IT news in your industry sector

Timberland focuses on online customer experience

After internationalising its e-commerce offering across Europe, Timberland's next priority is refining its online experience Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

L’Oreal aligns technology with the business to work faster

L’Oreal’s digital technology is working with the business and marketing departments to become innovative and agile Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Engineering company rolls out talent management software across 17 countries

Meggitt is deploying cloud-based HR technology as it seeks to integrate 60 diverse business units into a multinational operation Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Mothercare uses mobile to engage with customers, not just to sell

Mothercare is continuing to use mobile to improve customer service and engage with users Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Barclays concludes first round of fintech accelerator

Barclays has finished the first round of its financial services technology (fintech) startup accelerator, following a demo day Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

The future of digital government in the UK

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the last political party conferences before the election come to an end, we examine the future of digital government in the UK, featuring interviews with Whitehall’s digital chief Mike Bracken and Labour’s policy leader Chi Onwurah. Also, we look at the growth of the open-source cloud computing platform Openstack, and find out what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a data breach. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Google could face $100m lawsuit over nude celebrity pictures

Lawyers of celebrities whose private pictures were published by hackers are threatening to sue Google Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Ben Hine, technology director, UKTV

UKTV director Ben Hine says every piece of the company's technology has been replaced over the last four years Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

DDN launches scale-out NAS GS7K GPFS product bundle

DataDirect Networks launches the GS7K, a pre-configured GPFS scale-out NAS/parallel file system storage product Continue Reading

Oracle OpenWorld 2014: Lloyd's Register goes mobile with Oracle

Lloyd’s Register Group tells delegates at the Oracle OpenWorld 2014 conference how it developed a mobile working application for clients and staff Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

European firms far from ready for new data rules, study shows

As European authorities aim to ratify revised data protection rules by 2015, many firms have a lot to do to comply Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Vtesse bought by Interoute in major fibre expansion

Acquisition adds 7,000km of fibre infrastructure to Interoute’s European network Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft readies Windows 10 Technical Preview

Microsoft is today releasing a preview of Windows 10, the next version of the Windows desktop operating system Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Oracle Openworld 2014

Every September, San Francisco plays host to Oracle’s user conference, where customers, users and developers descend on the city to learn the latest on the supplier’s products and services. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Cyber Essentials for public sector IT suppliers: pros and cons

What are the pros and cons of the Cyber Essentials Scheme certification mandated for public sector IT suppliers? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Oracle OpenWorld 2014: Toms expands global e-commerce

Footwear retailer Toms relaunches e-commerce websites with Oracle platform to grow and improve customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nationwide roll-out of Universal Credit to start in early 2015

Controversial welfare reform programme to be accelerated nationwide for single people only, using much-criticised IT systems Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Case study: Deutsche Post DHL develops software contract templates to reduce costs

Deutsche Post DHL has created contract templates to manage software costs. Computer Weekly speaks to the people leading the initiative Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

BlackBerry Passport: A first look

BlackBerry has changed the rules for phablets, with a an almost square device, promising 25 hours of battery life are highly readable screen Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Visa loses mobility director to Apple

Mary Carol Harris, former director of mobile for Visa Europe, has left the firm to take up a position at Apple Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Q&A: MarkLogic CEO Gary Bloom talks strategy

Gary Bloom, CEO of NoSQL database supplier MarkLogic, talks to Computer Weekly about strategy Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Bash bug could be bigger threat than Heartbleed

A bug in the Bash command prompt software used by many Unix computers could be a greater threat than Heartbleed. Continue Reading

BlackBerry Passport delivers a real keyboard and high-res screen to business

BlackBerry has introduced its Passport smartphone featuring a 4.5in hi-res screen, a qwerty keyboard and 13MP camera Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The digital CIO: Why embrace digital innovation?

