Opinion

Opinion

• Dual effort is needed to avert a skills crisis

  Employers and employees need to collaborate  Continue Reading

• Government ministers should learn to account for IT failures

  Openness is key to effective project management  Continue Reading

• What direction will IT take in 2007?

  Will we actually see significant changes within the industry in the year ahead, such as SOA or RFID technology finally coming of age?  Continue Reading

• DPM's diary: 23 January

  Monday: "I really don't know what all the fuss is about. Data sharing within the public sector is a matter of common sense. All that wishy washy data protection is so 20th century."  Continue Reading

• Downtime: Satnav thriller as bank shows us the money

  Downtime has never used satnav. We were put off by all the tales of people being directed off cliffs and suchlike.  Continue Reading

• Careers: Get on to the corporate radar with Dracula management

  Gain visibility and get back on the corporate radar  Continue Reading

• Bosses learning to let staff work to a different tune

  Who hasn't sneakily browsed the web for personal reasons while at work?  Continue Reading

• Simple ways to do more, faster, with older PCs

  Slow and outdated PCs can waste time and reduce end-user efficiency, however, there are easy and cheap ways to upgrade staff computers  Continue Reading

• Infosecurity and IT ops are on the same side, so let's act like it

  Bridging the divide between the information security and operations teams would benefit both sides, the IT department and the business as a whole  Continue Reading

• The productivity challenge: Working with the iPod generation

  Implementing policies that are enabling rather than restrictive can help attract and retain high quality staff, while still ensuring productivity and security  Continue Reading

• IPv6 offers data packet security and quality of service – but so does IPv4

  Don't expect major security and quality gains with new Internet Protocol  Continue Reading

• Government admits mistakes on IT-based programmes

  At last a government agency has had the confidence to admit some of its mistakes on IT-based programmes, publish the wider lessons, and show how it is learning from them.  Continue Reading

• Let's get our act together before extolling the virtues of a career in IT

  Over the past 12 months a lot of “experts” have bemoaned the lack of computer science graduates and predicted doom and gloom for the IT industry in the UK because of it.  Continue Reading

• Your shout: The great ID cards debate

  Computer Weekly readers have their say  Continue Reading

• Feast and famine as skills market unravels

  Polarised jobs market is not enticing to youngsters  Continue Reading

• How CIOs can prove IT's value

  So it’s official: research says 58% of CIOs don’t ensure that IT delivers value – what a surprise.  Continue Reading

• A suitable case for treatment

  Insufficient testing is the bane of many a promising IT project, but in most cases it leads to nothing more than frustration on the part of the end-user.  Continue Reading

• Who will foot the bill for ID card fraud?

  Government looks set to push liability on business  Continue Reading

• Does Vista show us the path to safer IT?

  Ibukun Adebayo outlines the dangers of Microsoft's Jack-of-all-trades approach  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Women, remote working, outsourcing

  Computer Weekly readers have their say  Continue Reading

• IT's future is going greener

  It is getting hard to avoid all things green these days, as environmental issues climb the political agenda, and IT is as much in the spotlight as any sector.  Continue Reading

• Gung-ho approach is the road to disaster

  Unfounded optimism is damaging public sector IT  Continue Reading

• Manage people, not technology

  People are the crucial factor in organisational change, and only by understanding what motivates them can you ensure a major project's success  Continue Reading

• IT needs to act now on climate change

  Our industry should take lead on the environment  Continue Reading

• Opportunity for clarity

  We are delighted that the House of Commons Health Committee is going to hold an inquiry into the NHS's £12.4bn National Programme for IT. We have campaigned hard for an inquiry, as have 23 leading academics who wrote an open letter to the committee.  Continue Reading

• Pretty interfaces alone do not make a business case

  The release of Windows Vista is a great achievement, but Microsoft should not lose sight of the fact that many of its customers will be running Windows XP for a while yet.  Continue Reading

• So what's your survival plan for IT?

  IT chiefs face a choice in defining the long-term role of IT: create and manage business processes or focus on the sourcing and execution of IT services  Continue Reading

• Who's liable for ID cards?

  The government is pitching ID cards as a solution for identity theft. But industry needs to recognise that the current approach represents a much greater risk of identity theft liability for businesses, who will be left to pick up the costs if ...  Continue Reading

• Make sure SOA truly starts with service

  The SOA lable is not an automatic seal of quality  Continue Reading

• A clear case for openness

  For the first time, government auditors have explained with clarity and insight what differentiates good IT-based projects from bad ones.  Continue Reading

• Willingness to adapt is vital to stay in work

  I was made redundant in August 2005 at the age of 61 after nearly 36 years in IT with the same company. I found it all but impossible to get another job in IT for a number of reasons, one of which may have well have been my age.  Continue Reading

• Users win in Linux love-in

  It seems the world really is big enough for both Windows and Linux. Earlier this month some of the heat was taken out of the long-standing rivalry between Microsoft and the Linux community thanks to a collaborative effort between old enemies ...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: IT heroes, free data, cool datacentres

  Computer Weekly readers have their say  Continue Reading

• SOA can light up manufacturing IT

  IT directors can help simplify the diversity of manufacturing systems in the business by implementing an efficient SOA platform, says Colin Masson  Continue Reading

• Secure web use for all, without walls

  Few companies would lay claim to being able to protect all end devices. So in a deperimeterised environment a holistic approach to web access is required, says Paul Simmonds  Continue Reading

• Do you know where all your data is?

