Business applications
At the heart of enterprise software strategy are the key business applications upon which every organisation relies. From enterprise resource planning (ERP) to customer relationship management (CRM), financial and accounts software to business intelligence (BI), such applications demand high investments and can deliver high returns. We analyse the latest product developments and the news from major suppliers such as Oracle, Microsoft and SAP.
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News
26 Apr 2024
Post Office scheme was a ‘charade’ that never intended for large compensation pay-outs
The Post Office established a scheme to compensate subpostmasters affected by tech faults, but it was just a ‘charade’, says Public Inquiry KC Continue Reading
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News
26 Apr 2024
European Parliament approves platform worker directive
The approval of the platform worker directive gives member states two years to incorporate its measures into their national legislation, which includes provisions on how to classify the employment of gig workers and deploy algorithmic decision-making at work Continue Reading
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News
14 Mar 2013
CIO Interview: Matthew Oakeley, global IT head of Schroders
Matthew Oakeley talks to Karl Flinders about his role as global IT head at investment management company Schroders Continue Reading
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News
13 Mar 2013
John Lewis drops virtual mirror project as part of ‘fail fast at innovation' strategy
John Lewis has canned its virtual mirror project as part of the company’s approach to ‘failing fast at innovation’ Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2013
Majestic Wine swaps Microsoft for Intershop in ecommerce refresh
Majestic Wine is revamping its website with an InterShop 7 ecommerce engine, which replaces a legacy Microsoft Commerce Server system. Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2013
Hilary Reynolds latest universal credit programme director to move
Universal credit programme director Hilary Reynolds has moved off after just four months, the latest senior figure to leave the programme Continue Reading
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News
07 Mar 2013
MP adamant Universal Credit IT suppliers told to down tools
Universal Credit IT contractors have been told to down tools, says Stephen Timms, Labour MP for East Ham Continue Reading
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News
25 Feb 2013
Nokia Siemens Networks unveils Liquid Applications
New technology enables data-rich applications to be run from base stations, reducing latency in mobile networks Continue Reading
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News
24 Feb 2013
Universal Credit has the hallmarks of another IT failure
Charities, housing associations and consultancies have warned that the Department for Work and Pensions’ £2.2bn Universal Credit programme has all the hallmarks of another public sector IT disaster. Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2013
Google battles BT in patent row
Google has launched legal action against BT, accusing the British firm of four counts of patent infringement Continue Reading
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News
11 Feb 2013
HMRC alerts businesses to impending real-time PAYE changes
HMRC is notifying businesses about impending real-time information (RTI) changes to the PAYE payroll system Continue Reading
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News
07 Feb 2013
Interview: Phil Smith, CEO of Cisco UK & Ireland
Cisco's UK CEO talks about innovation, wireless vs wired and software defined networking at the company’s annual Cisco Live event in London Continue Reading
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News
05 Feb 2013
Interview: John Harris, vice-president of global enterprise architecture, Aimia
Aimia, the organisation behind retail loyalty programme Nectar, is overhauling its IT to make the most of customer data Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Feb 2013
Process big data at speed
Low-cost solid state memory is powering high-speed analytics of big data streaming from social network feeds and the industrial internet. Continue Reading
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News
04 Feb 2013
Reed jobs site chooses SAP Business ByDesign
Reed.co.uk recruitment agency has chosen cloud-based SAP Business ByDesign as part of an overhaul of its business applications strategy Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Feb 2013
How 3D printing impacts manufacturing
With the ability to create on-demand specialist tools, any initial investment in 3D printing technology could quickly pay for itself. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jan 2013
Ferrari swerves SAP, adopts Infor LN to meet Chinese demand
Italian sports car maker Ferrari has turned to Infor ERP technology to respond to Chinese and Middle Eastern customer demand Continue Reading
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News
23 Jan 2013
European bank IT investment lags US and Asia-Pacific equivalents
Banks in Asia-Pacific and North America will increase their IT spending significantly more than those in Europe Continue Reading
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News
22 Jan 2013
Defra plans £80m agile CAP system
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is planning a single integrated £80m Common Agricultural Policy system Continue Reading
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News
21 Jan 2013
UK citizens unwilling to embrace big data
The public sector could improve services by imitating the private sector’s use of big data, but citizens are overwhelmingly against the idea Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Jan 2013
GE uses big data to power machine services business
GE, one of the UK's largest manufacturers, is using big data analytics with data generated from machine sensors to predict maintenance needs Continue Reading
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News
17 Jan 2013
Betting site YouWin speeds response times with MongoDB database
Bookmaker WinUnited has deployed a MongoDB open source non-relational database from 10gen to help it better update betting odds in real time Continue Reading
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News
16 Jan 2013
Post Office wants to get to bottom of IT system allegations
A system that set out to modernise the Post Office in 1996 is under the spotlight after claims that Horizon accounting system is error prone Continue Reading
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News
14 Jan 2013
Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence
The Post Office is calling for evidence from people who have used the Horizon IT system which some have blamed for accounting discrepancies Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Jan 2013
The limitations of traditional SaaS integration approaches
Time and budget constraints are forcing many organisations to rethink their integration strategy and find a well-aligned solution Continue Reading
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News
11 Jan 2013
SAP puts Business Suite on HANA, joins transactional to analytical
SAP has announced that its Business Suite software now runs on the HANA in-memory database Continue Reading
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News
08 Jan 2013
Are software audits good for your health?
