Opinion

Opinion

• UK firms report jump in spend on e-discovery systems

  Corporate attitudes and spending on the management of electronically stored information (ESI) for legal and regulatory matters are changing.  Continue Reading

• Darling fails to deliver

  After 50 minutes of soporific buzz words and statistics, it became clear that, for IT at least, Alistair Darling's Budget had very little to offer.  Continue Reading

• Information commissioner seeks greater powers

  The recent reported loss of HMRC discs containing child benefit details has once again thrown back into the spotlight whether the information commissioner should be given greater powers to deal with breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998, say ...  Continue Reading

• IT can keep the UK flying high

  If the UK is to maintain its position as a leading world economy, its productivity must improve, writes Paul Coby, CIO of British Airways. Research by the...  Continue Reading

• Sharpen up your data protection act

  The collection and use of personal information is essential to the functioning of businesses, but IT departments...  Continue Reading

• Information security: the story of the suicidal kangaroo

  The Information Security Forum (ISF) has designated 2008 the "Year of Security Awareness", but saying something new can be tricky. Here Rob Hadfield, a security awareness specialist for ISF member British Airways, shares his struggle for inspiration  Continue Reading

• The Puzzler: find squares made of two digit primes

  The wonderful world of recreational mathematics  Continue Reading

• Better exploitation of IT could add £35bn to UK economy

  Recent research from e-skills UK has shown that making the most of technology could boost the UK economy by £35bn over the next five to seven years, writes Karen Price, CEO of e-skills UK. In England alone this equates to between £1bn and £5bn per ...  Continue Reading

• Royal Holloway: Control the controllers

  So what really happened at Société Générale?  Continue Reading

• Management buy-in essential

  Until the management of large organisations understands the need for the ongoing maintenance of IT security systems, and fully supports it, employees will continue to evade controls and commit fraud.  Continue Reading

• Protect controls as well as systems

  Vigorous and independent audits are key in underpinning the controls that safeguard your systems against fraud.  Continue Reading

• Take a holistic approach

  People, motive, opportunity and means: you need to cover all the angles if you're serious about protecting the organisation.  Continue Reading

• Control is the key

  You need to get the security fundamentals right, and then ensure your controls can be (and are) effectively enforced.  Continue Reading

• Access management comes first

  Sure, tools are useful, but only after you have identified which staff need which information, and you have processes in place that can deliver and control that access.  Continue Reading

• Put your faith in standards to keep staff on the straight and narrow

  Implementing the right security standards is the best way to stop insider fraud.  Continue Reading

• Choose your open source partner with care

  Linux has traditionally been ignored by the larger systems integrators because of its slow organic growth, and the niche has largely been filled by two-man bands enjoying their moment in the spotlight, writes Peter Dawes-Huish. Neither has ...  Continue Reading

• Meet the business continuity manager's new best friend

  IT and information security professionals have a new best friend. That indispensable buddy is, believe it or not, a standard: business continuity management standard BS 25999 to be precise.  Continue Reading

• Traditional application development processes doom web projects to failure

  It is no secret that web projects fail, but it is lesser known that traditional application development approaches are the single biggest factor in this failure. Why? And what straightforward steps can be taken to reduce time to market, increase ...  Continue Reading

• Government's IT training cuts are deeply damaging

  Apart from a narrow list of exempt courses, the government has withdrawn support from students wishing to retrain in vital subjects. Needless to say, ICT isn't on the list, writes Rob Wilson, shadow minister for higher education.  Continue Reading

• 'We Think' promises to drive innovation

  The endless restructuring of the past three decades provides the backdrop for the rise of alternative, collaborative and less hierarchical ways to organise ourselves through the web: forms of organisation that rely on what I call "We Think".  Continue Reading

• Security Zone: information security economics for the individual

  Security, like news, is sexy when it's sensational: the hackers are coming, the country will succumb to cyber attack any day now, and anyone can steal your identity. But how many people have given their password some real thought?  Continue Reading

• Cold calling is damaging the reputation of offshoring

  Most industry observers agree that the delays caused by the recent undersea internet cable failures were a nuisance but that, by and large, the problem was dealt with quickly and effectively  Continue Reading

• The boundaryless network

  The idea of "my network" and "your network" is effectively obsolete.  Continue Reading

• A lean and green supply machine

  Inefficient transport methods in the modern supply chain contribute significantly to global warming. In fact, as much as 75% of a company's carbon footprint comes from transportation and logistics alone, according to a recent analyst report.  Continue Reading

