In Depth

In Depth

• Police system converges voice and data

  British Transport Police is completing a major network renewal as part of its overarching IT infrastructure overhaul. The police force is preparing to switch on a converged IP network that can carry roughly four times the traffic at the same cost as...  Continue Reading

• Proving the value of technology

  You know that technology helps your organisation to remain competitive, agile and effective - but can you prove it? Demonstrating the value of technology investment is a constant challenge for IT directors. However, only a third of senior executives...  Continue Reading

• How to return to IT after a long break?

  Expert advice for readers' career problems  Continue Reading

• WinFX shows .net managed code is the future for MS developers

  What is it?: WinFX is the application programming interface (API) used in Vista, the forthcoming version of Windows. FX stands for Framework Extension, and WinFX is literally an extension of the .net Framework.  Continue Reading

• Do people really understand data warehousing?

  A data warehousing initiative shouldn't result in multiple data silos, but too often that's just what happens. The problem, says guest columnist Rick Sherman, is that data warehousing is misunderstood.  Continue Reading

• IT primer: Wireless A-Z

  Wireless seems to have more obscure acronyms than any other area of technology. This article explains the technologies behind the most important wireless acronyms.  Continue Reading

• Keeping a lid on data storage

  It is a rare mantelpiece that does not have at least one photograph of a wedding, graduation or family gathering. So when Fotango.com launched a service allowing customers to store photographs of important events online, the company knew the biggest...  Continue Reading

• Next move: On course for project management role?

  Expert advice for readers' career problems  Continue Reading

• W3C's style sheet language can make life easier for web designers

  CSS and XSL help ensure consistent presentation of content.  Continue Reading

• Funding delays in London give 'early adopter' sites cold feet

  NHS strategic health authorities (SHAs) and trusts in London are reporting concerns about slippage in plans to deploy the core IDX systems to "early adopter" sites.  Continue Reading

• What is storage virtualisation?

  Storage virtualisation places an abstraction layer between the application that stores/retrieves data and the storage hardware. In a virtual environment, an application defines its storage requirements in terms of capacity, performance and lifecycle...  Continue Reading

• Wireless networking operations and security

  Wireless networking operations and security  Continue Reading

• The challenge of extended perimiters

  The challenge of extended perimiters  Continue Reading

• New challenges for the chief security officer

  New challenges for the chief security officer  Continue Reading

• Security: the essential questions

  Security: the essential questions  Continue Reading

• Microsoft: a security strategy

  Microsoft: a security strategy  Continue Reading

• Security in product development

  Supporting security in product development life cycle  Continue Reading

• Security and web applications development

  Security and web applications development  Continue Reading

• Security and applications development

  Security and applications development  Continue Reading

• Securing our network in today's world

  Minimise risks and implement effective and low-cost strategy  Continue Reading

• Making the info-security business case

  Making the info-security business case  Continue Reading

• Justifying investments in security technology

  Justifying investments in security technology  Continue Reading

• A flexible benefits scheme is key to staff loyalty

  Flexibility is the key to an effective staff benefits scheme. "When benefits are flexible it shows employees that their employers are trying to think from the employee point of view, rather than just what is easy or convenient to provide, and that ...  Continue Reading

• Information security awareness at Royal Mail

  Information security awareness at Royal Mail  Continue Reading

• Using benefits to maximise staff retention

  A company benefits package can be an effective differentiator for IT departments looking to attract and retain excellent staff.  Continue Reading

• Where are the visionairies?

  The IT industry has not seen innovation like the invention of microchips, PCs or the web for years. Where will tomorrow's big ideas come from?  Continue Reading

• Road congestion charging could be just the start as cars take over from their drivers

  A future in which cars communicate with roadside units to help ease congestion, control individuals' driving habits, catch criminals and ultimately open the way to cars without drivers has emerged from a BCS debate.  Continue Reading

• Microsoft? Maybe. SMBs have email options

  Microsoft Exchange isn't the only email option for SMBs. In fact, there are many low-cost email alternatives that offer a lot for a little.  Continue Reading

• Events offer skills for up and coming IT bosses

  A series of events organised by the British Computer Society Young Professionals Group aims to help those at the start of their careers develop the skills they need to progress.  Continue Reading

