Opinion

Opinion

• Put focus on business change, not IT systems

  The Institute of Directors regards the government's performance on its e-government initiatives to be like the curate's egg -...  Continue Reading

• E-government forgets local needs

  Although there have been successes in central e-government services, such as NHS Direct and online tax returns, the government...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Linux - a weapon of mass destruction?

  If Linux is feared as a tool for terrorism, then why are the majority of servers run on open source?, asks Simon Moores.  Continue Reading

• Web services: The universal glue

  Truly effective interoperability is the big promise held out by web services, but that will only be delivered through a holistic...  Continue Reading

• The right man for a tough job

  The appointment of Ian Watmore as head of e-government is one of the best decisions this administration has made. He has a...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: The demise of the extranet?

  In response to Alec Milton, who wrote that extranets could be obsolete within five years (Computer Weekly, 11 May)  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Inland Revenue has no outsourcing excuses

  With regards to John Yard of the Inland Revenue, who said that the government cannot be expected to get outsourcing project requirements right at the outset (Computer Weekly, 11 May), this is definitely a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it.  Continue Reading

• Change in the air as jobs recover

  There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful if you are looking for a new job. And if you are an IT director whose staff are not...  Continue Reading

• A mobile culture

  Heads of IT must promote cultural changes in the business at the same time as using IT to mobilise the workforce.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Web of controversy

  Is society's ghoulish curiosity creating a market for explicit entertainment on the internet, asks Simon Moores.  Continue Reading

• Wider vision for career success

  Could you possibly work any harder? It seems leading IT professionals are anxious to do so. Chief information officers and IT...  Continue Reading

• Your shout! On spending more on printing than security

  In response to an IDC report that revealed that companies spend more on printers that security (computerweekly.com, 30 April)  Continue Reading

• Your shout: How flexible working can bring women to IT

  In response to a review of how flexible working has been accepted and promoted in IT over the past year to attract women to the industry (Computer Weekly, 4 May)  Continue Reading

• A public service

  Councils must ensure that in the rush to comply with e-government standards they do not lose sight of the needs of the users they...  Continue Reading

• Who to watch in Indian outsourcing

  Trying to list the major players in the Indian outsourcing market is rather like trying to nail water to a wall. New players...  Continue Reading

• Automate to eliminate drudgery

  Invest in data entry software and free up employees' time  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: The attack of the phishers

  Phishing has begun to grow at a epidemic rate, but beware of spyware - it's as bad, says Simon Moores.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Governance is IT's game

  The next boardroom mandate will be IT security, says John Colley.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Seen it all before?

  As the latest virus hits our desktops, Simon Moores is having a sense of déjà vu.  Continue Reading

• Spam hits the big time

  Spam has become a high-priority item on the agendas of chief information security officers and even CIOs. Consider Gartner’s...  Continue Reading

• Enterprises report IT process investments are paying off

  Increased IT operational process maturity and wider use of automation are dramatically improving the quality of service within...  Continue Reading

• Outsourcing is a business skill

  As outsourcing continues to grow, the debate has moved on from whether it is a good thing or not to how to make it work more...  Continue Reading

• Businesses see uses for Wi-Fi connectivity

  The return on investment case for wireless technology  Continue Reading

• Don't fall prey to the classic training mistakes

  Despite the slump in the IT jobs market during the past few years, there are still about one million IT positions vacant in...  Continue Reading

• Make 'flexible' part of the IT vocabulary to reap the benefits of greater productivity

  One year on, how have the UK's work/life balance laws affected IT?  Continue Reading

• Give your board the facts

  Performance management systems can get IT noticed, says Michael Coveney.  Continue Reading

• CEO’s resignation will have only short-term impact on Computer Associates

  The departure of Computer Associates International (CA) head Sanjay Kumar will cause some organizational uncertainty. But it...  Continue Reading

• Securing a partnership

  Set security policies that cover business partners  Continue Reading

• Get in front of the bandwagon

  Corporate governance hit the headlines again last week as Shell admitted it had issued misleading information to the markets.  Continue Reading

• What will the network look like by 2008?

  Faster technologies may be just around the corner, but the extra bandwidth will soon be used up unless corporate policies are...  Continue Reading

• Place a value on your organisation's people

  IT directors must plan with HR how they will measure staff value  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Spam - return to sender

  Sender authentication could help solve the spam problem, says Mark Sunner  Continue Reading

• Management update: Caller ID would enable a reliable, trustable internet

  To reach business-strength reliability and ensure e-commerce growth, the Internet infrastructure must mature. Caller ID...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Combining risk and security in one post

  In response to Robin Laidlaw's opinion (Computer Weekly, 6 April), where he said the balance of security and risk management needs to be carefully managed  Continue Reading

• A new era for user influence

  Having invested considerable time and money installing IT systems, not to mention their criticality to the business, it is...  Continue Reading

• Technical innovation breeds enthusiasm

  Staff at BAA's Terminal 5 project make large projects happen fast.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Cyberterrorism or cyberhype?