• UK has lessons to learn from Hong Kong on ID cards

  Whether citizens like it or not, their governments are anxious to know everything about them.  Continue Reading

• Readers' photos: Oldest kit

  Check out the highlights from round one of our Hardware Hoarders photo competition to find the oldest IT equipment hoarded by Computer Weekly readers, and why they've kept it.  Continue Reading

• Pressure to perform can lead to abuse of IT in finance houses

  If ever a reminder were needed that technology is not context-free, the case of Société Générale trader Jérôme Kerviel has provided one.  Continue Reading

• CIO strategies for thriving in an economically uncertain world

  In the Gartner Executive Programs 2008 CIO survey, the average CIO's expectation was that their IT budget would be rising by just more than 3% in 2008, writes Dave Aron, vice-president and research director in Gartner Executive Programs.  Continue Reading

• Limit your liability from social networking

  Although Tif members find that allowing staff to use social networking sites can have advantages in terms of knowledge sharing and market research, they also see that the risks of using such sites must be understood and managed  Continue Reading

• Policies hold key to social networking security threat

  Certain personal online activities can help maintain employee productivity. The question is, when does fair use become a concern for the HR department and line management?  Continue Reading

• Gartner’s at-a-glance guide to social networking risks

  Gartner research director Andrew Walls sets out the security risks in using social networks.  Continue Reading

• Social networking security is a people issue

  For the corporate body of knowledge, social networking sites can be a leech - is your health and safety record with HR or YouTube is appraisal information best gleaned from FaceBook?  Continue Reading

• Social networking: corporate risks, individual risks

  As a result of the strong human desire to connect, social networking websites have encouraged online behaviour where security and privacy are not always the first priority  Continue Reading

• Why the stock options backdating scandal will not hit the UK

  The former CEO of a US tech giant will have 21 long months in which to rue the day he ever heard of stock option backdating. Brocade Communications' Gregory Reyes has been sent to prison for 21 months and fined £7.5m for backdating options.  Continue Reading

• A greater social networking threat on the horizon

  How long will it be before one of the social networking sites gives simple remote access from PC to PC?  Continue Reading

• Social networking: would you shout your details in the street?

  By using social networking sites, are you not providing potential attackers with a virtual Post-it note to your information, and ultimately your identity?  Continue Reading

• Soft skills and hard facts

  Last year a survey by the US Society of Information Management listed the top 10 professional concerns of CIOs. The issues are perennial and remain essentially the same in the UK, although they might not be listed in the same order:  Continue Reading

• Industry collaboration key to meeting the skills challenge

  Commenting on Microsoft research into the skills needed for future business success, Bill Gates highlighted that the high-fliers of tomorrow will be those that continue to develop a strong and diverse skill set. "If you look at the most interesting ...  Continue Reading

• The road ahead for IT security leaders

  If CIOs are going to make the most of opportunities for using IT to fuel business transformations and become engaged in experimentation with software as a service, virtual worlds, Web 2.0 and the full realm of other new and emerging technologies, ...  Continue Reading

• Don't panic over 'ban' on security tools

  Oh, dear golly gosh, are they going to make computer security tools illegal? Spare me.  Continue Reading

• The positive side of regulatory compliance

  When I was working at MCI WorldCom - now Verizon - at the end of 2004, talking to yet another auditor about controls, I did not think that I would ever be looking back with nostalgia.  Continue Reading

• How to combat the Sans Institute's top 10 security threats

  Timothy Mullen, vice-president of consulting services at NGS Software, offer advice on protecting your systems from the most pressing cyber threats of 2008  Continue Reading

• Get it write: writing rules for IT professionals

  IT hiccups, I've had a few, and usually an IT expert has fixed them for me. Problems have arisen only when the said expert has advised...  Continue Reading

• Computer Weekly bloggers face up to 2008

  At the end of 2007, we asked Computer Weekly's band of bloggers to prognosticate for 2008.  Continue Reading

• The possibilities of an XML-based information delivery framework on the desktop

  JustSystems has released xfy Technology, possibly the first XML-based information delivery framework on the desktop. David Norfolk looks at what this software is capable of.  Continue Reading

• IT staff fear cost of sub-prime lending on jobs market

  The losses from lending to "sub-prime" borrowers who were a poor credit risk are racking up. UBS has declared losses of around £6.5bn, Citigroup £5.5bn and Morgan Stanley almost £5bn. UK high-street banks are not exempt: Barclays has written off ...  Continue Reading

• Data privacy must become a corporate priority

  Breaching data privacy can cause substantial financial loss The data breach at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which placed 25 million people at risk...  Continue Reading

