Opinion

Opinion

IT supplier relationship management

• The countdown is on for TikTok after Schrems II

  Given the US’ threatened actions against TikTok and the outcome of Schrems II, it is clear that the spotlight is now firmly on international data transfers  Continue Reading

• Challenging times and transformational opportunities for the outsourcing industry

  Every area of the technology sector has been affected by the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, but the outsourcing industry could be well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities it presents  Continue Reading

• 11 obscure questions, Facebook, Max Schrems and the European Court of Justice

  Eleven obscure questions will be the first step towards explaining why we in the UK and Europe have experienced 13 years of what has been described as ‘mass and indiscriminate surveillance’ by the US  Continue Reading

• Gartner: Are the real cloud wars about to begin?

  In 2017, the big cloud providers were focused on competing on infrastructure as a service, but the shift to platforms is shaking up the market  Continue Reading

• The Covid-19 crisis: Reinventing digital transformation

  Digital transformation projects are returning as organisations realise that improvements in productivity and customer engagement are now even more important – providing that the work can be done remotely and there’s still cash to pay for it  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Container security is evolving, so must CISOs

  Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers?  Continue Reading

• Build 2020: Avoiding AI problems

  It is early days for responsible artificial intelligence, but Microsoft aims to help companies avoid problems and improve the performance and quality of AI applications  Continue Reading

• Connect and protect: How the tech sector is responding to the coronavirus crisis

  Tech sector trade body TechUK is coordinating the industry's activity to help the UK government tackle the Covid-19 outbreak  Continue Reading

• Learning from the Travelex cyber attack: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

  The key lesson to take from the Travelex breach is that an effective response to a breach is a critical business function and no longer the sole province of the IT department  Continue Reading

• The Post Office computer problem that destroyed the lives of pillars of the community

  The Post Office’s refusal to believe subpostmasters were suffering losses due to computer system errors was incompetent and cruel  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Is data more or less secure in the cloud?

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Ensuring your supplier onboarding process doesn’t undercut small suppliers

  Given the unprecedented speed of global business, many companies are increasingly dependent on a great many third-party suppliers  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Stopping data leaks in the cloud

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Base cloud security posture on your data footprint

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Cloud security is a shared responsibility

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security in the supply chain – a post-GDPR approach

  A year and a half after the introduction of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Fieldfisher's James Walsh reviews the fundamentals of supply chain security  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Adapt security posture to your cloud model

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: The cloud needs security by design

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Secure the cloud when negotiating contracts

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: In the cloud, the buck stops with you

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Innovative supplier selection is the key to government procurement success

  The government has improved its procurement processes for SMEs and acknowledges the importance of small suppliers, but there are important steps that still need to be taken  Continue Reading

• SAP Document Licensing for Indirect Access: The risks that still won't go away

  SAP introduced a new licensing scheme last year to reflect indirect access to its system from third-party systems based on document licensing  Continue Reading

• Collaboration between local public services and industry is key to innovation

  The launch of the new London Office for Technology and Innovation is an opportunity to examine how industry and government can work together better to improve local innovation  Continue Reading

• What Belarus offers the tech sector

  Belarus might not be as well known for its IT as some of its neighbours, but it is pushing its head above the parapet  Continue Reading

• Improving public/private collaboration to boost digital government

  TechUK and the civil service are working together on a programme to develop digital skills in Whitehall and a better understanding of government needs in the tech industry  Continue Reading

• Feudal Lords and anarchic allies – the new models for software collaboration

  Software developers often take an unconventional view of contracts for the work they undertake, which can come back and bite them  Continue Reading

• Tips for minimising the impact of the Microsoft Office price rise

  Microsoft has “adjusted” prices with Office 2019, making it more expensive to buy on-premise versions of its products  Continue Reading

• An IR35 survival guide for employers and contractors

  Forthcoming changes to IR35 regulations will affect most private sector companies using IT contractors – so what do you need to do to prepare?  Continue Reading

• Are SAP’s indirect use charges legal?

  The German legal system is examining whether SAP can legitimately charge for indirect access to its software from a third-party application  Continue Reading

• Your IT provider is being acquired – what does this mean for you and your business?

  Merger and acquisition activity is widespread in the IT sector, but what does it mean for you when one of your key tech suppliers is bought up by another firm?  Continue Reading

• Why software giants are failing

  Oracle’s latest financial results illustrate that the core businesses of many of the software behemoths of the past are under strain  Continue Reading

• Beware of the digital bandwagon

  The rush to become ‘digital by default’ could drive costs up and have a damaging effect on understanding customer demand, writes John Seddon  Continue Reading

• Building a tech future between the UK and India

  A new tech partnership between the UK and India will benefit the digital economy in both countries, says secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport Matt Hancock  Continue Reading

• Moving away from analogue health in a digital world

  Healthcare records still rely on faxes, email, mail and paper, but the innovative use of technology will lead to major improvements in medical care  Continue Reading

• SAP licensing – reassuringly expensive?