Having the right digital strategy can make or break an organisation Continue Reading

By

• Peter Thornton

Lloyds creates online appointment booking in attempt to save branches

Lloyds Bank has introduced a system which allows customers to book in-branch appointments online Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Accommodation booking site picks Dell cloud to fix downtime issues

Eviivo, a UK-based online accommodation booking website, has placed its business-critical systems on a Dell cloud platform Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Avon Rubber implements Sage ERP X3

Avon Rubber’s history stretches back to 1885, when it began manufacturing rubber-based products, today the manufacturer has been working with UK software supplier Sage for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool Continue Reading

Google to build giant '40-football pitch' datacentre in the Netherlands

Google will invest €600m to build a giant, 120-megawatt datacentre in the Netherlands Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

UKtech50 2014 - help us choose the 50 most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly is launching the fifth annual UKtech50, our definitive list of the movers and shakers in UK IT - tell us your nominations Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Conficker infections an indictment of IT security, says CWG

Conficker worm infections reflect the “sad state of affairs of IT security”, says the Conficker Working Group Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Home Depot under fire for data breach notification

US retailer Home Depot criticised for delays in telling customers their payment card details may have been compromised Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

SAP acquires Concur to build cloud-based expense management

SAP has agreed to acquire online travel and expense management SaaS provider Concur Technologies for $8bn Continue Reading

Larry Ellison: Of plane, sails and zen

After 35 years at the helm, Larry Ellison has stepped down as Oracle's CEO Continue Reading

Asia dominates as outsourcing location and India remains unrivalled

India is still the best place for businesses to outsource services and is unrivalled in its scale and availability of skills Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Interview: Government digital chief Mike Bracken on the next five years

The Government Digital Service celebrates its third anniversary soon, but has plenty more challenges ahead to change Whitehall thinking Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Customer loyalty biggest challenge for banks

Banks have cited customer loyalty as their main concern, according to a survey by financial services firm Temenos Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government digital chief signals move away from 'tower model' approach to IT outsourcing

Government digital chief Mike Bracken has signalled a move away from the “tower model” approach to IT outsourcing Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Risk management key to cyber strategy, says BP

Cyber attacks constitute a group-level risk that is managed as part of BP’s standard set of risk management processes, says group chief Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Muji takes on cloud platform to increase sales

Retailer Muji is using a cloud-based platform from IT services firm Infosys to help it understand customers and target sales Continue Reading

GDS unveils 'Gov.UK Verify' public services identity assurance scheme

The Government Digital Service (GDS) debuts a system to prove users’ identities when using public services online, branded as 'Gov.UK Verify' Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Cambridge villagers trial low-cost broadband roll-out method

Virgin Media is trialling a low-cost 'narrow-trenching' method for supplying superfast 1Gbps broadband in the village of Papworth, in Cambridgeshire Continue Reading

Government seeks £110,000 director for Parliamentary Digital Service

Parliament is recruiting a digital director for the revamped Parliamentary Digital Service in a role offering a salary of £110,000 a year Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

TechUK tasks future government with making the UK a digital leader

TechUK has launched a digital manifesto detailing how the next government must turn the UK in a digital leader Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

TfL contactless payments go live

TfL’s contactless card payment scheme goes live today, enabling customers to pay for London transport on contactless bank cards Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

CIO interview: Stephen Hale, head of digital, Department of Health

“I want to make digital less of a novelty,” says the Department of Health’s head of digital Stephen Hale Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Salesforce issues advice on avoiding Dyreza attack

Salesforce has issued a set of guidelines on tightening security after a number of its customers were targeted by the Dyreza email virus Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The IT challenges facing an independent Scotland

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as Scotland goes to the polls to vote on independence, we assess the IT challenges the country would face. We look at the products available in the fast-growing market for object storage. And we ask if it will be worth migrating to future version of Windows given the rise in mobile usage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Clarks shoes steps into digital

Shoe manufacturer Clarks is replacing its legacy e-commerce sites with a global cloud-based system next month Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

WikiLeaks reveals Australian police are using surveillance software

Australia's New South Wales police are using spyware that has been linked to repressive states, according to leaked documents Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Claims against Post Office IT system approach completion

Investigation into sub-postmaster claims against the Post Office over problems with its Horizon accounting system coming to an end Continue Reading

Retailers need to adopt ‘fail fast’ attitude to technology

Retailers experimenting with digital technologies must take a “fail fast” approach so they can deliver new innovations quickly Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Boots to roll out real-time stock visibility in coming weeks

Health and beauty retailer, Alliance Boots, is about to roll out real-time stock visibility to its stores and customers using SAP Hana Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

The digital CIO: ‘Fear of Google’ and the ethics of digital business

Could the big digital players be using their dominance by exerting unfair competition? Continue Reading

By

• Brinley Platts and Peter Thornton

John Lewis sales reflect omni-channel growth

John Lewis and Waitrose have attributed an increase in sales and customers to their growing omni-channel offerings Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Google denies breach after hackers leak millions of user logins

Google denies claims cyber criminals stole users' data and downplays the threat after a hacker purportedly leaked 4.9 million Gmail logins Continue Reading

UK retailers must invest more in digital technologies

The UK’s biggest retailers are ‘under-investing’ in in-store digital technologies Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Fresh questions raised over Post Office IT system's role in fraud cases

A leaked report has revealed more details about the role of the Horizon accounting system in sub-postmaster fraud cases Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tobacco giant outsources IT to Wipro

Philip Morris International has outsourced IT infrastructure management to Indian services firm Wipro in a five-year deal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

BP spends £2m developing apps to train business leaders

BP is scrapping online courses in favour of apps and portals that can deliver bite-sized information and training when it's needed Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Ransomware on the rise, warns cyber threat report

The first half of 2014 saw an increase in online attacks that lock up user data and hold it for ransom, reports F-Secure Labs Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EasyJet sheds 'scrum' image with hybrid IT

EasyJet’s reservation system could not provision for allocated seating, so the airline added a feature on Azure Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

'Bungled' Army 2020 IT recruitment contract loses £70m of savings

Mismanaged IT contracts lead to further setbacks in Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Army recruitment drive Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nude celebrity hack forces changes at Apple and 4Chan

Apple and image-sharing site 4Chan take security measures after celebrity iCloud accounts were compromised and photos leaked Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Barclays bank launches biometric authentication

Barclays bank plans to launch biometric readers that read users' finger veins to authenticate customers Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government's digital strategy could cut red tape

Governments can harness digital technology to make public services more efficient and generate significant cost savings Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Kelly

Ordnance Survey to release open data on green spaces

The Ordnance Survey is to release information and statistics on green space in England and Wales as open data Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Morgan Motor Company swaps Sage for integrated IFS

Morgan Motor Company is replacing its Sage 500 accounting system with IFS Applications Continue Reading

Aberdeen to get city-wide gigabit network

Aberdeen will this month become Scotland’s first city to be fully covered by a high speed fibre network Continue Reading

Locking Russia out of Swift "unlikely and complicated", says analyst

A senior analyst at Celent has said cutting off Russia from Swift is unlikely to be effective Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Online fashion retailer Asos seeks CIO

Asos.com is looking to appoint a CIO following the departure of Pete Marsdon after two years in the role Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Apple and FBI launch iCloud hack investigation

Apple and FBI investigate the breach of Apple’s iCloud causing fresh business concerns over cloud security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Watermelon SLAs – making sense of green and red alerts

Often IT SLAs don’t reflect the real service and service experience of users. They also aren’t focused enough on the business results Continue Reading

By

• Barclay Rae

Suppliers discuss Emergency Services Network with Home Office

Suppliers have attended an event held by the Home Office to discuss details of the new Emergency Services Network Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nato set to clarify stance on cyber attack

Leaders will discuss changing the mission of collective defence with respect to cyber attack at this week’s Nato summit Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Rolls-Royce CIO joins HMRC as non-executive director