• Effective integration does not require the latest technology

  Whether it is SOA, BPM, or EDI, solving integration challenges is more about rigorous business management than the latest technology.  Continue Reading

• Security zone: the trouble with testing anti-malware

  Testing products that detect malware are important to the integrity of anti-virus products, but there are several problems that need to be overcome  Continue Reading

• Become a political animal to succeed as a CIO

  If you are an IT manager, it is probable that you are a highly intelligent person with significant cognitive (left brain) capabilities. This will have been your passport into the IT profession. However, there is another set of capabilities that will...  Continue Reading

• The construction industry is waking up to the Benefits of IT

  In general, the construction industry has been reluctant to embrace the benefits of IT. However, builders are now beginning to be dragged into the 21st century by the need to collaborate more closely with their more IT-savvy colleagues, the ...  Continue Reading

• Next move: moving beyond project management

  The question: how do I move beyond project management?  Continue Reading

• Hot skills: DB 9.5

  IBM's DB2 is a relational database management system (RDBMS), widely used in enterprises.  Continue Reading

• The role of computer literacy in skills pinch

  For the past 20 years or more, the UK has had skills shortages. In every sector there are complaints about everything from basic literacy and numeracy, to specific sector skills.  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 18 December 2007

  Catch up with the events from Bogcaster City Council  Continue Reading

• Wired or wireless for the enterprise? (Part 2)

  In the second part of our "wired or wireless for the enterprise?" discussion, Steve Broadhead, director of Broadband Testing Labs, speaks to three wireless experts about where the technology is heading.  Continue Reading

• Preparing for PoE Plus and Energy Efficient Ethernet

  Power over Ethernet has been around for some time, but the standard is evolving and this could have implications for designing corporate networks, writes Carrie Higbie, president of the Blade Systems Alliance.  Continue Reading

• Companies Act 2006 will bring IT closer to business

  The Companies Act 2006, which comes into force in October 2009, is reminiscent of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US. Sarbanes-Oxley has impinged mightily on the working lives of British IT professionals working for companies listed in the US, so...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: readers share their views

  Missing CDs, HSBC's fraud initiative, Abbey's system problems, social engineering  Continue Reading

• We must beware the offshoring skills wave

  For some years, CEOs have sought to divest the parts of their business that have become commoditised, and therefore of limited competitive advantage, writes David Roberts, chief executive of the Corporate IT Forum.  Continue Reading

• How to nurture innovation in your business

  "Entrepreneurship within the world's largest businesses is just as important as that displayed by enterprising start-ups," says Peter Grigg, principal policy adviser at the Make Your Mark campaign, which aims to create an enterprise culture among ...  Continue Reading

• Broadband: Wired or wireless for the enterprise?

  Broadband: Weighing up the benefits of alternative broadband infrastructures Wired or wireless for the enterprise?  Continue Reading

• DPM's Diary: 27 November 2007

  Catch up with events from Bogcaster Council  Continue Reading

• Know who you are dealing with when outsourcing

  What makes some outsourcing arrangements successful, while others fail at the first hurdle? To identify the reasons behind outsourcing success and, conversely, failure, sourcing consultancy Quantum Plus and law firm Bird & Bird surveyed people ...  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 20 November

  Catch up with the events from Bogcaster Council  Continue Reading

• Profile your IT department's DNA

  IT is the most negative corporate department regarding the way the company is run and its characteristics. But why is the IT department so pessimistic?  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 13 November 2007

  Catch up with the events from Bogcaster Council  Continue Reading

• Your shout: skills, Mifid, shared services, IT processes

  Your shout: readers have their say  Continue Reading

• How to take your IT systems global

  Global IT can result in cost and efficiency savings  Continue Reading

• Secure a top-level role with soft skills

  Robina Chatham of Cranfield School of Management shares her experience of using people skills and networking to ensure projects run smoothly and to increase your value to the business.  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Mifid, the UK's education system, IT estate measurement, political representation of IT

  Mifid, the UK's education system, IT estate measurement, political representation of IT, NHS data sharing  Continue Reading

• Getting IT back on political agenda

  Twenty five years ago IT was seen as the "meta-technology" of the future and punched well above its weight politically. Today, society is critically dependent on online systems, but the political influence of the IT community is negligible.  Continue Reading

• Downtime: police cut music at source with sting operation

  Downtime: the lighter side of IT  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Drunken photos really are worth their weight in gold

  Downtime: the lighter side of IT  Continue Reading

• Computer Weekly blogs

  ComputerWeekly.com’s authoritative blogs cover some of the key issues facing IT decision maker’s today, from security to risk management and the challenges posed by project management.  Continue Reading

• DPM's Diary 23 October 2007

  The reverberations from last week's Asslic conference continue  Continue Reading

• Hot skills : Rise of Ajax drives demand for Javascript developers

  Scripting language enables rich internet applications  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 16 October 2007

  Monday: I Aawoke uncertain as to where I was. Indeed, it was a good few minutes before I was sure who I was. There are...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: encryption, Northern Rock's website, C# skills shortage

  Readers share their views on encryption, Northern Rock's website, C# skills shortage  Continue Reading

• Application virtualisation: the next big thing?

  Just when you thought there could not possibly be yet another conference on virtualisation, more flyers arrive through the electronic letterbox.  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Vista apps delay, virtualised apps, asset management, security spending

  Vista apps delay, virtualised apps, asset management, security spending  Continue Reading

• Cauldron of opportunity

  Technology innovation at the London Stock Exchange distils and magnifies the business-meets-IT issues and opportunities that exercise all IT professionals.  Continue Reading

• Tips for IT project success: beware technology obsession

  As systems professionals, we are often greatly enthused by new or emergent technologies, tools or techniques. We also have a natural inclination to reach for the technology button when confronted with a major process challenge. Understandably so, as...  Continue Reading

• Secure IT is critical to the modern law firm

  Law firms make massive use of technology - anyone still under the quill-pen illusion should prepare themselves to be disillusioned.  Continue Reading

• Remember lessons of 9/11

  The phrase "September 11" will always fail to do justice to its referent. In the months that followed the attacks on the World Trade Center, many a jaded IT journalist found themselves automatically deleting press releases that included the phrase ...  Continue Reading

• Sharing from the bottom up

  Government IT projects are prone to overreach themselves, inspired, as they often are, by a faith in technology for technology's sake.  Continue Reading

• US iPhone hacker eyes a more cerebral challenge

  Hacking the brain should be simple for George Hotz (aka geohot), the 17-year-old student who first unlocked Apple's iPhone, making it usable on GSM networks other than AT&T's.  Continue Reading

• Wife severs husband’s ties to the internet

  Internet addiction remains a controversial topic. There is little agreement on the nature of the problem and even less agreement on how it should be treated.  Continue Reading

• Safe money placed on US victory in war against flu

  US banks are planning to simulate a flu pandemic to see how financial services are affected by widespread staff absences. It will be interesting to hear how things turn out.  Continue Reading

• Big Blue faces legal battle as server takes a tumble

  IBM is being sued for the cost of a £700,000 server that was written off after being dropped by a forklift truck. US contractor TR Systems is suing IBM, claiming that poor packaging caused the severe damage to the server, which occurred in transit ...  Continue Reading

• Time, the great concealer

  The general media has a limited appetite for the disclosure of "historic" information. Computer Weekly has been registering evidence that the UK government is becoming evermore skilful in playing on that lassitude and laziness.  Continue Reading

• Reveal the elephant: seven wonders of IT

  Do not let project failures obscure IT's successes  Continue Reading

• Big ideas for global gains

  Discussion of globalisation in the IT press seldom rises above the level of the merits and demerits of outsourcing. There is a tendency to isolate particular elements of globalisation, without relating them to each other to produce a coherent ...  Continue Reading

• Comment: high salaries, high stakes for government CIOs

  That three central government CIOs earn more than the prime minister tempts one to choose between the sins of envy and pride. Let's plump for pride.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: Britain must nurture its IT entrepreneurs

  First Tuesday founder Julie Meyer argues that it is a great time to be an entrepreneur working with technology, with the internet offering a ready-made, fast-track gateway to an unrivalled user base.  Continue Reading

• IT projects won't succeed if we all keep doing the same old thing

  We have all read the headlines about failed IT projects which appear to be endemic in all industry sectors from financial services to telecoms, but why do we keep reading about these problems? The simple reason is we are not getting the basics right...  Continue Reading

• Learn from mistakes made in US security

  Think the US does IT security best? Think again  Continue Reading

• Your shout: readers share their views on the National Audit Office, start-ups and outsourcing

  Readers share their views on IT issues  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 24 July 2007

  Weekly round-up of events at Bogcaster Council...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: NHS IT, the value trap, NPfIT

  Readers discuss working in IT for the NHS, CIOs stuck in the value trap and the NPFIT in the light of recent terror attacks  Continue Reading