Opinion

Opinion

• Security Think Tank: What are the challenges/opportunities of smartphone security policy? (part 2)

  The main challenge of the smartphone is keeping it and its contents safe, writes Peter Wenham, committee member of the BCS Security Forum strategic panel and director of information assurance consultancy Trusted Management.  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Challenges and opportunities of smartphone security policy

  Employees using their personal smartphones for work present added pressures to keep the network secure.  Continue Reading

• Security Zone: Security and collaboration – we're In this together

  2011 saw a shift in targets and attack vectors. Smaller targets with fewer defences, and more external sources earmark the reported breaches last year  Continue Reading

• Why consumer habits are changing retail IT strategies

  Graham Benson, CIO of online clothing business M&M direct, discusses the reason why consumer habits must change retail IT strategies.  Continue Reading

• Why government needs open source

  The tough economic climate has forced a radical rethink on public sector IT procurement, with decision-makers now on the lookout for more efficient, cost-effective solutions.  Continue Reading

• Seven enablers of effective disaster recovery for SMEs

  This article considers the current status of disaster recover (DR) in small and mid-size businesses (SMEs) and highlights a few simple steps every organisation can take to ensure it is better able to address such challenges.  Continue Reading

• IT industry must play its part in improving IT in schools

  IT in schools has been in the news recently with the UK government announcing the withdrawing of the GCSE ICT curriculum and the debate around the Royal Society report focusing on the lack of computer science teachers.  Continue Reading

• What computers can't do

  Sorry to rain on your parade, but computers can't transform education any more than social media can depose dictators.  Continue Reading

• Innovation's dirty little secret

  Innovation has a dirty little secret. It is unspoken, so swept under the carpet that most executives are unaware of it: breakthroughs don't really pay.  Continue Reading

• M-commerce: Why CIOs need to manage the risk

  CIOs will need to manage four key risks if they want their businesses to benefit from the growth in mobile commerce.  Continue Reading

• Top 10 project management trends for 2012

  Collaboration is a common theme throughout many of the 2012 top 10 trends for project management, according to a panel of experts.  Continue Reading

• itSMF UK: Back to reality in 2012

  Wherever you stand on the optimist/pessimist scale, the beginning of a new year is always an opportunity to look ahead.  Continue Reading

• Five ways to improve your IT project management

  Project management and the IT industry go together like jam and toast. But not all project management is good project management.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: Cloud, mobility, social among top infosec challeges for 2012, says ISACA

  What is the most important nut for infosec to crack in the coming year and why? Global IT security association ISACA gives its views.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: 2012 must bring security for the internet of things, says BCS

  The reality is that no IT security issue ever gets solved for all time - it is a race without end between attackers and defenders, says the BCS.  Continue Reading

• Network prediction: Has the networking industry changed in a decade?

  Network architect and Ethereal Mind blogger Greg Ferro reflects on how little has changed over ten years in his latest network prediction for the UK. Network security risks remain problematic  Continue Reading

• Mobile security among top priorities for 2012

  Solving security issues relating to the use of mobile technologies will be among the most pressing priorities for businesses in 2012.  Continue Reading

• Security skills gap to become crucial in 2012, says (ISC)2

  The emerging threat in the developing cybersecurity skills gap is an issue (ISC)2 has highlighted throughout 2011, and 2012 will be the year when industry really begins to feel it, particularly in London with the Olympic Games coming to town.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: Supply chain security should be top goal in 2012, says ISF

  The most important thing to achieve in information security in 2012 is supply chain security, writes Adrian Davis, principal research analyst at in Information Security Forum (ISF).  Continue Reading

• Supporting user-centric computing

  User virtualisation can make life easier for IT departments and users alike.  Continue Reading

• Recession could spell the triumph of the cloud service provider

  Recessions provide the strongest possible impulse to cut costs. Will this mean the death of the in-house IT department and the triumph of the cloud service provider?  Continue Reading

• International collaboration key for infosecurity in 2012

  Outgoing year 2011 has been turbulent and eventful for information security, with a number of high-profile security incidents and an increase in cybercrime, and there is no indication that 2012 is going to be any different.  Continue Reading

• Top tips for avoiding fraud on the internet

  The Serious Organised Crime Agency estimates that online fraud costs internet users £3.5bn per year. Follow these 12 tips on how it can be avoided.  Continue Reading