• IT managers feeling the strain due to 'lack of control' over software

  TUC survey reveals stress to be "worst hazard" in the workplace l IT bosses feel they are expected to work to unrealistic deadlines  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Danes come up with a beer for everyman

  Vores 01 is the world's first open source beer. It will have its recipe registered under a "creative common licence" that allows people to brew and sell it anywhere in the world, providing they distribute the method and ingredients online.  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary

  C P Bound  Continue Reading

• Business skills break down the barriers

  Putting IT at the heart of the business is crucial to making Asda a best place to work in IT - and IT staff are recognised as vital for the company's success.  Continue Reading

• Ready for trouble?

  Having a business continuity plan is one thing. Knowing it works is another. Sally Flood finds out how three organisations meet the challenge.  Continue Reading

• Is Linux a viable alternative to Windows?

  There has been a lot of noise both from the desktop Linux camp and from Microsoft trying to rebut everything the Linux brigade says. So should you be considering Linux as an alternative to Microsoft on the desktop?  Continue Reading

• Acquisition or development will improve content management components of SAP

  As far back as 1999 SAP attempted to offer document management capabilities with R/3. It was also involved in the foundation of Ixos, a company that developed a standard connector to SAP modules to provide archiving facilities.  Continue Reading

• Real Time Club ICT Banana Skins 2004 and 2005

  Twelve months ago most people were unaware of phishing; now it is the fastest growing form of attack on e-finance and e-commerce, increasing at 50% month on month, particularly affecting all the global banks.  Continue Reading

• Designing for crime

  Designing for crime I’m sure that those who read this column are honest, law-abiding folks who wouldn’t dream of mugging granny for her weekly pension. In fact, many of you will not have ever been exposed to any sort of crime, even as a victim (and ...  Continue Reading

• How information risk management underpins good corporate governance

  Corporate governance is a generic term used to describe a number of processes by which companies are operated and, more importantly, how they are directed by their Boards of Directors.  Continue Reading

• Flexi-work must match staff and business needs

  Flexi-work must match staff and business needs, warns CIPD Employers should ensure the needs of the business are matched with the needs of employees if they want to make flexible working a success, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel ...  Continue Reading

• Assessing the real risk of being online

  The number of features printed on the importance of web product security and how to achieve it are continually growing.  Continue Reading

• Securing Windows

  Being in charge of security for Microsoft products is what you may call a demanding job. The old adage of “just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that they are not out to get you” applies in full.  Continue Reading

• VoIP and IPT are hot tickets for the IT industry

  Voice over IP (VoIP) and IP telephony (IPT) are the hot tickets in the current IT industry. In the space of two weeks in late May and June 2005, two major European trade shows — VON 2005 and VoIP for Business —have each exhibited a welter of ...  Continue Reading

• IT management needs to review information access strategies

  Companies need to examine and update their policies and technologies for managing the increasing volumes of secret information.  Continue Reading

• How much security is enough?

  There’s nothing like an apparent breach of security at a global company to concentrate the mind when it comes to information and data security.  Continue Reading

• A smart approach to WLAN security

  A smart approach to WLAN security News from research and analysis company Gartner that up until 2006, 70% of successful wireless local area network (WLAN) attacks will be because of the misconfiguration of WLAN access points and client software is ...  Continue Reading

• Lost at sea: securing the channel

  As attacks seem to proliferate almost unabated, it’s worrying to think that of the three interested parties in the security technology market — the technology makers, the technology sellers and the technology users—not everyone shares a common view ...  Continue Reading

• BEA smartens Tuxedo with focus now on SOA

  BEA has begun shipping Tuxedo 9.0, the latest version of the company's software product for high transaction processing, which now focuses strongly on service-oriented architecture (SOA).  Continue Reading

• Microsoft bows to user pressure over Visual Studio licence costs

  Microsoft has lowered the pricing of its forthcoming Visual Studio Team System Suite.  Continue Reading

• Consolidate servers for low TCO

  While administrative and support costs raise your total cost of ownership, simple server consolidation can lower TCO.  Continue Reading

• More IT with less money

  Rod Matthews outlines how to accomplish one of the hardest tasks given to senior IT management: responding positively to downward financial pressure  Continue Reading

