANZ asked leading industry figures to give us their best and worst case scenarios for storage in 2011.  Continue Reading

• WikiLeaks timeline: The story so far

  WikiLeaks was launched back in December 2006 and has caused controversy since it began by publishing lists of BNP members in November 2008 and releasing the Iraq war logs in October 2010. We now find the founder, Julian Assange, under investigation ...  Continue Reading

• IT staff learn their ITIL lines at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts

  Parks & Resorts, the largest division at the Walt Disney Company, is rolling out the IT service management methodology ITIL to help the business give visitors to the Disney resorts the best possible experience.  Continue Reading

• Cloud disaster recovery offers cash saving benefits for the early adopter

  Cloud disaster recovery offers money saving benefits. It is still an early-adopter technology in the UK but is among the most popular cloud services for storage professionals.  Continue Reading

• Key questions to ask a cloud disaster recovery provider

  Cloud disaster recovery offers data protection without the need to invest in in-house infrastructure. This podcast sets out the vital questions you need to ask a cloud DR provider.  Continue Reading

• Post-RAID alternatives address RAID's shortcomings

  Post-RAID alternatives have entered the market while RAID's shortcomings begin to be recognised as disk capacities grow, despite decades of protecting data and boosting performance.  Continue Reading

• How to improve pharmaceutical data management with the TCG TPM

  This article analyses various ways in which the Trusted Computing Group's Trusted Platform Module (TPM) could be used to enhance data security for pharmaceutical companies.  Continue Reading

• 6 predictions for the hottest BI trends in 2011

  What does the year 2011 hold for business intelligence (BI)? Here are half a dozen noteworthy developments anticipated.  Continue Reading

• Risk metrics: Measuring the effectiveness of an IT security control

  In this article, based on an MSc thesis by Jonathan Pagett and Siaw-Lynn Ng, learn how to use risk metrics to gauge the effectiveness of IT security controls.  Continue Reading

• Raising the efficacy of a Trusted Platform Module security device

  The Trusted Computing Group has set out to make interactions between computing devices more secure: But how effective is the technology it propagates? In this article, Andrew Lee-Thorp discusses the technology's potential limitations.  Continue Reading

• Threat assessment model: Testing open source software for security

  To mitigate the risks of using open source software, Yoav Aner and Carlos Cid propose a new threat modelling method for testing the security of open source software.  Continue Reading

• CES 2011: Consumer Electronics Show - 6th – 9th January 2011, Las Vegas

  The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 is back taking place from 6-9 January 2011 in Las Vegas.  Continue Reading

• How to choose a colocation data centre: A UK guide

  A UK guide detailing common mistakes to avoid when deciding which colocation data centre provider to work with.  Continue Reading

• Buyer's Guide to retail: The changing face of eCommerce

  If one thing is clear from the holiday shopping season, it is that the web is already deeply embedded in consumers' lives and will only further entrench.  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Do your employees advocate for your company?

  In challenging economic times, CEOs are famous for saying things like "Everyone's in sales!"  Continue Reading

• Buyer's Guide to Retail: Retail data security

  The retail market is typified by having a convoluted value chain.  Continue Reading

• Video: Laptops are not waterproof

  ComputerWeekly was sent this video from OnTrack, which we thought we'd share. Relaxing on a beach, a gentleman had taken his laptop on his holiday to...  Continue Reading

• DNS security best practices to prevent DNS poisoning attacks

  DNS cache poisoning is a threat to any Internet-connected enterprise. Learn how the attack method works and potential mitigation strategies in this thesis from Richard Agar of Royal Holloway University London.  Continue Reading

• A new approach to fighting varied types of cybercrime cases

  Fighting cybercrime may seem like a losing battle considering the enemy is so well resourced. In a Royal Holloway University of London master's thesis, Anna Cevidalli and John Austen explore new approaches in the battle against cybercrime.  Continue Reading

• VCE Vblocks and NetApp FlexPods must integrate further to survive

  VCE Vblocks and NetApp FlexPods reflect the need for integrated stacks in an increasingly utility environment, but the alliances behind them will be compelled to concentrate manufacturing.  Continue Reading

