Opinion

Opinion

• Security is not primarily a technical issue

  With the bank failures of recent weeks, more pending redundancies and a continuation of the downward slide, should we be concerned about lax security? Is...  Continue Reading

• Women falling out of love with IT

  Women are falling out of love with the IT industry. Since 2001, the number of female IT professionals has dropped 6%. I believe it is time the IT...  Continue Reading

• Drop in staff morale increases security threat

  With the bank failures of recent weeks, more pending redundancies and a continuation of the downward slide, should we be concerned about lax security? Is...  Continue Reading

• Why bother with policy and procedure?

  Policies and procedures are important tools in the information security toolbox and they are most important when they apply to the IT department.  Continue Reading

• Technology in the next 100 years: the futurologist’s view

  Futurologist Ian Pearson discussed technologies of the future to more than 200 IT, security and finance delegates on the Aurora cruise ship.  Continue Reading

• Grievance, Dismissal and an Employment Tribunal

  A self evident truth omitted from the Declaration of Independence is that: Employers will go to any lengths to avoid a just outcome. They will do anything to avoid accountability and pay damages.  Continue Reading

• Making the most of SMB opportunities

  Small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the UK have increased their spending...  Continue Reading

• Should you do an MBA?

  The MBA (Master of Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree that is awarded to students who have mastered the study of business. Students of MBA...  Continue Reading

• Beat the bullies

  Bullying in the workplace Bullying in the work place is something I feel very strongly about having been a victim myself in the past I very much feel...  Continue Reading

• Mobile payments offer new hope to smartphone makers

  Non-European countries are rapidly improving their citizens' ability to pay for goods using their mobile phones , writes Elodie Franceschini ,...  Continue Reading

• How to hang onto your job

  In these difficult times it's natural for people to worry that their jobs might be at risk, writes Jeremy I'Anson, director at HR consultancy xlSys Consulting....  Continue Reading

• Email blunders, messaging mishaps and more: Your stories...

  Many people have fallen foul of the ‘email quarantine trap’, or have mistakenly sent the wrong email to the wrong person. Well, we asked for your stories - and you certainly had plenty of blunders to share!  Continue Reading

• Security Zone: why 'need-to-know' is not always best practice

  I was recently reviewing an article which argued that in the absence of a clearly defined set of confidentiality requirements one should apply the concept of "need-to-know". Indeed it recommended this approach as following best practice!  Continue Reading

• itSMF UK: Communication in the real world

  Read any project "lessons learnt" report and it will say "We should have had better communication". Read any book on business change and it will say you have to concentrate on "communication, communication, communication". Listen to any politician ...  Continue Reading

• How to prevent internal data breaches

  How internal data breaches happen How internal data breaches can be prevented Since...  Continue Reading

• Is the government's 'super-database' legal?

  The Home Secretary has announced the government's intention to consult on plans for a "super-database" for communications data. Few details were provided, but it has been reported that the database will be used to monitor the internet use, mobile ...  Continue Reading

• Computer security when travelling by train – an expert’s observation

  Like many others, I endure a daily commute into London by train. Until recently I passed my time reading a newspaper. Lately though I have restricted myself...

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• Lost in Translation - a handbook for information systems in the 21st century

  The so-called 'business/IT divide' appears to be getting wider at the very time when business and technology are fusing.  Continue Reading

• Identity theft: What have we learned?

  Short memories or complacency? ask Ray Binnion, non-Executive Chairman, Defend-IT Limited and James Colby, Vice President Marketing, Insightix.  Continue Reading

• Managing IT in a downturn: beyond cost cutting

  Looking to slash your IT investments? Consider the possibility that targeted ones might generate savings and revenues exceeding what you could save through cost cutting.  Continue Reading

• What came first: the technology or the process?

  Has the increasing sophistication of technology helped to evolve business processes or have evolving business processes driven the pace of technology change?  Continue Reading

• IT enables SME business

  We live in an era of unprecedented global economic expansion. Continuing gains in productivity and the ever-faster flow of goods and information have combined to bring new levels of prosperity to millions of people around the world. The result, as ...  Continue Reading

• The IT Professional's Survival Guide

  Michael Pincher on how to keep your job (and sense of humour) while all about you are losing theirs.  Continue Reading

• Microsoft licensing programme promises bigger software discounts

  Microsoft is launching a new enterprise...  Continue Reading

• Real time threats demand real time security

  Some 30 billion text messages and 40 billion e-mail messages are transmitted across the network every day and it only takes one to wreak havoc. The annual...  Continue Reading

• How do we tackle political cyber-crime?

