Data warehousing

How Centrica used GDPR and Pegasystems to reward loyal customers

Thanks to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, the utility provider has been able to fine-tune a digitally enabled initiative that works across the business Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

IT Priorities 2019: UK investment intent for AI intensifies, SaaS applications mature beyond CRM

AI continues to strengthen as a focus for IT systems buyers in the UK, according to this year’s Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey, while cloud applications are maturing beyond CRM Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

SAP FY 2018: Cloud revenue nears €5bn, 10,500 customers for S/4 Hana

SAP’s full-year 2018 results show cloud revenue at 20% of the total, which was €24.7bn, while the fourth quarter saw 1,000 customers added to its flagship S/4 Hana Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Southern Water’s centralised data team geared for silo busting

Southern Water has centralised its data specialists and overhauled its data management and business intelligence technology to support business decision-making at scale Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Facebook’s high-stakes privacy gamble goes to Dublin court

A high-wire gamble with billions in compensation at stake for European internet users – part of a complex case between Facebook and the Irish information commissioner – hides challenge to the unlawfulness of US state internet surveillance Continue Reading

By

• Kevin Cahill

How the Science Museum is moving to the digital age

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how London’s Science Museum is dealing with legacy IT to move into the age of digital and data. We examine Nationwide Building Society’s move to cloud and DevOps to transform its operations. And we look at how technologies such as machine learning and blockchain are helping to automate global supply chains. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

SAP’s Atzberger vaunts front to back office capability

Alex Atzberger, president, SAP Customer Experience, recently went through the company’s customer-focused software strategy with Computer Weekly Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Oracle bullish on growth in ASEAN

Enterprise technology juggernaut Oracle claims traction in cloud applications and growing interest in its cloud-based autonomous database service in Southeast Asia Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CW ANZ: Taming the data beast

Software-defined storage (SDS), which promises greater transparency and control over data, is an increasingly important tool in the enterprise technology armoury. In this issue of CW ANZ, we look at how Australian enterprises are turning to SDS to improve data management and direct data to different tiers of storage or to applications. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW ASEAN: Unlock flash opportunities

Traditional disks can no longer keep up with the needs of modern enterprises, which now rely more on business-critical software to digest heaps of corporate and customer data to make quick business decisions. In this issue of CW ASEAN, we take a look at how enterprises are taking to all-flash array storage, the factors to consider when laying out a flash storage strategy, and what enterprises need to do to lay the foundation necessary for getting the most out of the technology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Hortonworks CTO weighs in on Cloudera merger

Besides marrying technologies from Hortonworks and Cloudera, the two companies could also come up with new product components after their merger is sealed Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Oracle first-quarter 2018-19 results show weak growth

Oracle’s first-quarter results for 2018-19 reveal $9.2bn revenue and 1% growth, with co-CEO Mark Hurd calling out “spectacular growth” for the NetSuite cloud ERP for SMEs business Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

GCHQ mass surveillance regime was in breach of human rights law, European court rules

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that the UK’s collection of bulk interception of communications data lacked adequate oversight and safeguards and was in breach of human rights law Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Snowflake making headway in Australia

Cloud data warehouse supplier Snowflake has nabbed several Australian customers and is looking at delivering its software via the Azure cloud service next year Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

How automation can help create value, the 5th ‘v’ of data

This is a guest blogpost by Neil Barton, CTO, WhereScape For CDOs, defining the data and analytics strategy for their organization is increasingly the most important aspect of their job, with 86% ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

What machine learning practitioners can learn from data warehousing

Cloudera’s head of emerging business shares lessons that machine learning practitioners can learn from their cousins in data warehousing Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Trainline shaking up rail travel beyond making trains run on time

Trainline's data scientists are applying the latest technologies to vast data sets to make train journey ticket prices easier to navigate Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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, TechTarget

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

Teradata sues SAP over Hana for stealing trade secrets

Data warehousing supplier Teradata is suing SAP in a Californian court for stealing trade secrets, copyright infringement and antitrust violations Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Chief data officers go to summer school

Authors of the “Chief data officer’s playbook”, Caroline Carruthers and Peter Jackson, are running a summer school, supported by data governance software supplier Collibra Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

GlaxoSmithKline R&D creates data platform using Hadoop for the internal sharing of scientific data

GlaxoSmithKline is making better use of the data it has about the development and trials of medicines through a Hadoop-based platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Podcast: Storage compliance for GDPR data subject requests

The General Data Protection Regulation is upon us. Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, talks you through the key areas needed for compliance in storage of data subjects’ data and how to find it quickly on request Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Oracle Q3 2017-18 results see cloud revenue grow to $1.6bn

Oracle’s third-quarter results for fiscal year 2018 show an increase of almost 7% of overall revenue to $9.8bn, of which 18% was cloud Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Silicon Valley startups home in on pressing value from data

A slew of California-based startup and early-stage data analytics companies are promising CIOs better ways to get value from their investments in databases and analytics Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Wi-Fi provider uses big data analytics to drive customer experience

The self-styled “Uber of Wi-Fi”, iPass is using Databricks’ Unified Analytics Platform and machine learning to monitor its worldwide network and help its customers get the best experience Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government must rewrite illegal sections of Snoopers’ Charter, court told

A court has been asked to give ministers until July 2018 to rewrite powers to require phone and internet companies to retain data on the population. The government acknowledges parts of surveillance regime are unlawful Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Hana and S/4 users more sophisticated but beset by licensing doubts

Research sponsored by SAP consultancy Centiq finds SAP customers maturing their use of SAP Hana and S/4 Hana, but hindered by licensing concerns and dearth of skills Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

The data warehouse – why it’s time to stop writing its obituary and modernise your approach

This is a guest blogpost by Dave Wells, practice director, data management at Eckerson Group. If there’s one thing the IT industry is exceptionally good at it, it’s proclaiming the death of a ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Data analytics architecture must break down higher ed silos

Siloed data isn't only a problem for businesses. It's also a big issue for many large universities -- one that their data infrastructures need to resolve for effective analytics. Continue Reading

By

• David A. Teich

Faster data is a safer bet for risk exposure

Betting platform service supplier FSB Technology (UK) has used GridGain’s in-memory database to support its existing PostgreSQL transactional system Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Big data best practice means a best-of-breed approach

This is a guest blogpost by Sebastian Darrington, UK MD at Exasol The days of operating a single vendor IT software estate are behind us. Such is the pace of innovation and change, putting all your ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Top IT priorities for Nordic CIOs in 2018

Nordic CIOs tell Computer Weekly about their intentions for the year ahead Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

Dimension tables vs. fact tables: What's the difference?

Fact tables and dimension tables are used together in star schemas to support data analytics applications. But they play different roles and hold different types of data. Continue Reading

By

• David Loshin, Knowledge Integrity Inc.

How technology is transforming healthcare delivery in Gulf region

IT will transform the healthcare sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the coming years Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

OpenWorld 2017: Ellison declares autonomous database 'revolutionary'

Oracle’s Larry Ellison claims revolutionary cast for autonomous 18c database at the supplier’s 2017 OpenWorld conference in San Francisco Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Oracle 2017-18 Q1 results: Cloud revenue jumps by 51%

Oracle’s first quarter 2017-18 results show jump in cloud revenue of 51%, boosted by NetSuite acquisition. Executives continue to be bullish on cloud growth, and the AI makeover of core database is flagged Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

The fields of Athenry – how Apple’s datacentre plans are causing turmoil in a small Irish town

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look into Apple’s controversial plans to build a huge datacentre in a small town in the west of Ireland, and hear the local arguments it has caused. We find out how the Met Office is managing the vast quantities of data it uses for weather forecasting. And we examine Google plans to bring artificial intelligence tools to the job recruitment market. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Experian admits mobile and online issues after system upgrade

Some customers of credit referencing company are having problems accessing a service they pay for following an IT upgrade and large customer migration to a new system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Second phase of Dubai Health Authority’s electronic records implementation to start in August 2017

Unified electronic medical record (EMR) system to be rolled to more medical facilities across Dubai Continue Reading

By

• Edward Banda

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor speaks about ‘expanding universe’ of BI

Co-founder and CEO of MicroStrategy takes the long view on business intelligence and sees its universe expanding with mobile technologies Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

SAP users look to software suppliers to help with fast-approaching GDPR

An SAP UK and Ireland user group survey has found user organisations crying out for help as GDPR approaches, with cloud delivery a special concern Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Operational data store vs. data warehouse: How do they differ?