  Is the fear of cyberterrorism from the Middle East causing us to neglect the security of our own systems, asks Simon Moores.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: No such thing as a free lunch

  We all try and get something for nothing, but businesses need to know the cost of technology, says Colin Beveridge.  Continue Reading

• Enthuse about IT's potential to stop women leaving the industry

  There has been a great deal of talk recently about women in IT; last month Computer Weekly reported that the number of women in...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Deploying CRM systems in councils

  Although it is true that there are widely divergent views about how the requirements of data protection and freedom of information can be delivered consistently, we see evidence of this being actively considered by councils and of a willingness to ...  Continue Reading

• Peace breaks out in the datacentre

  The settlement of the long-standing dispute between Sun and Microsoft over Java licensing is welcome news. Software, hardware and...  Continue Reading

• Look forward to web services collaboration

  Whitehall departments have been urged to tighten their approach to internal security to ensure civil servants are only accessing...  Continue Reading

• Keep IT staff motivated when outsourcing

  Sainsbury's CIO says retaining staff with commercial experience and a keen sense of how to manage outsourcing contracts helps to...  Continue Reading

• Use CRM to understand priority customer concerns and improve client satisfaction

  Companies are setting unrealistic goals for customer relationship management, but IT directors could take some simple steps to...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Deliver solutions for today

  Businesses need immediate solutions to software problems, and if Microsoft does not deliver it will face a loss of public...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: The legality of bounced virus warnings

  In response to Terry Davies' comments (Letters, 30 March) that returned virus alert e-mails are breaching the Data Protection Act  Continue Reading

• Fire proves that you need to plan

  Last week we revealed that many organisations were revisiting their business continuity plans in the wake of the Madrid bombings....  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: The ABC of the SMT

  IT directors must get over their insecurities to ensure that the senior management team reaches its potential, says Colin...  Continue Reading

• Outsource to cut print costs by up to 30%

  Copying and printing can cost up to 3% of a company's revenue - equivalent to the average IT budget - so don't overlook services...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: The war of the words

  Jettison the jargon to sell web services to the board, says Julian Kaine.  Continue Reading

• Revisit disaster recovery plans

  In early March IT directors and chief executives met to discuss ways to protect the UK's critical national infrastructure from a...  Continue Reading

• Selectively protect ‘data at rest’ with encryption

  Encrypting “data at rest” is necessary for mobile devices, but encryption should be selectively deployed in database management...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: Baffled by security recommendations

  I would like to say how much I agree with your article "Secure your technology, secure your business" on Computer-Weekly.com. However, some of your recommendations for achieving this seemed a little baffling.  Continue Reading

• Is your network the weakest link?

  Network security plans should be checked by IT directors  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: E-gov is not the only job

  IT must not neglect the basics when working on e-government projects, says Nigel Blair.  Continue Reading

• Management update: Best practices in business continuity and disaster recovery

  In this tough economic environment, it is tempting to cut resources in business continuity management (BCM). Many enterprises...  Continue Reading

• IT strategy should take the long-term view

  Many IT directors feel they are outside the loop on devising a business strategy, but they can focus on four areas to show the...  Continue Reading

• Take control of supplier cold calls

  How to avoid wasting time with sales calls you don't want.  Continue Reading

• Get a strategy for compliance to avoid having a jigsaw approach

  Knee-jerk reactions to new rules will cause problems later.  Continue Reading

• Time for truth about NHS plan

  Christopher Bland, chairman of BT, said at an NHS conference held in private that his company is somewhat frightened by the...  Continue Reading

• Your shout: The value of on-the-job experience

  University is not the only place to study, and taking an IT degree is not the only way to gain IT skills.  Continue Reading

• Are web services the answer to integrating mobile devices into corporate systems?

  Web services could provide a cost-effective way of distributing corporate data.  Continue Reading

• Improve FSP business decisions by boosting data quality

  Because data quality directly affects business strategies, the need for clean data transcends the IS department. Financial...  Continue Reading

• Your shout! On the untrained use of touch-pads by children

  In response to the letter about money being spent on IT in schools without the provision of proper back-up (Computer Weekly, 9 March)  Continue Reading

• Involve end-users in strategic planning

  Involve end-users in strategic planning; Patch management: when less is more; J2EE and .net are development tools; Battling the...  Continue Reading

• Critical time for local e-services

  With the deadlines for local authorities to put their services online by 2005 drawing closer, it is time to review progress and...  Continue Reading

• Lotus Workplace shows the value of rich clients

  A year ago Lotus finally came off the fence and articulated a clear vision for the future of the company, its existing software...  Continue Reading

• Software to help you network

  Social network software is a hot topic in the US, and has featured heavily in the past two O'Reilly Emerging Technology...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Let others learn from your mistakes

  Passing on experience and knowledge will help the next generation of IT directors, says Colin Beveridge.  Continue Reading

• Migration analysis

  Large companies have already accepted the why of Linux, it is up to the IT industry to paint the picture of how, where and when.  Continue Reading

• Management update: How to tackle five major threats to your ERP system

  Securing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems against common failings like poor access control, fraudulent transactions and...  Continue Reading

• Can user power sway suppliers?

  Does user power work? Can it truly influence how the billions of pounds IT companies invest in product development will be spent?  Continue Reading

• Know what the company wants to achieve before automating business processes

  End the lack of clarity about what should be automated  Continue Reading

• Your shout! On the government's e-crime strategy

  In response to Bill Goodwin's article on the national e-crime plan  Continue Reading

• Give the board a consolidation strategy to progress the business

  Take tactical steps to consolidate infrastructure and applications.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Talk the board's language

  Focus on the cost saving and speed to market for new products and services to get the board listening when implementing...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: The real-time fantasy

  Without greater software IQ, analysts' rhetoric about real-time business intelligence is far in advance of software's ability to...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Actions speak louder than keystrokes

  Business, government and the police must all work together in the fight against e-crime, says Simon Moores.  Continue Reading

• Strategies to combat rapidly spread cyberattacks

  Combine vulnerability management with scan-and-block, quarantine and containment technologies to protect against rapidly spread...  Continue Reading

• A larger European Union means greater IT demand and supply

  When 10 countries join the EU in May 2004, it will create one big market for goods and services, and affect demand and supply in...  Continue Reading

• CIO update: When to use database encryption

  Although database encryption is an effective security tool, it can create more problems than it solves if it’s used incorrectly....  Continue Reading

• Your shout! On the necessity of a data back-up plan

  In response to Bill Goodwin's article, which revealed that out of a survey of 1,000 businesses by the Department of Trade & Industry, less than 20% back up their data.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Breaking the boundaries

  Ten more countries will be joining the UK in the European Union soon, but what will this mean for the IT job market, asks Colin...  Continue Reading

• Recovery offers new challenges

  Figures released by the CBI and the Office of National Statistics last week revealed that the manufacturing sector is in...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: 'Your call is important to us...'

  Simon Moores believes the bigger the executives salary the more unhelpful the call centre.  Continue Reading

• Understand business objectives to harmonise IT across departments

  Five basic steps to please both the board and the users.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Get the best from your contract

  Companies with Software Assurance should calculate the return on investment, says Julie Giera  Continue Reading

• Know your data's worth

  Data must be managed like any other asset, says Robin Bloor.  Continue Reading

• Developers gather to plot next generation PCs

  I often wonder whether PCs running Windows 95, 98 or NT4 in 48Mbytes have some sort of voodoo power, because nothing else could...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Give IT back to business

  Tougher regulations are driving uptake of business process management strategy, says Rod Perry  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Catching the computer virus

  Businesses, like people, are developing an immunity to the viruses going around, says Simon Moores.  Continue Reading

• Worthy, but why join Java Tools Community?

  The new Java Tools Community (JTC) is a forum for suppliers and users to share ideas on how to implement the standards that come...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Prepare for service future

  Services platform suppliers are delivering the components for enterprise architecture, and IT chiefs need to plan accordingly,...  Continue Reading

• Web apps need standards

  Integration and open standards empower web services, says Mike Lucas.  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Online, but out of touch

  Learn from the Criminal Records Bureau debacle. Give users and the public what they want or they will switch off, says Colin...  Continue Reading

• Implementing successful shared services in government

  Government agencies face strong pressures to implement shared services, but success requires the commitment and ability to...  Continue Reading

• Focus on today, leave 3G for now

  As telecoms suppliers prepare for next week's 3GSM conference, they must be chilled by a CMA survey that shows 61% of companies...  Continue Reading

• Analyse the business risk of software defects

  I would be surprised if anyone has been spared the annoyance of having an IT application crash while they were using it, but have...  Continue Reading

• Plan site visits to select offshore providers

  IT directors considering outsourcing abroad should look beyond the sales team's pitch and visit the supplier's site to discover...  Continue Reading

• Thought for the day: Collaborate on ID cards

  Government must maintain links with other industries and suppliers to ensure that its ID cards are successful, says John Higgins.  Continue Reading