Opinion

Opinion

CW500 and IT leadership skills

• Escaping legacy – removing a major roadblock to a digital future

  Legacy IT and legacy thinking are preventing many organisations from embracing the digital economy – but it is an obstacle that can and must be overcome  Continue Reading

• Raising IT’s game through effective business relationship management

  Business relationship managers in an organisation have a vital role to play in enabling digital transformation  Continue Reading

• Prism and the law: The state of play in August 2016

  Computer Weekly assesses the history, legal aspects and latest developments in the story of the mass surveillance programme launched by the US National Security Agency  Continue Reading

• UK tech firms spend less, deliver more on training

  Survey shows technology firms spend 46% of the national average on learning and development per employee, but deliver an above-average number of hours’ training  Continue Reading

• It’s not too late to turn the tide on Investigatory Powers Bill

  The government has set David Anderson QC an almost impossible task in his review of the sweeping bulk powers proposed in the Investigatory Powers Bill – but it is not too late to make a difference  Continue Reading

• Where are the digital leaders in local government?

  Brexit presents a challenge and an opportunity for digital leaders in local government – they need to work together to find the best solutions  Continue Reading

• Privacy Shield gets green light – for now

  Privacy Shield faces inevitable legal challenges, so organisations should prepare by considering legal and practical alternatives  Continue Reading

• Why digital is not enough

  Digital has become a buzzword, but IT leaders instead need to understand the characteristics of a 21st century digital organisation  Continue Reading

• Brexit offers chance for UK to become a ‘data haven’

  Could the UK become a a safe place for both cloud and big data after it leaves the EU?  Continue Reading

• What CIOs should know about Brexit

  CIOs should start talking with other executives and their teams and begin planning now for potential changes  Continue Reading

• IT professionals: volunteer your skills to help a charity

  The newly launched Charity IT Association wants to help charities improve their use of technology – and they’re looking for support from IT expert volunteers  Continue Reading

• Brexit and technology: How network effects will damage UK IT industry

  Although largely ignored in the Brexit debate, network effects will damage the UK's high-tech industry if Britain leaves Europe  Continue Reading

• The true cost of running technology

  Ministry of Justice digital chief Arif Harbott discusses the importance of disclosing the costs of technology – and why it makes sense to invest to avoid expensive glitches  Continue Reading

• Brexit debate: Why IT pros should vote to leave

  IT consultant Peter Chadha gives five reasons why the UK would be better off leaving the European Union  Continue Reading

• Are apprenticeships the solution to London’s digital skills problem?

  With the technology skills shortage holding back London's burgeoning tech startup scene, can a commitment to apprenticeships help?  Continue Reading

• Seven steps to becoming a digital business leader

  Developing employees to embrace a digital-first approach can bring significant personal and organisational benefits  Continue Reading

• Will people be at the heart of your business transformation?

  Areas of the business that hold workforce data face a huge opportunity to help their organisations accelerate end-to-end transformation and increase their odds of success  Continue Reading

• The problem with China isn’t China – it’s usually us

  Biased thinking about China causes the West to underestimate the country's role in the future of the technology industry  Continue Reading

• Robots will transform, not replace, human work

  Claims that robots will steal our jobs are commonplace – but humans will find themselves working side by side with robots, rather than being replaced by them  Continue Reading

• When a slowdown in IT budgets is a good thing

  IT budgets will grow at their slowest rate for four years in 2016, yet companies are spending more on digital technology  Continue Reading

• Creating a CIO legacy beyond the systems

  So much of what a business does today needs to be technology-driven that CIOs have a choice between leading and lagging behind  Continue Reading

• Declining capital investment no problem in a digital economy

  Economists and politicians are fretting about the fall in capital investment – but this is to be expected in a digital economy where startup costs are shrinking  Continue Reading

• What CIOs need to know to ensure their PMOs deliver

  The most effective project management organisations spend most of their time and resources on relationships and minimal time on tasks  Continue Reading

• Rise of the super-contractors as IT skills gap widens

  More IT professionals are becoming contractors in order to charge a premium for their much-in-demand services  Continue Reading

• Big companies will out-innovate tech startups in coming years

  Innovations by large corporates will grow rapidly as they become the most innovative companies over the next decade  Continue Reading

• The need for a 'Capability Exchange' for digital government

  In the last of a three-part series, Mark Thompson outlines a digital vision to make government a more cohesive, integrated organisation  Continue Reading

• The power of situational awareness for digital government

  In the second of a three-part series, Mark Thompson outlines a digital vision to make government a more cohesive, integrated organisation  Continue Reading

• Time to get mapping - how a blind government can develop sight

  In the first of a three-part series, Mark Thompson outlines a digital vision to make government a more cohesive, integrated organisation  Continue Reading

• Reinventing outsourcing through agile principles

  Organisations are starting to use agile principles to reinvent the outsourcing selection process, with some excellent results  Continue Reading

• Life’s a breach: How to handle the press after a hacking attack

  Emily Dent, specialist in crisis PR, offers some advice to organisations that unexpectedly find themselves in the headlines  Continue Reading

• Looking beyond nine-to-five

  Technology is changing the face of work faster than we realise. How can you plan your career in the face of technological disruption?  Continue Reading

• Is Google's patent giveaway right for your tech company?

  Google is giving away free patents to tech companies through its Patent Starter Programme, but there are catches. This article assesses the pros and cons  Continue Reading

• Driving digital productivity in the UK

  There is a need for British businesses to improve their adoption of digital technologies  Continue Reading

• What corporate IT can learn from startups

  Former Hailo and Betfair CTO Rorie Devine shares his experience of working with startups and what IT leaders can learn from them  Continue Reading

• Building a cloud of clouds to balance flexibility and control

  CIOs need to plan for using a multitude of cloud providers and prepare for how best to manage such a situation  Continue Reading

• Who is responsible for digital leadership in the boardroom?

  Digital technology affects every aspect of modern business - so which executive should lead digital strategy in the boardroom?  Continue Reading

• Getting women into tech careers to tackle the skills gap

  Focusing on crucial stages of a career in IT is the key to encouraging more women and girls to work in the sector  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Manage business technology outcomes, not IT assets

  Why CIOs need to adopt a business technology agenda if they want to survive in the age of the customer  Continue Reading

• The rapidly changing role of the CIO

  The profile of the CIO is changing - but all executives need to understand technology  Continue Reading

• Fix outdated working practices to solve productivity puzzle

  The Economist says the French could take Friday off and still produce more than Britons in a week. Can smarter use of technology fix this?  Continue Reading

• Tech organisations should be centred around the business tech agenda

  The age of the customer is here and technology-fueled, customer-led disruption will continue to arrive unexpectedly  Continue Reading

• IT projects are harder than climbing Everest

  Do Everest conquerors have a special something that IT managers do not possess when it comes to successful projects?  Continue Reading

• Devices, recruitment and staff retention

  Research suggests the technology used in the workplace can play a role in staff recruitment and retention  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2014 – success brings no rest

  This year’s Byte Night, the IT industry’s charity sleep-out, was the 17th annual fundraiser for Action for Children - and donations are already over £1m  Continue Reading

• Government doesn’t get complexity

  Why do some government things go well and others not? The reason - complexity  Continue Reading

• Nobody has a monopoly on digital leadership

  As IT becomes more strategic and pervasive, effective digital leadership is needed by just about every organisation  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Four gaps keeping you from delivering great customer experience

  To deliver a great experience, firms need to make interactions effective, easy and emotional for customers  Continue Reading

• Bridging the digital divide with Byte Night

  Action for Children's IT director explains how the IT industry's Byte Night charity sleep-out is helping the charity's work  Continue Reading

• The digital CIO: ‘Fear of Google’ and the ethics of digital business

  Could the big digital players be using their dominance by exerting unfair competition?  Continue Reading

• How to prevent getting caught up in the minefield of large IT programmes

  The recent number of large IT write-offs suggests that we are stuck in a vicious cycle of failure, which is nothing new.  Continue Reading

• The new dawn of brand: You are only as good as your software

  We can make computers exciting, and we can capture our unique cultural personalities, writes Alan Trefler  Continue Reading

• Where is the long-term political vision for digital public services?

  As digital starts to appear in manifesto discussions, this is our chance to demand a higher quality of vision from our political leaders  Continue Reading

• Social media and why businesses need to embrace it

  Why are businesses using email for everything? Jack Vile gives the younger generation's perspective  Continue Reading

• The advent of outside-in IT and how it changes the relationship with business

  Cloud computing and consumerisation are leading to enterprise IT losing control of IT within the firm  Continue Reading

• Why Universal Credit IT concerns mean the project needs to be paused

  The Universal Credit Rescue Committee advised Labour to pause the controversial programme – its IT expert explains why  Continue Reading

• Navigating the digital torrent

  CIOs need to look at their own performance, ways of working, skills and experience to ensure they are equipped to deal with the digital torrent  Continue Reading

• It’s time to add cyber insurance to your cyber security strategy

  Insurance policies for cyber crime have become more credible and viable  Continue Reading

• IT failure: The highs and lows of high availability

  The causes of IT outages are many and varied and, more importantly, depend on the viewpoint of the observer  Continue Reading

• Getting the best out of the old and the new in government IT

  There is a tension at the heart of public sector IT that, unless resolved, threatens to cause serious government IT failures in the next five years  Continue Reading

• Why technology should be central to political parties’ ideas for 2015

  From healthcare to education, and from energy to transport, there is almost no policy area that is not significantly affected by technology  Continue Reading

• Is cloud the answer to the legacy IT problem?

  How do you meet escalating demands and keep up with change in technology, when you don't have the funds for a large-scale replacement?  Continue Reading

• Doing More with Less – Smart Resource Management in Project-Driven Environments

  Flinging spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks is one way to divvy out project work. But it’s messy and you tend to lose a lot along the way.  Continue Reading

• Managing IT projects: when things go wrong

  No matter how thoroughly you plan, unexpected events can disrupt IT projects. Find out some expert survival tips  Continue Reading

• Security: the oft-forgotten dimension

  Companies are investing in sophisticated devices to protect the security of their computer systems but they are forgetting about one critical element - the employee.  Continue Reading

• The business case for big data

  Should you build a business case to invest time and effort into understanding what big data can do for your company?  Continue Reading

• Information security as a business enabler

  It is good to see industry recognising that a shift has taken place in information security, understanding that it has become a vital enabler within any business  Continue Reading

• Tackling the IT skills shortage through diversity of employment

  We all have to do our part in tackling the IT skills shortage in the UK to ensure the industry continues to grow  Continue Reading

• The digital CIO: The CIO is dead. Long live the CIO

  There is a new breed of CIOs who are defining what it means to be a digital leader  Continue Reading

• The digital CIO: Regaining the technology high ground – one blog post at a time

  IT leaders should use blogging and social media to raise their profile and build influence in their organisations  Continue Reading

• Skills, technology and confidence at the heart of the UK’s information economy

  From electronics and 5G mobile to the exploitation of data, the UK has a rich ecosystem of technology companies - but more needs to be done  Continue Reading

• Is enterprise IT falling behind as business strategy turns outside-in?

  Successful firms need to harness the skills, capabilities and passions of the external marketplace by becoming more 'outside-in'  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2014: The link between tech and fighting homelessness

  Tiffany Williams, member of the Byte Night London board and senior enterprise relationship manager at LinkedIn, discusses the importance of sleeping rough for charity  Continue Reading

• Is Windows-everywhere a serious option for the modern business?

  Let’s get real says Dale Vile, Research Director & CEO, of analyst group Freeform Dynamics.  Continue Reading

• Two years after 'unacceptable' - the state of government IT today

  Two years ago, G-Cloud founder Chris Chant called government IT 'unacceptable'. Now outside Whitehall, what does he think has changed?  Continue Reading

• The anatomy of IT projects – why they are difficult and why they fail

  A guide to the complexities of managing successful IT projects, and how to negotiate them  Continue Reading

• Inside jobs – the security risks from the rise in temporary staff

  The growth in temporary workers is leaving companies vulnerable to a new kind of identity fraud - executive impersonation  Continue Reading

• BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT: We are investing for the nation's future

  Roger Marshall, immediate past president of BCS, explains how the Institute for IT is investing its cash reserves  Continue Reading

• How does your personality contribute to your success in IT?

  Take part in our ground-breaking study to discover the key personality factors that contribute to success in IT  Continue Reading

• Sketch: Don't panic, it's the hitchhiker's guide to the BCS AGM

  Kevin Cahill gives his (mostly harmless) take on the struggles facing the Chartered Institute for IT  Continue Reading

• BCS faces 'plebeian revolt' over business reforms

  The Chartered Institute for IT is haemorrhaging money and losing touch with its members, claims a member of the BCS's governing council  Continue Reading

• Five tips for managing project change requests

  Change is an inevitable part of a project, so working out in advance how best to handle change requests will make the whole process much easier  Continue Reading

• Why Europe is wrong to kill Safe Harbour

  Suspending the EU-US Safe Harbour agreement on data protection will do nothing to address surveillance, says international policy analyst  Continue Reading

• How to create a Local Government Digital Service

  Why we need to create a 'Local Government Digital Service' to oversee the standardisation and improvement of all things digital in councils  Continue Reading

• Managing the future of complex business and IT landscapes

  IT management and governance must cope with complexity, improve outcomes, and automate processes - but today’s IT delivery model is failing  Continue Reading

• Value chain mapping – learning to use IT as a strategic weapon

  Mapping, like viewing the board in a game of chess, is essential to any form of gameplay, and that includes IT  Continue Reading

• Extending your professional Influence: a guide for IT professionals

  Organisations want people who can bring both breadth and depth of expertise, and collaborate successfully with others  Continue Reading

• Breaking the medieval software market in local government

  The financial challenges facing local government have never been greater and we need innovation and new ways of delivering public services  Continue Reading

• Technology, society and morality: the implications for technology leaders

  Technology is evolving at a pace and scale that has never been experienced. Society is struggling to keep up with the social and moral implications  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2013 - Thanks a million

  Bye Night, the annual IT industry charity fundraising event, has hit its target of £1m for this year's sleep-out  Continue Reading

• The feminisation of the IT department

  How can you improve the quality of relationships between individuals working in IT and colleagues in business?  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2013: Tonight's the night

  The IT industry's annual charity sleep-out aims to raise £1m from this year's event, which takes place today  Continue Reading

• How to make IT professionals more effective and happy in their jobs

  The majority of UK-based IT professionals are happy at work as concerns over job security recede, research from Comptia reveals.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise IT skills must keep pace with game-changing technologies

  Virtually all of the most important technologies emerging for businesses require new IT learning, thinking and behaviour  Continue Reading

• How to lead when change is the new normal

  Business leaders need to think about the impact of ubiquitous technology on their future employees and the vastly different expectations they will have  Continue Reading

• Mobile IT could be more disruptive than anticipated

  Vanson Bourne's latest research reveals mobile IT could be more disruptive than CIOs and senior management anticipate  Continue Reading

• When the going gets tough, it sometimes makes sense to spend

  Sometimes it makes sense for IT departments to increase their spending when economic conditions are tough  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2013: Why bigger is better

  Byte Night, the UK’s largest charity sleep-out event, will be bigger than ever before, with the aim of raising £1m in a single night  Continue Reading

• Giving UK SMEs the digital tools they need

  It is vital that organisations use the digital tools at their disposal to ensure they are able to take advantage of growth opportunities.  Continue Reading

• Reclaiming the role of the CIO

  It has become fashionable to question the value of the role of CIO, but much of this discourse is both self-serving and without foundation  Continue Reading

• Overcoming communication barriers to successful IT implementation

  There are many hurdles to success in an IT project that are principally issues of communication  Continue Reading