Operational data stores and data warehouses both store operational data, but the similarities between them end there -- and they both have a role to play in analytics architectures. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

Customer experience transformation at Macquarie bank brings legacy system retirement as a bonus

Australia’s Macquarie bank builds a data layer on top of legacy IT systems to transform customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Understanding analytics and storage performance

Analytics workloads place specific demands on storage. We take a look at the workload profiles of analytics use cases and the storage platforms available to support them Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Motorola brings big data digital evidence service to UK police forces

Motorola is launching a digital evidence management service to UK police forces, backed off into AWS cloud infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Derbyshire NHS Trust takes simple BI approach to secure patient safety

Derbyshire NHS Foundation Trust opts for a simple, clinician and business-led approach to business intelligence to secure patient safety, using MicroStrategy Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

CW Europe: Technology poses new risks to jobs, economies and society

Rapid advances in technology could have destabilising effects on employment and economic growth, and could exacerbate social unrest, the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned. Society’s failure to keep pace with technology change was a key risk under discussion at Davos in January. Continue Reading

Sweden uses Minecraft for urban planning

Swedish National Land survey has put its maps on Minecraft to promote its work Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

SAP aims to clarify S/4 Hana, cloud apps roadmaps for customers

The SAP board has launched an initiative to publish and clarify roadmaps, especially in respect of S/4 Hana and its cloud applications, and one product of this is a new technology choice tool Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

The United Arab Emirates enterprise IT trends for 2017

The UAE is already a leader in areas such as smart city developments, and 2017 looks set to see organisations in the country increase its adoption of other transformational IT Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

Insurers face same legacy system battle as retail banks

The biggest barrier to insurance companies adopting digital technology is their heavy reliance on legacy IT systems Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The future of connected cars

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how software is reshaping the car industry, with internet-connected cars presenting challenges and opportunities for the sector. IT suppliers are putting up prices in the UK as the value of the pound falls – we look at the implications. And Eurostar’s digital chief talks about overhauling IT to meet demanding passenger expectations. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Diageo opts for additional services centre in Bangalore

Drinks maker Diageo is increasing its footprint in India with a new business services centre in the city of Bangalore. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NGOs challenge UK and US mass surveillance in human rights court

Privacy International, Liberty and the American Civil Liberties Union are among 10 human rights groups backing a landmark challenge to mass surveillance in the European Court of Human Rights Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Ellison slams AWS at Oracle Open World 2016

Oracle CTO Larry Ellison criticises Amazon Web Services as a cloud database environment at Oracle Open World 2016, fleshing out earlier critique Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

CW@50: Data management – Five decades of prospecting for business value

Data management and business intelligence have been at the heart of business value creation for decades. Read about how Computer Weekly has tracked their promise and tribulations Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

France takes the lead in the global open data race

The appointment of a chief data officer (CDO) has already seen the nation create five different types of economic and social value Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

'Citizens will be stripped naked' by Turkey’s data law

Turkey's data protection law, introduced in March 2016, will make Turkey a near total surveillance state, yet the EU, apparently more concerned about securing Turkey's help in controlling immigration, is turning a blind eye Continue Reading

By

• Craig Shaw & Zeynep Sentek

Britain to pay billions for monster internet surveillance network

New questions raised about Britain’s snoopers’ charter after Denmark abandons its own UK-style surveillance programme for a second time Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University

A look inside the SAP IQ column-oriented database

The SAP IQ column-oriented database is designed for large data warehouses that require high scalability, rapid data loading and optimal query performance. Continue Reading

By

• Craig S. Mullins, Mullins Consulting

Examining the Teradata Data Warehouse

With both relational and columnar options, the Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse gives companies an efficient, scalable appliance they can deploy in-house or in the cloud. Continue Reading

By

• Craig S. Mullins, Mullins Consulting

What to expect from Oracle Exadata Database Machine

Oracle Exadata Database Machine combines hardware and software to enable analytics, batch, reporting and other tasks to run simultaneously within and across databases. Continue Reading

