Opinion

Opinion

• IT share fall out cause for fire sales

  
  
  Ian Mitchell

  City briefing

  It has been a week for fire sales, with Bright Station (formerly known as Dialog) picking up the...

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• Why IT must attract more women

  
  
  At last year's world IT congress, and this year's IT Directors Forum, men will outnumber women by ten to one. Why?

  Many will wonder with what...

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• Was it too easy for the Love Bug?

  Basil Cousins of the X/OPEN Group believes business paid heavily for the Love Bug because of its over-reliance on one system,...  Continue Reading

• Stop trying to fix a Window that isn't broken

  
  
  Jack Schofield

  Opinion

  I don't know what to say to IT people who tell me that Microsoft Windows crashes once or twice or six...

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• Union right for IT staff

  
  
  

  This week employees gained a new right. Employers can no longer veto the right of employees to choose to be collectively represented through a union. This...

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• Cap confirms £500m e-defence windfall

  
  
  Tony Collins

  Services company Cap Gemini Ernst & Young has spoken for the first time about a leaked internal memo that predicts it will...

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• UK drags its heels on Linux

  
  
  

  Two recent events, the Love Bug virus and the Microsoft judgement, may turn out to be the catalysts that propel Linux to centre stage in large...

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• Stop the RIP Bill

  
  
  House of Lords can make or break UK e-commerce

  As the Regulation of Interceptory Powers (RIP) Bill enters the House of Lords committee stage...

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• A winning combination

  
  
  

  Which is more important: technology and our virtual systems, assets and investments; or people and our human capital, knowledge and potential?...

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• Demise of Gates' empire means the dark ages for users

  
  
  Simon Moores

  Tech Talk

  The other day, a journalist called to ask my reaction to the news that Novell was about to "re-invent...

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• Volatility scares venture capitalists

  This year has been a half of two quarters, with the Techmark rising from 2,750 in January to 5,750 in March, before tumbling back...  Continue Reading

• ASPs may bite into IT departments' independence

  Will ASPs cost companies their independence?  Continue Reading

• Scenario planning is the way to manage business uncertainties

  This column could seriously damage your consultants' wealth  Continue Reading

• Raise a glass to those who know how to sell online

  
  
  Andrew Parker

  Opinion

  As I write, everyone has Boo.com's demise on their lips. Some may see it as a victim of the stock market...

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• Pilot could ease SME skills shortage

  
  
  The Thames Valley is famous for high-tech companies that hoover up skilled workers. But, after the big players have taken on the best recruits, many small...  Continue Reading

• Learning from Boo's demise

  Boo's collapse marks the end of the emperor's-new-clothes period for dotcoms  Continue Reading

• IT supplier vs IT buyer

  
  
  Mary Kingman

  Soapbox

  With the growth of the Internet, a new way of managing procurement has appeared in the form of market sites....

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• Biztravel.com offers $50 compensation for delayed travellers

  As Biztravel.com offers to pay users who encounter delays or mistakes, could customer service become a means of securing...  Continue Reading

• Who should control e-commerce - the board room or the IT mananger?

  If you find yourself suddenly in charge of an e-commerce site with responsibility for establishing your firm's e-business...  Continue Reading

• Marketing database will be most powerful weapon in the armoury

  The most vital e-business weapon for companies in the future will not be their server farm, their high speed communications...  Continue Reading

• How to make 'every project a winner'

  There's more to success than just bringing a project in on time and within budget, says the Management Forum for Excellence's...  Continue Reading

• Adding more than '.com'

  
  
  Ken Olisa

  The dangers of hubris couldn't be better demonstrated than by the fall of Boo.com. Mind you, I must admit to a sneaking admiration...

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• Cool response to Love Bug raises spook role questions

  The UK Government, unlike its US counterpart, was tight-lipped in the aftermath of the Love Bug. But what sort of government...  Continue Reading

• E-mail marketing: grab those campaigns

  
  
  Mickel Bak

  Soapbox

  There's an inherent danger in assuming technology tools will give you expert skills in disciplines you...