The Business Software Alliance's claim that 90% of all audit letters sent in 2012 were the result of tips from whistle-blowers is a wake-up call to CIOs Continue Reading
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News
08 Jan 2013
VoIP awareness up but user numbers remain low
A report from Ofcom claims four in five consumers know what voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is, but just 29% use the technology Continue Reading
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News
07 Jan 2013
Barclays' Linux programme not a snub to suppliers
Barclays says it is not snubbing any supplier by developing a private cloud infrastructure and using Linux to cut software development costs by 90%. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Jan 2013
How to integrate SaaS with your local business systems
As software as a service matures, CIOs need to look at how well cloud-based products integrate with existing on-premise systems Continue Reading
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Photo Story
03 Jan 2013
Extreme teleworking from Everest Base Camp
Technical project manager Astrid Byro is planning to work remotely from 5000m above sea-level in the Himalayas using a Kindle Fire Continue Reading
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News
02 Jan 2013
Post Office admits that Horizon system needs more investigation
Campaigners have forced the Post Office to look again at a computer system blamed for sub-postmasters being wrongly accused of false accounting Continue Reading
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News
02 Jan 2013
Home Retail Group cuts call costs with SMS automation
Home Retail Group, whose brands include Argos, Homebase and Habitat has cut telephony costs by rolling out an automated text messaging service across its three call centres. Continue Reading
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News
28 Dec 2012
Top 10 business software articles of 2012
The main thrust in enterprise software this year has been the introduction of a new Windows OS, programming model and user interface. Continue Reading
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News
27 Dec 2012
Top 10 financial services IT stories in 2012
The industry that you expect to hit the IT headlines on a regular basis has not let us down in the last 12 months, despite continued tough market conditions. Continue Reading
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News
18 Dec 2012
Mott MacDonald rolls out Microsoft software globally
Engineering firm Mott MacDonald is rolling out Microsoft products globally over the next year as it moves towards a Microsoft-centric business strategy Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Dec 2012
Amazon: Gold standard of the cloud?
Amazon Web Services is the benchmark for cloud in the enterprise but can it handle the challenge of federated cloud services? Continue Reading
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News
14 Dec 2012
Mazars outsources access management
Global accountancy firm Mazars has outsourced the management of access to Oracle and Sharepoint applications for 6000 global staff Continue Reading
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News
07 Dec 2012
Citrix buys corporate MDM tool company Zenprise
Citrix has bought mobile device management (MDM) company Zenprise for an undisclosed sum to boost its corporate mobile tools portfolio Continue Reading
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News
06 Dec 2012
Emulex buys Endace for $130m
Networking company Emulex hopes to boost its performance management skills by acquiring Endace Continue Reading
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News
05 Dec 2012
Unilever prepares for global HANA roll-out
Consumer goods giant Unilever is looking at how it can optimise its global operations using SAP’s HANA in-memory database Continue Reading
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News
29 Nov 2012
British Film Institute to launch version of the iPlayer
The British Film Institute (BFI) is to launch its own version of the BBC's iPlayer in digitisation plans to give millions access to its film archive Continue Reading
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News
28 Nov 2012
Apple sacks head of maps
Apple has sacked Richard Williamson, the executive in charge of Apple Maps, after months of embarrassment over application’s performance Continue Reading
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News
27 Nov 2012
Poor design hampers gamification in the enterprise, says Gartner
By 2014, 80% of current gamified applications will fail to meet business objectives, primarily because of poor design, according to Gartner Continue Reading
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News
26 Nov 2012
Competing firms jockey for position in mobile payments gold rush
While mobile payments is still in its infancy, the promise of the rewards is substantial and competition for market dominance is gathering pace Continue Reading
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News
20 Nov 2012
HP writes down Autonomy by $8.8bn
HP blames Autonomy for misleading the firm before acquisition and refers former management to the Serious Fraud Office Continue Reading
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News
19 Nov 2012
Emirates takes Windows 8 HP ElitePad 900 to the sky
Airline Emirates is rolling out in-flight Windows 8 tablets to enable cabin crew to access core IT Continue Reading
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News
16 Nov 2012
WiFox claims 700% boost in Wi-Fi performance
New software created by researchers at North Carolina State University claims to boost performance of Wi-Fi by up to 700% Continue Reading
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News
16 Nov 2012
London Stock Exchange technology sales up
The growth of the London Stock Exchange’s MillenniumIT software has outstripped the wider business, with a 19% increase in sales of its trading software Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2012
Hillarys Blinds rolls out custom sales app using SAP Afaria
Blinds and curtains supplier Hillarys Blinds has developed an Android app for sales agents that synchronises with its back-end SAP ERP system Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2012
Stories That Move Mountains: Improve your presentation skills