  Changes to the law mean that organisations will be required to account for all their data and documents in the event of litigation, says Bill Onwusah  Continue Reading

• Yes, IT can deliver an end to pointless toil

  Positive change is achieved by incremental steps  Continue Reading

• Spelling out Vista's value

  One would hope that in this day and age most people have a fair idea of whether an application is adding value to the business. But what is the intrinsic value of a new operating system?  Continue Reading

• New ideas with roots in the past

  With the benefit of 40 years at the sharp end of IT change, a prominent analyst looks at what has changed in the industry, and asks what the future may hold  Continue Reading

• Real rewards of working life

  This week is your final chance to enter Computer Weekly's Best Places to Work in IT awards, created to showcase the best IT departments in the UK.  Continue Reading

• Information security means better business

  It's time for an ongoing dialogue with the board  Continue Reading

• Your shout: course concerns, NHS under scrutiny, security standards

  Computer Weekly readers give their views on the week's news.  Continue Reading

• Professionalism in IT scheme turns to individual best practice

  The future of IT depends on professionalism, where the test of such professionalism is related to business impact and outcomes, not just technical excellence.  Continue Reading

• Oil boom boost for energy sector IT

  Bolstered by a thriving oil market, energy companies are competing to attract the best IT talent, and offer attractive salaries and a wealth of opportunities  Continue Reading

• Forging a career in an offshore age

  Job prospects: Although many technical roles are being moved offshore, the career prospects of younger IT workers in the UK are paradoxically strengthened  Continue Reading

• Educate the IT amateurs

  Everybody is an IT expert these days. It makes you wonder why any company bothers employing an IT director or a security specialist when everyone on the staff not only knows the word firewall but has their very own implementation at home.  Continue Reading

• Future of IT depends on a novel approach

  Old-style process automation blocks fresh thinking  Continue Reading

• Businesses must get behind new diploma

  IT qualification will help meet UK's skills needs  Continue Reading

• Spotlight on data security

  With the recent Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 once again fanning the flames of anxiety around data theft, firms would do well to use the publicity as a wake-up call and turn the security spotlight on themselves.  Continue Reading

• Living in the vanilla world

  Who do you believe? IT controversialist Nicholas Carr has been back in town dampening down enthusiasm about innovative IT creating unique competitive advantage.  Continue Reading

• So who wants to have a career in IT? I do...

  Computing as a career had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. Even the 1990s saw the young getting into telecoms, e-security or web design. So what has gone wrong with IT as an appealing career for young people? .  Continue Reading

• NHS IT - A personal view

  The media last week was full of comment on the "problems" at the NHS IT project as Accenture ducked out. Yet again, the comment portrayed the project as a "disaster" - indeed “yet another public sector IT disaster”.  Continue Reading

• Age law could make things worse for us all

  New law will see companies' costs will rise and hit employment  Continue Reading

• Rewards on a two-way road

  For anyone who has got lost in a city centre one-way system, the joys of the two-way street, even if it means a bit of negotiation with vehicles coming the other way, are obvious.  Continue Reading

• Why, when and how to outsource

  More than just a procurement programme, outsourcing arrangements need close management from the outset in order to achieve optimum performance  Continue Reading

• Why profit is built on trust

  Many IT directors feel that suppliers only want to sell products to meet sales targets, without thought to whether what they have sold is a good fit for the business.  Continue Reading

• Setting an IT agenda for greener business

  What IT leaders can do to reduce electronic waste  Continue Reading

• A helping hand with IT governance

  There’s no need for wrong turns on the road to achieving effective IT governance. Frameworks can offer a clear path to better risk management and value  Continue Reading

• Don’t let them kick you out after 40

  Unemployment need not be the fate of IT’s elders  Continue Reading

• See the bigger picture on data security

  Don’t let suppliers put the blinkers on – even the best electronic security won’t safeguard your data if the physical aspects of protection have been overlooked  Continue Reading

• The basics of good security

  Are you suffering from security fatigue? Does trying to plug every possible gap in the network or ensuring every bit of data is only seen by those who should see it starting to weigh you down?  Continue Reading

• Converged networks: How to work smarter

  Converged networks technology is enabling end-users to work in new ways and can deliver substantial cost savings to the business.  Continue Reading

• SOA as a catalyst for better IT governance

  Effective framework helps deliver business value  Continue Reading

• Be clear about £140m lesson

  The decision by the Department for Work and Pensions to drop its £140m Benefits Processing Repayments IT project could be much more than just another central government IT failure.  Continue Reading

• Help the business get a sense of direction

  Successful IT depends on effective coordination  Continue Reading

• Downtime: No trout about it – silence is golden on the riverbank

   Continue Reading

• Why shared services will benefit everyone

  IT collaboration frees up public staff to add value  Continue Reading

• Unhealthy tale of NAO report

  The National Audit Office is a great British institution - or was.  Continue Reading

• Why we must shout about our IT security

  Promote security measures to reassure customers  Continue Reading

• Challenges of consolidation

  Infrastructure and applications consolidation have dominated the agendas of the UK's IT departments during the past few years. And rightly so.  Continue Reading

• Campaigning your way onto the board

  Here’s a conundrum: I have never met a CIO on the board of any company who believes they are there because they are the functional head of IT. But I have met many who are not on the board and believe they should be because they are the functional ...  Continue Reading

• Question time over NHS data

  To lose one datacentre may be regarded as a misfortune to lose both looks like carelessness.  Continue Reading

• Profit motive is what drives the best in IT

  Technologists must make grade on business stage.  Continue Reading

• Getting the IT skill mix right

  The number of advertised vacancies for contractors has suffered its biggest fall for four years, according to the latest Computer Weekly/SSL salary survey. Where contractors lead, permanent jobs tend to follow.  Continue Reading

• Licensing for today's world

  Getting a grip on software licensing complexity is a challenge that IT users and their suppliers cannot afford to shirk.  Continue Reading

• Avoiding nasty contract surprises

  Taking some time to review the supplier's terms early on can help you to avoid contractual traps and get the most from your software licensing agreement, says Jimmy Desai  Continue Reading

• Don't stay in denial on information risk

  Boards must lead from the front on data security, says Ian Wylie  Continue Reading

• Innovative moves that may herald the storage cluster revolution

  Developments in network-attached clustering signal new storage approach, says Steve Broadhead  Continue Reading

• Recruit on ability, not colour or accent

  True equality brings underused talent to the fore, says Ibukun Adebayo  Continue Reading

• Web 2.0 offers a better place to stay

  It is the latest label that online software service suppliers are keen to deck themselves out in, but what exactly is Web 2.0 and what can it do for business?, asks Neil Ward-Dutton  Continue Reading

• Chasing the merger gold

  There are few signs that the task of integrating systems when companies merge is any easier now than before the advent of sophisticated middleware and web-enabled systems.  Continue Reading

• In the beginning was the mainframe

  The powerful geological processes that uplifted the Earth's mountains and formed the landscape are replicated in the evolution of computing platforms  Continue Reading

• Comment: Where do you want to go?

  Could it be that positioning IT management at board level has become a shibboleth for those working in the higher echelons of the industry?  Continue Reading

• Don't let the wheels come off your deal

  There has been a lot of publicity about users taking outsourced operations back in-house, but if you ensure you have the right ingredients for an outsourcing arrangement at the outset there is no reason for the relationship to founder.  Continue Reading

• Don't pass the buck on skills

  From the dawn of the UK computer industry there have been dire warnings about skills shortages. There have also been drives to “professionalise” the industry, with qualifications to provide individuals with proof of their expertise, and employers ...  Continue Reading

• Banish bafflement in the boardroom

  Boards of directors urgently need to get to grips with IT – potentially the most profitable yet also one of the most costly of all a company’s departments  Continue Reading

• Microsoft’s metrics mean business

  Microsoft unveils plans for performance planning software  Continue Reading

• Smoothing the e-mail upgrade path

  Ollie Ross explains what you need to consider before upgrading a Microsoft Exchange system  Continue Reading

• Right NHS formula is to ‘keep it simple’

  Over-complex IT results in diminishing returns, says Andrew Sakals  Continue Reading

• Checking the form on file formats

  Ensuring data is widely accessible is a key concern for all businesses, says Jack Schofield  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Gut feeling can end in a costly recruitment error

  Computer weekly readers have their say  Continue Reading

• Dealing with the data explosion

  We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.  Continue Reading

• Microsoft has never been just about Bill Gates

  Microsoft has always encouraged entrepreneurship in its people, in its products and in the tools that millions of people around the world use every day to start, grow and run their businesses and follow their passions.  Continue Reading

• We must put an end to IT victim culture

  IT needs to stand up for itself in the business  Continue Reading

• NHS IT report plays too safe

  The National Audit Office’s report on the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) should be the start, not the end, of independent scrutiny of the UK’s largest ever IT investment.  Continue Reading

• Why first impressions really add up

  We all select our friends, partners or business partners based on a combination of our knowledge, experience and instinct of whether we will get on.  Continue Reading

• So SOA will make life simple... but for who?

  The demands of service oriented architecture  Continue Reading

• Search engines need to start finding

  With internet content growing at a staggering rate, search engines need to hone their approach to get the right results and unearth what the user wants.  Continue Reading

• Union launches equality charter for women in IT

  Trade union Amicus, which represents a large number of IT professionals, has launched a campaign to promote and enhance the role of women in IT.  Continue Reading

• Wanted! Meeting of minds at the top

  Governance: Getting the best returns on IT investment is an important part of IT governance. But to achieve this, the gap between IT and the business needs to close.  Continue Reading