News

Business applications

January 15, 2013 15 Jan'13
SAP reports 14% revenue increase, operating profitability softens

SAP’s preliminary full year results show an operating profit of €4.06bn on €16.22bn revenue in 2012, a margin of 25%
January 15, 2013 15 Jan'13
Direct Line begins two-year IT project to decouple from RBS

Direct Line Group has contracted Capgemini to build and run a new IT system as it separates from Royal Bank of Scotland
January 14, 2013 14 Jan'13
Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence

The Post Office is calling for evidence from people who have used the Horizon IT system which some have blamed for accounting discrepancies
January 11, 2013 11 Jan'13
Google's role in the enterprise: Interview with Thomas Davies

As Google prepares its Q4 2012 results, UK head of enterprise Thomas Davies talks about the merger of cloud, social, mobile and big data

January 11, 2013 11 Jan'13
SAP puts Business Suite on HANA, joins transactional to analytical

SAP has announced that its Business Suite software now runs on the HANA in-memory database
January 10, 2013 10 Jan'13
Tesco rolls out Microsoft Office 365

Tesco has signed a deal to roll-out Microsoft Office 365 across its Europe and Asian operations
January 10, 2013 10 Jan'13
Software development key reason for £468m MoD overspend, says NAO

Software development problems have been cited as a key reason for forecast overspend of £468m at the Ministry of Defence over the past year
January 09, 2013 09 Jan'13
CES 2013: Driverless cars could be next for the enterprise

Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, thinks businesses will be big benefactors of the driverless car revolution
January 08, 2013 08 Jan'13
Are software audits good for your health?

The Business Software Alliance's claim that 90% of all audit letters sent in 2012 were the result of tips from whistle-blowers is a wake-up call to CIOs
January 08, 2013 08 Jan'13
VoIP awareness up but user numbers remain low

A report from Ofcom claims four in five consumers know what voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is, but just 29% use the technology

January 07, 2013 07 Jan'13
Barclays' Linux programme not a snub to suppliers

Barclays says it is not snubbing any supplier by developing a private cloud infrastructure and using Linux to cut software development costs by 90%.
January 04, 2013 04 Jan'13
Consumers want stronger mobile payment security

UK consumers are happy to use extra levels of security on their smartphones for mobile payments
January 03, 2013 03 Jan'13
CIO strategy for 2013

As the economy shifts, the role of the CIO is constantly adapting. This year, expect to see a strong focus on digital enablement
January 02, 2013 02 Jan'13
IT problems cause Lloyds ATM outage, again

Lloyds customers were unable to withdraw money from cash machines and complete debit card transactions on New Year’s eve, as the banking group was once again beset with IT problems.
January 02, 2013 02 Jan'13
Post Office admits that Horizon system needs more investigation

Campaigners have forced the Post Office to look again at a computer system blamed for sub-postmasters being wrongly accused of false accounting
January 02, 2013 02 Jan'13
Home Retail Group cuts call costs with SMS automation

Home Retail Group, whose brands include Argos, Homebase and Habitat has cut telephony costs by rolling out an automated text messaging service across its three call centres.
December 31, 2012 31 Dec'12
Top 10 retail IT stories of 2012

Retailers have had another rocky year with more high street closures piling up, while online spend continued to enjoy double digit growth. As consumer spending remained stagnant, companies looked to their digital channels to bolster sales.
December 28, 2012 28 Dec'12
Hospitals to implement child protection database to log children who visit A&E

The Department of Health is introducing a £9m child protection information system to log children who visit A&E in hospitals
December 28, 2012 28 Dec'12
Top 10 business software articles of 2012

The main thrust in enterprise software this year has been the introduction of a new Windows OS, programming model and user interface.
December 28, 2012 28 Dec'12
US Department of Justice is investigating allegations of accounting fraud at Autonomy

HP has revealed that the US Department of Justice has been investigating fraud allegation at Autonomy since last month.
December 27, 2012 27 Dec'12
Top 10 financial services IT stories in 2012

The industry that you expect to hit the IT headlines on a regular basis has not let us down in the last 12 months, despite continued tough market conditions.
December 18, 2012 18 Dec'12
Cisco closes 2012 with BroadHop buy

Acquisition-happy Cisco makes its 11th purchase of the year with the purchase of policy control firm BroadHop
December 18, 2012 18 Dec'12
Mott MacDonald rolls out Microsoft software globally

Engineering firm Mott MacDonald is rolling out Microsoft products globally over the next year as it moves towards a Microsoft-centric business strategy
December 17, 2012 17 Dec'12
Bank IT should play earlier compliance role, says think tank

Financial services organisations could streamline regulatory compliance by involving IT in the process earlier, according to think tank JWG-IT
December 14, 2012 14 Dec'12
Mazars outsources access management

