News

Business applications

• March 03, 2010 03 Mar'10

  Tories promise to learn from government IT disasters

  A Conservative shadow minister has said that a Tory government would learn the lessons from past IT catastrophes, although he didn't go as far as promising...

• March 03, 2010 03 Mar'10

  BMA branch opposes fast rollout of summary e-records

  A branch of the British Medical Association has issued a statement supporting the concerns of doctors who are reluctant to allow patient records to be uploaded...

• March 03, 2010 03 Mar'10

  Barclays Wealth sees value of IT

  The wealth management arm of Barclays Bank is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in technology after being given additional budget by the board.

  Barclays...

• March 02, 2010 02 Mar'10

  Human factor a key focus for infosecurity

  IT security policies are vital in reducing corporate liability risk under a raft of new and coming information security laws and regulations.

• March 02, 2010 02 Mar'10

  BSkyB lawsuit costs HP another £70m

  A judge yesterday ordered HP to pay to BSkyB a further £70m - £40m of which is interest - on top of the £200m it has already paid BSkyB after it lost a court case over a failed ERP installation.

• March 02, 2010 02 Mar'10

  IBM eX5 server slashes SQL Server licence costs

  IBM has introduced the eX5, a family of PC servers with a new memory architecture designed for virtualisation.

• March 02, 2010 02 Mar'10

  3M uses SAP to unify global IT

  Global manufacturing firm 3M is rolling out SAP Business Suite 7 to replace systems it has taken on from businesses it has acquired.

• March 01, 2010 01 Mar'10

  PCI DSS compliance a box ticking exercise

  Many businesses are more concerned about complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) than about actually protecting sensitive data.

• March 01, 2010 01 Mar'10

  Microsoft to shut down Windows 7 RC code

  From today, PC users still running the Windows 7 RC (release candidate) code will find Windows will shut down after two hours' use.

• March 01, 2010 01 Mar'10

  Microsoft allows Internet Explorer alternatives

  Microsoft has agreed to let European users choose which internet browser they want to use as part of an agreement to head off anti-trust action aimed at watering down any advantage to be had from its estimated 90% share of the operating system ...

• February 26, 2010 26 Feb'10

  UK mobile business drags down Deutsche Telekom's profits

  Write-offs at its troubled T-Mobile UK subsidiary helped drag down Deutsche Telekom's profits 77% in 2009.

• February 25, 2010 25 Feb'10

  British Library archives UK websites with new software

  The British Library has completed a two-year trial of web archiving technology that will see it preserve terabytes of information for future generations.

• February 25, 2010 25 Feb'10

  Capgemini and Sogeti integrate software testing businesses

  Capgemini is integrating its software testing resources to help it compete with pure-play software testers.

• February 24, 2010 24 Feb'10

  Taxman puts staff in infosecurity frontline

  HMRC has identified people as key to the success of its information security programme after a data breach in 2007 when it lost the personal details of 25 million people.

• February 24, 2010 24 Feb'10

  Morrisons rolls out wireless to support Oracle business plan

  Supermarket Morrisons is planning to roll out wireless IT infrastructure across five of the company's UK manufacturing facilities to automate its paper-based...

• February 24, 2010 24 Feb'10

  Adobe fixes Download Manager flaw

  Adobe has advised users of its Acrobat Reader software to download the latest update to fix a security hole in the Adobe Download Manager software.

• February 22, 2010 22 Feb'10

  Video: Cyber attacks cost large enterprises £1.4m a year, study reveals

  Cyber attacks cost large enterprises an average of £1.4m a year, according to the Symantec 2010 State of Enterprise Security study.

• February 22, 2010 22 Feb'10

  Microsoft to offer European users alternatives to Internet Explorer

  Microsoft is to give Windows users in the European Union the option of choosing another web browser to replace the default Internet Explorer from 1 March.

• February 18, 2010 18 Feb'10

  Behaviour analysis drives Past Times online sales

  The introduction of software that monitors the behaviour of online customers has increased sales at gift retailer Past Times.

• February 18, 2010 18 Feb'10

  US automates cyber defences to offset skills crisis

  The US military is seeking to automate its computer defences to compensate for a drastic shortage of infosecurity experts it can train as cyber warriors.

• February 17, 2010 17 Feb'10

  Upgrades will be favoured over new technology in 2010

  More than half of IT software budgets in 2010 will go toward ongoing operations and maintenance of existing applications as opposed to implementing new software, according to Forrester Research.

• February 17, 2010 17 Feb'10

  Top 25 coding errors – are your software suppliers secure?

  International security organisations have updated and restructured a list of 25 common programming errors that cause security vulnerabilities and expose software users to cyber attack.

• February 15, 2010 15 Feb'10

  Mobile World Congress: Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 is a phone hub

  Windows Phone 7 Series, unveiled at Mobile World Congress, is Microsoft's latest attempt to build a smartphone operating system.

• February 15, 2010 15 Feb'10

  John Lewis takes another step towards multi-channel utopia

  Retailer John Lewis has taken a step towards creating a multi-channel business by deploying software that gives customers the same experience regardless how they buy.

• February 12, 2010 12 Feb'10

  SAP announces more changes to leadership structure

  SAP has announced further changes to the company's leadership structure following the departure of Léo Apotheker and his replacement by two joint CEOs.

• February 11, 2010 11 Feb'10

  Businesses can expect better service as SAP puts house in order

  In a dramatic turn of events, the SAP advisory board has not renewed Léo Apotheker's contract, forcing him to resign ...

• February 11, 2010 11 Feb'10

  Severn Trent Water uses Macro 4 to boost SAP performance

  Severn Trent Water has deployed archiving software from Macro 4 to ensure its new SAP system runs smoothly.

• February 11, 2010 11 Feb'10

  SAP: Tips to boost your SAP salary

  A new study of 430 SAP professionals from Panaya has identified the skills budding SAP experts need to succeed

• February 10, 2010 10 Feb'10

  Security professionals must embrace cloud or fail, says ISC2

  IT security professionals must work out how to implement cloud computing securely before it is too late, according to information security professionals...

• February 10, 2010 10 Feb'10

  Patch Tuesday: No compatibility problems reported yet...

  Most of the software patches issued by Microsoft yesterday should not affect stable systems.

• February 10, 2010 10 Feb'10

  Priorities for administrators in Microsoft Patch Tuesday security update

  Microsoft has released 13 security fixes for 26 vulnerabilities in the February Patch Tuesday monthly security update, equalling the record set for the largest update in October.

• February 09, 2010 09 Feb'10

  SAP admits enterprise support plan was a mistake

  SAP has admitted that it was a mistake to attempt to consolidate all its customers onto a single, more expensive enterprise support plan.

• February 08, 2010 08 Feb'10

  SAP moves to restore customer and employee trust

  SAP chief executive Leo Apotheker has resigned with immediate effect after the company's supervisory board decided not to renew his contract, which was due to expire in 2010.

• February 08, 2010 08 Feb'10

  Léo Apotheker resigns as chief executive of SAP

  SAP chief executive Léo Apotheker has resigned in a management reshuffle at the enterprise software company.

• February 05, 2010 05 Feb'10

  Microsoft Patch Tuesday equals record with 13 updates

  Microsoft plans to release 13 security updates on 9 February, equalling the record set in October 2009

• February 05, 2010 05 Feb'10

  Home Office to save up to £50m with shared services

  The Home Office has completed the final £13m phase of a shared services enterprise resource planning (ERP) system which is expected to save between £40 and...

• February 04, 2010 04 Feb'10

  David Litchfield steps down with a final bug warning for Oracle

  Security researcher David Litchfield, who has found more bugs in the Oracle database than any other security expert, has done it again.

  Speaking at...

• February 04, 2010 04 Feb'10

  Australian judge upholds ISP's defence against piracy claims

  An Australian judge has upheld a "pure conduit" defence by an internet service provider against claims by copyright holders that it should have stopped illegal...

• February 04, 2010 04 Feb'10

  Will open source secure Symbian's future?

  The Symbian Foundation has released the source code for the Symbian operating system to the open source community, which means 330 million mobile devices...

• February 03, 2010 03 Feb'10

  Apple fixes five holes with iPhone 3.1.3 firmware update

  Apple has released iPhone OS 3.1.3 and iPhone OS 3.1.3 for iPod touch, the latest firmware for its popular smartphone and handheld computer, which fixes...

• February 03, 2010 03 Feb'10

  London Stock Exchange sets ambitious deadline for Millennium migration

  The London Stock Exchange has started transferring its share trading operations to the MillenniumIT platform and is gearing up to go live on 13 September.

• February 03, 2010 03 Feb'10

  SAP makes cloud collaboration available as free beta

  SAP has opened up its 12sprint collaborative platform to users through a public beta.

• February 03, 2010 03 Feb'10

  Fujitsu and Symantec forge closer links

  Fujitsu and Symantec ...

• February 02, 2010 02 Feb'10

  In-memory databases beat administrators on optimisation

  IT directors and chief information officers should use new technology rather than skilled database administrators to boost the performance of their data...

• February 02, 2010 02 Feb'10

  Business intelligence success depends on sponsor risks

  Business sponsors are key to the success of business intelligence projects, according to analyst firm Gartner.

• February 02, 2010 02 Feb'10

  Microsoft releases free SDL tools at Black Hat DC

  Microsoft has released two free tools to help software developers write secure code, as cybercriminals step up attacks on third-party applications.

  The...

• February 01, 2010 01 Feb'10

  Google begins phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6

  Google is to begin phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and other older browsers in line with an industry-wide trend.

  The trend is...

• January 29, 2010 29 Jan'10

  Rok cracks scheduling problem

  Rok, a £1bn UK property repair and maintenance firm, aims to change the balance of power in the building industry by better use of staff based on an automated scheduling system from ClickSoftware Technologies.

• January 29, 2010 29 Jan'10

  Consumer demand for Windows 7 boosts Microsoft profits

  Microsoft has announced a 60% increase in profits in its second financial quarter as a result of strong consumer demand for Windows 7, but businesses are still holding back investment.

• January 28, 2010 28 Jan'10

  Big businesses consider free alternatives to Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat

  Almost a quarter of big businesses want to drop Microsoft Office and over a third are considering dumping Adobe Acrobat in favour of free alternatives, according to research.

• January 28, 2010 28 Jan'10

  Apple iPad processor strategy exposed

  One of the most interesting aspects of Apple's iPad is the microprocessor.

  It is not an Intel Atom or core i7, nor is it based on an ARM core.

  Apple...

• January 27, 2010 27 Jan'10

  Deutsche Bank to replace legacy systems with SAP

  Deutsche Bank is replacing multiple IT systems with core banking software from SAP to standardise payments, account management and savings applications.

  The...

• January 27, 2010 27 Jan'10

  SAP upbeat about 2010 depite 2009 declines

  Enterprise software maker SAP has announced drops in income for both the final quarter of 2009 and the year as a whole following reduced corporate spending...

• January 26, 2010 26 Jan'10

  Election 2010: CIOs must prepare for government IT shake-up

  CIOs need to start preparing for a possible change or shake-up of government as this year's election approaches, according to former US state CIO John Kost.

• January 26, 2010 26 Jan'10

  Sage cuts debt as trading meets expectations

  British software supplier Sage cut its net debt by £47m to £392m in the three months to the end of December, as trading remained in line with previously...

• January 26, 2010 26 Jan'10

  Co-op sells its Epos technology to competitors

  The Co-operative is selling its retail technology to competitors after the system proved a success in 3,000 stores in the UK.

  The InControl-Evolution...

• January 25, 2010 25 Jan'10

  Firefox 3.6 even faster than 3.5, claims Mozilla

  Mozilla has updated its free open source Firefox browser to version 3.6, which it claims is the fastest yet in processing JavaScript.

• January 22, 2010 22 Jan'10

  Microsoft patch combats security flaws in Internet Explorer

  Microsoft has released a patch to address critical security flaws in Internet Explorer.

  A remote-code exploit in Internet Explorer was used by hackers...

• January 21, 2010 21 Jan'10

  Oracle readies strategy plan as EU approves Sun acquisition

  The European Commission has approved Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems, following an investigation into the MySQL database owned by Sun.

  The...

• January 21, 2010 21 Jan'10

  “Make or break” for London Stock Exchange IT

  The London Stock Exchange faces a year of IT challenges. How it meets these challenges will determine whether it becomes one of the world's top five trading...

• January 21, 2010 21 Jan'10

  Microsoft rushes out Google hack security update

  Microsoft is to issue an emergency security patch for its Internet Explorer browser to fix the flaws blamed for the recent China-based hacker attacks on Google and at least 20 other companies.

• January 20, 2010 20 Jan'10

  MoD awards $890m DII contract to Atlas consortium

  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded the Atlas Consortium, led by HP, an $890m contract as part of the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) programme.

• January 20, 2010 20 Jan'10

  Online consumers seek out stronger security

  Online service providers will have to improve their authentication measures or lose out to competitors, an international survey has concluded.

  Most...

• January 19, 2010 19 Jan'10

  Kraft keeps systems integrators waiting over Cadbury

  Systems integrators will have to be patient a little while longer while US food maker Kraft fends off chocolate makers Ferrero and Hershey to complete its £11.9bn acquisition of UK sweets maker Cadbury.

• January 19, 2010 19 Jan'10

  UK is short on software testing skills

  The combination of a shortage of software testers in the UK and businesses' reluctance to spend money on testing is causing financial and reputational...

• January 19, 2010 19 Jan'10

  Study shows wider use of business intelligence in corporate strategy

  Oracle's second study of enterprise performance management has shown that companies are making more use of business intelligence to help drive their strategy.

  Conducted...

• January 15, 2010 15 Jan'10

  Illegal downloads at work put companies at risk, says FAST IiS

  Company directors who allow staff to download software illegally are putting themselves and the company at risk of legal liability, software piracy watchdog...

• January 15, 2010 15 Jan'10

  SAP bows to pressure over enterprise support

  Enterprise software maker SAP has bowed to customer pressure and scrapped a controversial plan to move all customers to enterprise support contracts priced at 22% a year by 2015.

• January 15, 2010 15 Jan'10

  McAfee fingers Internet Explorer in Google China hack

  Blame for the China-based cyber attack on Google, Adobe and at least 20 other companies has shifted from Adobe's

• January 14, 2010 14 Jan'10

  PCs climb out of recession

  Businesses and consumers appear to be buying more PCs, according to Gartner's latest research on PC shipments.

• January 14, 2010 14 Jan'10

  Panasonic to put 300,000 users in IBM's cloud

  Consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic has become the largest user of cloud computing services.

• January 14, 2010 14 Jan'10

  Commitment to IT will pay off for Santander

  As Banco Santander's plan to integrate its banking acquisitions enters a new phase with the re-branding of its outlets under the Santander name, the company's decision to put IT at the core of the strategy will reap benefits.

• January 13, 2010 13 Jan'10

  VMware buys Zimbra from Yahoo

  VMware is acquiring e-mail collaboration company Zimbra in a bid to extend its portfolio of datacentre, desktop, application development and core IT services for cloud computing.

• January 12, 2010 12 Jan'10

  Google extends Apps with shared enterprise storage

  Google has extended its Apps Premier Edition cloud-based office productivity suite, with tools and services to aid online collaboration.

• January 12, 2010 12 Jan'10

  Novell brings Brainshare Europe to Amsterdam

  Novell Brainshare is set to return to Europe. The event, which last ran five years ago, is taking place in Amsterdam from 18-21 May 2010

• January 12, 2010 12 Jan'10

  Microsoft apologises for ongoing problems with volume licensing site

  Microsoft has apologised for the problems experienced by users trying to access its new volume licensing site.

• January 12, 2010 12 Jan'10

  Oracle patches vulnerabilities in 17 enterprise products

  Oracle is due to release a suite of critical patch updates which it says fixes 25 security issues in its products.

• January 12, 2010 12 Jan'10

  Datacentres need to do more with less, but lack skills

  Businesses are running more datacentre applications with fewer staff and less budget.

• January 11, 2010 11 Jan'10

  Walmart’s strong IT will be key in strategic shift

  US retail giant Walmart plans to use its IT expertise to procure products directly from a larger number of suppliers.

  Walmart, which owns Asda, buys...

• January 11, 2010 11 Jan'10

  Rogue anti-virus software targets Google Groups

  Google discussion groups are being hit by messages linking to rogue anti-virus software, security firm Webroot has warned.

  The attacks have gained...

• January 11, 2010 11 Jan'10

  Santander begins key phase of UK standardisation

  Santander has begun rebranding its UK outlets after integrating Abbey and Bradford & Bingley (B&B) to its in-house developed core trading platform, Partenon....

• 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.