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• Wap's all the fuss about?

  To listen to all the hype you'd think Wap was the greatest invention since television. But Japan hasn't been fooled and there's a...  Continue Reading

• IT directors should be techno-gurus too

  Direct Line's group IT director argues against the view that people in his position don't need to be "techies". Julia Vowler...  Continue Reading

• No rest over RIP: the plot thickens

  
  
  John Riley

  Groundswell

  If you don't want the US security services monitoring your business communications, don't use...

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• Potential cheer as well as tears from Boo hoo-ha

  The Boo disaster could be good news for the Web industry. But that depends on everyone, from HTML coders to venture capitalists,...  Continue Reading

• In your dreams

  
  
  David Taylor

  Inside track

  An IT director I know had a dream last week. He was visited by the senior partner of the consultancy...

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• MoD in Chinook report cover-up

  The Tench report has remained unpublished since its conception, but it seems to unveil a conflict of interest in the procedures of the enquiry board  Continue Reading

• Dealing with the digital divide

  An infrastructure that links essential services is very welcome in rural Northumberland. Mike Simons reports  Continue Reading

• Campaign puts stiffing firmly on the agenda

  Two years after Computer Weekly launched its campaign to stamp out the practice of stiffing, Karl Schneider looks back at what...  Continue Reading

• Interim opportunities abound for IT directors

  Opportunities galore currently exist for business-focused IT directors interested in doubling their salaries.  Continue Reading

• It takes two to tango

  The Cranfield Directors Forum tries to fathom IT's relationship with the business, Julia Vowler reports  Continue Reading

• Love bug was just another spurt from the virus volcano

  Tech talk  Continue Reading

• Life for IT directors A.D.(after dotcom)

  The bursting of the dotcom bubble means that IT directors and managers can expect to see is a rise in the availability of...  Continue Reading

• Mind your language

  How we communicate internally, within our own IT departments, with our business customers and with our suppliers, plays a major...  Continue Reading

• Users don't need scripts

  
  
  Audiences around the world have heard Microsoft chairman Bill Gates tell them how his great company will "empower" them.

  Empowerment is a strong concept....

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• Users told: keep B2B ideas simple

  
  
  Users grappling with how to understand e-business marketplaces have been advised to simplify their thinking.

  Experts at the B2B marketplaces event last...

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• The late show

  Late changes to RIP Bill are not the way to legislate  Continue Reading

• Measuring performance

  Is there such a thing as a fair and accurate way to set up a performance-related bonus scheme? We look at the problems for you  Continue Reading

• E-marketplaces: a leap into the unknown

  E-marketplaces continue to take off, but some companies still don't understand what they've signed up for and others think they...  Continue Reading

• If you're good at your job, move on

  Don't sit around once you've met the challenge of your current job - that is the message from Legal & General's e-business...  Continue Reading

• Joint venture between bank of Scotland and FI group

  Last week the Bank of Scotland awarded a further £190m contract to First Banking Systems, the joint venture between the bank and...  Continue Reading

• Tools for the apps trade

  Your development tools are being updated regularly, your code-writers don't have the right skills and you've got a board directive to get your business up and running in a matter of weeks. How do you cope?  Continue Reading

• Faulty server in sausage mix-up

  A woman who rang an environmental health helpline to complain about a rotting chorizo sausage she had bought was besieged by callers who had been wrongly paged by BT about the complaint due to a server error  Continue Reading

• Devolution drives IT initiatives

  A new Socitm report highlights the benefits that Scotland's commitment to IT can bring, Mike Simons reports  Continue Reading

• Download, play, no need to pay

  A new free games site has global potential, Roisin Woolnough meets the gamer behind freeloader.com  Continue Reading

• E-commerce needs the feminine touch

  
  
  E-commerce projects demanding co-operation between company departments are creating a new need and new opportunities for women, according to one of the...  Continue Reading

• Devastating in its simplicity

  There's nothing innovative about the Love Bug's technology, writes Lindsay Clark  Continue Reading

• Insurer outsources e-business

  Direct Line's Jamjar motoring information service to be run by Computacenter subsidiary SiteHost  Continue Reading