Global accountancy firm Mazars has outsourced the management of access to Oracle and Sharepoint applications for 6000 global staff
December 14, 2012 14 Dec'12
There is more to IT than BYOD

CIOs should stop worrying about BYOD according to analyst Gartner. Instead they should focus on technology transformation.
December 14, 2012 14 Dec'12
DoH awards £2.2m information sharing challenge funding

Over 40 NHS Trusts will receive funding from the Department of Health to develop new digital services and improve patient information sharing
December 12, 2012 12 Dec'12
Retailers are being let down by poor ERP

UK retailers could lose an estimated £147 million of revenue this Christmas due to missed sales opportunities through out-of-stock products according to Vanson Bourne
December 12, 2012 12 Dec'12
CIO interview: Susan Cooklin, CIO, Network Rail

Susan Cooklin has had an eventful 2012, delivering major technology upgrades while driving projects to help the Olympic Games run smoothly
December 11, 2012 11 Dec'12
European Parliament approves single EU patent system

The European Parliament votes in a patent statute to cover the European Union (EU), but Italy and Spain stay out due to language concerns
December 11, 2012 11 Dec'12
London 2012 IT team passes the baton to Rio 2016 Olympics

Computer Weekly talks to Rio 2016 Olympics CIO Elly Resende as he picks up the baton from the successful London 2012 IT team
December 10, 2012 10 Dec'12
Three chooses Huawei for managed services contract

UK mobile operator Three will transfer staff to Huawei, and its partner Tech Mahindra, to manage its core network and operations.
December 07, 2012 07 Dec'12
Barnet councillors challenge Capita outsourcing deal

Barnet Council’s Labour opposition will lead a challenge to the council cabinet’s decision to sign a ten-year £320m outsourcing deal with Capita
December 07, 2012 07 Dec'12
Citrix buys corporate MDM tool company Zenprise

Citrix has bought mobile device management (MDM) company Zenprise for an undisclosed sum to boost its corporate mobile tools portfolio
December 06, 2012 06 Dec'12
Emulex buys Endace for $130m

Networking company Emulex hopes to boost its performance management skills by acquiring Endace
December 05, 2012 05 Dec'12
HMRC admits RTI budget overrun

HMRC has run over budget with its Real Time Information (RTI) system, the PAYE system crucial to the roll-out of Universal Credit next year
December 05, 2012 05 Dec'12
Unilever prepares for global HANA roll-out

Consumer goods giant Unilever is looking at how it can optimise its global operations using SAP’s HANA in-memory database
December 05, 2012 05 Dec'12
IT managers look to telephony in the cloud

A survey shows 80% of IT managers see the benefits of moving their telephony and unified communications systems to the cloud, but less than half are using the solutions
December 03, 2012 03 Dec'12
Cisco snaps up Cariden Technologies

Cisco has bought software firm Cariden Technologies for $141m in its 10th acquisition this year
November 30, 2012 30 Nov'12
The Ministry of Defence signs software deal with IBM

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a deal with IBM to provide greater insight into the management of its £22.5bn property portfolio.
November 29, 2012 29 Nov'12
British Film Institute to launch version of the iPlayer

The British Film Institute (BFI) is to launch its own version of the BBC's iPlayer in digitisation plans to give millions access to its film archive
November 29, 2012 29 Nov'12
Deloitte and KPMG face litigation over HP/Autonomy deal

Two of the big four accounting firms have been named in a lawsuit following HP's $8.8bn write-down of Autonomy
November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12
Forrester: Microsoft licence hike makes no sense

Windows users can expect a 15% increase in the cost of licensing key Microsoft products from December, as the software giant raises its prices
November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12
Apple sacks head of maps

Apple has sacked Richard Williamson, the executive in charge of Apple Maps, after months of embarrassment over application’s performance
November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12
Ovum urges CIOs review MDM policies to support BYOD practices

IT departments must review IT support contracts and invest in mobile device management (MDM) for staff using their own devices at work
November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12
Autonomy founder Mike Lynch rejects HP allegations in open letter

Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch writes open letter to HP demanding it explain its allegations against the software company it bought in 2011
November 27, 2012 27 Nov'12
BAT automates SAP data extraction to free up auditing resource

British American Tobacco (BAT) deploys automatic data extraction tools in its SAP to aid auditing and reduce fraud through duplicated suppliers
November 27, 2012 27 Nov'12
Investors file class action against HP

A class action has been filed against HP after investors claim the firm violated federal securities law with its acquisitions of Autonomy and EDS
November 27, 2012 27 Nov'12
Poor design hampers gamification in the enterprise, says Gartner