• Businesses face tough EC data protection laws

  If leaks are to be believed, a proposed European Commission law will require countries to adopt stringent new data protection measures.  Continue Reading

• Shared storage model faces challenges from virtual servers

  Virtual servers are exerting pressure to change on the storage ecosystem, challenging even the fundamental model of shared storage.  Continue Reading

• Making industrialisation work

  Industrialisation represents a relentless drive to discover how an activity is optimally done, then doing it in exactly the same way every time.  Continue Reading

• Need ideas for improvement? Ask your customers

  Continual service improvement is a key tenet of IT service management and a fundamental part of the ITIL service lifecycle.  Continue Reading

• Forrester: It's time to take agile to the next level

  Agile development has become very popular, with more than a third of developers citing agile as their primary methodology.  Continue Reading

• A touch of SaaS: Feeling the benefits for mobility

  As internet connections get faster and devices get smaller and more portable, we have seen a sea-change in the definition of a “mobile” workforce.  Continue Reading

• Time for small companies to get secure

  Computer Weekly recently hosted two executive roundtable dinner debates, in association with Dell SecureWorks, to discuss IT security challenges with IT directors from SMEs.  Continue Reading

• Bridging the information gap

  The pace at which modern business tends to move has resulted in a situation where centralised decision-making struggles to keep up.  Continue Reading

• How to stay on top of IT training and development

  In an increasingly competitive world, IT professionals need to keep their knowledge and skills up to date while organisations seek to retain their top talent.  Continue Reading

• Is time running out for internet domains?

  The world’s political leaders are taking an unusually intent interest in the technical system of Internet domains’ naming and numbering (the DNS).  Continue Reading

• TLC flash could relegate spinning disk to the background

  Solid-state drives are currently blocked in their quest for dominance by cost and wear limits, but could TLC flash overcome such challenges and deal a blow to spinning disk?  Continue Reading

• A lifetime in technology

  Tom Wills-Sandford, deputy director general of Intellect, the trade body for the technology industry, retires at the end of 2011 after 49 years in the industry. Computer Weekly invited him to look back on his career and what has changed.  Continue Reading

• The real risk of cyber attack on unsecured networks

  New revelations of the cyber threat to government and business identify the risk of attack even when stopping for a cup of coffee.  Continue Reading

• Why trust is a big deal for UK companies

  The Technology Strategy Board is working with businesses across the ICT sector to ensure they are developing secure information assurance products.  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2011: IT definitely matters - a thank you

  On Friday 7 October, more than 800 people from the IT and business communities slept out across the UK to raise vital funds for Action for Children.  Continue Reading

• Poor corporate data quality strategy impedes business progress

  Data quality at today’s corporations is perennially poor, according to MDM expert Andy Hayler. And yet only a minority of corporates have DQ technologies.  Continue Reading

• Establishing the profession of IT service management

  Are you a service management professional? Or an IT professional specialising in service management? Either way the number of people who consider IT service management (ITSM) a true profession has grown exponentially over the last few years.  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2011: The generous generation

  Technology is turning young people to donate to charity in new ways - helping the IT industry's annual Byte Night fundraising event.  Continue Reading

• ITIL 2011: it’s how you use it that counts

  ITIL, the UK government-owned guidance on IT service management best practice, has been widely adopted across the IT industry since it first appeared, but what has its latest update achieved?  Continue Reading

• Top skills for IT managers - Part 6: Change management

  Mergers, acquisitions, redundancies and other organisational changes often create anxiety and uncertainty because such business changes affect every level of an organisation.  Continue Reading

• What identity management strategies should enterprises deploy for cloud environments?

  The identity management strategies enterprises should be deploying to ensure they meet the security challenges of an increasingly connected and cloud-based business environment.  Continue Reading

• Opinion: Infosec pros must advocate for cloud computing in IT

  UK Bureau Chief Ron Condon says by promoting the use of cloud computing in IT, infosec pros have a chance to finally say ‘yes.’  Continue Reading

• Online monitoring: An undemocratic move for Internet control

  Infosec expert Dinesh Bareja speaks about the Indian government’s directive to Telco’s to monitor Internet traffic in the country.  Continue Reading

• The SME security challenge

  Over the years, research findings have consistently demonstrated widespread exposure to risk when it comes to data protection and security among smaller businesses, writes Dale Vile, managing director of Freeform Dynamics.  Continue Reading