• Controlling IT costs and values

  Companies need to keep the balance between keeping IT operating costs low and delivering more business benefit to the company, says Owen Williams  Continue Reading

• Mobilise your forces

  The age of mobile IT is upon us, says Jenny Sener, and IT directors must address a number of challenges for successful take-up and deployment  Continue Reading

• Business focus is vital for good service

  The true benefits of a global service oriented architecture only emerge when we shift focus from technology architecture to business architecture, says Kevin Poulter  Continue Reading

• Security behind the firewall

  David Lacey explains the need to look outwards, think forward and act strategically  Continue Reading

• Riding the wave of change

  CIOs can thrive as pace of change quickens, argues Des Lee  Continue Reading

• Business continuity keeps companies running

  As we speak, it appears that disruption to IT services by the London bombings was minimised due to effective and realistic business continuity strategies. Sally Flood sees how you construct them.  Continue Reading

• A security qualification is a must but make sure it fits your field

  Hot skills: Security  Continue Reading

• The ecology of future servers

  How to calculate exactly how much present and future server technologies will cost your business, the benefits they can bring, and how best to deploy the system of your choice  Continue Reading

• Laying the foundations for a successful managed service

  How to assess the pros and cons of managed services, the ins and outs of relationships with your service providers, what technology infrastructure you will likely require and how to construct a return on investment plan.  Continue Reading

• Summer skies, but clouds on the horizon

  The wise CIO should prepare for economic uncertainty  Continue Reading

• Linux for business

  The key issues for those interested in implementing Linux in their business and those who want to improve their existing Linux set-ups.  Continue Reading

• IT directors' diary

  Key events to attend in 2005  Continue Reading

• Summer brings fundraising events

  Join in some of the high-profile IT charity events taking place this summer.  Continue Reading

• Information architectures

  How to implement an architecture where all data and processes are shared, with easy-to-access hubs of data and integrated services, and support for compliance  Continue Reading

• Making change work

  Coping with change is one of the most common yet profound ways an IT director can lift business performance. Adam Burstow explains how to do so successfully  Continue Reading

• Take the adaptive enterprise initiative

  How to deploy an adaptive enterprise strategy that can support constantly changing business needs and visualise server environments for automated real-time resource utilisation based on business priorities  Continue Reading

• Internet usage and information risk

  The information risk issues facing businesses and the technology and governance solutions that will let you manage the risks effectively  Continue Reading

• The adaptive enterprise: realising the vision

  How to build the capability for agility and adaptability into your IT projects so as to accommodate future, unanticipated business twists and turns  Continue Reading

• Don’t get caught out

  Of all the many perils caused by insufficient IT governance, the one that really chills the spine is leaving your company open to the charge of money laundering, says Andrew Carrington.  Continue Reading

• Developing system infrastructures to allow growth of long-term information storage

  Information lifecycle management now forms a key basis for data protection  Continue Reading

• Time to bridge the great legacy skills gap

  With many experts in legacy systems approaching retirement age, users must retain IT know-how and identify which skills need to be handed on  Continue Reading

• Cost is key in choice of open source or Windows

  The debate on the merits of open source, Unix and Microsoft rages as fiercely as ever among organisations looking to streamline their systems and platforms  Continue Reading

• London's business continuity plans pass the test as City wakes up to terrorist threat

  Most London firms were able to carry on business as usual after the recent terrorist bomb attacks, but they highlighted the importance of careful planning  Continue Reading

• Isle of Man government consolidates on Windows platform

  The Isle of Man Government (IoMG) went from having a highly diverse IT infrastructure in 2002 to standardising on Microsoft's software platform, and recently told Computer Weekly it will soon replace its Oracle Financials ERP system with Microsoft ...  Continue Reading

• University sees savings in Linux

  De Montfort University is anticipating major cost savings and service efficiencies from using open source Linux as well as Novell's identity management software.  Continue Reading

• Employers warned to act now to avoid business IT skills shortage

  IT departments will face a shortage of people with business-focused IT skills over the next two years unless they take action, IT analyst firm Forrester warned this week.  Continue Reading

• Biometric vision

  Companies need not be afraid of the 'b' word. Jane Dudman investigates how biometrics can be put to commercial use  Continue Reading

• Lloyd's cuts operating costs with Microsoft

  Lloyd's Register is in the process of migrating to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, so that it can support its mobile and remote workers better and eliminate 20 Unix servers.  Continue Reading

• Hypervisor promises £3bn cost savings on hardware, says Butler

  Within the next three years IT directors could be extracting greater value from existing hardware through a technology dubbed 'hypervisor'.  Continue Reading

• Direct communication between trust chief and supplier CEO is key to project success

  A London hospital trust has successfully introduced electronic patient records  Continue Reading

• Next move: How do I become a business analyst?