Learn how to make your presentation stand out from the crowd and make 'death by slide presentation' a thing of the past with this book extract especially written for IT professionals. Continue Reading
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News
09 Nov 2012
German retailer Otto invests in neural software to net future sales
German retail giant Otto improves demand forecasting with neural network technology from Blue Yonder, a predictive analytics start-up Continue Reading
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News
08 Nov 2012
Capgemini reduces consultancy charges
Capgemini has lowered pricing in its consulting and local professional services businesses, according to its latest quarter results. Continue Reading
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News
07 Nov 2012
Apple loses patent case to VirnetX
Apple has been ordered to pay $368m in damages to VirnetX after a court ruled it had infringed on two of the software firm’s patents Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2012
Universal Credit programme director Malcolm Whitehouse steps down
Malcolm Whitehouse, programme director for the government's £2.2bn Universal Credit project, has stepped down Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2012
Gartner Symposium: RBS emulates Amazon with private cloud
Royal Bank of Scotland has developed a private cloud to support its application development process, using Amazon best practices Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2012
EDF blames system upgrade for customer complaint failures
EDF blames a system upgrade for failing to handle customer complaints to standard, but says it will resolve the issue by the end of the year Continue Reading
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News
02 Nov 2012
RBS pays customers extra £50m for IT failure
The IT failure that struck Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in June will cost more than expected as customers are paid an extra £50m compensation Continue Reading
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News
31 Oct 2012
Government dips toe in water for single ERP
The government is to test the feasibility of moving to a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform across Whitehall Continue Reading
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News
31 Oct 2012
Apple squashes BlackBerry as Brent Borough deploys iPads
Brent Borough Council replaces BlackBerry and deploys MobileIron to securely manage almost 3,000 iPads and iPhones Continue Reading
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News
30 Oct 2012
Teradata brings big data into the SQL family
Teradata addresses the issue of combining unstructured, semi-structured and traditional row-and-column data warehousing in a single architecture. Continue Reading
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News
25 Oct 2012
Government expected to unveil eight IDA suppliers for online services
The government is to announce suppliers – including PayPal, BT and the Post Office – to provide identity assurance (IDA) for online public services Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2012
CIO interview: Gerry Pennell, CIO, London 2012 Olympic Games
As the job of a lifetime nears its end, London 2012 CIO Gerry Pennell talks exclusively to Computer Weekly about his Olympic experience Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2012
Windows 8 Buyer's Guide
What does Windows 8 offer for businesses ? Download this 11 page guide to find out. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2012
CW Special report on Atos
This 11 page special report, packed with graphs and charts, gives you the facts on Atos, its strategy, products and services and financial performance. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2012
Calculating Training ROI
This guide from ESI International offers essential tips on calculating the return on investment of your training programme. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Oct 2012
CW500: Managing the mobile workforce (part 1)
Mobile working has transformed Colt Telecommunications beyond recognition over the past three years Continue Reading
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News
08 Oct 2012
Lamborghini slashes web costs with Amazon Web Services
Supercar maker Lamborghini has revamped and accelerated the performance of its website by running it on Amazon Web Services Continue Reading
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News
08 Oct 2012
How French Connection automated stock replenishment to cut costs
Fashion retailer French Connection cut costs by deploying a stock replenishment automation system Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Oct 2012
How to manage unstructured data for business benefit
The cloud offers some progress in the resource-sapping management of unstructured data, but it is critical to work back from the business case. Continue Reading
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News
04 Oct 2012
Meg Whitman unveils HP turnaround plan
HP CEO Meg Whitman has unveiled a five-year plan for the troubled enterprise, admitting the turnaround would take longer than expected Continue Reading
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News
02 Oct 2012
Toyota uses Microsoft for global communications
Toyota Motor Corporation is globally deploying Microsoft software through a mix of cloud and on-premise software for its 200,000 staff Continue Reading
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News
01 Oct 2012
The ROI for ERP: An Overall Approach
Nucleus Research offers advice on calculating the return on investment (ROI) for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Continue Reading
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News
01 Oct 2012
Cloud delivers 1.7 times more ROI
Nucleus Research evaluates the business case for running applications in the cloud. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2012
10 Tips to Measure Training ROI
How do you measure the value of training to the business ? These tips will help you develop your business case. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2012
The ROI for ERP: An Overall Approach
Nucleus Research offers advice on calculating the return on investment (ROI) for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2012
CW Buyer's Guide: Healthcare in IT