• Business-critical projects ensure strong IT recruitment despite economic fears

  There has been a distinct split between organisations favouring caution and avoiding permanent recruitment, while others have continued to implement strategic and operational plans intended to support organisations' future success.  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Measuring security maturity in the supply chain

  Experts provide valuable advice on how organisations can measure the security maturity in their supply chains and apply the results to improve their overall security posture.  Continue Reading

• Round table: Data management and the cloud

  Our round table of experts considers the question of what are the benefits and drawbacks of deploying database systems in the cloud.  Continue Reading

• Security Zone: Utilising a dedicated network test team to enhance security and reduce vulnerability

  In recent times we have witnessed multiple successful attacks on the network and infrastructure at various large organisations, writes Mugdha Raje, member of the Ethernet Testing and Certification group at AT&T Labs.  Continue Reading

• Does it make sense to spend more on government IT than on Wales?

  How would you describe an organisation losing £164bn every year on £585bn revenue with a net position already £1.2tn in debt? If this were a private company, the polite answer would be "no longer trading". But this is the state of affairs faced by ...  Continue Reading

• Opinion: Evolution of incident response

  During the internet's infancy, threats generally targeted a large, random audience. "Script kiddies" and "crackers" were the main culprits and their motivation stemmed from boredom to their need for recognition among their peers, writes Christopher ...  Continue Reading

• Video: The psychologist spam king – social engineering evolves

  Sometimes, there are random pieces of information we never forget. Important information, such as birthdays, or even validation that you turned off the oven or locked the front door, can be replaced by an IP address used years earlier or a funny ...  Continue Reading

• Court ruling on self-employed contracts could make IT managers liable for tax bill

  Many IT workers who should be considered "employed" are working on a self-employed basis and, in the light of a Supreme Court ruling, this could unexpectedly land IT managers with tax and National Insurance bills.  Continue Reading

• Proposed Digital Copyright Exchange IP database could ease software licensing

  As part of its review into the suitability of IP laws for the market, the government is considering providing access to a digital marketplace where users can search for and purchase licences to use copyright. The Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) is ...  Continue Reading

• 3G review: Is next-generation mobile broadband ready for business?

  Mobile broadband has undergone a makeover of late. Developments in technology, increased competition and falling prices mean it is getting easier to work on the road using a mobile dongle. The question still remains, however, should more businesses ...  Continue Reading

• ICANN's expansion of domain names suffixes: the benefits and disadvantages to businesses

  ICANN is to allow limitless variations of domain suffixes, and, organisations can apply for gTLDs containing almost any word in any script or language". Are custom gTLDs set to dramatically change the internet landscape?  Continue Reading

• The fog of software licensing: dissatisfaction reigns - even in clouds

  There are some things in life that you just have to get on with, and in IT one of those is the management and administration of software licences, writes Tony Lock, programme director at Freeform Dynamics.  Continue Reading

• The importance of mutual understanding: A faster track to business alignment and satisfied users

  The benefits of a service-centric approach to IT tend to come back to IT in numerous ways - users are happier, the business functions more effectively, and in return IT tends to receive both more funding and freedom to develop, writes Andrew Buss, ...  Continue Reading

• Google enters the fray in battle for smartphone technology patents

  Patents equal real strategic value, right? It was only last week that Google, one of the world's largest technology companies, purchased Motorola Mobility in a deal worth $12.5bn.  Continue Reading

• Top skills for IT managers - Part 5: Coaching and mentoring

  It is no secret that people tend to absorb only 10% of their knowledge from formal training, 20% from working with role models and 70% from on-the-job experiences. In other words, people learn best by observing a master at work, then applying those ...  Continue Reading

• 'Surround Sound' IT training: A multi-dimensional learning approach

  According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the annual training budget for 46 percent of British organisations ranged between £50,000 and £1,000,000 in 2010 alone. But is that money going to waste? The latest training research...  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2011: Why size doesn't matter for CSR

  Byte Night board member Mike Barrett says you don’t have to be a big company to build charitable work into your business - all companies can give something back and make a difference.  Continue Reading

• The elephant in IT's room

  There is a difference between form and function. IT departments often deliver the form (systems, infrastructures, services), but our businesses want the function (well managed customer relationships, reduced costs, competitive differentiation).  Continue Reading

• Rumours of the PC's death are greatly exaggerated

  If recent headlines are anything to go by, the days of the humble PC are numbered, regardless of whether it's a desktop or a notebook. We at believe that's far from the case, and expect the PC to be an essential element of the corporate and personal...  Continue Reading

• Data breaches: Steps businesses need to take to protect data

  It is a tough time for IT managers, writes Garry Sidaway, director of security strategy at Integralis. Not a week goes by without news of another data breach. The EU is discussing new regulations on data breach notification. When even security ...  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2011: Using technology to create a digital democracy

  In 1982 over 10,000 people were massacred in Hama in Syria, yet it was months before news leaked out; stifling the opposition was relatively easy. It's striking how different the situation is today.  Continue Reading

• Security Zone: Conquering password paranoia

  David Emm from Kaspersky writes a good article on securelist.com about the tug-of-war between the need for passwords to be strong and variable for each account and the human tendency to make them weak and similar for easy recall. He gives two ...  Continue Reading

• It is time for new IT suppliers for government

  The report from the Public Administration Select Committee into government IT pulls no punches, with its theme of an oligopoly of giant system integrators, says government SME advisor Mark Taylor.  Continue Reading

• Let the taxman pay your software development costs

  On the back of government consultation, tax relief for companies involved in development activity is set to become even more generous and software development companies should ensure that they are taking advantage of this valuable relief, writes ...  Continue Reading

• Making cuts count through efficient processes

  Roy Garlick, country manager at business process analysis software maker iGrafx, says the private sector will have to become more efficient if it is to fill the hole left by public sector cuts.  Continue Reading

• Green technology offers network managers cost-reduction and operational benefits

  Cutting carbon emissions and going green is no longer just an option: it is the inevitable future of business in the 21st century. Execs are being urged to junk their Jag and pick up a Prius. Business travellers are encouraged to take the train over...  Continue Reading

• Service management: we are all judged on service delivery

  All IT departments are judged on the basis of service delivery, whether they work that way explicitly or not. Although thinking of IT as a service is unpopular with IT professionals, embracing the concept of services proactively when it comes to IT ...  Continue Reading

• Underinvestment erodes UK knowledge economy and blunts competitive edge

  It is somewhat ironic - particularly to non-British observers - that the country that shaped the industrial revolution and the process of globalisation through its outward expansion of empire should have such difficulty in sustaining a competitive ...  Continue Reading

• Are you ready to respond to a security breach?

  Security breaches and compromises are no longer just a possibility but a simple matter of fact. The arduous (and arguably pointless) discussions on how to prevent organisations from ever being hacked is steadily moving on to a more productive ...  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2011: Why IT matters

  As technology professionals, you are unlikely to need convincing that IT matters, but I am a strong proponent of the belief that, right now, IT has never mattered more, writes Ken Deeks.  Continue Reading

• English is the second language of CIOs

  It keeps happening - Let me give you an example: I was sitting in a Board presentation of a CIO's budget, and the CIO said: We need 2 million year week for DR. One Board member leaned over and whispered to another: "What's DR?" The other paused for ...  Continue Reading

• Top skills for IT managers - Part 4: Financial and Outcome Management

  In this six-part series, Joseph R. Czarnecki, project management specialist and senior consultant at ESI International, identifies six top business skills at which every IT project managers needs to excel.  Continue Reading

• Security Zone: Planning is the key to successfully implement data governance

  When some people think about data governance they immediately jump to the conclusion that a technological solution is a holy grail for defining an answer to this substantial task, writes Finn Rye, CISSP. While a technology solution is an integral ...  Continue Reading

• Why IT leaders need to prepare for the Bribery Act

  The Bribery Act hits the UK statute book on 1 July 2011. The new legislation widens coverage from public officials and their agents to the whole of the private sector and associated transactions. Clearly this area is being taken seriously as failure...  Continue Reading

• Back to the future with government ID plans

  The government's new identity scheme promises to put citizens at the centre of online public services, says Centre for Technology Policy Research director Jerry Fishenden.  Continue Reading

• Security profession must banish flu symptoms with nimble risk-based decisions

  We talk a lot about new technology, but there are few times when technology really tears up an organisation's rulebook - but that is what the "cloud" and the iPad have done, writes Matthew Lord, CISSP. These technologies have entered our ...  Continue Reading

• Top five tips for gTLD strategy: What does Icann's decision mean for your business?

  The generic top-level domains (gTLDs) programme, approved by Icann has seen the introduction of tailored domain name suffixes and means that brands will be able to pay to use their own name as a gTLD. The shift marks one of the biggest changes to ...  Continue Reading

• ITSM and social media: maintaining best practice and adding business value

  Following mainstream adoption at the turn of the millennium, ITIL has set the pace for best practice in IT service management (ITSM), writes Patrick Bolger. By providing a practical framework for delivering and supporting IT services, ITIL has ...  Continue Reading

• Seven trends in public sector procurement that are scaring suppliers

  The government's austerity programme is having predicable knock-on effects on IT procurement and outsourcing strategies, and while there are a number of inter-related themes they all stem from a single overriding imperative - the need to cut costs.  Continue Reading

• The IT team of the future: Jack of all trades, but certainly not master of none

  Despite the growing consensus around the advantages of cloud computing, be that private, hybrid or public, there is often an elephant in the room during many of my cloud conversations with customers - what will cloud mean for my IT team?  Continue Reading

• Cutting costs with variable SLAs

  CIO Connect CEO Nick Kirkland looks at how service level agreements (SLAs) are often overlooked as vehicles for reducing costs.  Continue Reading

• When an IT function does as little technology as possible

  I've just returned from giving a key-note address at the Ovum Industry Congress in London, writes Terry White, research director, CXO Advisor.  Continue Reading

• What are the opportunities mCommerce offers?

  Throughout 2010, a flurry of announcements from players in the mobile value chain placed the spotlight squarely on the potential of the mCommerce market and highlighted it as a valuable revenue driver in a tough and competitive economic environment,...  Continue Reading

• An evolutionary approach to cloud computing

  In the midst of the hype surrounding cloud computing it is sometimes difficult to remember that it is not the panacea, or silver bullet, for all IT service delivery issues. While it will be the right answer in certain, perhaps many, scenarios it ...  Continue Reading

• Don’t listen to marketing – IT is working

  If one were to believe even a tenth of the marketing messages that are thrown out by IT vendors, the quality of IT services delivered inside organisations today are horribly expensive, poorly delivered and way too inflexible, writes Tony Lock, ...  Continue Reading

• PCI DSS v2.0: How does it affect your web application security testing?

  The latest version of PCI DSS came into effect on 1 January 2011. If you are a merchant of any size accepting credit cards, you must comply with PCI DSS v2.0 Standards from 2012, writes Fabio Cerullo, CISSP.  Continue Reading

• Open University prepares students for the business-focused reality of IT

  The stereotypical view of an IT worker separated from their organisation in a windowless basement is increasingly far removed from the reality of the role, writes Kevin Streater, executive director for IT employer engagement at The Open University.  Continue Reading

• Top skills for IT managers - Part 3: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

  In this six-part series, Joseph R. Czarnecki, project management specialist and senior consultant at ESI International, identifies six top business skills at which every IT project managers needs to excel.  Continue Reading

• Seven critical elements to maintaining a balance between regulation and innovation

  Regulation is sapping IT resources, but is there hope for innovation? asks Dave Upton  Continue Reading

• Consumerism and productivity: How to deal with employees' devices in the workplace

  In the first part of this discussion, I covered the hard reality of consumerisation and the dangers of letting end users take too much control of IT, writes Dale Vile, chief executive of analyst Freeform Dynamics.  Continue Reading

• No excuses for Lockheed Martin cyber attack

  US defence contractor Lockheed Martin is reportedly blaming an apparently successful hack of its IT systems on an earlier breach of RSA Security's system, but this is nothing but smoke and mirrors, writes Steve Watts, co-founder of SecurEnvoy.  Continue Reading

• The cookies monster: How to deal with the new cookies law

  From 26 May 2011, the law concerning the use of cookies and similar technologies for storing information on a user's computer equipment is changing. Henrietta Neate looks at what the new law says and what you will need to do to ensure that you ...  Continue Reading

• Byte Night 2011: IT takes to the streets in the fight against youth homelessness

  Last week, many IT professionals stood together in the offices of BDO Stoy Hayward in Baker Street, London, to pledge support for the launch of Byte Night 2011, the IT industry's annual sleep-out which supports Action for Children's fight against ...  Continue Reading