• 2010 Royal Holloway information security thesis series

  In this series of nine articles, recent MSc graduates from Royal Holloway University of London explain their information security research.  Continue Reading

• The real cost of PCI DSS compliance

  It's difficult to overestimate the impact PCI DSS has had on information security, not least because of the expense of compliance. As part of SearchSecurity.co.UK's Royal Holloway University of London thesis series, Martin Bradley and Alexander ...  Continue Reading

• Internet safety for kids: Tips on computer security awareness training

  Children can be some of the most vulnerable Web surfers. In this Royal Holloway University of London thesis, Clara Brady and Chris Mitchell describe security awareness training strategies for kids.  Continue Reading

• Challenges and solutions: Security of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

  In the future, cars themselves may be able to prevent accidents by way of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs). In this Royal Holloway University of London thesis, Abdul Kalam Aboobaker and Stephen Wolthusen explore security concerns.  Continue Reading

• What is the future for traditional loyalty card schemes?

  Consumers are now better informed than ever, thanks to the richness of information available on the internet. People can find out all sorts of information on products from social media sites, news groups, blogs and the like, along with online ...  Continue Reading

• The essentials of an effective laptop backup strategy

  Laptop backup is a pain. Or it was. Now encrypted removable drive products and laptop backup software allow you to tame previously untameable portable devices.  Continue Reading

• Understanding the NBN POI debate

  Richard Chirgwin explains the NBN Co’s point of interconnect (POI) plans and what they will mean for your organisation's future broadband connections  Continue Reading

• Cloud security creates new challenges

  Security consultant Heinz Zerbes writes that cloud security creates different challenges, and offers advice on how to meet them.  Continue Reading

• Storage capacity management: SAN planning mistakes and best practices

  Effective storage capacity management requires planning and an understanding of the business's needs so that SAN needs and the required tiers can be provisioned in good time.  Continue Reading

• Vendors slow to act on bug reports

  Two Australian organisations - a bank and a security consultancy - say vendors are not responsive when they report newly-found bugs.  Continue Reading

• Video: Royal engagement search results poisoned, warn security firms

  Some search results related to the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton lead to rogue websites that offer fake anti-virus scans, security firm...  Continue Reading

• Meeting the technology and business challenges of managing mobile workers

  Mobile devices have become a standard part of today's multinational organisations - most companies would struggle to operate without them. According to researcher IDC, 35% of the workforce will be mobile by 2013.  Continue Reading

• FCoE implementation saves money for London hosting provider

  FCoE implementation brings converged network and saves hardware and power costs on VMware-based infrastructure for London-based service provider Atlanta Technology.  Continue Reading

• The mainframe is dead, long live the mainframe

  An independent UK integrator discusses the mainframe skills shortage and the gentle decline in deployments.  Continue Reading

• How to combat Stuxnet

  ISSA’s Raj Samani suggests that within control system networks where only known applications run, a simple strategy to combat Stuxnet would be to allow only authorised executables to run and deny everything else.  Continue Reading

• Stuxnet – the prototype cyber weapon?

  Hailed as the most sophisticated malware ever found, Stuxnet is widely seen as a prototype cyber weapon, pushing the concept of cyber warfare into the realm of the possible.  Continue Reading

• Basic security can help tackle Stuxnet

  One important lesson IT managers can learn from Stuxnet is that it is a huge mistake to buy software with known hardcoded passwords, says John Pescatore, research vice-president at Gartner.  Continue Reading

• Top tips to guard against Stuxnet

  There is much that security professionals can learn from Stuxnet, says Adrian Davis, principal research analyst at ISF for the Stuxnet Think Tank. The malware should have sounded a call to action on several fronts.  Continue Reading

• Managing datacentres in a 'more for less' world

  Computer Weekly recently hosted a CIO roundtable debate, in association with Oracle, to discuss the challenges of building and managing datacentres in an economic environment where CEOs are demanding more services for less money.  Continue Reading

• CW Security Think Tank: What should security professionals do about Stuxnet?

  Stuxnet is one of the most sophisticated pieces of malware seen to date, say researchers, but what should and could security professionals in businesses be doing in response?  Continue Reading

• PCI DSS compliance: What it is and how it impacts storage professionals

  Learn about the key demands of PCI DSS compliance and its impact on storage, including what data must be retained, what must not and the ways data must be stored.  Continue Reading

• True vendor partnerships key to TAFE’s success

  Chris Tayler, acting CIO at Box Hill TAFE, explains how strategic vendor relationships have helped to boost IT services while controlling costs.  Continue Reading

• Plotting a route to the datacentre of the future

  Just as there are many ways to get around London, whether it is by tube, bus, bicycle or walking - all of which fall under the responsibility of Transport...  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Bustling press room

  The "speed dating"-style press room got people in touch with the right journalists.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Busy exhibition hall

  Delegates, vendors, speakers, press and analysts flooded the exhibition hall.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Toys for the boys

  F5's helicopters proved popular with attendees at SNW Europe 2010.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Welcome packs

  Fujitsu helped contribute exciting welcome packs for attendees.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: The keynotes

  SNW Europe featured several insightful keynotes over the three days.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Quantum mugs

  Quantum's personalised mugs were a hit during the show.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: HP had the biggest racks

  Data centre demos had attendees flocking to HP's booth.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Detailed floor plan

  The show spanned three floors of the Congress Centre, as seen in this floor plan.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: Symantec's data loss protesters

  Symantec's marketers weathered the data loss storm.  Continue Reading

• SNW Europe 2010: The Power of 3

  At SNW Europe 2010, three shows -- Datacentre Technologies, SNW Europe and Virtualisation World -- came together to form 'The Power of 3.'  Continue Reading

• Buyer’s guide to smartphone management

  Today's IT managers support an increasingly decentralised and mobile workforce - one with multiple segments of workers, each with their own unique set of needs.  Continue Reading

• Yahoo preassembles New York data centre

  Scott Noteboom compares the developments in the discipline of datacentre design in recent years to the manufacturing revolution that Henry Ford sparked in...  Continue Reading

• Buyer's guide to OpenOffice 3.3: what can it offer to small businesses?

  Released this summer with the final product expected soon, the Openoffice 3.3 beta is giving Microsoft's proprietary suite of 'productivity applications' a good run for its money.  Continue Reading

• Sungard Financial cuts backup costs by 10x with Data Domain dedupe during disaster recovery upgrade

  Sungard Financial cuts backup costs with Data Domain DD690 deduplication appliances and Symantec NetBackup consolidation as part of a disaster recovery upgrade.  Continue Reading

• Open source backup software gives mainstream backup a run for its money

  Open source backup software offers most features found in mainstream backup products and is an option for any size of business that's happy to do some tweaking and maintenance.  Continue Reading

• RBI Achievement Awards entry for Faisal Alani

  I am industrious, innovative and creative, often coming up with new ways to engage our audiences and provide them with new resources.  Continue Reading

• MacroWikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World - how the internet is helping to regulate society

  It seemed like a typical morning commute for most New Yorkers on 8 January 2007, until a strong, gas-like odour permeated parts of New York City and nearby areas of New Jersey, forcing several schools and companies to evacuate, and interrupting ...  Continue Reading

• Scenes from VMworld Europe 2010

  This slideshow captures all the different aspects of VMworld Europe 2010, from CA's circus show to Paul Maritz's keynote.  Continue Reading

• Scenes from VMworld Europe 2010: VCE demo

  VMworld Europe attendees were greeted with a private cloud demo from the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition.  Continue Reading

• Scenes from VMworld Europe 2010: CA's flying monkey

  The exotic animals CA brought in to add to its circus-themed night excited and entertained VMworld attendees.  Continue Reading

• Scenes from VMworld Europe 2010: User Awards sign

  SearchVirtualDataCentre.co.UK's award presentation sign enticed and excited attendees throughout the show.  Continue Reading

• Scenes from VMworld Europe 2010: Cloud signs

  Clouds are fun decorations at VMware's booth at VMworld Europe 2010.  Continue Reading

• Scenes from VMworld Europe 2010: Crowds gather for lunch

  Guests were treated to a delicious lunch before the Best of VMworld User Awards.  Continue Reading