By

• Craig S. Mullins, Mullins Consulting

Examining the IBM PureData System for Analytics appliance

Powered by Netezza technology, the IBM PureData System for Analytics data warehouse appliance enables users to execute complex queries and get results quickly. Continue Reading

By

• Craig S. Mullins, Mullins Consulting

Crunch time for Australian CIOs as analytics platforms drive strategy in 2016

CIOs in Australia and elsewhere will be expected to deploy technologies that promise to help them get more from the information they own Continue Reading

By

• David Braue

Interview: James Bamford on surveillance, Snowden and technology companies

Investigative journalist and documentary maker James Bamford was among the first to uncover the secrets of the US National Security Agency and its global surveillance Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CIO interview: Chris Hewertson, CTO at hotel group GLH

Chris Hewertson combines the responsibilities of a chief technology officer and CIO with the aim of customer-focused technology transformation Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Change is in the air as Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service applies analytics to everything

Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service unearths additional benefits of data analytics following its decision to use Splunk software to analyse operational logs Continue Reading

By

• David Braue

SAP UK&I User Group Conference 2015: Newcastle University puts ERP on Hana

Newcastle University has put enterprise resource planning and data warehouse data on SAP’s Hana platform in a proof of concept project Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Oracle OpenWorld 2015: Larry Ellison vaunts Oracle’s cloud services over rivals

Larry Ellison promoted his company’s cloud services and berated rivals in his opening keynote at Oracle OpenWorld 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Singapore and UK researchers investigate privacy in big data era

Academic organisations in Singapore and the UK collaborate on the privacy questions raised by big data and the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Tao ai Lei

Wearable technology proves its worth on the front line

In this week's Computer Weekly, we look at business applications for wearable technology. With hands-free police and military pilot projects already under way, wearable technology is set to make its mark in the enterprise in the near future. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Using SAP Hana as a data warehouse

Enterprises are using SAP Hana for in-memory data marts and SAP Business Warehouse implementations that integrate with other data warehouses Continue Reading

By

• Holger Kisker

Business cases emerge from growing pains of Hadoop 1.0

The hype around the early generation of Hadoop is giving way to the reality of business programmes based on Hadoop 2 and Apache Spark Continue Reading

By

• Cath Everett

Comparethemarket uses Cloudera to gain single view of customer data

Price comparison site Comparethemarket has turned to Cloudera’s Hadoop distribution to get a better view of customer data from different channels. Doug Cutting, the father of Hadoop, explains Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Royal Bank of Scotland goes back to 1970s values with big data

RBS, once the world's largest bank, is using analytics technology to go back to the era of personal customer service Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Wearable technology to transform laggards in insurance industry

Wearable and other smart technologies set to transform the insurance industry in the next three to five years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Foods manufacturer ConAgra expects to save $5m a year with data analytics

Food manufacturer ConAgra Foods is using data analytics technology to improve how it makes decisions about hiring and deploying its workforce Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

NHS announces £78m technology fund for health and social care providers

The NHS will give £78m integrated digital care funding to health and social care providers in 2015 to help them invest in technology Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Case study: How National Grid uses analytics to keeps the lights on

National Grid has started a project to supplement its existing asset maintenance system with predictive analytics Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

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

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

UK leads in global ranking of social open data sharing

The UK has been named the number one country to use open data for social and economic benefit Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

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

FT sold on cloud benefits

In this week's Computer Weekly, we talk to the Financial Times CTO about the publisher's successful move to the public cloud and plans for further expansion to meet its data warehousing needs. And we examine the emerging market for mobile application services in the cloud. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

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

Care.data faces more delays over concerns about patients

The NHS’s Care.data scheme may face more delays due to concerns over lack of publicity and clarity of the proposed programme Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

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

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

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

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

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: Are retailers lost in a sea of technology, data and insight?

Delegates at Oracle’s OpenWorld 2014 user conference went away with their heads spinning from the blast of product announcements, the supplier’s re-iterated commitment to the cloud and a few entertaining memories of CTO Larry Ellison and his presentation skills. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

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

Larry Ellison: Of plane, sails and zen

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