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
04 Oct 2024
Meta fuels AI innovation in APAC with accelerator programme
Meta launches AI accelerator and incubator programmes to support startups and enterprises in building AI applications using its Llama model Continue Reading
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02 Oct 2024
India’s fintechs find fortune in underserved segments
Indian fintech companies are leveraging artificial intelligence and blockchain to address underserved customer segments, unearth hidden revenue opportunities and create innovative products Continue Reading
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07 Sep 2011
DigiNotar certificate authority breach: Why it matters
There has been much speculation around the identity and motive of the hacker who was able to breach DigiNotar and issue fraudulent digital certificates for hundreds of websites, but putting such speculation aside, what is the broader significance of the incident? Continue Reading
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News
07 Sep 2011
CIO interview: Mike Bracken, UK government director of digital
Whitehall is not exactly known for being at the bleeding edge of technological innovation. But as the newly appointed government director of digital, Mike Bracken is set to change that perception. In an exclusive interview, he discusses the challenges ahead. Continue Reading
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06 Sep 2011
CRM failing business due to lack of focus
Customer relationship management (CRM) is failing to deliver business value, according to a study from the National Computer Centre (NCC). Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Sep 2011
How the financial services sector uses big data analytics to predict client behaviour
The financial services sector has gone through unprecedented change in the last few years. Customers are expecting a more personalised service from their banks. Regulators have reacted to the credit crunch with significant changes to regulation with more intrusive and granular supervision. Continue Reading
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30 Aug 2011
Small suppliers dominate social CRM market
Spending on social software for marketing, customer service and sales increased by 40% in 2010, but social CRM remained less than 5% of the total CRM application market, according to analyst Gartner. Continue Reading
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19 Aug 2011
What does HP's Autonomy acquisition mean for the UK tech sector?
HP's bombshell announcement that it is to acquire Autonomy has left many questioning where this leaves the UK software industry. Computer Weekly asks the experts what the deal means for UK home-grown tech talent and what HP is likely to achieve with the latest addition to its portfolio. Continue Reading
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16 Aug 2011
Microsoft to discontinue support for its e-book reader application
Microsoft is to halt support for its e-book reader application in a year's time, with no new content to be released after November this year. Continue Reading
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15 Aug 2011
Government must change the way it stores citizens' personal data, calls the EHRC
The government must bring in changes to better protect personal information, calls the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Continue Reading
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News
12 Aug 2011
Gist uses IBM cloud to improve supply chain messaging
Gist, a logistics company specialising in the distribution of chilled, frozen and ambient foods, has implemented IBM Sterling B2B Integration Services. Continue Reading
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News
11 Aug 2011
Government moves Alpha.gov.uk one-stop website to beta phase for public testing
The government has moved an alpha version of a pilot website - which could replace all .gov.uk URLs - to beta. Continue Reading
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News
11 Aug 2011
US woman sues Google over Gmail scanning
A woman has filed a class action suit against Google for scanning all e-mail sent to Gmail account holders to use for targeted advertising campaigns. Continue Reading
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News
09 Aug 2011
Windows 7 deployments delayed by economic uncertainties, says Gartner
Economic uncertainty may cause a slowdown in Windows 7 operating system (OS) deployments in Western Europe, according to research firm Gartner. Continue Reading
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News
08 Aug 2011
Royal Pharmaceutical Society outsources to cope with restructure
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has outsourced the management of e-mail and storage to support a major restructure. Continue Reading
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News
05 Aug 2011
Case Study: Data encryption at the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army in the UK supports flexible working from home using laptops owned by the charity, but says finding a good way of protecting data was a challenge. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
02 Aug 2011
Review of Visual Studio Lightswitch
A review of Visual Studio Lightswitch, Microsoft's simplified self-service development tool. Continue Reading
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News
02 Aug 2011
Tesco signs eight-year deal to use Microsoft products and services
Tesco has signed a software licensing and services deal with Microsoft aimed at helping improve the retail giant's global productivity and international growth. Continue Reading
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News
02 Aug 2011
Amazon closes Android appstore submissions in Germany after Apple lawsuit
Amazon has closed submissions for its Android app store in Germany following a lawsuit from Apple. Continue Reading
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01 Aug 2011
CIO interview: Michael Foster, European vice-president of IT, FedEx Express
What role should IT play in business? This is the question Michael Foster, vice-president of IT at Fedex Europe, tackles at the global courier. Cliff Saran reports. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Aug 2011
What is big data and how can it be used to gain competitive advantage?