  SAP’s recent settlement with AB InBev has again put audits and licensing under the spotlight. We look at how to get the best value and avoid fines  Continue Reading

• How to make the most of your SAP licences

  There is no point in paying for something you never use – or worse, using the wrong licence. Doing the bare minimum for SAP licence management is not enough  Continue Reading

• A smarter state can only be built on smarter procurement

  Digital government has improved, but progress needs to be made when it comes to public sector procurement  Continue Reading

• How to achieve a healthy, balanced relationship with your ERP provider

  Observing the enterprise software market today is like observing a major relationship crisis where one side is failing to listen to the other  Continue Reading

• Embrace the new normal – re-platform your cloud services

  Huge improvements in cloud technology are opening up markets and solutions that previously didn’t exist. But complacent suppliers often don’t offer these innovations to long-established customers  Continue Reading

• Cloud pricing: Are per-second billing models really needed?

  Clive Longbottom looks at the growing complexity of cloud pricing models, and weighs up the value of per-second billing  Continue Reading

• The high price of not understanding how automation works with existing software licences

  Businesses must check their software licences before they introduce robotic process automation or they risk breaking the rules  Continue Reading

• How creative and innovative can technology made in China be?

  China's IT industry is becoming more Silicon Valley-like and, as a result, more attractive to the CIOs of western enterprises  Continue Reading

• GDPR: Five myths you will encounter on your compliance journey

  The General Data Protection Regulation comes into force in May 2018. We explore common myths surrounding GDPR  Continue Reading

• Managed crowdsourcing model: Another ‘made in China’ idea

  Chinese suppliers are using managed crowdsourcing to help them provide high-volume services to their customers  Continue Reading

• In an age of uncertainty, now is the time to rethink your outsourcing strategy

  Brexit and Trump are not only creating challenges but also opportunities in the outsourcing sector, and outsourcing deals will need to be flexible to exploit them  Continue Reading

• How government can use digital procurement to spend its way out of Brexit troubles

  Better use of the government's purchasing power could help to boost sectors, such as technology, likely to be affected by Brexit  Continue Reading

• Acquiring public sector software systems – an alternative role for GDS?

  Controlling and measuring software systems in government is notoriously difficult, so could a healthcare model offer a better alternative?  Continue Reading

• A Good American: a personal take on mass surveillance

  Director Friedrich Moser draws some conclusions on mass surveillance from his groundbreaking documentary on the work of NSA whistleblower, Bill Binney  Continue Reading

• A new nearshoring game is emerging

  Countries selling themselves as nearshore business services locations need to change their sales pitches to avoid becoming like all the other countries doing the same  Continue Reading

• Brexit – does it matter for IT?

  Brexit will have both short-term and long-term implications for businesses and their relationships with IT suppliers  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

• 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

• Managing open-source security: a legal perspective

  Open-source software is being used more widely than ever – but do IT leaders understand the legal risks?  Continue Reading

• Graph databases: What are the benefits for CIOs?

  With enterprise interest in graph databases on the rise, Clive Longbottom explains why some businesses are favouring them over relational setups  Continue Reading

• UK government SME procurement policy - where it worked and where it has failed

  The government's former SME champion outlines the difficulties of getting the civil service to buy in to Whitehall aspirations for buying from small businesses  Continue Reading

• People, not processes – a personal lament

  Professionals should never forget the art of networking and relationship-building as their career progresses  Continue Reading

• Cloud vs. Colocation: Why both make sense for the enterprise right now

  With colocation providers moving to adopt simpler, cloud-like charging models, would enterprises be better off ditching the datacentre completely?  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

• A plan for managing public-sector IT costs

  The 2015 spending review is set to put further pressure on the public sector. Are there easy cuts public-sector CIOs can make?  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

• Driving digital productivity in the UK

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

• Using technology to re-invent business process services

  BPO providers are making increasing use of the latest technologies to offer more than just outsourced processes  Continue Reading

• The top 10 myths about agile development

  Examining some of the most common misconceptions in the growing field of agile software development  Continue Reading

• The UK needs pace and scale to be a global leader

  The World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2015 saw the UK ranked eighth, up one place from 2014  Continue Reading

• Get closer to your customers by doing the co-creation tango

  For years, IT has been in a formal dance with its customers, but in the disruptive world of co-creation, it now needs to learn to tango  Continue Reading

• From poker to business and back again – playing the game of IT

  Of the many economic patterns organisations can exploit, one of the more interesting is a cycle known as 'peace, war and wonder'  Continue Reading

• The business benefits of the third platform

  Ron Tolido explains the benefits of the Open Group Open Platform 3.0  Continue Reading

• The IT supplier empathy gap

  How well do IT suppliers really understand your needs?  Continue Reading

• Watch out: Oracle plants $23,000 licensing booby trap in 12c upgrade

  Oracle will charge $23,000 per processor if you inadvertently switch on the in-memory database option  Continue Reading

• Buyer beware: second-hand user licences mired in uncertainty

  Despite a recent European Court of Justice ruling on the sale of used software, second user licensing remains a contentious subject  Continue Reading

• How government and the IT industry need to work together better

  The recent OFT study has given government and industry the requirement to work together to improve the procurement and use of IT across the public sector  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

• 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

• Cloud supplier lock-in – our experience

  Always ask before entering into any agreement, “How do I get my data out in the future if I need or want to?"  Continue Reading

• How to handle a software audit

  Software audits are an irritating and time consuming part of life. To survive one unscathed you'll need a thorough understanding of your licensing requirements.  Continue Reading

• Avoiding the mistakes of NPfIT in new NHS IT contracts

  What are the contracting experiences of NHS Trusts who have started their own IT procurement, and how can mistakes of the past be avoided?  Continue Reading

• A lesson in understanding your customers

  Allowing small businesses to benefit from the latest technology without the need for specialist skills is important to the economy - but some vendors forget this  Continue Reading

• The Great Deverticalisation – part 5: Mind the GaaP

  Politicians and government have the opportunity, through the power of open platforms, to take the lead in creating modern public services  Continue Reading

• The Great Deverticalisation - part 4: The role of the private sector

  Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply?  Continue Reading

• The Great Deverticalisation - part 3: New skills and structures in the public sector

  Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply?  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Tips for software contract negotiation

  Forrester's Mark Bartrick offers four essential tips on negotiating successful IT contracts  Continue Reading

• The great deverticalisation – part 1: the street

  Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply?  Continue Reading

• Forrester: The impact of cloud on outsourcing contracts

  Although still in its early stages, the transition of outsourcing engagements toward cloud-based models has begun  Continue Reading

• Getting to grips with managing supply and demand

  The way that companies connect with each other to do business can have a big effect on overall performance  Continue Reading

• Lack of understanding inhibits big data adoption

  Most organisations have no clear understanding of the advanced data analytics technologies now hitting the markets  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: SQLi is basically a process problem

  Why does SQL injection remain a successful way of attacking web applications?  Continue Reading

• Negotiating BPO contract termination in local government

  Advice on negotiating contract termination clauses in business process outsourcing arrangements  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Five key trends for your cloud journey

  Cloud computing is going to go through big changes in 2012, Forrester analysts predict  Continue Reading

• To be open or not to be – that is the question

  We are heading to a world where being open, or exploiting open, isn't optional, and for many it will become a question of “to be open or not to be”.  Continue Reading

• EU court legalises second-hand software

  In a landmark decision, the European Union Court of Justice ruled that the reselling of used software licences is legal.  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Effective management essential for IT security outsourcing

  What should and what should not be outsourced in IT security?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Effective quality control key to security outsourcing

  What should and what should not be outsourced in IT security?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Start with capability gap when outsourcing security

  What should and what should not be outsourced in IT security?  Continue Reading

• Why the public sector is turning to multi-sourcing

  Sarah Burnett explains why the public sector is moving from single sourcing to multi-sourcing, in an age of austerity.  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Innovation In Outsourcing Relationships

  Clients play the most important role in innovation In outsourcing relationships, says Wolfgang Benkel, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research.  Continue Reading

• An insider's view on the government open standards consultation

  Andy Hopkirk chaired the first public meeting of the government's open standards consultation. He gives his report on the debate.  Continue Reading

• Why government needs open source

  The tough economic climate has forced a radical rethink on public sector IT procurement, with decision-makers now on the lookout for more efficient, cost-effective solutions.  Continue Reading

• M-commerce: Why CIOs need to manage the risk

  CIOs will need to manage four key risks if they want their businesses to benefit from the growth in mobile commerce.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: Supply chain security should be top goal in 2012, says ISF

  The most important thing to achieve in information security in 2012 is supply chain security, writes Adrian Davis, principal research analyst at in Information Security Forum (ISF).  Continue Reading