• How we allowed the I Love You virus to happen

  A lack of diversity among corporate IT systems allowed the virus to spread, aided by inadequate corporate policy. Guy Campos...  Continue Reading

• Extolling the virtues of e-commerce

  When Paul Donovan met IT directors from different industries he found that getting the message of e-commerce across to the board...  Continue Reading

• Government proposals to cut permit bureaucracy lack steel

  Tony Haque, a solicitor with Baker & McKenzie, wonders if the new permit plans will stem the skills crisis  Continue Reading

• Y2K firm leaves UK

  Greenwich Mean Time, the company run by one of Britain's best known year 2000 gurus, Karl Feilder, is to close down its British...  Continue Reading

• Your department has a virus: ditching the 'negs' is the cure

  The CEO, and board-level peers, are important power bases for the IT director to be aware of, and act on. But there is a force...  Continue Reading

• ASPs face a multi-platform challenge

  
  
  Erich Clementi

  Soapbox

  The Internet explosion is causing a tidal wave of transactions. By 2003 more than 500 million people will...

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• Firms quit UK over RIP Bill

  I've heard that petrochemical firms and several banks have been quietly taking their international secure IT processing out of the UK - to Ireland, Singapore and the US.  Continue Reading

• IT mix drives Jamjar

  Direct Line is using both in-house and outsourced solutions to reap the benefits of two new online ventures, writes Julia Vowler  Continue Reading

• UKCMG: e-business won't save mainframe

  
  
  

  It was like turkeys waiting for Christmas. The UKCMG, the bastion of mainframe computer users, has voted against the mainframe in a debate on platforms...

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• Market picks up after Y2K embargo

  Happy days are here again! After the delayed pick-up in work after the Y2K lockdown, it looks like the UK software and services...  Continue Reading

• Microsoft break-up will not benefit the users

  Microsoft, which the US Department of Justice wants broken up, now has to tell District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson what he...  Continue Reading

• Love Bug prompts security shake-up

  Cost of lax security hits home as virus takes a heavy toll worldwide  Continue Reading

• Achieving start-up vitality in a well-established set-up

  
  
  David Taylor

  Inside track

  Go into any new company, one that is just starting out. Witness the enthusiasm, energy and excitement...

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• Could you cope with success?

  
  
  Toby Poston

  Editor

  Everbody working on an e-business project hopes that it will be a winner - but have you ever considered the...

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• Anti-trust remedy splits Microsoft into two parts

  
  
  David Bicknell

  Users have welcomed the US Department of Justice's plans to split Microsoft into two companies - one focusing on...

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• Measuring business benefit

  How can you justify any investment in e-business projects? Are there any methodologies for calculating return on investments, or...  Continue Reading

• How can I get into contracting?

  Advice on how to break into the contracting market  Continue Reading

• Page impressions: Waterstones takes to the web

  Sue Jenvey, Internet marketing manager, Waterstones explains how the bookseller's brand straddles both online and High Street...  Continue Reading

• MPs to quiz stock exchange senior management over systems crash

  
  
  Political Reporter

  An all-party committee of MPs is investigating last month's London Stock Exchange computer crash.

  They are to...

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• Time for the fast followers

  Charlie Blackburn explains why traditional firms have to lose their lethargy if they are to make their market muscle count in the...  Continue Reading

• Stymied by standards

  
  
  John Riley

  Groundswell

  The lack of standards in e-procurement is proving a major bottleneck, of rapidly mounting concern to...

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• Most users will use mobile Internet

  
  
  Guy Campos

  Readers have given are sounding thumbs-up to the broadband mobile Internet in this week's Computer Weekly/Harvey Nash...

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• Secret handshakes will empty our pockets for a PC

  History may yet look back at the launch of Microsoft's PocketPC operating system as the new century's first true example of a...  Continue Reading

• Heart stopping stock markets

  
  
  

  Last month, I went for a cardiac checkup. I lay on the couch with my eyes glued to the display as surround-sound speakers pumped out the sound of my blood...