Cliff Saran discovers how big data can deliver big business benefits without excessive IT investment Continue Reading
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28 Jul 2011
ElasticStack delivers cloud with SAN-resilient storage on commodity hardware
Cloud platform provider ElasticStack has refined its software to deliver a cloud platform with resilient storage using low-cost commodity hardware... Continue Reading
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26 Jul 2011
Tate museum group chooses Drupal and cloud hosting for new website
The Tate museum group is scrapping the use of HTML code in favour of open source content management platform Drupal... Continue Reading
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25 Jul 2011
Automated web application attacks are the top security threat, study reveals
Websites are attacked about 27 times an hour or once every two minutes on average, peaking at 25,000 attacks a minute or seven a second, according to research... Continue Reading
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20 Jul 2011
Forrester: Seven trends to shape the future of enterprise applications and ERP
Over the next five years, technology changes will disrupt our long-held beliefs about the ownership and value of core enterprise application, writes Paul D. Hamerman, vice-president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. Continue Reading
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19 Jul 2011
Carphone Warehouse uses business process management to increase customer satisfaction
Retailer Carphone Warehouse is claiming a 25% jump in its customer satisfaction ratings after investing in BPM software to help staff deal with sales, queries and complaints. Continue Reading
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18 Jul 2011
Government shelves Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors database to save £11m
The government has shelved plans to create a database of electoral information, in a move estimated to save £11m. Continue Reading
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14 Jul 2011
Gartner urges IT departments to support end-user application development
Business IT users are increasingly looking outside the IT department for application development and in many cases are building applications themselves,... Continue Reading
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12 Jul 2011
Twitter uses Acquia to provide Drupal-based development community site
Twitter has launched a new developer community site using open source content management system (CMS) Drupal, provided by Acquia. Continue Reading
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11 Jul 2011
Microsoft packs a lot into July’s four Patch Tuesday security updates
Microsoft is to release only four security updates in this month's Patch Tuesday security update, but these will cover 22 vulnerabilities in Windows and Office. Continue Reading
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11 Jul 2011
Law firm uses RES Software to manage desktop transfer in office move
UK-based international law firm Stephenson Harwood used RES Software to retain and manage user desktop settings as well as upgrade desktop software during an office move. Continue Reading
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07 Jul 2011
Oracle releases iPad app for virtual desktop client
Oracle has released a virtual desktop client app for the Apple iPad to provide mobile access to server-hosted desktops and enterprise applications. Continue Reading
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07 Jul 2011
Kognitio ships data analysis tool Pablo
Data analytics company Kognitio is now shipping Pablo, a product that allows users to build and query virtual OLAP (online analytical processing) cubes without data warehouse specialists. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Jul 2011
Case study: How a small business can benefit from SaaS
Professional beauty products distributor SweetSquared considers using Microsoft Office 365 alongside browser-based SaaS. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
01 Jul 2011
The IT that serves Wimbledon 2011
IBM provides an integrated end-to-end scoring system that delivers live tennis results to the BBC TV graphics, on-court scoreboards, match information displays, official web site and Wimbledon's own iPhone app. Continue Reading
- Photo Story 01 Jul 2011
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News
01 Jul 2011
DWP adds agile development into IT contracts for £2bn Universal Credit system
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has modified contracts governing the supply of its £2bn Universal Credit system by adding clauses encouraging agile development. Continue Reading
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29 Jun 2011
Update software to reduce risk of cyber attack, top suppliers tell business
Businesses are unnecessarily exposing themselves to cyber attack simply by failing to update to the latest versions of the software they are running, according to Microsoft and Adobe. Continue Reading
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23 Jun 2011
Interactive crime maps allow victims to track cases
The government will extend its interactive crime maps site to enable victims to track their cases online, according to Nick Herbert, minister of state for policing and criminal justice. Continue Reading
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22 Jun 2011
European Commission gives green light to CSC acquisition of beleaguered iSoft
The European Commission (EC) has approved CSC's acquisition of healthcare software maker iSoft. Continue Reading
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22 Jun 2011
Mozilla releases final version of Firefox 5 for download
Mozilla has released a fifth version of its web browser, Firefox, available to download for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Continue Reading
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22 Jun 2011
Police National Database launched containing details of 15 million UK citizens
A national database to allow police forces to share locally held information across the country has been launched by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA). Continue Reading
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17 Jun 2011
Chinese software flaw makes infrastructure vulnerable, warns report
China's public infrastructure is vulnerable to cyber attack because of vulnerabilities in software used to run weapons systems, utilities and chemical plants, according to Reuters. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
13 Jun 2011
Review: Visual Studio ALM
The benefits of making software development more transparent Continue Reading
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News
09 Jun 2011
Plan International moves global systems to SAP
International child welfare charity Plan International is rolling out SAP globally and in doing so is embarking on its first ever major application outsourcing project. Continue Reading
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02 Jun 2011
E-mail accounts of senior US officials targeted in Chinese hack attack
Chinese hackers have accessed the accounts of hundreds of Gmail users, including senior US officials, Chinese political activists, military personnel, journalists and officials in several Asian countries, Google has said. Continue Reading
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31 May 2011
Case study: Invensys saves £546,000 with SMS tokens for 150,000 users
Engineering firm Invensys is embarking on a global roll-out of software-based tokens from SecurEnvoy to replace physical token-based authentication. Continue Reading
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31 May 2011
Google Chrome OS keeps focus on notebooks despite tablet explosion
Google will keep the focus of its Chrome operating system on notebooks rather than tablets for now, according to a senior executive at the search company. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 May 2011
Clarion Events Extends the Life of its System i and JD Edwards environment with Magic Software
Clarion Events is one of the UK's leading exhibition and event organisers. For over 30 years Clarion Events has been creating and developing stimulating and effective exhibitions, conferences and seated events in the UK, EMEA, Asia and America. Clarion Events is implementing a new CRM system and an aggressive international growth strategy which already includes multiple subsidiaries and a steady acquisition of new businesses. Continue Reading
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27 May 2011
DWP prepares alternative to identity cards for Universal Credit
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is grooming a British tech start-up to play a key role in its £2bn Universal Credit benefits system. Continue Reading
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26 May 2011
Data warehouse and business intelligence projects fail to meet companies' requirements
Over half of businesses gave their business intelligence and data warehouse projects a rating of "average" when asked how well they met business objectives. Continue Reading
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26 May 2011
Twinfield offers mileage accounting on iPhone
Online accounting services provider Twinfield has created an iPhone application that will enable users to automatically record time and mileage. Available as a free download from the Apple AppStore, the app uses global positioning to track mileage. Continue Reading
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20 May 2011
Salesforce.com gains 5,400 customers but profit slumps by 97%
Salesforce.com posted a 97% profit slump since last year despite its subscription-based CRM software growing to be used by over 97,000 companies. Continue Reading
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19 May 2011
Microsoft attempts to cement Azure values at TechEd Atlanta
"Cloud Power Delivered" is the subtitle of this year's Microsoft TechEd conference, held in Atlanta and attended by around 10,000 IT professionals and developers. Tim Anderson reports from the event. Continue Reading
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17 May 2011
Government vigilance steps up after George Osborne reveals extent of cyber attacks
Security experts have called for UK government departments to be vigilant after chancellor George Osborne revealed that 20,000 e-mails are sent by hostile intelligence agencies to the UK government each month. Continue Reading
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17 May 2011
IBM qualification courses rolled out in Scottish universities
IBM has introduced qualification courses for its Power systems and System z mainframes throughout Scottish universities and colleges. Continue Reading
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13 May 2011
Government website pilot points to future public sector software development
Alpha.gov.uk is a pilot for a website that could put all UK government digital services and websites on one URL Continue Reading
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12 May 2011
Analysis: Will Android dominance increase IT security threats for business?
