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Business applications

September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07
Look beyond the ITIL starting point

The IT Infrastructure Library can provide a good guideline for network managers buying software, but companies should be asking for more
September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07
E-tailer cuts licensing costs with Linux server

An online retailer has saved more than £56,000 in software licensing costs after moving its IT platform from Microsoft Windows to Linux.
September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07
Small firms use IT to seek new opportunities, study says

Small companies in a growth phase are more likely to use IT systems intensively to seek new opportunities, while those consolidating will use IT to reduce costs.
September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07
Book digest: IT Risk - Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage

CIOs need to consider vulnerabilities in their organisations rather than threats to their IT environments if they are to protect both properly.

September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07
Microsoft ruling to boost user choice

The European Court's ruling against Microsoft could give IT departments greater choice in the tools they use to manage Windows.
September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07
Sirius and QlikTech bank on better business decisions

Software firms confident of better tool to evaluate project delivery statistics, business spending, sales activity, and customer intelligence
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
Government launches £20m competition for low-carbon technologies

The government has launched a £20m competition for companies to invent low carbon technology for cars.
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
Oracle enhances business process analysis

Oracle has announced the general availability of its enhanced Oracle Business Process Analysis Suite, featuring closed-loop support to improve collaboration between business analysts and IT.
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
Millennium Project praises increasing global connectedness

The increasing connectedness of the world's people and political economies is grounds for optimism for the future, despite the growing risks associated with climate change, organised crime and terrorism, say UN agencies.
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
Enterprise architecture initiatives must demonstrate business value, says Gartner

Gartner has predicted that enterprise architecture initiatives risk failure if they are unable to demonstrate value to the business.

September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
Tesco.com improves marketing with e-mail deal

Tesco.com is improving its marketing by using Epsilon International to provide e-mail marketing systems and services.
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
ITIL system donated to child-abuse centre

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has installed ITIL-based IT service management software to help it manage its technology resources.
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
Oxford University Press wins prize for oldest HP-UX server

Oxford University Press (OUP) has won an HP competition to find the oldest running HP-UX server in the UK.
September 21, 2007 21 Sep'07
UK IT managers waste 5.85 million hours a year sifting through spam

UK IT managers could be spending more than five million working hours, worth more than £140m a year, searching for valid e-mails caught in spam filters, according to a survey commissioned by web-based email management service provider, Mimecast.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
IT risks rising up audit committee agendas

Research by KPMG's Audit Committee Institute covering more than 1,300 audit committee members in 25 countries around the world has found that nearly a third (30%) are not satisfied that their committee spends sufficient time looking at IT risk ...
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
Highway Agency rolls out new services to road users

A raft of developments at the Highways Agency are set to improve service for England's road users.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
Banks to increase security spending

Security is now a key issue in the boardrooms of the world's largest banks according to the latest research from Deloitte.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
Cardiff University improves efficiency with database system

Cardiff University's Department of Pathology has installed a database system that has enabled them to easily store, extract and analyse complicated data.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
SAP expands mid-market on-demand offering

SAP has expanded its on-demand software offering to the mid-market with its SAP Business ByDesign system.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
Used car buyers offered TfL online congestion charge checker

Transport for London (TfL) has launched an email "penalty checker" service to enable those buying new cars to see if the vehicle has any unpaid congestion charges on it.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
Manchester council launches ‘high accessibility’ Web 2.0 website

Manchester City Council has launched a new "highly accessible" Web 2.0 website.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
Rugged IP converters released by GarrettCom

GarrettCom is adding a new model to its line of Serial-IP converters that extends security, resilience and network management to distributed serial devices in power substations and other harsh industrial environments.
September 20, 2007 20 Sep'07
IT managers need to ‘talk business’ on risks

IT managers must learn to explain the business consequences of a system failing to senior management if they are to successfully secure funding for security as part of risk assesments, according to Gartner.
September 19, 2007 19 Sep'07
IBM releases free set of desktop collaboration tools for business

IBM has released a set of free desktop software tools to aid collaboration in enterprises.
September 19, 2007 19 Sep'07
Oracle updates Microsoft database migration tool

Oracle has released the latest version of its free workbench tool to aid users wanting to migrate Microsoft databases to its own Oracle Database 11g.
September 19, 2007 19 Sep'07
Paypal puts trust in two-factor authentication

Paypal is considering using two-factor authentication in the UK to increase the willingness of first-time customers to use its website.
September 19, 2007 19 Sep'07
Spend less on IT security, says Gartner

Organisations should aim to spend less of their IT budgets on security, Gartner vice-president John Pescatore told the analyst firm's London IT Security Summit on 17 September.
September 18, 2007 18 Sep'07
Why you should plan Windows network security tests

To all you admins who have been bitten by the procrastination bug, this tipcast is for you. Listen to security expert Kevin Beaver's eight main reasons to plan out your security testing far in advance and learn why waiting until the last minute ...
September 18, 2007 18 Sep'07
Google adds presentation software to Google Docs

Google has added presentation software to its Google Docs hosted office productivity application.
September 17, 2007 17 Sep'07
IT metrics needed to identify real value of IT, says Touchpaper

IT still has a long way to go before boards realise its true business value, according to IT business management provider Touchpaper.
September 17, 2007 17 Sep'07
Electronic document management to save car parts supplier £100,000 a year

Leading automotive parts supplier LSUK will be saving £100,000 a year with an electronic document management system from Version One.
September 17, 2007 17 Sep'07
Government returns to mainframe model to deliver shared services

The government's plan to increase sharing of services between departments means a return to a mainframe model of information processing, John Suffolk, the government's chief information officer, said today.
September 17, 2007 17 Sep'07
CFI upholds Microsoft anti-competitive ruling

The European Court of First Instance (CFI) has upheld the European Commission's 2004 decision and fine of £497m against Microsoft for anti-competitive practices.
September 17, 2007 17 Sep'07
Vista deployments set to treble in 2008, says Gartner

Businesses are expected to start major roll-outs of Windows Vista during 2008, when the first service pack appears early next year.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
Botnets ovetake DDoS attacks as ISP fear, says Arbor Networks

Arbor Networks' Third Annual Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report highlights botnets and the increased size of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks as a growing threat to ISPs.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
BlueArc teams with Texas on storage networks

BlueArc Corporation, a network storage manufacturer, and Texas Memory Systems have jointly tested and certified product interoperability of BlueArc's Titan 2000 unified storage system family and Texas Memory Systems' RamSan-400.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
Charity to adopt reporting software

Plan International is due to go live with an installation of the Cognos 8 datawarehouse tool at the start of next month.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
Fisheries nets a handy data-capture tool

Digital pens are enabling fishery protection officers across the North East of England to fill in catch monitoring forms on the quayside or at sea and file the information directly to a central database.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
SP1 to drive uptake of Vista in 2008

The launch of the first service pack for Windows Vista in early 2008 is likely to prompt IT departments to upgrade their desktop systems to Vista, according to Gartner.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
3PAR adds tiered storage management tool

The new version of the System Reporter management tool for 3PAR's high-end arrays now includes monitoring for tiered storage environments.
September 16, 2007 16 Sep'07
BT and Siemens team up to provide end-to-end data management

BT and Siemens are to provide joint end-to-end logistics data management solutions to firms, including radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Novell protects New York transport system with secure identity management

New York's mammoth subway and bus system is now being supported by network security and identity management technology from Novell.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Norfolk police gains flexible info management with unified data warehouse

Norfolk Constabulary has gone to Fujitsu Services for the deployment of an Operational Data Warehouse (ODW) to deliver more flexible data management and cost savings.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Hartlepool Borough Council has deployed a £750,000 Integrated Children's System

Hartlepool Borough Council has deployed a £750,000 Integrated Children's System (ICS) from Northgate Information Solutions to improve social care services.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
PCI payment card body adds PIN entry device testing to portfolio

The PCI Security Standards Council has added PIN Entry Device (PED) security technology to its payments industry testing portfolio to streamline standardisation.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Health Committee calls for government action on delayed patient record systems

The Government must act to ensure the success of NHS Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems and overcome delays.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
DPM's diary: 18 September 2007

Monday Up to town for a meeting of Asslic Futures, a sort of think-tank for middle-aged and post-serious-career local government IT people. Most of...
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Business Objects boosts business performance software

New EPM system said to be the first of a new range of performance management solutions designed to address real business challenges
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Cognos continues BI expansion plans

Less than a week after acquiring Applix, Cognos inks strategic relationship with Informatica
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Cisco expands NAC security offering for branch offices

Cisco has expanded its Network Admission Control (NAC) offering with a system to improve security at branch offices.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Nokia’s network appliance marries speed and security

Nokia has released a network appliance that uses two quad-core Intel Xeon processors with Intel's I/O Acceleration Technology to achieve raw processing speeds of 12gbps, or 5.3gbps with default settings.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
BT buys services firm INS Group to extend international reach

BT is continuing its spending spree and acquiring Belgian network and systems integrator INS Group.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Improve reliability before adding features, Lords urge software firms

House of Lords Science and Technology Committee calls for legislation to encourage software suppliers to improve the quality of their products
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Nortel targets virtualisation

Nortel plans to push deeper into the datacentre market next year with a new product strategy that stresses virtualisation and reliability.
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Hot skills: C# coders are in demand as version 3.0 release nears

Your at-a-glance guide to Microsoft's C# object oriented programming language
September 13, 2007 13 Sep'07
Russian US Consulate hacked

IT security and control firm Sophos has reported on its blog that webpages of the US Consulate General in St.Petersburg, Russia, were attacked by hackers earlier this week. The infected pages have since been cleaned up.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Chorley boosts service with online planning application viewing tool

Chorley Borough Council has improved customer service with a system that allows local residents to view and comment on planning applications online.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Attacks rise as e-tailers lag finance sector on security

Big brand online retailers are increasingly targets for internet attacks, but they lag behind the finance sector in addressing vulnerabilities, according to Symantec's latest security threat report.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
IBM offers storage systems aimed at SMEs

IBM has introduced storage systems to help SMEs increase scalability and performance.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Systems management tools can boost IT performance

In a world where IT complexity continues to rise and budgets remain depressingly static, many organisations are seeking ways to maximise investment in their IT infrastructure.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Top Swedish food retailer migrates to Linux

Axfood, one of the largest food retailers in Scandinavia, is migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux to support its IT infrastructure.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Law Society of Scotland adds second layer of e-mail protection

The Law Society of Scotland, the governing body for Scottish solicitors, has implemented e-mail management services to cut e-mail volumes and provide additional protection from spam and viruses.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Novell and Microsoft open joint Windows Server/Suse Linux lab

Microsoft and Novell have opened a joint development lab focused on improving the interoperability between Microsoft Windows Server and Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise server.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Openness is key to successful application lifecycle management

Application lifecycle management approaches can help IT directors keep a handle on their software projects, but don't get locked in by suppliers
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Get on the path to utility computing

By adopting a step-by-step approach to utility computing, business processes can be streamlined without incurring prohibitive start-up costs
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Next move: where do I go from an IT support role?

Career advice for IT professionals
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Shortlist out for Local Government IT excellence awards

Six local authorities have been chosen as the shortlist for this year's Local Government IT Excellence Awards.
September 12, 2007 12 Sep'07
Online retail sales hit £4bn record in July

Consumers shrugged off worries about identity theft and security to push online retail sales to a record £4.2bn , taking a15% share of total retail sales, in July.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
TM Lewin signs enterprise software deal with Prologic

Shirt retailer TM Lewin has awarded a £1.68m enterprise software contract to fashion and lifestyles specialist Prologic to aid its expansion plans.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Eudora comes back as open source

The open source version of Eudora is now available for download, three months after the e-mail client stopped selling commercially.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Microsoft issues ‘critical’ September windows update

Microsoft has released a critical software patch for Windows to address a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute remote code on another machine.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
British Airways install CA system for San monitoring

British Airways is installing a monitoring system for its storage area network (San) infrastructure to tackle the risk of downtime.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Wall Street profits from Chinese surveillance

Wall Street is funding the expansion of China's surveillance industry, which is expected to grow from £250m in 2003 to £26bn by 2010.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Police to reopen 4000 cold cases with DNA database

The UK government is to spend a further £350,000 to review 4,000 "cold case" sex crimes using advanced DNA analysis techniques.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Skype warns of chat worm infecting users

Skype has warned its voice over IP users of an instant messaging worm that is infecting users' Windows-based PCs.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Carphone Warehouse improves web filtering to increase staff productivity

Carphone Warehouse in Ireland has selected St.Bernard's iPrism platform to increase productivity through effective internet filtering on its network.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
CRM market up 14% to £3.7bn

World customer relationship management (CRM) software revenue is forecast to exceed £3.7bn in 2007, up 14% on 2006, said analyst Gartner.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Property firm moves from tape to online data backup service

Commercial property developer Stanhope has dispensed with outmoded tape back-ups in favour of an automated online back-up service from managed service provider hSo.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Seattle man arrested for peer-to-peer identity theft

A Seattle man has been arrested for allegedly using peer-to-peer networks for targeting wealthy web users to conduct identity theft, according to a report in The Seattle Times.
September 11, 2007 11 Sep'07
Openoffice.org gets market boost from IBM

IBM has joined the Openoffice.org development community to give the open source productivity software a boost in the marketplace.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
MPLS standards war could cause downtime

Enterprises and service providers will be hoping that two warring standards bodies can next week sort out a network technology problem that could lead to downtime.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
HP unveils new quad-core servers

HP has enhanced its line-up of multi-processor-based server systems built to improve performance and cut costs.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
UK eBay users targeted in Trojan botnet attack

Hackers are targeting UK eBay users in a concerted Trojanbotnet attack.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
GPS creates new £345m advertising market

More than 40,000,000 people will be using their mobile phones to look up maps and routes by 2012, creating a search-based advertising market worth £354m, says market researcher Berg Insight.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
DNA plan would require San the size of Belgium

A UK judge has suggested that the DNA of the entire UK population and that of every visitor to our fair isle should be placed on a DNA database.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
Glasgow City Council saves £20m with e-procurement project

Glasgow City Council saved £20m in less than two years in what it claims is one of the UK's biggest public sector e-procurement projects.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
European Parliament calls for improved consumer protection for software use

The software industry has welcomed European Parliament calls to improve consumer protection for software use.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
Datacentre inefficiency a major problem at enterprises

Datacentre inefficiency is still a major problem in many enterprises, despite the availability of standard technologies to ease problems.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
NHS Direct boosts service levels with voice over IP

NHS Direct has installed a voice over IP-based communications system to improve efficiency and help it meet Department of Health targets for responding to patient calls.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
Atkins engineers back-up savings with Symantec

Engineering consultancy Atkins expects to save £20,000 a month in back-up, storage and service call charges by rolling out a software-based archiving system to 12,000 users across its UK offices.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
Siemens and Microsoft team up to drive in-car applications

Siemens VDO and Microsoft are teaming up to develop in-vehicle communication, information, entertainment and navigation products.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
Atkins raises the bar as 'Best Place to Work in IT'

Engineering consultancy Atkins, winner of Computer Weekly's Best Places to Work in IT Awards 2007, has raised the bar in this year's competition by upping its game in three areas that helped secure the title.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
A quiet Patch Tuesday from Microsoft next week

Companies can expect a relatively quiet Patch Tuesday next week, with Microsoft only releasing one "critical" and four "important" security fixes.
September 10, 2007 10 Sep'07
Public sector IT spending to continue to slow

The public sector is reducing its spending on IT with the trend likely to continue as major projects slow down, said analyst firm Ovum.
September 09, 2007 09 Sep'07
Virtual appliance lets users convert DAS to iSCSI San

LeftHand Networks has released an edition of its SaniQ iSCSI San software that will convert locally attached disc to networked storage.
September 07, 2007 07 Sep'07
EMC repackages Avamar data deduplication

EMC announces new packaging for its Avamar data deduplication software, including a virtual edition and two new storage hardware products OEMed from Dell.
September 07, 2007 07 Sep'07
Microsoft update to patch critical Windows flaw

Microsoft plans to patch a critical flaw in Windows and plug holes in MSN Messenger, Visual Studio, and Windows services for Unix.
September 07, 2007 07 Sep'07
Government warns of dangerous QuickBooks Online flaw

Attackers could exploit two flaws in the popular Intuit QuickBooks Online Edition to cause buffer overflows and download or upload files in arbitrary locations, US-CERT warned.
September 07, 2007 07 Sep'07
Cybercriminals employ toolkits in rising numbers to steal data

The market is increasing for crimeware toolkits that help cybercriminals avoid detection and exploit flaws, according to new research from security vendor, Finjan.
September 06, 2007 06 Sep'07
Everyone's hacking the net, says Check Point founder

Governments, criminal gangs, and gifted amateurs are seeding cyberspace with Trojans, viruses and other malware to monitor activity and benefit economically.