IT services and outsourcing

UK ‘future tech’ development gets government funding boost

£65m in funding will be used to develop electric batteries, robotics and advanced healthcare treatments Continue Reading

Santander to double investment in fintechs

Santander is doubling the amount of money it invests in fintech startups after the success of its funding arm, which was established in 2014 Continue Reading

HMRC signs up Fujitsu for two years of user computing support

As it disentangles the Aspire contract, HMRC has been working directly with key IT suppliers, with this latest agreement providing managed desktop IT Continue Reading

Global spending on enterprise datacentres continues to dampen in face of Covid-19

Synergy Research Group hails continued, growing demand for datacentre hardware and software from hyperscalers for keeping market buoyant during pandemic Continue Reading

Lorca security scaleups hit funding milestone

£153m of investment has been raised by Lorca cohort companies in just two years, almost four times the original target Continue Reading

Edinburgh council to create smart city operations centre

Edinburgh council extends an outsourcing agreement with CGI as it steps up its smart city programme Continue Reading

Datacentre firm Equinix investigating ransomware attack

A number of internal systems at cloud and datacentre firm Equinix have been affected by a ransomware attack Continue Reading

Coronavirus: APAC organisations speed up innovation

Innovation has become easier than before, with the most innovative organisations expecting to recover from the impact of the pandemic in less than six months, new Microsoft-commissioned study finds Continue Reading

London councils to share technology procurement platform

A new technology procurement platform will help all 33 local councils in London diversify their IT supplier portfolios Continue Reading

Technology businesses vital to UK post-Covid economic recovery

Technology firms are set to play a larger role in UK’s post-Covid economy and are being encouraged to expand overseas after a strong year for digital exports Continue Reading

UK leads Europe in net zero venture capital investment

With the UK leading venture capital investment in net zero enterprises, Tech Nation have launched a new, government-backed scaleup programme to further develop the sector Continue Reading

TechUK urges government to back emerging digital clean technology sector

To ensure the UK reaches its climate and decarbonisation goals, TechUK is calling on the government to support the emerging clean tech sector Continue Reading

Tech In APAC - August 2020

August was another exciting month for the technology industry in Asia-Pacific. In this round-up of our top stories in the region, you can find out more about Zoom's new datacentre in Singapore, ... Continue Reading

Covid-19 has strained London tech firms but they have central role in recovery

London tech startups are feeling the effects of the economic slowdown brought on by Covid-19, but there is a huge opportunity for those with the right focus Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Beware security blind spots at the edge

That datacentre security is a complex subject is not in doubt and, given the trend to move beyond centralised datacentres to distributed environments, this is not going to change. How can security professionals ensure such setups are just as secure as the traditional centralised model? Continue Reading

Amazon to recruit 7,000 permanent workers in UK during 2020 hiring spree

The online retail giant’s UK workforce looks set to expand to 40,000 employees by the end of 2020, as its network of fulfilment centres continues to grow Continue Reading

Insurers accept they were slow to adopt digital

Insurance companies know they must prioritise digital investment and are planning in-house development to help make up lost ground Continue Reading

UK tech firms urged to seek out international opportunities

Tech Nation study finds UK businesses are in a strong position to take advantage of global tech growth Continue Reading

Weta Digital goes all-in on AWS

New Zealand visual effects studio plans to migrate most of its infrastructure to Amazon Web Services and tap machine learning and analytics to deliver projects more quickly Continue Reading

Sharing responsibility: Why we need to work together to keep the cloud secure

The education sector has been fundamentally altered by months of lockdown, with cloud services topping must-have lists for academic staff, but now it’s time to consider security Continue Reading

App integration means emergency services can identify caller location in three words

Capita integrates What3words app into its emergency services control centre platform to help respondents identify the exact location of people who need help Continue Reading

Here East CEO advises startups to generate own revenue streams

In a time of deep uncertainty, startups with their own streams of revenue independent of investors and large corporates will have more options and be in a much stronger negotiating position Continue Reading

Tech and telecoms advisory group set up to help trade negotiations

Department of International Trade launches new Trade Advisory Groups to guide trade negotiations with other countries Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Bergen’s tech hub seeks global success

Norway’s second-largest city, Bergen, is building a tech ecosystem that is beginning its development with a focus on the city’s industrial heritage. Also in this issue, read why now might be the time for businesses to consider how they will invest in outsourcing IT once the Covid-19 pandemic wanes. And read how Norway’s government has had to backtrack on a law that removed tax relief on energy consumption at datacentres that process cryptocurrency mining. Continue Reading

Aggrieved Amazon employees organise protests at homes of Jeff Bezos

A newly formed workers’ collective will protest outside the homes of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seeking to secure a number of concessions for essential workers Continue Reading

Huge declines in traditional outsourcing as Covid-19 puts a stop on deals

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Bergen’s tech hub seeking to scale after positive start

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Nordic startups send a message to global investment community

Early-stage tech companies across the world should set up Nordic operations earlier in their development journeys Continue Reading

Council to connect hundreds of its sites through wide area network

Local authorities invest in networking and contact centre technology through IT outsourcing contracts Continue Reading

MongoDB grows Asian footprint through Alibaba Cloud

MongoDB teams up with Alibaba Cloud to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific as it prepares to release a serverless variant of the open-source database Continue Reading

SMEs outperform Q2 expectations but remain cautious about Q3 prospects

Small confidence boost for small to medium-sized enterprises puts tech investment back on the table over coming 12 months Continue Reading

Hangar 51 supports startups taking off in travel tech

International Airlines Group’s accelerator programme aims to give travel technology companies a flying start in the sector Continue Reading

APAC hybrid cloud adoption still cloudy

Although there are clear benefits of hybrid cloud, enterprises in Asia-Pacific aren’t making the most of them due to a lack of holistic understanding, strategic frameworks and skillsets. Continue Reading

CW APAC: Expert advice on hybrid cloud

Despite numerous benefits, organisations with lots of legacy applications can’t or won’t move everything to the public cloud. Some organisations may also choose to retain sensitive data on-premise for security reasons. In this edition of Expert Advice, we look at why and how APAC firms are deploying and managing their hybrid cloud infrastructure. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Veeam to add CDP, plus Google cloud as a target

Backup giant set to add continuous data protection for the most critical workloads, plus Google cloud as a target – all on the back of a storming quarter during the pandemic Continue Reading

Zoom dials into Southeast Asia with Singapore datacentre

Zoom’s new Singapore datacentre is expected to shore up the performance of its conferencing tool and phone service in the city-state Continue Reading

How Covid-19 elevated the datacentre

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how datacentres and their workers became part of our critical national infrastructure due to the pandemic. Firms considering upgrading to SAP S/4 Hana face hefty bills – we look at how to keep costs down. And we analyse the increasing rate of applications being migrated to the cloud. Continue Reading

Oracle takes aim at hyperscalers, eyes VMware workloads

Oracle claims it is addressing the limitations of competing services by offering better security controls, consolidated billing and global availability Continue Reading

Comms startup Element helps support secure communications during pandemic

With the huge increase in remote working, Element is using an open, decentralised network to give organisations more control over their communications Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: How Crest is remaking the future of consultancy

Crest president Ian Glover taught himself cyber security while working on government computing systems in the 1970s and 1980s. Now he is on a decade-spanning mission to change security consultancy models Continue Reading

DBS Bank teams up with AWS on AI skills

Singapore’s DBS Bank is organising an AWS DeepRacer League to equip thousands of employees with skills in artificial intelligence and machine learning Continue Reading

CW Benelux: Security system concerns at Schiphol Airport

A report has revealed problems with critical security systems at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Also read why the Netherlands’ digital sector is yearning for attention from the government, and how data weaknesses persist despite Dutch companies investing heavily to comply with GDPR. Continue Reading