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• Campaign promoting women in IT gets boost

  A campaign to attract more women into IT, and into engineering and science in general, to solve skills shortages has been...  Continue Reading

• Netstore float bucks the dotcom slide

  
  
  Ian Mitchell

  City briefing

  Last week saw the successful flotation of Netstore, the UK's first "pure play" application services...

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• Relax and survive: get more out of work - and life

  
  
  David Taylor

  Inside track

  In your final moments on this earth, how many of you will look back on your lives and say, "I really...

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• Let's get tough on users of unlicensed software

  We need muscle to combat software sharp practice  Continue Reading

• Time to get real - or die

  Most manufacturers, retailers and distributors are facing intense price wars and the threat of losing major customers has never...  Continue Reading

• When off-the-wall is spot on

  Developing an effective e-commerce strategy demands an approach that breaks free from the old corporate straitjacket. Even the...  Continue Reading

• Three stage solution to directors' dilemmas

  
  
  Directors' Dilemmas by Patrick Dunne

  Kogan Page

  price £12.99

  The "win-win" scenario might have become a...

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• Crazy games for crazy guys

  Setting up consultancy Craze with his brother-in-law provided Adam Reynolds with the opportunity to put development ideas into...  Continue Reading

• Antitrust judgment is bad news for consumers

  
  
  Jack Schofield

  Opinion

  Silicon Valley has, as expected, triumphed over Microsoft. But it's been hurt by the rebound. Following...

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• Who gains from portals?

  
  
  In a world full of e-business hype, it is nice to see one user company produce some numbers this week, even if they are estimates.

  Car giant...

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• Tomorrow wreaks revenge on today

  It was somewhat ironic that the IT industry's trade body, the CSSA, should choose as the theme 'Tomorrow came today' for last...  Continue Reading

• UK dotcom needs DSL

  The two-year wait for DSL could be disastrous for the UK dotcom  Continue Reading

• Ready to sacrifice Windows for open source mania?

  
  
  Simon Moores

  Tech Talk

  It's encouraging to see that intelligent debate is alive and well within the industry. Most recently, IR35...

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• When it's right to break rules

  
  
  John Riley

  Groundswell

  At least once in their career an airline pilot is likely to need to break the rules to escape a tricky...

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• Strengthen your argument for IT investment

  Our expert panel advises on the difficult task of setting out a business case for IT investment for e-commerce.  Continue Reading

• Five steps to project prowess

  
  
  David Taylor

  Inside track

  When I started in electronic data processing, five out of 10 projects failed to meet the needs of the...

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• Dotcom survivors

  
  
  It's too soon to assess the impact of the share price crash on the world of IT. But one thing is certain: as Internet start-ups fail, there will be a lot...  Continue Reading

• Dumb cash, dumb ideas

  
  
  E-business

  As recent events show, despite all the hype which has surrounded dotcoms, traditional bricks and mortar companies are still the...

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• Watch out, Big Brother's here

  
  
  John Riley

  Groundswell

  Beware suppliers offering juicy Web-based, one-to-one, drill-down customer relationship management...

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• As giant tumbles, stock market falls

  
  
  Ian Mitchell

  City Briefing

  What a rollercoaster ride last week was! It had everything from a threatened compulsory break-up of...

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• What the flat structure approach to business processes failed

  
  
  david taylor

  Inside Track

  One of the big fads of the last 10 years was the so called "flat structures". Business process...

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• Users call on Microsoft to stop wasting money

  
  
  Users have told Microsoft to accept defeat in its Department of Justice case, and spend the time and money it will save by delivering stable...  Continue Reading

• When success is not profit

  When the US leader in business-to-business still can't make a profit what hope is there for lesser mortals? Will turning its...  Continue Reading

• Lord Mayor calls for e-business hallmark

  
  
  John Riley

  Plans to create a distinctive UK e-commerce hallmark for the City-based financial services industry moved a step forward...

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• How to find an analyst you can trust

  With so many analysts bombarding you with their opinion read what our panel expert has to say on the subject of sorting the wheat...  Continue Reading