  Politically motivated computer crime has been growing steadily since the late 1980s. How should we deal with it? Kent Anderson, managing director at Encurve, LLC and member of ISACA’s Security Management Committee, offers his opinion.  Continue Reading

• Five tips on contract negotiations

  IT directors and managers will already be very familiar with how to negotiate IT contracts. What they might not be fully aware of is how much time,...  Continue Reading

• Tackling Computer Vision Syndrome

  Have you ever considered that your laptop or computer could be affecting your health? We all know that toothache means a trip to the dentist, but do we think...  Continue Reading

• How to prepare for job interviews

  Most of us only have to attend a few interviews during the course of our careers. Not surprisingly, many senior managers approach an important interview with some trepidation.  Continue Reading

• Talented people: how to find them, how to keep them

  Despite extensive research showing the high cost of recruiting the wrong people, many employers seem to have a surprisingly unstructured approach to the screening and selection of their key staff, writes Jeremy I'Anson, director at HR consultancy ...  Continue Reading

• Data loss: how to minimise risk, liability and reputational damage

  As public awareness of the dangers of data loss by businesses increases, Phil Sherrell and Vinod Bange from the technology team at international law firm Eversheds offer advice on mitigating the risks.  Continue Reading

• When mobile phones become mainstream clients

  A wireless local area network (Lan) was once a tool that enabled guests to access the internet, but today organisations increasingly rely upon it.  Continue Reading

• Will ID cards ever be in demand?

  As the private sector around the world adopts ID cards for various uses, will voluntary demand for such schemes ever happen in the UK? Home Secretary...  Continue Reading

• Expert opinion: e-tailers should copy online fraudsters' tactics

  It is credit crunch time, the belts are tightening whether you are a consumer or a business. Well for the consumer it is how they use their cash that is at the forefront of their minds: where can we save? Where can we go for the big bargains?  Continue Reading

• Why the ultimate customer experience need not cost the earth

  How many times have you heard that the customer is king? Countless, no doubt.

  At the risk of continuing with platitudes, it is also often said that...

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• The danger within

  The insider threat issue is undoubtedly creating a stir in the technology world, but do organisations actually take it seriously, and what are they doing...

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• The benefit of thin client computing

  There is a lot of talk at present about virtualisation, rack dense computing, and thin client technology  Continue Reading

• IT-enabled change: the knowledge

  Do you consider yourself business or technology-­focused? Or are you a business and IT hybrid? It is now almost a truism to say that business and IT goals...  Continue Reading

• Take a structured IT approach for successful mergers and acquisitions

  Computer Weekly reported recently that merger and acquisition activity is likely to continue despite - or perhaps because of - the credit crunch, writes Marc Bray, operations director at Totalamber.  Continue Reading

• Another data loss, another lax response

  When TV crews went into the offices of PA Consulting in London last week the staff looked as if they thought they were in the midst of an armed raid.  Continue Reading

• Focus on the quality of software projects

  Businesses are spending more money on software development as the complexity of applications increases.  Continue Reading

• Network security: get a complete view of your network

  Network security: get a complete view of your network

  By Ofir Arkin and Ray Binnion

  What's on your network?

  This is a simple question but...

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• Older generation could scupper £4.4bn National Identity Scheme

  The cost of the government's controversial £4.4bn national identity card scheme , could rise...  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 19 August 2008

  Monday

  I went to the local BCS meeting this evening - well, I don't go to the kirk much, so this is the only way I can feel like one of the younger...

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• Will cheap broadband drive video conferencing?

  It was at an IT industry symposium I attended back in 1996 where some American network rep boldly stated, "Within two years, WAN bandwidth will be free and...

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• IT outsourcing in a global economic downturn

  The continuing global economic downturn presents UK companies with a growing challenge to cut internal fixed costs and maximise profits, writes Nick Holland,...

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• Internet crime? Global justice?

  This week we feature two stories that show how ICT intersects with national legal systems to produce very novel scenarios of crime and punishment.

  A...

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• Top 10 information security tips for C-level executives

  Vernon Poole, head of business consultancy Sapphire , and former security manager for Deloitte...  Continue Reading

• ERP to grow in utilities, says Deloitte

  More than £500m is expected to be invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) services in the UK utilities industry over the next two years, looking at...

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• Interest in hosted services will increase

  Having read the recent article on how the downturn could help IT get banks off legacy systems, it came as a surprise to learn that these financial institutions are not interested in the hosted model  Continue Reading

• Use summer slowdown to build the brand of me

  We live or die professionally by our contacts, brand and knowledge. With holidays coming up and some free time on your hands, here are some useful things to do so that you come back from the break skilled-up, marketable, informed and better ...  Continue Reading

• Onus is on mobile operators to maintain security

  The recent survey into corporate mobile security from Decipher shows just how much company-sensitive data is accessible via company mobile devices. Although it is encouraging to see businesses arm their employees with the tools to make the best use ...  Continue Reading

• Free cost per transaction calculator

  The impact of the credit crunch has meant small and medium-sized companies have fewer resources to spend on evaluating the efficiency of their business…  Continue Reading

• Technology in tough times: preparing for economic downturn

  Microsoft research has shown that 76% of business owners have made no provision for an economic downturn, and 86% have not sought any advice on how to prepare for the worst  Continue Reading

• Plain speaking on outsourcing

  We report this week on two ground-breaking local government outsourcing developments  Continue Reading

• Hijacking blog strikes

  Christoph Alme, Team lead of Secure Computing's Anti-Malware Research Labs Hijacking blog strikes The infamous Storm...  Continue Reading

• Financial markets: How low can 'low latency' go?

  One of the buzz terms in the European financial markets in 2008 is "low latency".  Continue Reading

• Changes to Computer Misuse Act will turn security professionals into criminals

  The most recent changes to the Computer Misuse Act will give power to prosecute those who help or enable others to commit computer crime.  Continue Reading

• Modern leadership techniques hinder crisis management

  There is evidence that modern management techniques can make it more difficult to respond to a data security breach, writes Jonathan Armstrong, partner at international law firm Eversheds.  Continue Reading

• Is it farewell to legacy systems?

  The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. An apt expression for the basic conundrum posed by all legacy...  Continue Reading

• Maximising the value of IT to business

  Maximising the value of IT to business By Colin Tyler, head of technology practice, OC&C Strategy Consultants In today's changing economic climate,...  Continue Reading

• How to minimise risk of customer data loss and fraud

  UK businesses must change their attitude to customer data protection or they risk misuse and potential loss of this information.  Continue Reading

• Technology to weather the storm

  Not just recession, but M&S recession, joked The Economist in its 5 July issue. The nation's talismanic food and clothing retailer had posted...  Continue Reading

• When soft becomes hard for IT experts

  Under-investment in skills training in the IT sector is having a major impact on the UK's ability to compete globally, writes Fiona Bates of training provider...

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• The credit crunch: who dares, wins

  IT professionals may be forgiven for feeling some apprehension as to what the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market and the ensuing global credit...

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• Macs and Malware

  Everybody but the anti-virus industry "knows" that there aren't any Mac viruses, so what, if anything, does an IT team need to do about Apple Macintosh security?...

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• tom rogerson

  The march towards the consumerisation of the IT used by large organisations is appearing irresistible, writes Tom Rogerson, chief technology officer, financial services Europe, Computer Sciences Corporation.  Continue Reading

• Improving the relationship between development teams and their customers

  You need your development team to be able to deliver what you need, when you need it, and to be able to respond to changes of all kinds on demand, write Ross Hamilton, director, and Joe Morrison, managing consultant, at Lab49 consultants.  Continue Reading

• Plug your zero-day vulnerability gap

  While a lot of time and effort goes into ensuring that networks are patched, the gap between vulnerability announcements and patch availability remains a serious and often costly issue for too many companies.  Continue Reading

• Company blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by voting for your favourite in the IT Company Blogs category.  Continue Reading

• IT project management blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  IT project management blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08  Continue Reading

• Wireless and mobile blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by voting for your favourite in the Wireless and Mobile category.  Continue Reading

• Programming and development blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by voting for your favourite in the Programming and Technical category.  Continue Reading

• CIO and IT director blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by nominating your favourites in the CIO and IT Director Blogs category.  Continue Reading

• IT lifestyle blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  IT lifestyle blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08  Continue Reading

• IT security blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by voting for your favourite in the IT Security category.  Continue Reading

• Public sector IT blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by voting for your favourite in the Public Sector IT category.  Continue Reading

• Web 2.0 and business blogs: ComputerWeekly.com IT Blog Awards 08

  Help us to identify the best IT blogs in the UK by voting for your favourite in the Web 2.0 and Business category.  Continue Reading

• What has Bill Gates ever done for us? Readers have their say

  Gates opened up the market to easy-to-use software

  Stephen Boulten, head of IT, Leek United Building Society

  Bill Gates and Microsoft produced...

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• Computer Weekly: beating the IT drum

  Welcome to the new-look Computer Weekly, which is the latest result of our ongoing programme of research into the information needs of IT professionals. We...  Continue Reading

• Banks should collaborate with customers to fight fraud

  New provisions to the Banking Code means banks can now pass responsibility for card fraud to consumers if they do not have antivirus software or firewalls....

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• BCS council seeks nominees

  The BCS is looking for members who want to contribute to the development of BCS and its goal to make IT the profession of the 21st century.

  For those...

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• Computer science departments must reinvent themselves to avoid a business school takeover

  Computer science departments must act quickly to meet the changing skills needs of the dynamic IT sector or risk a takeover from business schools. This would...

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• Bill Gates: looking back on the road ahead

  At the end of June, Bill Gates will finally stop doing the job he loves in order to concentrate on his philanthropic foundation. It is the end of an era that started with Microsoft Basic in 1975, continued with MS DOS in 1981, and exploded after ...  Continue Reading

• Faulty software can lead to astronomic costs

  Many factors compromise software development, leading to loss and exposure to risk that could dwarf the cost of the software itself.

  The most common...

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• Everyday superheroes

  Everyday superheroes John Dovey President UK corporates BT Global Services Among all the items about the sub-prime crisis and the credit crunch, one news story really caught my attention.  Continue Reading

• The economics of Software Testing

  The challenge facing any software development manager is how to balance the natural tension that exists between time, cost and quality. On top of this, programmes also have to balance the three organisational elements of corporate strategy, delivery...  Continue Reading

• Consultant roles demand communication skills

  What does it take to be a successful consultant?  Continue Reading

• Hardware reputation and the online fraud arms race

  Banks are used to arms races. In the 1960s and 1970s the easiest way to for thieves to get hold of a bank's money was to turn up in person at branches with a gun and demand cash. So banks placed their workers behind bulletproof glass. This forced ...  Continue Reading

• Customer relationship management: happy customers = profitable customers

  Customers, clients, consumers, call them what you will but without them, you don't have a business, writes Jason Nash, product solutions marketing manager,...

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• IT will be critical factor in airline survival

  You do not have to be a financial analyst to work out that airlines are going through pretty rough times at the moment.  Continue Reading

• PCI: a matter of timing

  PCI is a subject on which reams have been written already, but in my recent work I have seen it in a different light. For all the technical advice given - and to a large extent practiced - the one thing a project manager should be most aware of ...  Continue Reading

• Government services online are a real benefit

  If you believed everything you read in the media, you could be forgiven for thinking that every major government IT programme is unwanted and unloved. Yet...

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• Blogosphere denial can hurt your business

  Technology moves fast. But you know that. It is your job, after all. Even so, sometimes it catches us all by surprise. Web logs, or blogs as they have become known, are barely a decade old as a publishing medium, but they are part of the mainstream ...  Continue Reading

• Legal uniformity needed to tackle data breaches

  The clamour for specific security-breach legislation in the UK following the breach at Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs and more recent announcements by major corporations needs to be given more thought.  Continue Reading

• Security forecast: mobile devices

  Although historically little interest has been shown in security threats to mobile devices compared with that posed to PCs, the tables have recently started to turn. The Centre for the Protection of Critical National Infrastructure (CPNI) has stated...  Continue Reading

• Is data the CIO's responsibility?

  The challenge of maintaining high-quality data has been around since the proliferation of the database, but it is still an issue that affects a wide variety of businesses and the public sector, writes Colin Ricard of DataFlux.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: HP’s acquisition of EDS leaves questions unanswered

  Although Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of EDS was expected, the premium that HP paid was unexpected, and potentially unwarranted, given EDS's recent track-record and a depressed outsourcing market.  Continue Reading

• Web 2.0 blows a hole in business

  The explosion in Web 2.0 applications - social networking, blogs, wikis, Second Life sites, and so on - has made them a key target for cyber criminals...  Continue Reading

• ISF: Extend the security perimeter

  By and large, corporates have solved the problem of protecting the security of workstations against malware in their own internal environment...  Continue Reading