By 2014, 80% of current gamified applications will fail to meet business objectives, primarily because of poor design, according to Gartner
November 26, 2012 26 Nov'12
BBC management gains tighter cost control with dashboards

BBC managers are gaining tighter cost control with SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence dashboard
November 26, 2012 26 Nov'12
Competing firms jockey for position in mobile payments gold rush

While mobile payments is still in its infancy, the promise of the rewards is substantial and competition for market dominance is gathering pace
November 23, 2012 23 Nov'12
Centrica delivers SAP self-service HR portal with agile testing

Energy company Centrica has carried out its first corporate agile IT project with an employee self-service HR portal in an SAP environment
November 23, 2012 23 Nov'12
Capita poised to take slice of Barnet Council £1bn outsourcing contract

Capita has been named as a preferred bidder for a back-office services contract in Barnet’s controversial One Barnet outsourcing plan
November 23, 2012 23 Nov'12
CIO interview: Tom Baker, head of ICT, Sunderland City Council

Tom Baker, head of ICT at Sunderland City Council, has an office in the council’s datacentre, which provides commercial hosting, VDI and a cloud service
November 21, 2012 21 Nov'12
BBC researches digital future with UCL

The BBC is partnering with University College London in a four-year R&D programme to investigate the future of digital content
November 21, 2012 21 Nov'12
Alan Pelz-Sharpe reported Autonomy to Serious Fraud Office in 2011

Consultant Alan Pelz-Sharpe referred Autonomy’s alleged shortcomings to the Serious Fraud Office before HP's $11.7bn deal went through
November 20, 2012 20 Nov'12
HP writes down Autonomy by $8.8bn

HP blames Autonomy for misleading the firm before acquisition and refers former management to the Serious Fraud Office
November 20, 2012 20 Nov'12
SAP users need more clarity on latest cloud, mobile and BI efforts

SAP customers continue to express confusion about the supplier’s more advanced initiatives, including cloud migration and recent acquisitions
November 19, 2012 19 Nov'12
Emirates takes Windows 8 HP ElitePad 900 to the sky

Airline Emirates is rolling out in-flight Windows 8 tablets to enable cabin crew to access core IT
November 19, 2012 19 Nov'12
BT rolls out toughened Windows 8 OS tablets for engineers

BT is deploying the Windows 8 operating system (OS) to 5,900 engineers in what is believed to be the largest roll-out of the Microsoft OS
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
WiFox claims 700% boost in Wi-Fi performance

New software created by researchers at North Carolina State University claims to boost performance of Wi-Fi by up to 700%
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
London Stock Exchange technology sales up

The growth of the London Stock Exchange’s MillenniumIT software has outstripped the wider business, with a 19% increase in sales of its trading software
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
Software engineer shortage pushes up salaries

Contractors raise their rates 10% or more as businesses struggle to recruit skilled software engineers
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
SAP certifies use of Business Suites on AWS cloud

SAP has certified Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run its business intelligence (BI) applications, including SAP ERP and SAP CRM, on the AWS cloud
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
Dell profits plummet 47%

Revenues for Dell’s mobility division take a beating as a result of a big drop in consumer sales
November 15, 2012 15 Nov'12
Vast majority of GPs use electronic medical records

Some 97% of GPs in the UK claim to use electronic medical records, according to the 2012 Commonwealth International Health Policy survey
November 15, 2012 15 Nov'12
Cyber security will change ideas of the nation state, says Stonesoft

The lack of cyber security is a major threat to the civilised world and will change how people see the nation state, says security firm Stonesoft
November 14, 2012 14 Nov'12
Interview: Accenture's in-memory data guru, Alexander Zeier

Alexander Zeier, co-designer of SAP's HANA appliance, speaks to Computer Weekly about the evolution of in-memory analytics
November 14, 2012 14 Nov'12
SAP builds on cloud strategy with Financials OnDemand

SAP has introduced its first cloud-based financial application for the enterprise, based on the company's Hana in-memory database system
November 13, 2012 13 Nov'12
Hillarys Blinds rolls out custom sales app using SAP Afaria

Blinds and curtains supplier Hillarys Blinds has developed an Android app for sales agents that synchronises with its back-end SAP ERP system
November 13, 2012 13 Nov'12
SAP TechEd Madrid: SAP chiefs urge businesses to go digital

SAP is urging businesses to rethink core business values to become more consumer-centric using mobile, social, cloud and BI
November 13, 2012 13 Nov'12
MPs quiz Google over UK tax avoidance

The Public Accounts Select Committee asks Google northern Europe vice-president Matt Brittin to explain why Google pays so little UK tax
November 12, 2012 12 Nov'12
EMI gains music taste insight with Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Record group EMI is joining up data sources through Microsoft SQL Server 2012, to view how artists’ songs sell in different countries.
November 09, 2012 09 Nov'12
German retailer Otto invests in neural software to net future sales

German retail giant Otto improves demand forecasting with neural network technology from Blue Yonder, a predictive analytics start-up
November 08, 2012 08 Nov'12
Capgemini reduces consultancy charges

Capgemini has lowered pricing in its consulting and local professional services businesses, according to its latest quarter results.
November 07, 2012 07 Nov'12
Apple loses patent case to VirnetX

Apple has been ordered to pay $368m in damages to VirnetX after a court ruled it had infringed on two of the software firm’s patents
November 07, 2012 07 Nov'12
University Hospitals Birmingham reorganises case notes with EMC Documentum

UHB reduces paper work and organises patient data into one central location through EMC Documentum
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
IT skunkworks powers Barclays innovation drive

Barclays Bank is changing its image through innovative IT In spite of the regulatory framework governing banking
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
EMC Momentum Vienna opens with Documentum product releases

EMC opened its Momentum show in Vienna with updated and new Documentum product releases from its Information Intelligence Group
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
Universal Credit programme director Malcolm Whitehouse steps down

Malcolm Whitehouse, programme director for the government's £2.2bn Universal Credit project, has stepped down
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
Gartner Symposium: RBS emulates Amazon with private cloud

Royal Bank of Scotland has developed a private cloud to support its application development process, using Amazon best practices
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
Gartner Symposium Barcelona: rewrite the rule book

Gartner is urging CIOs to change their IT budget to support a nexus of change arising from cloud, social, big data and mobile.
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
EDF blames system upgrade for customer complaint failures

EDF blames a system upgrade for failing to handle customer complaints to standard, but says it will resolve the issue by the end of the year
November 05, 2012 05 Nov'12
Financial services takes big data beyond pilot stage

Survey reveals financial services is embracing big data, with more than half of the respondents claiming to have a big data strategy
November 02, 2012 02 Nov'12
Mobile business intelligence cascades from boardroom to front line

Mobile BI has started to cascade down in organisations over the past year says Adrian Simpson, chief innovation officer, SAP UK
November 02, 2012 02 Nov'12
Endsleigh Insurance goes nearshore for application development

Endsleigh Insurance Services chose nearshore application development resources when it was stretched during the busiest time of the year
November 02, 2012 02 Nov'12
How will open standards change the future of government IT?

Are the government's open standards principles a blueprint for a radically new open IT architecture, or just another empty policy statement?
November 02, 2012 02 Nov'12
RBS pays customers extra £50m for IT failure

The IT failure that struck Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in June will cost more than expected as customers are paid an extra £50m compensation
November 01, 2012 01 Nov'12
SwissCom removes BI from IT to support business transformation

At a time of strategic integration, the business intelligence function at Swiss telecoms provider SwissCom proved the only place to get a view of the whole organisation. Find out how it supports business transformation.
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Southwark Council outsources IT transformation

Southwark Council is upgrading all the IT that supports the delivery of council services, through a deal with Capita
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Government dips toe in water for single ERP

The government is to test the feasibility of moving to a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform across Whitehall
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Irish construction company reduces SQL Server storage with AvePoint

Walls Construction has saved €31,000 by moving stale content from SQL Server to cheaper storage, using software from AvePoint.
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Apple squashes BlackBerry as Brent Borough deploys iPads

Brent Borough Council replaces BlackBerry and deploys MobileIron to securely manage almost 3,000 iPads and iPhones
October 30, 2012 30 Oct'12
Virtual Instruments opens development office in Tech City

The competition for engineers in Silicon Valley is so fierce that Virtual Instruments is opening an office in London’s Tech City to find new talent
October 30, 2012 30 Oct'12
Teradata brings big data into the SQL family

Teradata addresses the issue of combining unstructured, semi-structured and traditional row-and-column data warehousing in a single architecture.
October 30, 2012 30 Oct'12
UK datacentres are not ready for big data impact shows study

UK datacentres are not prepared for the changes that big data will bring, a study of 125 senior IT decision makers revealed
October 29, 2012 29 Oct'12
BSA fines First Choice Facilities after licence shortfall following an M&A

Safety specialist First Choice Facilities has been fined £18,000 for unlicensed software following completion of an acquisition
October 29, 2012 29 Oct'12
Could GM’s decision to insource IT start a trend?

As General Motors brings its outsourced IT in-house, Computer Weekly examines whether others will follow or whether it will prove a one-off
October 29, 2012 29 Oct'12
Manage licences and virtual machines to avoid VM sprawl

When considering asset management, firms should select a system to manage both software licences and virtual machine lifecycle
October 29, 2012 29 Oct'12
Big data could transform staff management

Data analytics has the potential to help businesses make dramatic returns by managing their workforce more effectively