Business intelligence and analytics

Tackling security with quantum physics

In this week's Computer Weekly, we examine research that promises to deliver new levels of encrypted communications using quantum teleportation. IBM has announced its latest mainframe – but will the company's problems hinder its future? And we find out how one company has used the low-cost Raspberry Pi in its enterprise IT. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Self-service BI, data integration top information management issues

Self-service business intelligence and data integration top information management challenges for IT and finance professionals Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Former Capital One data analysts charged with mining customer data

US financial services regulator SEC charges two former employees of financial services firm Capital One with insider trading Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What are the options for electronic patient records in the NHS after NPfIT?

Many hospitals lack comprehensive electronic patient record (EPR) systems. What are the options now, in the wake of the NPfIT disaster? Continue Reading

By

• SA Mathieson

Case study: Antwerp port boosts profits with activity-based management software

How the Antwerp Port Authority has improved its business processes with SAS software Continue Reading

By

• Stef Gyssels

Case study: Hedge fund AHL Man Group uses MongoDB to feed quants with data

Hedge fund AHL Man Group replaces disparate relational databases with a single data platform built on NoSQL database MongoDB Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

SAP’s Cohen on 2014 results: Europe strong north and south

SAP’s Emea president Franck Cohen optimistic about the supplier’s growth prospects in southern and northern Europe Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

User groups defend licensing, but should Oracle rethink remuneration?

Two Oracle user groups have defended Oracle's licensing policy following open letter by Campaign for Clear Licensing Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Case study: UniCredit uses Fico to apply prescriptive analytics to risk management

Italian bank UniCredit is using Fico software to apply prescriptive analytics to risk management Continue Reading

By

• Piero Macri

CIO interview: Mark Maddocks, Cambridge University Press

Technology has prompted unprecedented innovation and transformation in the media sector – Cambridge University Press is no exception Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Cabinet Office begins procurement for next stage of Gov.uk Verify

The Cabinet Office has submitted a tender notice for a £150m three-year framework for the provision of identity assurance services Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Lloyd’s Register Foundation grants £10m to Alan Turing Institute

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation has announced £10m in funding over five years to support research by the Alan Turing Institute Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Customer analysis a winning play for 'Candy Crush Saga' maker

King Digital Entertainment was losing players of "Candy Crush Saga" at an early stage in the online game -- a problem it solved with help from a customer data analytics project. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Burns

M&S turns to predictive analytics to keep shelves stocked over Christmas

Marks & Spencer is using predictive analytics to keep shelves stocked with mince pies and turkeys over Christmas. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CIO interview: Jon Rudoe, digital and technology director, Sainsbury’s

While supermarkets all over the UK are facing challenging times ahead of them, Sainsbury's is taking its technology and innovation into its own hands by developing digital products for its customers. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Police forces use private cloud to access Holmes database

Police forces across the UK will access the Holmes major investigation system via a private cloud service Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Southampton university fuels research with IBM Watson analytics

The University of Southampton has begun a far-reaching initiative to redefine the future of research powered by IBM Watson analytics Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Airbus interview: research, innovation and the future of aviation

IT plays a substantial role in creating the aircraft of the future, with research and innovation at the core of the Airbus business strategy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Ipswich hospital improves healthcare service with Esri data visualisation

Health pilots location-based technology that delivers data visualisation Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Problems surface as first users attempt to use Gov.uk Verify

Problems have surfaced as users try to use Gov.uk Verify to prove their identities Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Currency exchange business Travelex cuts HR costs by 25% with cloud IT systems

Travelex's cloud human resources (HR) project survived a budget overrun to cut costs and job recruitment times Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

How the BBC became digital in three-and-a-half years

The BBC has undergone a digital transformation that started 18 months prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Met Police trials analytics to fight gang crime

The Metropolitan Police is experimenting with analytics software to help predict which criminals are likely to re-offend Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Disney spreads the magic through wearable technology

The Walt Disney Company is using wearable technology to improve customer experience and engage with visitors Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Comic Relief’s digital challenge: talent, data and the No Make-Up Selfie

Social media campaigns such as the No Make-Up Selfie and the Ice Bucket Challenge threaten charities such as Comic Relief with their digital reach Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Fear and loathing could hold back UK internet of things, says KPMG report

More than two-thirds of UK consumers fear growing number of interconnected devices make it too easy for things to go wrong Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

SAP teams up with Birst to offer cloud analytics on Hana

SAP is working with cloud BI supplier Birst to provide “instant analytics in the cloud” on the Hana in-memory database platform Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

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

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, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

The digital CIO: Why embrace digital innovation?

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

By

• Peter Thornton

Larry Ellison: Of plane, sails and zen

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

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

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

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

Accenture: 48% of UK survey respondents fail to find big data talent

An Accenture survey has found that nearly half of UK respondents are struggling to find enough skilled data management professional Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

EY seeks tech startups to address challenges of right to be forgotten

Professional services firm Ernst & Young is looking for startups to find technology solutions to the ‘right to be forgotten’ regulation Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Sweden’s Klarna and Spotify design big data architectures to aid business growth

Many organisations still don't know how to capitalise on big data. Swedish firms Klarna and Spotify are making use of its possibilities Continue Reading

By

• Jenny Stadigs

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

Bayern Munich teams up with SAP to hit sporting and commercial goals

FC Bayern Munich and SAP today cemented a sports analytics and enterprise software partnership at the club’s Allianz Arena Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

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, Computer Weekly

CIO interview: Dave Ubachs, CIO, Staples Europe

Staples is undertaking major IT projects in Europe that will see e-commerce improvements and back-end consolidation in 16 countries Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Why John Linwood is not to blame for BBC’s failed technology project

Former BBC CTO has won his case for unfair dismissal over the failed £100m DMI project, but what lessons can be learned? Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

CW Europe - August 2014 Edition

The hype around data mining may have receded, but it remains a critical discipline for the data scientist. This issue of CW Europe looks at what exactly data mining is, how and when it is used – and why it should not be mistaken for business analytics. Continue Reading

Wearable technology will up the game for sports data analytics

Wearable technology is a big industry thanks to the ‘quantified self’ movement. It’s now giving a boost to professional sports data analytics professionals Continue Reading

By

• Simon Creasey

Location-based analytics helps Wendy's find its way to new sites

Most people remember geography class as a liberal arts concentration. But John Crouse of Wendy's is showing that geographic knowledge can make for a valuable pairing with statistical analysis as part of location intelligence efforts. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Burns

Oracle in-memory option creates licensing pain and audit risk

A former Oracle employee has highlighted a major issue in the way the new Oracle Database 12c Release 12.1.0.2 is licensed Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NAO reveals Home Office spent £347m on failed ICW programme

The Home Office spent £347m closing its Immigration Case Work programme, which was supposed to replace legacy databases Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

SAP helps Germany lift the World Cup

Germany-based software company SAP played its part in the national football team's victory over Argentina in the World Cup final in Brazil Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Analytics scours World Cups for greatest footballer of all time

Sports data company Opta’s analytics of every World Cup finals match ever played since 1966 adds to the debate on who is football’s greatest of all time Continue Reading

By

• Simon Creasey

ISPs take legal action against GCHQ over mass network infrastructure surveillance

Six global internet service providers (ISPs) have filed a legal complaint calling for a halt to GCHQ’s use of network infrastructure for surveillance Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Wimbledon bunker tour: The IT behind the tennis championships

Computer Weekly goes behind the scenes at Wimbledon to investigate the technology supporting of one of the biggest tennis championships Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

A peek into Intel’s Internet of Things lab in Swindon

Intel's new IoT lab in Swindon is researching connected devices such as a connected coffee machine, targeted ads and live Twitter analyses Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Design a business intelligence system properly -- for business users

Rick Sherman explains how to avoid common mistakes when planning and designing BI systems, saying that the varying needs of different business users must be front and center. Continue Reading

By

• Rick Sherman, Athena Solutions

The CIO Playbook – Innovation

Nicholas R. Colisto describes a comprehensive practical method to tap into your company's reservoir of innovation to solve real business problems in this extract from his book. Continue Reading

Unilever puts SAP at the captain’s table

Consumer goods company Unilever works hand in glove with SAP in “speeding up its growth”, according to senior executives at the two firms Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Wimbledon to analyse social interactions at tennis championship

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon will be analysing social interactions throughout tennis championship Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Travel group Expedia aims to predict your holiday plans

Travel group Expedia is developing technology that will predict the needs of its customers before they call about their travel plans Continue Reading

UK airports lead move to cloud services

UK airports are at the vanguard of using cloud to develop innovative services, says Gatwick CIO. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Sapphire 2014: Plattner restates radical, in-memory computing future

SAP's Hasso Plattner restates his case that enterprise applications face a radical future, based on in-memory computing Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Author: Data mining projects depend on excavating meaningful data

In a Q&A, book author David Nettleton offers advice on avoiding data mining pitfalls and pinpointing valuable business data to mine and analyze. Continue Reading

By

• Melanie Luna, TechTarget

Do predictive analytics projects require data scientists?

Expert Mark Whitehorn explains what skills are required for predictive modeling -- and whether business users can do the work of data scientists. Continue Reading

By

• Mark Whitehorn, University of Dundee

Business Objects use increases among SAP users, but Hana uptake low

More UK and Ireland SAP customers are using Business Objects now than even two years ago, but only 15% are using Hana Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

IT headcount lags behind growth in digital strategies

There is a huge gap in technology staffing for e-commerce operations, according to a new report from analyst Forrester Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Justifying the business case to update Oracle eBusiness Suite

To justify the upgrade cost needed to move to Oracle eBusiness Suite Release 12, IT departments need consider how the implementation can deliver value. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Air Transport Industry Insights 2014

This report from SITA looks at the impact of business intelligence on airlines and airports. Continue Reading

UK helping US military build intelligence software for drone targeting

The UK has been helping the US military build software to share intelligence for weapons such as drones for the past 14 years Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

City University London launches data science and cyber security courses

City University London will this year begin its first post-graduate courses in data science and cybersecurity. Continue Reading

Oracle updates Solaris, but is its server strategy sound?

Oracle has released a beta versdion of Solaris 11.2. But does Solaris and the Sparc server platform have a future? Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Gartner: CIOs spend more on BI as business growth returns

The return to business growth is driving IT spending among UK and Irish CIOs, according to Gartner's 2014 CIO Agenda survey Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has his Trustworthy Computing moment

In 2002, Microsoft chief Bill Gates sent out the Trustworthy Computing memo to staff. Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, had his Trustworthy Computing moment this week. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Are retailers using data analytics to their advantage?

Computer Weekly looks at the challenges the retail sector faces in taking advantage of data analysis Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Workday sees opportunity for cloud financial management in Europe

Workday plans to push cloud finance and accounting services to enterprise in Europe, but observers say its background in HR technology may prove an obstacle Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Seven secrets of SQL Server Management Studio

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is the principal interface for working with Microsoft SQL Server. However, many subtleties of this powerful tool evade even the most seasoned professionals Continue Reading

By

• Andy Hogg

Analysis: Care.data – where next?

Following the public debate surrounding the NHS Care.data plan, it was unsurprising the topic dominated the UK’s largest health IT event Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

The digital CIO: How digital technology will change the way organisations work

If you are an IT leader, digital technology is likely to be a pivotal factor in your career over the next five years Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Case study: How John Lewis conquered the web

An in-depth look at the inside story of John Lewis' £40m e-commerce strategy. Continue Reading

Red Bull ramps up network for 2014 F1 championship

An extended relationship with AT&T will support RedBull Infiniti Racing on and off the track as it prepares its 2014 championship bid Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

British Gas uses SAS analytics to reach customers

British Gas, one of the UK’s energy suppliers, is to use SAS analytics to improve marketing efficiency Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Thames Water pilots smart analytics with Accenture

Thames Water is six months into an 18 month pilot with Accenture Smart Grid to pilot real time monitoring to deliver an improved service Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

HP Autonomy unveils healthcare analytics system for textual data

HP has unveiled a new healthcare analytics product to enable medical staff to interrogate text and data in relational databases Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Case study: Scottish Fire and Rescue advances national BI strategy with QlikView

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is using QlikView business intelligence software to bring together its data streams for external reporting and operational intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Teradata launches analytics product as SAP BW replacement

Teradata has released an analytics product for SAP ERP, as a full-blown alternative to SAP BW Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

NHS clinical research body uses QlikView to forward open data

The clinical research delivery arm of the NHS is developing an open data platform using QlikView Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Case study: London Borough of Islington’s smart working journey

The London Borough of Islington is using technology to ensure its staff are as productive as possible travelling along a ‘smart working journey’ Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nokia Solutions Networks HR rejects best of breed for best of platform

Nokia Solutions and Networks has chosen a ‘best of platform’ approach for its global HR programme in the wake of a reduction in staff from around 80,000 to 50,000, consequent to a restructure in 2011 Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

700,000 benefit claimants miss out on Universal Credit deadline

The secretary for work and pensions has admitted the Universal Credit benefit scheme will miss its 2017 deadline Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Tech spend to increase in 2014 as executives explore big data

Over three-quarters of chief financial officers plan to increase technology investments in 2014 Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Mobile business intelligence adoption slows, BARC BI survey finds

Mobile BI adoption is slowing and much vaunted social media analytics are little deployed, according to the latest BARC BI global survey Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

IT budgets to rise by 3% in 2014 as companies step up spending on mobile

IT spending will increase by 3% in 2014, up from 1.8% last year. But shadow IT spending will add another 40% to technology budgets Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Case study: McGraw-Hill Education mobilises with Salesforce

The educational resources provider utilises Salesforce to develop a mobile app and get its sales reps selling more on campus Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Human Capital Management

Computer Weekly looks at the steps companies have taken to improve talent management; bridging the gap between the cost savings promised by cloud technologies and the value they deliver. Continue Reading

Procter & Gamble uses Teradata cloud analytics for global marketing

Procter & Gamble has 15,000 websites, but sells almost exclusively through retailers. This makes gathering intelligence on customers tough Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Clark

Future Gazing: The Future of IT in 2020

The next six years will see the influence of technology accelerate, and that will mean radical changes for the role of the IT department and the CIO Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CIO interview: Paolo Cinelli, CIO, Ikea

Ikea's priority is to get closer to its customers using a multi-channel approach which combines digital and traditional methods Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Big Data analytics: Adoption and employment trends

The report identifies current and future adoption rates for big data by type and size of organisation in the UK Continue Reading

Data on the Balance Sheet

This report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), discusses the economic arguments for placing 'data' as an asset on the company balance sheet. Continue Reading

Hands-on Oracle Application Express security

This book extract demonstrates how Oracle Application Express (APEX) can be vulnerable to SQL injection, using sample code. Continue Reading

IT spending up as companies invest in digital technology

Businesses are stepping up their spending on IT as they invest in strategic digital technologies, a CIO survey by Deloitte reveals Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Companies are not taking advantage of data analytics, research says

Research by Bersin by Deloitte shows that 86% of businesses have yet to progress beyond using their HR data to generate basic reports Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly