IT services and outsourcing

CW Middle East: Can Saudi Arabia build the Silicon Valley of the Middle East?

In April this year, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman visited Silicon Valley in the US to meet tech giants such as Apple and Amazon in its efforts to fast-forward the kingdom’s technology capabilities. Read about its lofty ambitions. Also in this issue, read how demand for skilled IT professionals is increasing rapidly in the Middle East, which is facing a talent crunch. Meanwhile, Gulf Cooperation Council smart city initiatives are gathering momentum. Continue Reading

Tackling the digital identity problem

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as UK government attempts to create a digital identity standard flounder, we examine progress on establishing the online ID system the digital economy needs. Barclays Bank talks about its move to DevOps and public cloud with Amazon Web Services. And we find out how using AI and chatbots could help improve IT service management. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Analysts question Australia government’s IBM deal

Industry analysts and experts have called the wisdom of the A$1bn IBM IT deal into question, with one claiming that the federal government should have used a range of suppliers instead Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

As prime minister unveils Brexit plans, TechUK calls for deal on services

The UK tech industry wants a Brexit deal open to services, mirroring the EU trade agreement with Canada Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Dutch government IT projects run €1bn over budget

Dutch government IT projects are costing much more money and taking far longer than expected Continue Reading

By

• Tijs Hofmans

Government needs to improve its outsourcing approach

Parliamentary committee advises government to improve its outsourcing methods in the wake of the collapse of Carillion Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK leads Europe’s tech startup scene over five years, research shows

Tech leads the way as UK shows 5% growth in startups across all industries Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

UK joins forces with France on artificial intelligence and data

The UK and France will share expertise on AI and research, work together to improve digital services and collaborate to develop tech talent Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Alibaba Cloud looks to drive its technology ecosystem with startup innovation contest

Alibaba Cloud is hosting its next Create@Alibaba contest as it looks for innovative products from startups Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Cloud HCI survey: Cloud functionality in hyper-converged infrastructure

We look at how you can use hyper-converged infrastructure to build private clouds and link up with public cloud services to develop hybrid and multi-cloud working Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Software firm Clevermed enhances NHS user experience on Health and Social Care Network

Clevermed, a supplier of maternity and neonatal care record software to the NHS, reveals how users are benefiting after it switched to the new Health and Social Care Network Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Inside Alibaba Cloud’s Southeast Asia playbook

Alibaba Cloud is working closely with local customers in joint innovation projects, and has started to launch new services for Chinese and international customers simultaneously to narrow the service gap Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

New thinking from tech startups could help solve construction project issues

Three startups shortlisted to join ConstrucTech accelerator to work on innovative technologies to reduce project delays and overspend Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Case study: Logistics firm GWC moves from paper to digital HR in three months

Qatar-based logistics firm Gulf Warehousing Company introduced smart appraisals for employees, cut the time it takes to recruit, and gave staff and managers access to accurate HR data by replacing paper systems with human resources software Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Department for Work and Pensions uses artificial intelligence to crack down on benefits fraud

DWP has made several digital strides, including developing AI to track organised benefits fraud, moved more than 100 digital products to “new hosting arrangements” and made savings on technology contracts, according to its annual report Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Bolloré Group partners with Alibaba for cloud and co-development

French transportation conglomerate will use Alibaba cloud, and Alibaba will look at using Bolloré's battery technology in its datacentres Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Singapore’s Fullerton Health gears up for the cloud

Private healthcare service provider Fullerton Health is moving business applications to Microsoft’s cloud services before rolling out data analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance operations and patient care Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Cloud storage: Amazon vs Azure vs Google vs IBM Softlayer

Computer Weekly looks at the biggest four cloud storage providers, how they stand in the market, the products they offer, and which offers the widest range of products and features Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Computer Weekly

First Lorca cohort to focus on security orchestration

The first companies to benefit from the new London cyber innovation centre will focus on cyber security orchestration and automation Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Norway’s National Security Agency warns IT industry about security obligations