The Android Market is forecast to become the world's biggest mobile content platform by August 2011, according to research by mobile application research firm Distimo. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
05 May 2011
Oracle JDeveloper review
Tim Anderson finds that Oracle's home-grown tool for Java development, JDeveloper, may have a traditional feel, but its smart editor and productivity tools make it particularly useful if you are working with the powerful Oracle ADF. Continue Reading
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21 Apr 2011
National Archives scoops Queen’s Award for Enterprise
The National Archives has been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise - the first public sector body to receive the gong in more than ten years. Continue Reading
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18 Apr 2011
Growth of NFC to drive overhaul of Chip and PIN equipment
The growth of near-field communication (NFC) in the UK will drive the replacement of retailers' Chip and PIN point of sale (PoS) equipment, according to an analyst. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Apr 2011
Case study: Bell Canada rings up big revenues with Infor CRM
Bell Mobility, a division of Bell Canada Enterprises, implemented an Infor customer relationship management solution, Interaction Advisor, and worked with Infor to transform Bell Mobility’s two call centers - with a combined 550 customer service representatives (CSRs) - into selling centers. Continue Reading
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15 Apr 2011
Computer Weekly marks the end of an era as a new one begins
The first issue of Computer Weekly magazine in 1966 marked the start of an era in the UK IT industry - the first ever weekly technology publication. This is the story of how it all began. Continue Reading
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13 Apr 2011
Microsoft launches UK mapping service to rival Google Streetview
Starting in London, Microsoft has begun taking photographs of the UK for its street-level mapping service, Streetside. Continue Reading
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11 Apr 2011
Manageability issues impede adoption of virtualisation
Virtual infrastructure management challenges are hindering the adoption of virtualisation within businesses, according to research. Continue Reading
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08 Apr 2011
Admins face huge April Patch Tuesday security update from Microsoft
Microsoft has announced that it will release 17 security bulletins to address 64 vulnerabilities Continue Reading
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31 Mar 2011
SMB IT spending seeing significant growth
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are increasing IT budgets and recruiting more IT skills Continue Reading
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28 Mar 2011
Spotify hit by malicious ads
Spotify, the popular streaming music service, has been displaying malicious advertisements to users of its Free version. Continue Reading
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23 Mar 2011
SAP combines GRC and BI in new platform
SAP has launched a new governance, risk and compliance platform that combines and integrates existing GRC and business intelligence technologies. Continue Reading
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22 Mar 2011
What is the cost of developing apps for mobile marketplaces?
Targeting consumers through smartphone apps is proving to be a good business bet. Jenny Williams reports on the costs of creating apps for different mobile marketplaces. Continue Reading
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17 Mar 2011
Tests show Android is 50% faster than Apple iOS for web browsing
The latest version of Google's Android operating system (OS) is 50% faster at loading web pages than Apple's iOS, according to research. Continue Reading
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17 Mar 2011
Twitter increases security with HTTPS encrypted tweets setting
Twitter has added a new profile setting to increase the level of security when accessing the mobile blogging site over an unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Continue Reading
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16 Mar 2011
Deutsche Bank uses social CRM to fine-tune corporate banking
Social media is driving product development at Deutsche Bank. The banking giant is using web 2.0 technologies to engage with 1,000 of its corporate customers, to find out how it can make corporate banking run more smoothly. Continue Reading
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15 Mar 2011
Highlands and Islands Enterprise moves to shared services
The Scottish government's Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) economic and community development agency has signed a deal with Atos Origin to move to a shared services model. Continue Reading
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15 Mar 2011
Adobe warns of zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Flash
Adobe has published a security advisory for a critical vulnerability in Adobe Flash that can be used to take control of an attacked machine. Continue Reading
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11 Mar 2011
Private cloud takes Harris schools higher
Academy school body the Harris Federation has deployed cloud technology to link its member schools together and provide an IT platform that can scale up as membership grows. Continue Reading
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09 Mar 2011
DHL launches real-time information to improve supply chain
DHL Supply Chain has launched a live order tracking system (Lots) to deliver real-time information to its customers. Continue Reading
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09 Mar 2011
Four risk areas CIOs must consider when contracting cloud services
CIOs should be aware of four main risks when contracting for cloud services, says analyst firm Gartner. Continue Reading
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08 Mar 2011
Google buys price comparison website for £37.7m
Google is to acquire UK price comparison website BeatThatQuote.com for £37.7m. Continue Reading
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08 Mar 2011
Exclusive: Free software guru Richard Stallman on government IT and why he hates the cloud
The founding father of the free software movement tells Computer Weekly why government just doesn't "get it" Continue Reading
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08 Mar 2011
Facebook enlists Samaritans to counsel suicidal users
The Samaritans has teamed up with Facebook to enable users to report friends contemplating suicide. Continue Reading
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08 Mar 2011
Adobe extends Flash to Apple devices with free HTML5 conversion tool
Adobe has released for free download an experimental Flash-to-HTML5 converter to the development community through beta technology site, Adobe Labs. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
08 Mar 2011
Pictures of the Southampton Azure balloon
Southampton University has successfully recovered a instrumentation launched into the stratosphere using a high altitude balloon. Continue Reading
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07 Mar 2011
France's G20 files target of cyber attack
France's files on the G20 meetings were the target of a cyber attack, the country's finance minister has confirmed. Continue Reading
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07 Mar 2011
HSBC uses token to secure smartphone banking
HSBC is sending four million online banking customers a security token which will enable them to log in to their online bank account wherever they are, without using a card reader. Continue Reading
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01 Mar 2011
Intel finalises £5bn acquisition of McAfee
Intel has confirmed the completion of its $7.7bn (£5bn) acquisition of security software giant McAfee. Continue Reading
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28 Feb 2011
Gmail bug hits 150,000 users
Around 150,000 Gmail account holders were hit by a system glitch at the weekend which reset their accounts, losing e-mails, attachments and Google Chat logs. Continue Reading
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24 Feb 2011
Juniper aims to wrap Cisco with QFabric datacentre management
Datacentre operators and cloud computing suppliers could slash their power and space requirements while running up to 10 times faster Continue Reading
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24 Feb 2011
Microsoft fixes security flaw in malware protection engine
Microsoft has patched a flaw in its malware protection engine that could be exploited to gain control of victim's computer. Continue Reading
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22 Feb 2011
Legacy kit and lack of skills hold back digital video surveillance
A huge legacy investment in analogue equipment and a lack of data integration skills are holding back more widespread adoption of fully digital video surveillance systems, according to research just published. Continue Reading
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21 Feb 2011
RSA 2011: Top attacks business will face in 2011
Social networking will be the attacker platform of choice in 2011, says Ed Skoudis, founder and senior security consultant with InGuardians. Continue Reading
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15 Feb 2011
TCS targets SME market with cloud computing
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has set its sites on the SME market, with the launch of a new product designed specifically for small businesses. Continue Reading
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11 Feb 2011
Case study: Salvatore Ferragamo steps into the future with SAP
Italian shoe and other luxury goods maker Salvatore Ferragamo is standardising on SAP ... Continue Reading
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10 Feb 2011
Social media policy: Seven questions to ask
Businesses must create a social media policy to guide employees using social networks and micro-blogging sites, according to Gartner. Continue Reading
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10 Feb 2011
Mobile workers practise lax security
More than half of Europeans practise unsafe networking when they work away from the office, according to research by German remote access experts NCP Engineering. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
10 Feb 2011
Review: Internet Explorer 9 - in pictures
Microsoft has released the latest version of its popular web browser Continue Reading
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09 Feb 2011
IT managers find Internet Explorer 9 fails to render websites and web applications
With the development of Internet Explorer 9.0 near completion, ComputerWeekly.com has learned that thousands of sites and applications are incompatible with the new browser and its immediate predecessor. Continue Reading
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08 Feb 2011
Post Office faces legal action over alleged accounting system failures
More than 50 postmasters are planning legal action against the Post Office to reclaim money they paid to the Post Office after being accused of theft and false accounting. Continue Reading
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08 Feb 2011
AXA in £150m settlement for software glitch
Financial services giant AXA will be forced to pay millions of pounds to clients after it emerged that errors in trading software were hidden by three of its subsidiaries, prompting bad performance in investment portfolios. Continue Reading
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03 Feb 2011
OFT to investigate e-book pricing
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is launching an investigation into e-book pricing. Continue Reading
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Photo Story
03 Feb 2011
The Condor interactive build-a-bike website
An interactive “build-a-bike” facility features on a new website designed by Alienation Digital for high-end custom cycle specialists Condor Cycles Continue Reading
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02 Feb 2011
IPv4 addresses will run out within eight months
The Internet Address and Naming Agency (IANA) will allocate the last remaining IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses this month, signalling a shift to the new IPv6 internet addressing scheme. Continue Reading