News

Business applications

• March 28, 2008 28 Mar'08

  Speedy Hire tools up for savings after rationalising Microsoft licences

  Tools hire firm Speedy Hire expects to save £2m over the next six years after rationalising the way it licenses Microsoft software.

• March 27, 2008 27 Mar'08

  Councils sign up for Fujitsu enterprise resource planning service

  Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire County Councils have selected Fujitsu Services to provide what is believed to be the first enterprise resource planning (ERP) shared service in local government.

• March 27, 2008 27 Mar'08

  Oracle customers delay purchase of new software

  Oracle has said that corporate customers have delayed investing in new software owing to the turmoil in the financial markets, which led to revenue growth lower than expected, according to a Financial Times report.

• March 26, 2008 26 Mar'08

  BAA suspends fingerprint biometrics security system at Heathrow Terminal 5

  Heathrow Airport owner BAA is pulling a biometric fingerprint system at the new Terminal 5 (T5) the day before the building opens to the public, after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) raised concerns about the system.

• March 26, 2008 26 Mar'08

  Sabre to identify origin of malicious HBOS rumours

  The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is using complex event processing (CEP) software to monitor transactions as it attempts to find the source of rumours that threatened HBOS last week.

• March 26, 2008 26 Mar'08

  Reed recruits Windows Server 2008

  Recruitment agency Reed is using Windows Server 2008 to support the growth of...

• March 26, 2008 26 Mar'08

  Virtualisation presents security challenges

  The advent of virtualisation is changing the way we think about datacentres, servers and networks.

• March 25, 2008 25 Mar'08

  Email back-up compliance saves solicitors time and money

  A solicitors firm has reduced its email and storage overheads and saved two days' work from the email backup, search and retrieval process using software from Waterford Technologies.

• March 25, 2008 25 Mar'08

  A guide to practical encryption across the business

  There is only one thing worse than realising that you have left your laptop in the back of a taxi. That is the recollection that you have not encrypted any of the data on it - including all of your contact information, your sensitive e-mails, all of...

• March 24, 2008 24 Mar'08

  Windows XP Service Pack 3 download to include Vista features

  The third service pack...

• March 20, 2008 20 Mar'08

  E.ON maps overhead powerlines

  Central England electricity distribution company E.ON...

• March 20, 2008 20 Mar'08

  Bruichladdich distillery adopts Tropos ERP system

  Scotland's Bruichladdich Distillery Company has invested £200,000 in an ERP system developed for food, beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries to help manage its complex supply chain and support planned expansion.

• March 20, 2008 20 Mar'08

  Prisoner database riddled with errors

  Prison Service staff are trying to correct errors in a database covering more than 80,000 prisoners after it emerged that thousands of records were wrong,...

• March 20, 2008 20 Mar'08

  Business metrics software can combat recession, says Gartner

  Gartner has urged IT directors to push the use of business metrics software in their companies as a recession-busting tactic.

• March 20, 2008 20 Mar'08

  Microsoft releases final test version of Hyper-V

  Microsoft has released the final test version of its virtualisation software, Hyper-V, for public testing.

• March 19, 2008 19 Mar'08

  Brocade unveils file management system for Windows

  Brocade has unveiled what it describes as a "breakthrough" file management system for Windows environments.

• March 19, 2008 19 Mar'08

  Premier Decorations takes HighJump for supply chain platform

  Premier Decorations, an importer of Christmas decorations and Halloween products, has selected the HighJump Warehouse Advantage platform to boost operations at its distribution warehouse in Wrexham.

• March 19, 2008 19 Mar'08

  Unison offers live online test for Linux unified comms system

  Unison Technologies' Linux-based unified communications software is now available for instant testing.

• March 19, 2008 19 Mar'08

  Top Caterpillar dealer selects Lawson Software to improve customer service

  The world's biggest Caterpillar equipment dealer has selected Lawson Software to enhance its customer service.

• March 19, 2008 19 Mar'08

  Microsoft releases Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to Windows Update

  Microsoft has released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 via its Windows Update service, but will not start automatically sending it to users until "mid-April".

• March 18, 2008 18 Mar'08

  Solarsoft management information software saves Bako £30,000 a year

  Bakery supplies distributor Bako UK expects to save tens of thousands of pounds a year by introducing management information software to collate purchasing information across the organisation.

• March 18, 2008 18 Mar'08

  York St John University selects data archiving platform to support ILM strategy

  York St John University has selected archiving software to support its information lifecycle management (ILM) strategy.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  Turquoise IT infrastructure nears completion

  Share trading exchange Turquoise, funded by nine investment banks, will next month finish a pan-european trading platform that has taken only six months to develop using off-the-shelf software.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  Telford council adopts Sophos platform to protect schools from spam

  Telford and Wrekin Council has deployed the Sophos E-mail Security and Control platform to defend local schools' e-mail from spam.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  Ellesmere Port and Neston Council secures online payments with 3D Secure

  Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council in Cheshire has deployed Anite's PARIS 3D Secure module to secure online payments to the authority.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  ChangeBASE AOK testing tool eases Old Mutual’s migration to Windows Vista

  Financial services provider Old Mutual has used an application testing tool to ensure its migration to Windows Vista across 15,000 desktops runs smoothly.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  Nottingham Primary Care Trust rolls out telecare system to reduce hospital admissions

  Nottingham City Primary Care Trust (PCT) has launched one of the UK 's largest mainstream deployments of telehealth.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  Barclays centralises HR data

  Barclays bank has rolled out software to scan 800 paper-based human resource documents every day and send them to a centralised SAP system.

• March 14, 2008 14 Mar'08

  Revenue management system boosts sales at Eurostar

  Eurostar, the high-speed rail service that links the UK with the Continent, has attracted record passengers and boosted sales 15.5% after implementing a revenue management software package.

• March 13, 2008 13 Mar'08

  EDS and Microsoft to jointly offer CRM systems to enterprises

  EDS has signed a deal with Microsoft to enable it to offer Microsoft Dynamics CRM as an enterprise application to its clients.

• March 13, 2008 13 Mar'08

  IBM acquires Encentuate to extend network security offering

  IBM has acquired enterprise identity and access management software firm Encentuate to extend its network security offering.

• March 12, 2008 12 Mar'08

  Google gets green light to acquire DoubleClick for £1.55bn

  Google has been allowed to complete its £1.55bn acquisition of online advertising group DoubleClick after getting the green light from European competition authorities.

• March 12, 2008 12 Mar'08

  Oracle releases new on-demand CRM platform

  Oracle has released Oracle CRM On Demand Release 15, which should boost customers' productivity.

• March 12, 2008 12 Mar'08

  National Express boosts profits with revenue management system

  UK rail and bus operator National Express has boosted sales on its new East Coast franchise by 2.5% after upgrading itsrevenue management system

• March 12, 2008 12 Mar'08

  Ten Open Source Business Applications

  Looking for a business application that is free as in speech? Adam Turner lists business applications and infrastructure to support them... all free!

• March 11, 2008 11 Mar'08

  Online rail enquiry system relieves call centre traffic during storms

  National Rail Enquiries' Online Journey Planner has helped the company to cope with a massive increase in the number of calls during this week's bad weather (10 March).

• March 11, 2008 11 Mar'08

  Reckitt Benckiser deploys Halcyon disk space manager for IBM servers

  Reckitt Benckiser has implemented Halcyon's disk space manager system to improve the performance of its IBM servers.

• March 11, 2008 11 Mar'08

  How to slash data management and integration costs

  Analyst Gartner has recommended key cost-cutting tactics in data management and integration to help prepare firms for an economic downturn.

• March 11, 2008 11 Mar'08

  Stockton-on-Tees council opens new call centre to improve access to services

  Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has improved access to council services with a new contact centre.

• March 07, 2008 07 Mar'08

  Inchcape Shipping Services to save £50,00 through application centralisation

  Inchcape Shipping Services expects to save £50,000 a year by reducing its IT hardware by 85% in 200 offices around the world through centralising applications.

• March 07, 2008 07 Mar'08

  London Stock Exchange and Borsa e-trades up 46% last month

  Electronic trading across the London Stock Exchange and the Borsa Italiana was up 46% in a year during February.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Nursing home firm cuts costs with 40% by integrated systems

  The Brendoncare Foundation has cut operational costs by 40% by implementing integrated payroll and time and attendance software.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Havering council uses GIS to boost efficiency

  The London Borough of Havering is using a geographic information system (GIS) to boost its efficiency.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  How to negotiate virtualisation licensing

  IT managers negotiating the price of virtualisation licences with software suppliers such as Microsoft, SAP and Oracle could get cheaper deals if they audit software use beforehand.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Banks rush to invest in business intelligence

  The spend by retail banking institutions on business intelligence (BI) IT in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, will reach £4.5bn by 2012, up from the £2.8bn in 2006, says analyst Datamonitor.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Government says ID cards will not be compulsory for all citizens

  The government has delayed the widespread introduction of ID cards, and will instead initially target three groups for the £18bn scheme.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Oracle releases Secure Backup 10.2

  Oracle has released Secure Backup 10.2, its tape back-up software for Oracle Databases and NAS storage devices.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Anti-malware failing firms, Nato expert says

  Organisations with sensitive data remain at risk from increasingly cunning spies because anti-malware firms are not interested in "low traffic" problems, a top Nato expert said yesterday.

• March 06, 2008 06 Mar'08

  Ministry of Defence deploys IRIS system to improve health and safety

  TheMinistry of Defence has launched its £5m Incident Recording Information System (IRIS)to improve the health and safety of 300,000 personnel.

• March 05, 2008 05 Mar'08

  Microsoft to offer hosted software services

  Microsoft is following Google and Amazon with a cloud computing service that will allow businesses to buy hosted software services over the internet.

• March 05, 2008 05 Mar'08

  Chelmsford council deploys hosted e-mail security platform to cut costs

  Chelmsford Borough Council has selected the hosted Websense E-mail Security system to protect its network and reduce costs.

• March 04, 2008 04 Mar'08

  SAP and Intel partner at CeBIT to showcase pre-installed business software on Linux Xeon servers

  SAP and Intel are using this week's CeBIT to showcase pre-installed business software systems for midsize companies on optimised quad core Xeon-based servers.

• March 04, 2008 04 Mar'08

  Microsoft CEO Ballmer unveils server products at Cebit 2008

  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer anounced the company's new hosted Sharepoint and Exchange Server products that signal the supplier's increasing shift to green computing.

• March 04, 2008 04 Mar'08

  Microsoft releases Office Live Workspace Beta

  Microsoft has released Office Live Workspace beta, a web application that lets people access their documents online and share their work with others.

• March 04, 2008 04 Mar'08

  FSA tells firms to record communications

  The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has created a new set of rules that require all investment firms to record electronic communications to help the FSA fight market abuse.

• March 04, 2008 04 Mar'08

  Size does matter when it comes to security

  SMBs are outspending their larger counterparts on security technology.

• March 03, 2008 03 Mar'08

  Nationwide fails to debit thousands of withdrawals in ATM blunder

  The Nationwide Building Society has admitted an ATM blunder which has seen thousands of customers not charged for machine cash withdrawals.

• March 03, 2008 03 Mar'08

  Dream offers Paperchase financial reassurance

  Stationery retailer Paperchase is improving its accounting transparency with CODA's Dream financial platform.

• March 03, 2008 03 Mar'08

  Microsoft to launch cloud computing service

  Microsoft is following the likes of Google and Amazon with a cloud computing service to provide businesses with a way to buy computing services on demand over the internet.

• February 29, 2008 29 Feb'08

  Schroders enhances portfolio construction tool with speedy algorithms

  Global asset management firm Schroders has enhanced its in-house portfolio construction tool.

• February 29, 2008 29 Feb'08

  Data warehousing and business intelligence still on an upward curve

  Data warehousing and business intelligence software is being increasingly used by businesses, says research commissioned by software procurement firm the Evaluation Centre.

• February 29, 2008 29 Feb'08

  MindManager aids Ice Warrior Project

  Arctic explorer Jim McNeill is using project management software to support an expedition to explore the North West Passage, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

• February 29, 2008 29 Feb'08

  Konica Minolta UK drops SAP Netweaver Mobile following fall in productivity

  The UK division of document systems company Konica Minolta has abandoned using the off-the-shelf packageSAP Netweaver Mobile to communicate with its field engineers following a sharp drop in productivity.

• February 29, 2008 29 Feb'08

  Abbey integrates systems to speed invoicing

  Abbey is integrating its in-house e-invoicing platform into its core banking system in a move that will offer businesses faster invoicing and what Abbey describes as a new form of financing.

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  LV Friendly Society offers web-based financial guidance

  Financial services provider LV has created a web portal to offer advice to the public. The Friendly Society, formerly known...

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Data warehousing and business intelligence increasingly important

  Data warehousing and business intelligence increasingly important The use of data...

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Wyse ships desktop thin clients with VMware to simplify desktop delivery

  VMware desktop virtualisation is now available on Wyse thin clients, to simplify desktop delivery.

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  F-Secure offers improved security to Windows servers

  F-Secure has launched the latest version of its F-Secure Anti-Virus for Windows Servers system.

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Drinks maker Nichols saves £100,000 a year with electronic document management

  Soft drinks group Nichols, maker of drinks including Vimto and Sunkist, is saving £100,000 a year after rolling out electronic document management and imaging software.

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Government will have to ask permission for ID card information

  People will have to give explicit permission for the government to access their personal details held on various databases before they can get a national...

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Premier Foods and Specsavers adopt virtual network operator model

  Virtual network operator (VNO) Vanco has announced a series of contracts with companies at its annual press and customer event in Barcelona.

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Cisco and Microsoft join forces to optimise branch apps

  Cisco and Microsoft will develop joint architectures that combine Windows Server...

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  Microsoft interoperability announcement gets a mixed reception

  Microsoft's plans to open up hidden programming interfaces in its Office and Windows products, should make it easier for IT directors to combine open source with Windows platforms.

• February 28, 2008 28 Feb'08

  EasyJet plans Web 2.0 travel engine to increase sales

  EasyJet plans Web 2.0 travel engine to increase sales - by John-Paul Kamath EasyJet will redesign its website using

• February 27, 2008 27 Feb'08

  Microsoft launches Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008

  Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has unveiled the next generation of server products, including Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

• February 27, 2008 27 Feb'08

  AVG upgrades security protection for SMEs with Internet Security 8.0

  AVG has upgraded its security protection software for SMEs and consumers with the release of AVG Internet Security 8.0.

• February 27, 2008 27 Feb'08

  Dell bundles VMware virtualisation with enterprise servers

  Dell and VMware are broadening their relationship to simplify server virtualisation offerings to customers.

• February 26, 2008 26 Feb'08

  Sun Microsystems completes £500m acquisition of MySQL

  Sun Microsystems has completed the £500m acquisition of MySQL, the open source database server, in a move the company regards as the most significant in the open source community.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  Pernod Ricard deploys global data integration platform

  Pernod Ricard is using the Informatica PowerCenter platform to globally standardise its data integration requirements.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  South African bank implements LogicaCMG system

  Standard Bank in South Africa is replacing legacy payment systems across its corporate and investment banking business globally with a system from LogicaCMG.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  HSBC update causes card payment downtime

  An upgrade to a telephone banking system for business customers caused some HSBC retail customers problems on Saturday (24 February).

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  Horseware rides on with Lawson Opportunity Analyzer

  Horseware Ireland, a leading manufacturer of turnout rugs, riding clothing and accessories, has run a performance management assessment of its business before upgrading to its latest supply chain system.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  SAP encourages smaller firms to adopt All-in-One systems

  SAP is encouraging more small and mid-size companies to adopt its SAP Business-All-in-One systems with a new fast-start programme.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  Adobe Systems floats AIR web services platform

  Adobe Systems has announced the availability of Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex 3 software to extend its offering for developing rich internet applications (RIAs).

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  South Africa HIV hospital deploys TrakCare system

  A hospital in South Africa is rolling out a web-based healthcare system already in use in the UK and 24 other countries to improve the quality of care in its HIV/AIDS treatment centre to an increasing number of patients.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  Pork Farms picks reduces costs with ERP system

  Savoury pastry products supplier Pork Farms is implementing an ERP system tailored for the food and beverage industry to improve visibility of business processes at a lower cost of ownership.

• February 25, 2008 25 Feb'08

  Sainsbury's partners with LMG for analytical reporting system

  Sainsbury's is working with the company behind its Nectar card reward scheme, LMG, to develop an application to enable the supermarket and its suppliers to find out how well products are selling.

• February 22, 2008 22 Feb'08

  Alcatel-Lucent and HP team up to deliver SOA security

  Alcatel-Lucent has teamed up with HP on a product that will aim to secure service-orientated architectures (SOAs).

• February 22, 2008 22 Feb'08

  Glasgow school tackles anonymous proxies with new web filtering system

  The High School of Glasgow has installed a web filtering solution to combat the threat of anonymous proxies.

• February 22, 2008 22 Feb'08

  SMEs to be offered cut-price Linux-based unified comms platform

  A Linux-based unified communications platform will be launched at next month's CeBIT show in Germany. The software-based beta solution will be available for firms to download from next month.

• February 22, 2008 22 Feb'08

  Stella Travel Services automates ticket workflow

  Stella Travel Services UK is using a new financial system to automate reconciliation workflow and mitigate risk.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Microsoft pulls faulty Windows Vista update

  Microsoft has suspended the distribution of a Windows Vista software update after users experienced problems on their computers following installation.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Endoscope firm integrates ERP and CRM to boost efficiency

  Medical equipment distributor and service contractor Endoscopy UK is saving more than £20,000 a year by integrating its ERP and CRM systems to improve operational efficiency.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Biometrics could be answer to trader frauds, SocGen says

  An internal investigation by French bank Societie Generale (SocGen) into the £3.6bn fraud that resulted after a rogue trader made unauthorised investments has recommended the use of biometric security to prevent a similar event happening again.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Microsoft to launch Open Source Interoperability Initiative

  Microsoft has said it would be supporting open source development as part of its interoperability initiative. Microsoft chef executive officer, Steve...

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Highways Agency uses pictogram signage to warn drivers of hazards

  The Highways Agency has started to use new pictogram signs on the M42 in the West Midlands to warn drivers of upcoming hazards.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Microsoft to work with open standards bodies

  As part of its interoperability announcement Microsoft has said it would work with open standards bodies to help developers support Microsoft extensions...

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Microsoft announces plans for greater interoperability

  Microsoft has announced a strategy to increase the way its software works with other systems, including the open source community.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  Software failure causes check-in delays at Heathrow

  A computer software failure prevented thousands of passengers at Heathrow's Terminal 4 from checking luggage in on Tuesday and Wednesday (19 and 20 February).

• February 20, 2008 20 Feb'08

  Microsoft releases latest test version of Windows XP SP3

  Microsoft is making public its latest test version of Windows XP Service Pack 3.