EU and US start discussions on ‘enhanced’ Privacy Shield data-sharing agreement

Talks begin on a successor to the Privacy Shield EU-US data-sharing agreement declared unlawful in July 2020 – a decision by the European Court of Justice that left thousands of businesses facing legal uncertainty Continue Reading

Government awards funding for innovation projects

The funding for innovative projects forms part of the government’s plan to increase research and development spending, which it claims will aid the UK’s post-Covid-19 economic recovery Continue Reading

NHS SBS spies £75m savings on IT purchases through new procurement framework

NHS organisations and public sector bodies will be encouraged to use £500m procurement framework to acquire IT software and hardware in a more cost-effective way Continue Reading

Police use of facial recognition found ‘unlawful’ in court

In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal has ruled that South Wales Police’s facial recognition deployments breached human rights and data protection laws Continue Reading

Nutanix launches Clusters in AWS for hybrid cloud hyper-converged infrastructure

HCI pioneers launches Nutanix Clusters, which will provide hyper-converged deployments across customer datacentres and the Amazon cloud, but only in Acropolis and on AWS for now Continue Reading

Pandemic acts as catalyst for digital-led recovery

Economies with strong digital services are set to grow cross-border trade, while 3D printing could revolutionise goods manufacturing Continue Reading

Cloud storage costs: How to get cloud storage bills under control

Many organisations look to the cloud to cut storage budgets, but the potential costs are many and varied. So what are the key ways to cut cloud storage costs? Continue Reading

Looming threat of Covid-19 and IR35 reform conspire to keep contractor confidence dampened

Quarterly data on how confident freelancers feel about their job and earning prospects highlights the negative impact Covid-19 and the government's looming tax reforms are having on the sector Continue Reading

Nutanix Clusters on AWS debuts in 20 cloud regions

In technical preview since 2019, Nutanix Clusters on AWS will enable unified operations across private and public clouds Continue Reading

Security teams struggle to keep pace with cloud threats

Security professionals face challenges in keeping pace with cloud deployments and migrations, and the additional security threats they open up Continue Reading

Cyber attack combined with Covid-19 puts Travelex into administration

Foreign exchange firm Travelex has cut UK staff by 1,300 and physical outlets will remain closed Continue Reading

India’s software industry calls for cuts to red tape

Software industry lobby group iSpirt has called on the Indian government to ease the administrative burden of complying with rules related to taxes and trade Continue Reading

If you hire foreign IT staff, ‘you’re fired’, Trump tells bosses in government-owned entities

Donald Trump has fired a pre-election warning to government organisations that give IT jobs to workers from overseas Continue Reading

Bandwidth Inc wraps up Ribbon deal to boost home network capacity for AWS

Session border controller software edition deployed on AWS to enable enterprise communications company’s customers to improve home working with no disruptions to network performance Continue Reading

Coronavirus: IT contractors cite lack of government support during Covid-19 as source of stress

ContractorCalculator research highlights the mental health toll the pandemic is taking on IT contractors Continue Reading

Spurring digitalisation in Singapore’s tourism sector

The Singapore Tourism Board has developed a digital pass and an analytics service, among other initiatives, to digitalise the city-state’s embattled tourism industry Continue Reading

Inside Juniper’s radical IT transformation

Western Australia’s aged care provider Juniper embarked on an aggressive strategy to completely transform its IT operations in just two years Continue Reading

Innovative solutions for better healthcare in Australia during Covid-19

The following post is sponsored by Amazon Web Services The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on organisations and individuals, with the pressure particularly intense on healthcare ... Continue Reading

Nordic enterprises look for SAP price reductions as they navigate Covid-19

Businesses in the Nordics are using SAP Cloud Platform to address Covid-19 challenges and are also seeking price reductions Continue Reading

The UK’s $500m space technology gamble

In this week’s Computer Weekly we ask why the UK government is spending $500m on a bankrupt satellite technology company. After a European court quashes the EU-US data sharing agreement, we examine the implications for a UK-EU data protection deal after Brexit. And how have small cloud suppliers coped in the pandemic? Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How the chancellor’s Plan for Jobs could benefit the UK tech sector

Technology has a strong role to play in the UK’s recovery, with Rishi Sunak’s Plan for Jobs offering opportunities for the sector Continue Reading

Covid-19 forces TechHub into administration

Silicon Roundabout mainstay TechHub has been forced into administration after Covid-19 pandemic undermines ability to generate revenue Continue Reading

Labour Party is latest victim of Blackbaud ransomware attack

Widening Blackbaud data breach ensnares the Labour Party as the cloud software firm continues to duck questions about its behaviour Continue Reading

US lawmakers grill big tech chiefs over market power

Sixth antitrust hearing sees CEOs of major technology companies face combative questioning from members of Congress over their market power and dominance Continue Reading

Accenture selected for key role in Bank of England core settlement system replacement

Accenture will be technology delivery partner in project to replace the core system used to settle payments between banks Continue Reading

Campaigners urge government to resist big tech lobbying pressure

Lobbyists for big tech, supported by senior US politicians, have rallied against stricter regulation of technology companies, and threatened the US-UK trade deal unless Britain scraps plans to levy a digital services tax Continue Reading

Schrems steps up pressure on Irish data protection commissioner on Facebook’s data sharing with US

Austrian lawyer is considering ‘other’ options if the Irish data protection commissioner does not make a decision by October on his seven-year-old complaint against Facebook Continue Reading

Backblaze takes aim at ‘costly and complex’ AWS cloud storage

Backblaze offers free transfer to its S3-based cloud storage – which it claims costs a fraction of AWS et al – as long as it’s more than 50TB and you commit to at least 12 months Continue Reading

NCSC inducts six security startups to Cyber Accelerator

10-week programme will guide some of the UK’s most innovative security startups as they scale their businesses for future growth Continue Reading

Latent demand for fertility tech identified by market study

Global investment in fertility tech startups tops $2.2bn over five-year period, with significant growth opportunities going forward due to combination of technological innovation and latent demand for fertility treatments Continue Reading

Vector and AWS team up on ‘new energy platform’

New Zealand-based energy supplier Vector partners AWS to develop an IoT and analytics platform to speed up processing of smart meter data and to tailor products and pricing for customers Continue Reading

Venture firm Public launches fourth GovTech accelerator

The GovStart 2020 accelerator programme is looking for innovators working on transport, health and workforce-related technology to help get more startups working on the delivery of public services Continue Reading

Loan charge: HMRC's plans to clampdown on loan-scheme promoters slammed by IT contractors

HMRC is seeking feedback on its plans to tackle tax-avoidance scheme promoters, in the wake of criticism over its past enforcement of the loan-charge policy Continue Reading

A question of trust: University and supplier on the hook for data breach

Data on students at the University of York was stolen in a ransomware attack on a supplier two months ago, and the response of both parties raises serious questions Continue Reading

Business resilience key to startups ahead of post-Covid recession

Startups should begin building up their resilience to resist unattractive acquisition bids ahead of post-Covid recession Continue Reading

APAC firms in early stages of digital transformation

More than three-quarters of APAC firms struggle to revise their financial plans amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with many still lacking agile systems and processes, a new study finds Continue Reading

Enabling learning, whether at school or at home during Covid-19

The following post is sponsored by Amazon Web Services As the impact of Covid-19 percolates around the world, students and teachers facing disrupted school semesters are forced to learn and teach ... Continue Reading

Lloyds bank buys into cloud-native payments

Lloyds Banking Group continues its digital journey by investing in and investigating a cloud-based payments service Continue Reading

BNP Paribas joins IBM financial services cloud project

IBM’s financial services cloud is gathering steam as more banks join its public cloud ecosystem of finance firms and developers Continue Reading

Privacy Shield: Companies face new hurdles to legally transfer data to the US

Businesses will have to conduct legal assessments to ensure they can transfer data from the EU to the US and other countries, following a European Court of Justice ruling Continue Reading

TfL contracts Capita for London Underground section of emergency services network

Capita will implement the network infrastructure that will enable the emergency services mobile network to work on the London Underground Continue Reading

Inside Intel’s transition into an enterprise tech company

Computing giant Intel is pushing deeper into the enterprise with investments in data-centric and emerging technologies along with partnerships with local firms to develop new solutions Continue Reading

Challenging times and transformational opportunities for the outsourcing industry

Every area of the technology sector has been affected by the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, but the outsourcing industry could be well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities it presents Continue Reading

IBM's Q2 tapered by pandemic business recovery

Country-specific coronavirus responses directly correlate to IBM customer IT investments, with some contemplating dialling back cloud subscriptions Continue Reading

Avon calling: what happens when lockdown eliminates your business model?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to global beauty brand Avon, to find out how it coped with a huge lockdown dilemma – how to adapt its door-to-door sales model when its reps couldn’t leave home. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the use of artificial intelligence in IT security. And we analyse the government’s decision to strip Huawei from the UK’s 5G network. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Loan charge: Government dashes hopes of revised down settlements for contractors

HMRC and HM Treasury confirm there are no plans to alter the loan charge settlement terms, despite calls from cross-party MPs to consider doing so Continue Reading

Schrems v Facebook: European court strikes down EU-US Privacy Shield agreement

The European Court of Justice has struck down Privacy Shield, the EU-US data-sharing agreement, creating uncertainty for European countries that share data with the US and pressuring the US to reform surveillance laws Continue Reading

What do Accenture’s UK job cuts mean to the IT services industry?

Accenture's decision to reduce its UK workforce by 8% will not be the last in an IT services sector hit hard by the Covid-19 disruption. Continue Reading

Huge declines in traditional outsourcing as Covid-19 puts a stop on deals

Traditional IT outsourcing deals value plummets in the last quarter as contracts dry up amid Covid-19 disruption Continue Reading

HSBC chooses AWS for public cloud business operations

HSBC will use a cloud platform from Amazon Web Services across its business operations to accelerate its public cloud use Continue Reading

European court to decide legality of EU-US data sharing in dispute between Schrems and Facebook

A ruling by the European Court of Justice will have ramifications for hundreds of thousands of companies that share data with the US. The case aims to balance US surveillance laws with the rights of EU citizens to keep their data private Continue Reading

Is digital art coming of age during lockdown?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the pandemic forces many sectors into a business rethink, digital art is hoping to capitalise on changing times. Chinese supplier Lenovo is dominating the supercomputer market – we examine how it got there. And as datacentre engineers become key workers, we look at the health and safety issues. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

APAC hybrid cloud adoption still cloudy

Although there are clear benefits of hybrid cloud, enterprises in Asia-Pacific aren’t making the most of them due to a lack of holistic understanding, strategic frameworks and skillsets Continue Reading

How SingEx is bracing itself for disruption

Singapore’s SingEx started its digital transformation journey a few years ago and has already pivoted its approach to cope with new challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

Majority of security pros fed up with alert fatigue

A vast majority of security professionals say they experience alert fatigue, and 88% are facing challenges with their current SIEM setup, according to a report Continue Reading

Most finance firms are multicloud, but many are unprepared for public cloud cyber attacks

Financial services firms are moving to the cloud at pace, but many are uncertain whether they could cope with an attack on an application based in the public cloud Continue Reading

CW Middle East: Facing up to coronavirus

The UAE, like the rest of the world, continues to be heavily impacted by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic – and technology is helping to lead the fight. Also read why the the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company sees its flagship digital project in high demand, and how the coronavirus has spurred the use of financial technology in Bahrain. Continue Reading

Tencent Cloud teams up with ADBC on banking services

Singapore’s Asia Digital Bank Corporation could leverage Tencent Cloud’s financial cloud platform to provide banking services to small businesses Continue Reading