  The question: I am a software engineer with more than two years' mainframe experience in banking and automobile domains. Is there any course which will make me eligible to apply for business analyst roles?  Continue Reading

• Girls see IT as more than jobs for the boys but are unsure of options

  BCS survey shows a lack of understanding of variety of IT options, but on the postive side IT was not seen as a career choice just for boys.  Continue Reading

• Asset management tool helps York to clean up its act with automated response to calls

  Software tool gives city a head start on keeping the streets tidy.  Continue Reading

• How to make an IT merger work

  For the true value of a corporate acquisition to be realised, the IT director must be involved in the takeover bid as early as possible  Continue Reading

• Algorithms take a back seat as the machine learns to thrive in the age of uncertainty

  New approaches to machine learning have moved away from trying to program complex tasks that humans take for granted, opening up the field to a huge range of applications, according to Christopher Bishop, assistant director of Microsoft Research ...  Continue Reading

• Siebel expands SOA capabilities with IBM

  Siebel Systems will advance its platform with service-oriented architecture composite applications in the IBM technology environment.  Continue Reading

• Small Lans must rise to network security challenge

  Small offices and home offices should treat all internet access as hostile and require users to connect using a VPN with personal firewall protection on their individual workstations.  Continue Reading

• Tactical partnership key to brewer's global outsourcing deal

  Global brewer InBev's choice of IBM and BT Group to supply IT and telecom services in partnership will encourage others to seek collaborative sourcing deals.  Continue Reading

• Continuity: Safety chain

  Your trading partners' plans for business continuity can be as vital as your own. Arif Mohamed looks at positioning yourself for maximum competitive edge  Continue Reading

• Users await clear direction for SeeBeyond as Sun evolves Java

  Sun's acquisition of SeeBeyond will allow the company to offer application integration technology to users of Java. But questions remain over how SeeBeyond will fit into Sun's Java Business Integration strategy.  Continue Reading

• Recruiter warns employers to screen for 'cowboy' contractors

  Employers need to use more prudent checks and controls to protect projects from the damage that can be caused by "cowboy contractors", an IT recruitment company has warned.  Continue Reading

• Business continuity: Keep on running

  Too many plans for business continuity do not reflect the true risks. Sally Flood looks at risk assessment and the creation a realistic strategy.  Continue Reading

• OGC fights departments' reluctance over training and development proposals

  IT is at the heart of the government's modernisation and efficiency plans. Central government spends 2.3bn a year on IT - equivalent to 16% of total procurement expenditure.  Continue Reading

• 64-bit computing: When I'm sixty-four

  PC and server performance can be hugely enhanced by 64-bit processing. But what are the business benefits and how quickly do you need to move? Sally Flood reports  Continue Reading

• Subscription licensing for Microsoft CRM 3.0

  Microsoft is updating its customer relationship management suite with subscription licensing and new features designed for non-technical sales and marketing staff.  Continue Reading

• Next move: How can I move on from a small firm?

  I am five years into my first job as an IT manager of a small team in a small insurance consultancy. There is nowhere higher that I can progress to in the company. I am worried that my jack-of-all-trades role and lack of formal IT qualifications may...  Continue Reading

• Hot skills: Network security

  Network security can be lucrative but be prepared for costly training  Continue Reading

• Data management is key RFID challenge

  Data management is the biggest challenge in adopting radio frequency identification technology, according to a survey of 100 UK businesses conducted by KRC Research for BEA Systems.  Continue Reading

• London boroughs join forces to slash their stationery costs through online auction

  Suppliers bid for local authority contracts over the internet in real time  Continue Reading