This 7 page buyer's guide looks at the future of electronic healthcare records, healthcare technology and the use of mobile technology. Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2012
Activision uses Salesforce to serve gaming community
The Call of Duty designers use the Service Cloud and Chatter Communities to solve customer queries Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2012
EDF app enables smartphones to snap meter readings
Energy supplier EDF has released an app that enables customers to submit meter readings by using the camera on a smartphone Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2012
Government plans for 200 digital managers
Government may appoint 200 digital managers to work across Whitehall departments as part of its transition to transactional digital services Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2012
E.ON outsources applications to Capgemini
Utility giant E.ON has outsourced application services to Capgemini as part of a five-year restructure of its IT services in a deal worth about €50m Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2012
Ten killer questions for choosing an HR IT system
Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) chose a cloud-based HR system, to manage its 3,700 disparate global staff, on the basis of 10 killer questions Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2012
Cabinet Office blacklists Fujitsu from government IT contract tenders
The Cabinet Office has banned Fujitsu and another IT supplier from tendering for public sector IT contracts as they constitute too high a risk Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2012
The ROI of Social CRM
Nucleus assesses the benefits of adding social capabilities to CRM deployments. Continue Reading
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News
06 Sep 2012
FSA demands review of RBS software failure
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants to know how banks plan to prevent a repeat of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) software glitch Continue Reading
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News
04 Sep 2012
NHS claws back £1bn as CSC negotiations come to an end
The Department of Health claws back £1bn from CSC as negotiations with the troubled supplier come to an end. Continue Reading
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News
29 Aug 2012
VMware demos Horizon for workspace aggregation
VMware has fleshed out its desktop virtualisation strategy with products designed to make desktop computing more manageable Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Aug 2012
Outsourcing IT services: goals and negotiations
Tactical and strategic negotiations are important to businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to the largest enterprises Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2012
Villa Plus implements IBM business analytics software
Holiday company Villa Plus is using IBM business analytics software to support its advertising campaigns as it increases its number of properties by 40% Continue Reading
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News
16 Aug 2012
Gartner: Prepare for hybrid cloud pain
Hybrid clouds are set for a big fall as businesses feel the pain of implementation Continue Reading
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News
09 Aug 2012
NHS sees £100m reduction in exposure to CSC contracts
The Department for Health’s financial exposure to its contracts with troubled supplier CSC have decreased by £100m in just three months. Continue Reading
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News
06 Aug 2012
Putting innovation on the outsourcing menu
Cliff Saran investigates what happens when systems integrators are asked to innovate Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2012
Interview: Denise McDonagh, government G-cloud director
Denise McDonagh talks about the challenges of the G-cloud programme and how the government is reducing dependence on large outsourcers. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Jul 2012
How to make sense of the big data universe
Analysing big data can be a daunting prospect, so find out what you need, where it is and how to deal with it Continue Reading
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News
23 Jul 2012
Heads of business bank on IT to boost business
Top-level business managers regard IT as a competitive advantage, according to Gartner Continue Reading
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News
17 Jul 2012
Steve Ballmer launches cloud-based Microsoft Office 2013
Steve Ballmer releases a preview of Microsoft's cloud-based Office 2013 suite of productivity tools, which he says works best on Windows 8 OS Continue Reading
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News
13 Jul 2012
The future of software development: Energized Work
Gus Power, CTO at Energized Work, gives his views on the future of software development, in this presentation for Computer Weekly's 500 Club. Continue Reading
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13 Jul 2012
The future of software development: The FT's view.
Jagdeep Singh Bhambra, head of software development at the FT, gives his views on the future of software development, in this presentation for Computer Weekly's 500 Club for IT leaders. Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Jul 2012
Data virtualisation on rise as ETL alternative for data integration
The Phone House and Novartis have turned to data virtualisation from Denodo and Composite to gain a single logical view of disparate data sources. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2012
Key HMRC IT plans delayed due to spending freeze, says NAO
Key HMRC IT plans have been delayed because of the Cabinet Office’s moratorium on spending, the National Audit Office (NAO) says Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2012
KPMG 2012 Global Technology Innovation Survey
China and the US are most likely to come up with disruptive technology breakthroughs over the next four years, but Europe lags behind Continue Reading
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27 Jun 2012
RBS set to sue supplier CA Technologies for software failure
Reports claim RBS is gearing up for legal action against US software supplier CA Technologies over the technical fault that crashed accounts Continue Reading