IT service providers serving organisations in Norway have received a timely reminder about their security obligations. Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Volkswagen Financial Services UK aims to accelerate innovation with tech startup programme

Automobile manufacturer Volkswagen is running its next Startup Battlefield programme, building on the success of its 2017 Portuguese accelerator Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Microsoft expands datacentre footprint in Norway

Microsoft is introducing two new datacentre regions in Norway and is targeting the oil and gas industry with its Azure services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Visa reveals causes of payment chaos

In this week’s Computer Weekly, after a major outage that affected millions of customers, payment provider Visa reveals what caused its network to crash. We look at the innovations coming from startups in software-defined storage. And we assess the prospects for the tech sector in Canada as it targets European IT buyers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CCS cancels Crown Marketplace tender, but says programme continues

The Crown Commercial Service has cancelled a tender for an element of the Crown Marketplace, but insists the programme continues as the organisation has made “important decisions” to clarify scope and focus Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

SAP outlines approach to data management

Through its Hana Data Management Suite, SAP hopes to alleviate the challenges of managing data amid growing data security needs in an increasingly hybrid IT landscape Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Assessing the hyperscale squeeze on G-Cloud's SMEs

The latest government spend data suggests public sector IT buyers are increasingly using G-Cloud to procure services from the hyperscale cloud community, prompting concerns about the impact this might have on the SME-friendly framework Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

IBM early findings on disastrous TSB core banking system migration released

Report released by Treasury Committee criticises lack of rigour in preparation for core banking system migration, but TSB says report’s content is out of date Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CDO interview: Andrei Belevtsev, Gazprom Neft

Russian oil giant will harness the latest technologies right across its business, says chief digital officer Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Kozlov

Nokia outsources IT infrastructure and application services to HCL

Five-year deal will bring together the services delivered by four different IT companies. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HR projects are leading company moves to digital tech, say business leaders

Business leaders say their human resource IT programmes are leading the way to the wider deployment of digital and cloud technology across their organisations Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Need for speed: designing a modern campus LAN

Just like datacentres before them, campus LANs are increasingly being defined by virtualisation and software-based controls. Next to this shift, the hardware also continues to improve as network owners look to keep pace with user demand Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Alibaba Cloud’s Indonesia datacentre is open for business

Chinese cloud supplier is pulling out all the stops to expand its Asia-Pacific footprint, including training local cloud professionals and nabbing customers including one of Indonesia’s top e-commerce companies. Continue Reading

Rubrik CDM 4.2 extends data protection to Amazon cloud storage

Backup software and appliance specialist adds protection to apps in Amazon cloud to existing on-premise and cloud-to-cloud functionality, along with service provider features Continue Reading

By

• Christophe Bardy

London Tech Week experts advise startups to research investors’ background before pitching

Experts have used the TechXLR8 conference at London Tech Week to offer advice to startup workers about pitching to investors, joining accelerators and building teams Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Equinix, Digital Realty and NTT lead datacentre colocation market

NTT had the biggest market share in Asia-Pacific, while Equinix ranked third in the region during the first quarter of 2018, according to market research data Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Nordic healthcare services provider outsources IT infrastructure

Healthcare service provider Falck is planning to transform its business with a standardised and simplified IT infrastructure at the core Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Schneider Electric CTO tips liquid cooling for take-off as machine learning takes over datacentre

Witn machine learning fuelling demand for graphics processing units in the datacentre, Schneider Electric CTO claims this will require a drastic rethink of how operators manage their sites, paving the way for liquid cooling to hit mainstream adoption Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CW Europe: Lufthansa’s HR IT project takes off

Lufthansa says it is confident of landing a company-wide HR IT project after having to go back to the drawing board. Also in this issue, read about the ComputerWeekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey’s findings that many European technology leaders are expecting to increase IT spending through 2018, and how a major report has reassured Swedish society that artificial intelligence will be a positive force for change despite fears of job losses. Continue Reading

Prime minister announces new visa for startups

The government promises new “startup” visa for entrepreneurs, a £2.5bn British Patient Capital fund to support UK companies going global, and plans for two international tech hubs Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Mayor Khan bids to make London the world’s smartest city

At London Tech Week, mayor Sadiq Khan launched a city-wide initiative to harness the capital’s technology talent to address London’s most pressing problems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Alibaba Cloud touts AI smarts to keep pigs healthy

The Chinese cloud supplier has developed an AI program that has improved the yield and productivity of pig farms Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Thriving fintech, AI sectors give boost to UK tech funding

British technology businesses have received £5bn worth of venture capital funding since June 2016 – more than France, Germany and Sweden put together – with fintech and AI startups standing out Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BT’s Gavin Patterson quits under shareholder pressure

Patterson’s resignation comes just weeks after he announced 13,000 redundancies across BT Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT spending reaches 10-year high as CIOs struggle with digital technology strategy

IT leaders have seen their budgets and headcounts rise for the first time in 10 years, but face challenges implementing their digital strategies Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Digital Catapult partners with Cray to give AI startups supercomputing power

Innovation centre says partnership will bring down some of the barriers to entry that startups often face in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

UK tech firms increase exports by more than 20%

The country’s tech sector continues to blossom and has significantly increased the export of both services and goods in recent years Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Nexsan adds Assureon Cloud Transfer for hybrid cloud archiving

Nexsan archiving appliances add hybrid cloud capability to AWS and Azure cloud for unstructured data, targeting users that want to retain files on-site with cloud access Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Computer Weekly

Big data skills shortages – and how to work around them

Businesses are finding it hard to recruit enough people with big data and analytics skills, but for CIOs there are alternative strategies to consider Continue Reading

By

• Shamus Rae, KPMG

Interview: How a tech apprenticeship changed one man’s life

Past Microsoft apprentice Joshua Uwadiae explains how in hindsight, he realises his apprenticeship was a life-defining moment in the lead-up to his tech career Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Cloud NAS offers file access across on-site and in-cloud

We run the rule over cloud NAS products that allow customers to build single-namespace file systems, including between in-house datacentres and public cloud storage Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

AWS to bolster cloud skills development in Singapore

The training arm of Singapore’s labour movement is rolling out training courses in cooperation with Amazon Web Services to improve cloud computing literacy among SMEs Continue Reading

By

• Kimberly Chua

Firms step up spending on digital tech, but struggle with strategy

Businesses and the public sector are stepping up their spending on digital technology, but many business leaders are struggling to keep pace with what it means for their business Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

DBS modernisation programme is a ‘masterclass in incompetence’, say MPs

The costly, four-years-delayed Disclosure and Barring Service modernisation programme is an example of yet another poorly managed major government project, according to the Public Accounts Committee Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Dedicated HPC infrastructure still rules, says Huawei

A Huawei executive makes the case for dedicated high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, despite the growth of public cloud services that have democratised access to HPC and AI capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

England and Wales Cricket Board to improve players’ medical data

Cricketers’ medical images will be stored securely in an independent clinical archive, enabling clinicians to access medical data and make treatment decisions more quickly Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

How AWS keeps its rivals at bay

A relentless focus on building for customers and inking partnerships with enterprise software bigwigs while lowering prices has given AWS a leg-up over rivals in the ANZ market Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Compliance in the cloud: Avoiding the cloud compliance trap

When you hand over data to a cloud provider, you don’t hand over responsibility for legal and regulatory compliance. Beware of falling into a cloud compliance trap Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Marks and Spencer speeds up digital transformation plans as profits plunge

Retailer announces plans to accelerate its business transformation and close 100 stores by 2022 after continued shifts in consumer behaviour Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

IT hub shadowed by Everest gives opportunities to homegrown IT professionals

Katmandu is the choice for offshore delivery for increasing numbers of multinational companies and is becoming more attractive to local IT professionals as a result Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IR35 reforms: Government invites feedback on plans to extend tax avoidance rules to private sector

The government is pushing ahead with its plans to explore the possibility of extending the controversial IR35 tax avoidance reforms to the private sector, much to the chagrin of stakeholders Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK tech sector growing 2.6 times faster than overall economy

The latest Tech Nation report on the UK’s IT sector reveals strong growth and positivity, but fears around Brexit in London’s tech engine Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW ANZ: Australian firms connect people in new ways

Australian organisations such as BPay are turning to unified communications (UC) to create workplaces where employees operate in a flexible and open work environment. But IT and user experiences can differ greatly. What has been the journey of ANZ enterprises when delivering a seamless UC experience for employees? In this issue of CW ANZ, we look at how companies are approaching UC, the state of the market and what organisations need to do to be successful. Download the issue now. Continue Reading

Morgan Stanley uses Amazon Alexa to inform customers

US investment bank Morgan Stanley is giving customers important information about the market via Amazon's voice assistant Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Google opens third availability zone in Singapore

The latest Google Cloud Platform availability zone in Singapore follows recent efforts by rivals to extend their lead in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

AWS ups ante on cloud services for Australian government

Cloud supplier AWS says government agencies can now assess the prospect of running protected workloads, following an independent cloud security assessment. Continue Reading

The NHS is failing to deliver 'basic IT', says Matthew Swindells

NHS England’s national director for operations and information calls for the NHS to get to grips with data, and says it won’t be able to deliver an integrated health and care system without getting the basics right Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Oracle claims positive traction for autonomous database in ASEAN

Oracle’s newly minted autonomous database could leave database administrators unemployed, but that has not stopped a Thai payment services provider from jumping onto the bandwagon Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Steadily declining retail footfall confirms shifting consumer behaviour

Footfall in the UK highstreet is on the decline, according to figures by the British Retail Consortium, confirming the consumer shift towards more digital behaviour Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Wise conference 2018: Tackling the female patent problem

Research by Wise found fewer than 10% of patents filed in the UK have involvement from women. At its annual conference in 2018, Wise set out to discuss why this is the case and how we can address it Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Hybrid cloud finds takers among Asian carriers

A growing number of Asian airlines are looking to the hybrid cloud to reduce IT costs. In October 2017, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) embarked on a massive project with TCS to migrate its core datacentre ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Citrix touts digital workspace app in services play

Software supplier Citrix’s cloud-based workspace app is part of its efforts to deliver integrated services that support the modern workplace Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Government must support SMEs, says Oliver Dowden

The minister for implementation, Oliver Dowden, provides further details on the GovTech competition and talks about GDS’s role as an “innovation incubator”, losing data policy to DCMS and the importance of SMEs Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Barclays to set up biggest office outside UK in India

Bank is expanding its presence in India with plans for an office for 8,000 staff in Pune Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NetApp adds Google Cloud NAS and AFF A800 NVMe flash array

NetApp gets on the cloud NAS bandwagon with Google Cloud Platform file storage access, while adding its first NVMe flash-equipped storage array, the AFF A800 Continue Reading

By

• Christophe Bardy and Antony Adshead

Nutanix builds hooks to SDN and cloud with Flow, Era and Beam

Hyper-converged pioneer builds in functionality from acquisitions with Flow software-defined networking, Beam cloud monitoring and Era database provisioning and data protection Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Computer Weekly

Oracle’s autonomous database could leave DBAs unemployed

The long-term future of database administrators could be at risk if every enterprise adopts the Oracle 18c autonomous database Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Kennedy

Red Hat teams up with Microsoft in hybrid cloud, container push

Building on a strategic alliance first announced in 2015, the two software companies are working together on Red Hat OpenShift on Azure to reduce the complexity of managing containers in a hybrid cloud environment Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Crypto gold rush days are numbered

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how cryptocurrency miners are using colocation providers to help scale up their operations, drive profits and boost resiliency – for however long the boom may last. We also look at the changes SAP has made to its licensing model to clarify the issue of indirect access and consider what the cloud domination of Amazon, Google and Microsoft means for smaller cloud suppliers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Dell EMC unveils Isilon scale-out NAS in the Google cloud

The trend to cloud NAS continues as Dell EMC announces beta phase of Isilon Cloud for GCP that will see fully-featured scale-out NAS available to customers via the Google cloud Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Computer Weekly
• Christophe Bardy

Fresh blow for Facebook as court refuses stay in Max Schrems legal action

Facebook has lost a legal attempt to delay the Irish High Court from seeking answers from the European Court of Justice over the legality of EU-US data transfers Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Outsourcing is not dead or dying – it just needs to be done properly

The collapse of Carillion and the profit warning at Capita have created a false sense of fear about the stability of the outsourcing sector Continue Reading

By

• Bob Fawthrop

ODI and Sport England launch project using data to break down exercise barriers

Ten startups have been chosen as part of the OpenActive accelerator programme to develop fitness products and encourage people to be active Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Imperial College taps volunteer smartphones for cancer research

Imperial College London is working with the Vodafone Foundation to co-opt smartphone processing power for use in cancer research Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Making music with AI

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how artificial intelligence is being used in the creative industries such as music and books, and ask whether AI can ever replace human creativity. TSB’s IT meltdown is symptomatic of the tech challenges facing UK banks – we examine the issues. And our latest buyer’s guide analyses the trends in big data. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Starship’s autonomous delivery robots get commercial roll-out

Having successfully trialled its autonomous delivery robots in the UK and US, Estonian startup Starship Technologies is embarking on a full commercial roll-out Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AWS vs Microsoft vs Google: Weighing up the financial results of the big cloud three

Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all posted favourable financial results this week, as enterprise appetites for cloud services show no signs of slowing, but what does this mean for suppliers outside of the big three? Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

DWP to spend nearly £15m on GDPR

A single government department plans to spend nearly £15m on preparing for new European data protection legislation, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Enterprise accessibility: How Cray is using HPC to open up AI use cases from the datacentre

Enterprises interest in HPC is reportedly being fuelled by the rising demand for artificial intelligence-based applications and services, and Cray is one of a number of providers looking to cash in Continue Reading

By

• Simon Chandler

Barclays aims to drive entrepreneur startup development with law incubator

Barclays is opening its Eagle Lab incubator in London to help entrepreneurs create successful law businesses. Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Can Huawei untangle the AI mess?

Huawei is building a digital platform with “device-cloud synergy” to support artificial intelligence applications, but enterprises should be wary of being locked into a single AI stack Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

British banks target Israeli security technology

British banks are turning to Israel’s high-tech sector to protect against cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

SuiteWorld 2018: Hiring people is about more than just ability, says Rachel Zoe

NetSuite customer, fashion designer and CEO of Rachel Zoe explains that part of entrepreneurship is hiring people who fill the gaps you leave behind, and that in doing so passion can be more important than ability Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Malaysia’s Supahands finds agility with the cloud

Regional workforce crowdsourcing startup relies on the cloud to keep its infrastructure agile enough to scale up and down, according to customer demand Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Interview: Amazon Web Services Sweden

Eric Morales leads the AWS business development team for startups and gaming companies in the Nordics. Computer Weekly caught up with him at AWS’s Nordic headquarters in Stockholm Continue Reading

By

• Jane Hamrin

Unified communications supplier Mitel bought by VCs

Unified communications and networking technology supplier Mitel is to be acquired by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners for $2bn Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CenturyLink takes aim at APAC market post-Level 3 merger

The US telecoms giant is expanding its footprint in Asia through its merger with Level 3, and hopes to bring its offerings on par with that of rivals in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Digital Catapult aims to accelerate AR and VR startups to long-term success

Ten augmented reality and virtual reality startups can join 10-week Augmentor accelerator, with access to classes, facilities and mentorship Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Google hails positive economic impact of US datacentre growth

Google claims the expansion of its datacentre portfolio in recent years has generated thousands of jobs and seen it contribute billions of dollars to the US economy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

SuperNova growth programme offers European tech scale-ups chance to pitch for investment

Scale-Up.eu says initiative will enable scale-up companies to grow their business without relying on overseas investment Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Telcos see multiple paths to internet of things revenue

A report from Ericsson has revealed that telecoms operators are testing out multiple routes to monetising the IoT Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor