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Business applications

January 09, 2010 09 Jan'10
IT will be key to retailers' survival in 2010, says Ovum

Retail CIOs are expected to use their IT budgets to reduce costs and build stronger relationships with their customers this year
January 09, 2010 09 Jan'10
PDF files and Adobe Reader should be security priority for 2010, says Qualys

The frequency and severity of security flaws in Adobe's...
January 08, 2010 08 Jan'10
Microsoft issues patch to remove i4i custom tags

Microsoft has released a 12.3Mbyte patch for Office 2007, to comply with a US court order banning the use of custom tagging after 10 January 2010.
January 08, 2010 08 Jan'10
Researchers predict 1,024-bit encrytion will be obsolete within five years

A team of researchers sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) have cracked RSA...

January 08, 2010 08 Jan'10
Microsoft eases into 2010 with light Patch Tuesday

Microsoft's first security update for 2010 is expected to be the lightest in years with only one bulletin planned.
January 08, 2010 08 Jan'10
Adobe releases critical security patches for Illustrator

Adobe has released security updates for critical vulnerabilities in Adobe...
January 07, 2010 07 Jan'10
M&S rolls out smart forecasting system

Marks and Spencer is to roll out a "smart" system of inventory management that will help it to manage and forecast demand at individual stores for the...
January 07, 2010 07 Jan'10
BMC bolsters cloud toolset with Phurnace acquisition

BMC Software has acquired Phurnace Software, which develops automation software to manage cloud services.
January 07, 2010 07 Jan'10
SaaS security provider Webroot joins EuroCloud

Webroot is the latest supplier to join EuroCloud, a new regional cloud services business community.
January 07, 2010 07 Jan'10
Three ways you can be caught out by a software audit

Forrester Research has warned that IT departments need to take extra care with software audits, as suppliers stamp down on licensing discrepancies.

In...

January 07, 2010 07 Jan'10
CES: Steve Ballmer on why the PC is still a smart bet

The PC is still the best smart device, at least according to Microsoft chairman, Steve Ballmer, which means there is still money to be made in the PC business,...
January 06, 2010 06 Jan'10
Y2K bug hits businesses a decade late

The millennium bug has hit a decade late as businesses struggle with software that cannot handle the changeover to 1 January 2010.
January 06, 2010 06 Jan'10
Microsoft includes advertisting-based Office on upcoming PCs

Microsoft is to introduce a basic, advertising-based Office 2010 on all new PCs.

The company is releasing Office Starter 2010, which includes reduced...
January 05, 2010 05 Jan'10
Security to focus on cloud and virtualisation in 2010

Cloud computing and virtualisation will be the biggest areas of development in security during 2010, according to industry experts.
January 05, 2010 05 Jan'10
MS Office 2010 US prices revealed

Microsoft has revealed the US pricing for Office 2010 ,...
January 05, 2010 05 Jan'10
Thousands sign petition to protect MySQL from Oracle

More than 18,000 people have signed an online petition to protect the future development of open source database MySQL, which is owned by Sun Microsystems....
January 05, 2010 05 Jan'10
Google could launch Android phone today

Google is expected to launch its own-brand Android mobile phone later today, ahead of the opening...
January 05, 2010 05 Jan'10
Hackers yet to succeed in $250,000 encryption challenge

Hackers have yet to claim the $250,000 prize offered by Israel-based data encryption firm Gold Lock.
January 05, 2010 05 Jan'10
Google Chrome overtakes Safari in browser market

Google's Chrome web browser has overtaken Apple's Safari to become the world's third most popular browser after Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
January 04, 2010 04 Jan'10
Conservative manifesto would revamp NHS IT

The Conservative Party has published a draft manifesto for the NHS, which could have a material impact on the NHS National Programme for IT.
January 04, 2010 04 Jan'10
Amazon UK tops customer satisfaction chart

A survey of more than 10,000 online shoppers has revealed that Amazon UK's website ranks highest for customer satisfaction.
December 21, 2009 21 Dec'09
London Stock Exchange takes control of Turquoise

The London Stock Exchange is taking over competitor Turquoise and the platform is set to be migrated...
December 21, 2009 21 Dec'09
Six tips for smooth SAP upgrades

If your 2010 will include uprades to an SAP implementation across more than one nation, this list of six best upgrade practices may make the year more pleasant.
December 18, 2009 18 Dec'09
Oracle boosts software and services revenue with SAP business

Oracle has increased its software licence and product support revenue by 14% to $3.9bn for the second quarter of 2009, at the expense of SAP.
December 16, 2009 16 Dec'09
Barclays takes desktop management back in-house

High-street bank Barclays is calling time on its desktop management contract with Getronics six months earlier than planned to take the function back in-house.
December 16, 2009 16 Dec'09
Paper better than computers for patient records, say UCL researchers

Paper may be a more efficient medium than computers for delivering essential patient information to doctors, researchers have found.

Researchers at...
December 15, 2009 15 Dec'09
Los Angeles switches to Google cloud services to cut costs

The City of Los Angeles will use Google Apps and GMail for its office productivity software in a bid to cut costs. The cloud-based service will be supported...
December 14, 2009 14 Dec'09
Hackers block Microsoft Cofee law enforcement software

Hackers have released software designed to attack a Microsoft tool used by law enforcement agencies.
December 11, 2009 11 Dec'09
One in three report problems upgrading to Windows 7

Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system has had a better reception than its Vista predecessor, but complaints about bugs are rolling in.
December 11, 2009 11 Dec'09
Oracle accuses EC of manipulating data to block Sun deal

Oracle has accused European competition authorities of cherry-picking comments from a market survey to support objections to the firm's planned acquisition...
December 10, 2009 10 Dec'09
SAP lays out a five-year enterprise software plan

SAP executives have outlined the enterprise software company's product and technology vision for the next five years.

The plan features...
December 09, 2009 09 Dec'09
Microsoft issues six security patches

Microsoft has issued six security bulletins for December, bringing the total for 2009 to 74, compared with 77 in 2008, 69 in 2007 and 78 in 2006.

Of...
December 09, 2009 09 Dec'09
IBM sees no competition issues with Oracle's Sun takeover

Oracle's planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems does not raise any significant antitrust issues, according to Oracle rival IBM.

Despite objections...
December 08, 2009 08 Dec'09
Salesforce.com unveils 10-year sales cloud strategy

Salesforce.com has set out a 10-year strategy for its cloud-based customer relationship management service, which it hopes will link the consumer web...
December 08, 2009 08 Dec'09
Criminals outwit Captcha website security systems

Criminal gangs are using sophisticated software to outwit the Captcha systems used by webmail, microblogging and social networking services to protect their sites against hackers and spammers.
December 08, 2009 08 Dec'09
Kaspersky Lab plans to shake up corporate security

Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab aims to become a major security supplier to small, medium and large business by 2014.
December 08, 2009 08 Dec'09
EC to approve Microsoft IE deal soon

The European Commission is set to give formal approval in the third week of December to a settlement with Microsoft to end the latest European antitrust case against the software firm.
December 07, 2009 07 Dec'09
Video: ComputerWeekly Geekly IT News Round up - 7 December

Welcome to this week's Computer Geekly Weekly IT news round-up video. This video picks the must know tech stories from the past week and serves them up with a twist.
December 04, 2009 04 Dec'09
Linux is only bright spot as Novell reports loss

Sales of Linux products provided the only area of growth for Novell in its fiscal year ending 31 October 2009, as the vendor reported a decline in revenues....
December 03, 2009 03 Dec'09
Microsoft anti-pirate technology sparks 630% rise in fake code detection

Anti-counterfeiting technology has prompted a six-fold rise in the number of consumers who have reported buying faked Microsoft software, the software firm...
December 03, 2009 03 Dec'09
Sage boss warns it’s too early to talk of recovery

Sage has warned that it is yet to see signs of recovery as it unveiled results that were helped by a weak pound and a programme of corporate cost-cutting.
December 02, 2009 02 Dec'09
Prevx apologises to Microsoft over 'black screen of death'

Security software supplier Prevx has apologised to Microsoft for a blog that linked the software giant's recent security updates with users experiencing system crashes.
December 02, 2009 02 Dec'09
IBM's Guardium acquisition misses the mark, says Imperva

IBM may be missing the mark in its planned acquisition of database security and monitoring firm Guardium, says data security firm Imperva.
December 01, 2009 01 Dec'09
Make your ERP roll-out succeed

The history of enterprise resource planning (ERP) roll-outs is far from flawless and business has been quick to blame failures on the technology.
November 30, 2009 30 Nov'09
Dell releases experimental Chrome OS for netbooks

Engineers at PC maker Dell have released an unofficial version of Google's Chrome operating system
November 27, 2009 27 Nov'09
EU and Oracle to meet soon on Sun deal

Oracle is to meet European Union regulators on 10 December in an attempt to win approval of the planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems, according to reports.
November 27, 2009 27 Nov'09
Interview: Amazon CTO Werner Vogels on why CIOs love clouds

Chief information officers are more comfortable with the idea of cloud computing than they were six months ago.
November 26, 2009 26 Nov'09
IT doesn't understand why legacy data must be destroyed

Many IT departments are leaving their companies exposed to unnecessary cost and legal risk by not complying with data retention policies laid down by the business.
November 26, 2009 26 Nov'09
The IT Blog Awards 2009 winners

Did Stephen Fry win Twitter user of the year? Who’s the 2009 blogger of the year? All these questions have been answered.
November 25, 2009 25 Nov'09
In bed with SAP – the future for enterprise software?

Enterprise software companies are not traditionally open to negotiation with user groups, but SAP is beginning to forge new links with its end-users.

SAP...
November 25, 2009 25 Nov'09
Durex maker gets satisfaction with SAP

SSL International, the UK-headquartered manufacturer of Durex and Scholl footcare products, has completed 75% of its global SAP roll out.
November 25, 2009 25 Nov'09
UK national ID cards database goes live

The database that underpins the UK's controversial ID card scheme is up and running, according to the government's identity commissioner Joseph Pilling.
November 24, 2009 24 Nov'09
SAP user groups make "great progress" in working with SAP

SAP customers have made great progress over the past year in working with the software company to meet concerns over maintenance and pricing, says the SAP...
November 24, 2009 24 Nov'09
SAP at odds with user group over prices

SAP is imposing maintenance increases on some users that are greater those agreed with the SAP user group executive network (Sugen), says Ray Wang, partner at consultancy Altimeter Group.
November 23, 2009 23 Nov'09
SAP vows to get closer to its users

SAP UK has vowed to work more closely with the SAP User Group as it seeks to improve its understanding of the needs of businesses.

Tim...
November 23, 2009 23 Nov'09
Tesco bank gets its core system

Tesco Bank has chosen an off-the-shelf core banking system from Fiserv as it moves towards being a full-service retail bank.
November 20, 2009 20 Nov'09
EU delays Sun/Oracle decision

The EU has pushed back its deadline for reviewing the Sun merger after granting a request from Oracle for more time
November 19, 2009 19 Nov'09
Inside Chrome OS - Google reveals design objectives of cloud operating system

Google has unveiled the design plans for Chrome OS, its operating system for cloud computing. Chrome OS is an evolution of the Chrome web browser,...
November 19, 2009 19 Nov'09
What Microsoft Azure means to corporate IT

After years of planning, Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie has delivered the foundation for Microsoft's future - a technology that allows Windows applications to run either in the cloud or in-house.
November 19, 2009 19 Nov'09
MS Office 2010 beta goes public

Microsoft Office 2010 beta is available for public download, with the final version due for release in the first half of 2010.
November 19, 2009 19 Nov'09
Ted Baker expands with QuickAssortment

Ted Baker, “the fastest growing leading life style brand”, is going to expand its business with a new planning process.
November 19, 2009 19 Nov'09
HP helps users back-up laptop data

Hewlett-Packard has released a tool designed to simplify the back-up and recovery of data from laptop PCs.

With a growing volume of...
November 18, 2009 18 Nov'09
SAP system helps Burberry save £50m

Fashion retailer Burberry reported savings of £50m last year as it began to reap the benefits of its SAP-based supply chain system.

Burberry...
November 18, 2009 18 Nov'09
Weitz outlines Microsoft plans to rival Google's search dominance

Microsoft's director of search Stefan Weitz has outlined how the company hopes to rival Google in the web search market.
November 18, 2009 18 Nov'09
Google to reveal Chrome operating system

Google has arranged an event at its headquarters in California which could reveal more details about the operating system it hopes will challenge Microsoft's dominance.
November 18, 2009 18 Nov'09
Aviva software fields thousands of HR enquiries

Software used by Aviva to provide immediate answers to HR inquiries has helped the insurance giant answer thousands of questions from staff during its global rebranding excercise.
November 18, 2009 18 Nov'09
Microsoft launches Azure to merge cloud and Windows computing

Microsoft has released Windows Azure, its cloud computing platform for running .net web services.
November 18, 2009 18 Nov'09
Microsoft to reveal Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft is expected to reveal some of the details of its next internet browser.
November 17, 2009 17 Nov'09
Cloud computing unfamiliar territory for IT heads

IT heads not in the cloud Over half of European IT heads within businesses do not understand cloud computing, although the method of delivering IT is about the biggest hype in the IT industry.
November 17, 2009 17 Nov'09
Adobe releases Flash 10.1 and Air 2 betas

Adobe Air 2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 software are now available as beta downloads from Adobe Labs for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.
November 17, 2009 17 Nov'09
IBM launches cloud-based business analytics service

IBM has announced a cloud-based business analytics service to challenge more established cloud computing players such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
November 17, 2009 17 Nov'09
How to migrate to Windows 7

With 177 million copies of Windows 7 expected to be shipped by the end of 2010, according to UDC, businesses need a migration plan.
November 17, 2009 17 Nov'09
Dell to launch Android-based Mini 3 smartphone

PC maker Dell has announced that it is to enter the smartphone market in late November with the launch of its first device in China.
November 16, 2009 16 Nov'09
Irish VMware users get a tax boost

The Irish government is giving businesses a tax incentive to buy energy-efficient virtualisation technology.

Irish businesses purchasing...
November 16, 2009 16 Nov'09
ISPs criticise government plans to store all comms data

Internet service providers (ISPs) are unhappy with the government's plans to require them to store records of all e‑mail, social networking and web traffic.

The...
November 16, 2009 16 Nov'09
Power failure at HBOS disrupts banking services

A power failure disrupted branch computer systems at Halifax and Bank of Scotland and left customers unable to access cash point machines and online banking...
November 13, 2009 13 Nov'09
IT challenge ahead as BA and Iberia merge

The IT departments at British Airways and Iberia have some hard work ahead of them after the two airlines announced they are to merge.
November 13, 2009 13 Nov'09
Windows 8 is on its way

Microsoft Windows 8 operating system is in the planning stage.
November 12, 2009 12 Nov'09
Microsoft insists Windows 7 is not Mac OS X copycat

A UK Microsoft manager has been corrected by the company for saying the design of Windows 7 was borrowed from Mac OS X.
November 12, 2009 12 Nov'09
Microsoft partners with Wolfram Alpha to boost Bing search

Microsoft is to introduce enhancements to its Bing search engine, including some that rely on "Google killer" mathematical modelling tool
November 12, 2009 12 Nov'09
Microsoft announces cloud partnership in Taiwan

Microsoft is to collaborate with Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) on software applications and cloud services for end-user devices.
November 10, 2009 10 Nov'09
Armed forces charity SSVC deploys Astaro security

Armed forces charity Services, Sound and Vision Corporation has deployed an appliance-based system to secure its networks around the world.
November 10, 2009 10 Nov'09
Princes cracks SAP compliance challenge with su53

Regulatory compliance can be overwhelming for IT departments torn between outsourcing and in-house management, but there is a middle way, according to...
November 10, 2009 10 Nov'09
Oracle to oppose EU objections to Sun acquisition

European regulators have issued an official objection to Oracle's $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems, moving another step closer to blocking the deal.
November 09, 2009 09 Nov'09
TechEd 2009: Microsoft's Exchange Server 2010 available

Microsoft has announced the worldwide availability of its Exchange Server 2010 at its TechEd 2009 conference in Germany.
November 09, 2009 09 Nov'09
SaaS market growth defies recession

The recession has not dampened growth in the software as a service (SaaS) market, which has seen a 17.7% increase in global revenues this year.
November 06, 2009 06 Nov'09
Marks & Spencer to kick off major SAP roll-out

Marks & Spencer will start implementing SAP software in its core systems next year following successful implementation in other parts of the company.
November 05, 2009 05 Nov'09
Intel could face US federal anti-trust investigation, say legal experts

Intel could be facing a US federal investigation as the number of legal complaints against the chipmaker's business practices begin to mount up.
November 05, 2009 05 Nov'09
NetSuite's Sage campaign a success

Cloud computing specialist NetSuite said its campaign to target rival Sage appears to be having some impact after announcing customer wins.

The...
November 05, 2009 05 Nov'09
Video: Google launches cloud-based search service for retailers

Google has launched a cloud-based search service to enable retailers to add customised search facilities to their websites.
November 04, 2009 04 Nov'09
Prevx offers free security to online businesses

Security firm Prevx is giving free protection to customers of organisations that do business online.
November 04, 2009 04 Nov'09
Sun and its customers could face more delays to Oracle acquisition

Costly delays to European Commission approval of Oracle's proposed $7.4bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems look set to continue.
November 04, 2009 04 Nov'09
Cisco partners with EMC to take on HP and IBM

Cisco Systems has formed an alliance with EMC to combine computing equipment and services. The move is aimed at challenging market leaders Hewlett-Packard...
November 04, 2009 04 Nov'09
HP tackles $35bn converged IT market

Hewlett-Packard is to launch a set of products and services, which it claims will help firms achieve better insight into their business, faster application development and greater flexibility in responding to market changes.
November 03, 2009 03 Nov'09
Microsoft slashes cost of cloud computing

Microsoft is cutting the subscription costs for its on-demand application portfolio by 30% to less than £7 per user per month.

Microsoft...
November 03, 2009 03 Nov'09
Video: Spending on private cloud to take off, says Gartner

Businesses will begin investing in their own secure private cloud networks over the next three to five years while they wait for the public cloud to mature,...
November 03, 2009 03 Nov'09
Banking sale of the century will be straightforward IT project

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds TSB have announced plans to sell...
November 03, 2009 03 Nov'09
Steve Ballmer pessimistic about IT spending

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer thinks corporations' IT spending will not return to pre-recession levels.
November 03, 2009 03 Nov'09
MPs condemn C-Nomis criminal database project

MPs have condemned a major IT project for tracking offenders through the criminal justice system as a £513m shambles.
November 02, 2009 02 Nov'09
Banks begin processing Sepa direct debits

The pan-european, cross-border payments system, known as the single European payments area (Sepa), began processing direct debits from 2nd of November.