Rolls-Royce CIO Simon Ricketts has been appointed non-executive director of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nude celebrity pictures posted online after alleged iCloud hack

Hundreds of nude images of female celebrities have been leaked, allegedly after Apple’s iCloud service was hacked Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK wants Russia blocked from using financial messaging system

The UK is pushing for a ban on Russian businesses using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) network as a sanction in reaction Russia’s role in the current crisis in Ukraine. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Brighton & Hove Albion deploys free Wi-Fi at Amex Stadium

Brighton & Hove Albion picks The Cloud and Ruckus to supply a new Wi-Fi solution at the American Express Community Stadium Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tesco to reduce IT spend in a bid to cut costs

Supermarket giant Tesco has announced that it will be cutting costs from its IT budget to save money Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Ocado’s technology under fire, causing share price to fall

Ocado’s IT has come under fire in a financial analyst's report that claims the market has over-valued the retailer's automation technology Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Former bank chief launches financial trading app

A trading social network on Apple’s App Store hopes to attract more than 100,000 consumer traders as members by the end of 2014 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government appoints former Credit Suisse CIO as deputy CTO

The government has appointed former Credit Suisse CIO Magnus Falk as its new deputy chief technology officer (CTO) Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Spanish bank spends €500m on contactless ATMs

CaixaBank has commissioned Fujitsu to build 8,500 ATMs that will be contactless Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Surface Pro 3: An enterprise IT review

The latest version of Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet is the company's most compelling alternative to Apple. But how does it fit into corporate IT? Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Microsoft re-releases security bulletin MS14-045

Microsoft has re-released a software security update that was withdrawn because it put some computers in endless reboot loops Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security experts identify top 10 software design flaws

The IEEE Center for Secure Design has published a report on how to avoid the top 10 software security design flaws Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Surrey makes strides in paperless policing

Surrey Police Force has been leading the way in paperless policing, with help from Airwave. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

BDUK arrives on the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight inaugurates its first rural fibre cabinet delivered by BDUK as the project finally crosses the Solent Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Choice and ease of use: key elements of a good app store

Companies need to focus on individual user requirements and make sure their app store delivers the right tools for the right job Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Government sees 820,000 voters register online

Over one million UK citizens have registered to vote over the last two months, with around 820,000 opting for a new online registration service Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

South Korea arrests 16 suspects in massive cyber fraud

South Korea has arrested 16 suspects in connection with a multi-million-dollar fraud enabled by the theft of 27 million online gaming credentials Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Local authorities can improve data protection, says ICO audit

There is room for improvement in how local authorities protect personal data, says an audit report by the ICO Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

DDoS attacks hit Sony’s PlayStation Network and other gaming services

Sony's PlayStation Network and other gaming services reported disruptions at the weekend in a suspected cyber attack campaign Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Load balancing supports Kent County Council's VDI project

Kent County Council picks Kemp Technologies load balancers to support a deployment of VMware Horizon View and Workspace across its estate Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Heartbleed bug linked to US hospital group hack

A security firm has linked the Community Health Systems data breach to the Heartbleed bug Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Banks slow to change despite growing competition

The banking sector faces major challenges in transforming IT to meet the digital needs of customers Continue Reading

FT turns to cloud to manage advertising bookings

Business newspaper replaces 20-year-old ad-booking system with a cloud-based service Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Government major projects watchdog needs more powers, says MPs

Major Projects Authority needs stronger powers to improve project delivery across government, say MPs Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Raytheon wins £224m from Home Office over e-Borders cancellation

Tribunal says Home Office unlawfully terminated a contract with Raytheon Systems Limited over its e-Borders programme Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

CIO Interview: Hugh Fahy, CIO, Net-A-Porter

“I like to emphasis the ‘I’ bit in CIO,” says Hugh Fahy, chief information officer of the Net-A-Porter Group Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist