IT news in your industry sector

Executive interview: Andrew Brem, Connected Homes, British Gas

British Gas is digitising energy. Andrew Brem speaks to Computer Weekly about the internet connected home Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Chuggers drive up direct debit failure and charity costs

Pedestrians approached by street fundraisers are deliberately giving incorrect direct debit details, costing charities up to £50 each time Continue Reading

Gartner: Benefits of mobile collaboration

The rapid adoption of smart devices, both in the workplace and outside, has raised expectations about accessibility and user experience Continue Reading

By

• Jeff Mann

Direct debit failures costly to businesses

Businesses risk losing money and customers due to mistakes made when setting up direct debit and credit payments Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Agile chaos consumes Universal Credit

It was the core philosophy of the coalition government's ICT strategy: creative chaos. But instead of fixing government IT it has let it run rampant, according to the National Audit Office.The ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Mercedes AMG Petronas' road to a better network

The Formula One team partners with Tata Communications to bring faster network speeds and better data anlaysis track-side Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Check software use and transfer rights to avoid licence misuse

Software licences can easily trip up organisations, putting them at risk of compliance action Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Banks tighten data handling in race for compliance

Data is obviously a valuable asset to any company, but managed poorly it could also be a liability. Data in the financial sector continues to grow at a rapid pace, so getting your house in order will ensure you are not hit with any unwanted fines or receive any negative PR due to data loss. In this issue of CW Europe read how data discipline ensures you avoid data loss, as well as helping you to think clearer and to be organised. Continue Reading

How the sale of Nokia’s mobile phone business will affect Microsoft

Microsoft forges ahead with Steve Ballmer's vision to focus on hardware, software and services, with the $7.2bn acquisition of Nokia Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Disinfecting PCs false security, says security expert

Many companies proud of their ability to identify and clean malware infected machines are missing a trick, says veteran security expert Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How networks and data win Formula One races for Mercedes AMG Petronas

Tata Communications joins the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team to bring speedy connectivity worthy of its cars Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Three promises unlimited 4G in December

The smaller of the UK’s mobile operators claims its 4G offerings will be worth the wait Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

VMware announces first Nicira-based SDN product

VMware takes its first steps into the networking market following its acquisition of the software defined networking firm Nicira. Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

BT to shut down dial-up in September

BT tempts its customers over to broadband services, although also offers PlusNet narrowband alternative for those outside of its footprint Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

The end of the Ballmer era for Microsoft

Microsoft’s eccentric CEO will step down from his role with12 months, so what does that mean for the future of the firm? Continue Reading

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• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Charlie McMurdie joins PwC’s cyber practice

Charlie McMurdie, former head of the Metro Police central e-crime unit, is joining business consultancy firm PwC as its senior crime adviser Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Internet of things to power classroom education

Businesses and academics have joined forces in an £800,000 project to extend the internet of things into the classroom Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How DWP and Universal Credit failed to work with SME suppliers

Less than 1% of DWP IT spending on the Universal Credit programme has gone to SMEs – how are big suppliers continuing their dominance? Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Top 10 Android security tips

As Android becomes more prevalent in the enterprise, Computer Weekly gives you 10 top tips for keeping your devices secure Continue Reading

By

• Paul Marchant

Interview: Martin Russell, head of IT services, Just Eat

Just Eat's head of IT services, Martin Russell speaks to Computer Weekly about his experiences of switching to Google Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UCAS adopts public cloud to process university admissions

Ten days before the A-level results, UCAS adopted a public cloud infrastructure to scale up its IT and to make admission process efficient Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Online retailing means the industrialisation of analytics

Figleaves founder and eCommera chief scientist Michael Ross argues that online retailing requires a new type of action-oriented business intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

VPNs: The past, present and future

We give you a rundown of all you need to know about virtual private networks and how the cloud is changing their future Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Bridgwater

Multimillion-pound broadband project axed in Yorkshire

Despite millions of taxpayer’s pounds sunk into the Digital Region project in South Yorkshire, the councils involved decide to drop it to save £12.5m Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Less than 1% of Universal Credit IT spend goes to SMEs

Despite a 25% target, less than 1% of IT spending for government’s flagship Universal Credit programme has gone to small businesses Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

How to appoint a new outsourcing supplier

Outsourcing can come with its own security risks if not managed appropriately, making due diligence and clear contractual arrangements key Continue Reading

By

• Sheila Pancholi

The dangers of internet cafés

Businesses need clear computer use policies and need to ensure staff are properly trained in data protection, writes Garry Mackay Continue Reading

By

• Garry Mackay

The data fragmentation challenge

Few organisations have policies to guide where data should and should not be stored. The result: data fragmentation Continue Reading

By

• Tony Lock, Freeform Dynamics

ICO to investigate London bins that track smartphones

Information Commissioner's Office is making enquiries into bins in London that track passing smartphones to target advertising to owners Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Is the UK smart meter project doomed to fail?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at one of the biggest IT roll-outs in the UK - the £12bn plan to install smart meters in every home – and ask: is it doomed to fail? Our latest buyer’s guide examines software asset management. We analyse the big IT suppliers’ plans to compete with pure-play cloud providers. And we discuss the future of the chief information security officer role. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Case study: How Premier Inn uses mobile analytics

Premier Inn's mobile app has been downloaded more than two million times and 77% of room bookings are made via the app Continue Reading

By

• Graham Jarvis

Government to put 50% of all new IT spend through SMEs

The government wants to put half of all new IT spending through small IT suppliers – doubling the previous target Continue Reading

Government opens fourth iteration of cloud framework G-Cloud 4 for business

Cabinet Office has opened the fourth iteration of UK government cloud – G-Cloud 4 to accept tenders from new cloud suppliers and existing ones Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Bloomberg signs up to Ubuntu Edge hybrid

Financial analytics service Bloomberg has bought into Mark Shuttleworth’s Ubuntu One vision for a hybrid PC/mobile device. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Vodafone announces 4G launch date

Vodafone becomes the third mobile operator to confirm the launch of its 4G network, which will go live on the same day as O2 Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Datacentres are a key focus for government’s Green ICT Delivery Unit

With the growing use of online services for government transactions, datacentres are a key focus of the government’s green IT strategy Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Capita and Barnet deal to be completed after campaigner’s court appeal fails

Outsourcing contracts worth over £470m will be signed off by Barnet Council after a Court of Appeal ruled that the deal was lawful Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tech startups inspiring retail IT innovations

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to department store John Lewis about how the firm is working with tech startups to improve its multichannel retail strategy. As PC sales continue to decline, we hear from IT leaders at companies moving away from the traditional desktop to non-Windows devices such as Chromebooks. And the final part of our buyer’s guide to data management examines the benefits being achieved by adopters of predictive analytics, including Tesco and HM Revenue & Customs. Continue Reading

A business case for games play at work

How businesses can use computer games techniques to motivate staff at work Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Microsoft concedes to BSkyB over SkyDrive trademark

The tech giant admits defeat and will be forced to rename its cloud storage service after losing a court battle in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Office 365 now available on Android

Following the release of Office Mobile for iPhone, Microsoft has launched Office Mobile for Android Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The ideology of hacking

Business leaders need to be educated on the true threats their firms face and IT security professionals have to arm their executives with that information Continue Reading

By

• Mark Brown

British Airways unveils its new Airbus A380

The new addition to the BA fleet - the Airbus A380 Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Big data journalism exposes offshore tax dodgers

How journalists harnessed big data to challenge offshore financial secrecy Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell and Craig Shaw

ICO to investigate sale of online dating profiles

The UK’s data protection watchdog is to investigate the sale of 10,000 online dating profiles to the BBC’s Panorama programme Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Google datacentres awarded ISO 50001 certification

Google has obtained ISO 50001 certification for its energy management systems in six datacentre facilities across the US Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

An introduction to cyber liability insurance cover

Cyber liability insurance cover has been around for 10 years, but most security professionals seem to have not heard of it or know that it exists Continue Reading

By

• Sarb Sembhi

Continual vigilance key to security, says Damballa

UK businesses must update their approach to cyber security to look for signs of compromise continually Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Dutch banking regulator approves use of AWS public cloud in the financial sector

Dutch banking watchdog approves use of AWS cloud in websites, mobile apps, retail banking platforms, HPC and credit risk analysis Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

FireEye partners with Phishme for multi-layered security

Security technology developer FireEye has partnered with phishing awareness training firm PhishMe to offer a multi-layered approach to securing information networks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hailo taxi app maker drops Sage for NetSuite OneWorld

Taxi cab app maker Hailocab has switched from Sage Line:50 to NetSuite OneWorld, in a bid to speed up accounts reconciliation Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Aintree NHS saves £1m a year with electronic patient records

Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust replaces paper medical records with an electronic system to save £1m per year Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

MI5 and GCHQ call for FTSE 350 cyber health check

Intelligence agencies MI5 and GCHQ call on UK’s top listed companies to take part in a cyber governance health check Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cisco buys cyber security company Sourcefire for $2.7bn

Networking giant Cisco has reached an agreement to buy cyber security business Sourcefire in a $2.7bn deal Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ubuntu crowd sources funding for PC smartphone hybrid

Ubuntu has invited early adopters to join crowd-funding ventures to launch Ubuntu Edge, a hybrid PC and mobile phone platform Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Insider threat: Balancing security with privacy

How can organisations increase security without affecting productivity or encroaching on employees’ right to privacy? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

European banking firm UniCredit to introduce cloud in its datacentres

European banking firm UniCredit has signed a multi-billion dollar deal with IBM to bring cloud into its datacentres Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

UK to block online porn by default

The UK is to block online pornography by default to all new internet users, David Cameron is to announce Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

John Lewis seeks out innovation from technology startups

John Lewis has been investing in technology innovation to keep ahead of the game in the changing landscape of the UK high street Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

How to assess the security of a cloud service provider

As businesses continue to put more information online, understanding cloud suppliers and agreements has never been more important Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Fitzmaurice

Facebook to acquire UK startup Monoidics

Facebook is to acquire UK startup Monoidics, which makes code verification and analysis tools and specialises in detecting coding errors Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Google competition proposals not good enough, says EC

Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia wants Google to readdress fears that it is abusing its market domination for its own gain Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Case Study: Johnson Matthey consolidates Active Directory with Dell

Chemicals manufacturer Johnson Matthey uses tools from Dell to simplify a complex, multinational Active Directory infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Intel Q2 profits down, but in line with expectations

Chip maker Intel reported a second quarter profit of $2bn, down 29% from a year ago, roughly in line with analysts’ estimates Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IBM misses revenue expectations again

IBM has reported second quarter revenues of $24.9bn, missing market estimates of $25.39bn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDS tracks 'digital by default' progress of top 25 government services

Government Digital Service (GDS) launches website to track progress of the 25 services targeted as the first to go online under the digital strategy Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Tech firms target piracy profiting websites

Tech firms including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft join an initiative targeting websites that profit from piracy by cutting off advert revenue Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Business Reimagined

Reimagining business is about waking up to a new environment based on technology that liberates rather than constrains, writes Dave Coplin. Continue Reading

The Economic Value of Data

Big data analytics promises to boost the profits of financial services firms, according to this report from Cognizant. Continue Reading

CW500: Back to the Future: Big Data at Channel 4

Bob Harris, Chief Technology Officer of Channel 4 Television, explains the broadcaster's approach to big data in this presentation for Computer Weekly's 500 Club. Continue Reading

Snapshot: Online presence of UK retailers

This concise report assesses the online presence of 36 of the UK's leading high street retailers. Continue Reading

CW Buyer's Guide: Client Computing

Computer Weekly looks at Windows 8 and the complexities of mobile working. Continue Reading

Emulex shakes up leadership with Q4 still unclear

Current Emulex CEO James McCluney becomes chairman of the board as COO Jeffrey Benck takes his place Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

More than one-fifth of UK firms hit by DDoS attacks in 2012

More than a fifth of UK firms experienced a disruptive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in 2012 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Black market for software security flaws reaches new highs

The black market in previously undiscovered vulnerabilities in commercial software is so established that the average flaw sells for up to $160,000 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lower uptake of cloud, ICT limiting medium-sized enterprises' productivity: CEBR

Medium-sized enterprises in the UK lagging behind large businesses in terms of productivity, because of lower adoption of ICT and cloud Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

National broadband projects key to UN goals

The Broadband Commission claims national projects are the best way to ensure the benefits of the internet are enjoyed by all Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Mark Hall may quit Whitehall after being snubbed for HMRC CIO role

Mark Hall, the acting CIO at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), has not been given the job full-time and may quit government Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

CIO interview: Anne Boden, COO, Allied Irish Bank - on moving to private cloud

AIB’s private cloud has meant a tenfold reduction in the number of Oracle databases and gives the bank internal technological ability and development flexibility to respond to a changing and demanding market Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Kelly

O2 extends 4G backhaul with Virgin Media Business

Mobile operator O2 will use Virgin Media Business’s superfast fibre network to bring capacity for its 4G roll-out later in 2013 Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

OpenCorporates makes company data public

Company data is being made available as part of an initiative to place more government data in the public domain Continue Reading

Ofcom proposes cuts to wholesale broadband charges

The telecoms regulator wants to reduce the wholesale price BT charges to smaller ISPs, which it hopes will lead to price drops for broadband and landline packages Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Yahoo wants Fisa objections revealed

Yahoo is the latest company implicated in the Prism internet surveillance programme to call for more transparency around its involvement Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Icahn wants judge to appraise Dell buyout offer

Billionaire US investor Carl Icahn says he will go to court to get a better price for his stake in the computer manufacturer Dell Continue Reading

Protecting against modern password cracking

This article in our Royal Holloway Security Thesis series explains just how insecure passwords are and offers advice on alternative methods of security. Continue Reading

Smart cards: security risks

This article in our Royal Holloway Information Security Thesis series assess the new features introduced in Java Card 3 Connected Edition smart card specification and their associated security risks. Continue Reading

Security visualisation

This article in our Royal Holloway Information Security Thesis series shows how to generate a visual representation of a dataset and use visualisation in the evaluation of known security vulnerabilities. Continue Reading

Head of Universal Credit denies IT problems

Howard Shiplee tells the work and pensions select committee all is well, denying reports of the failing IT system behind Universal Credit Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Microsoft notches up over 3,000 copyright cases

In its battle against piracy, Microsoft says it has settled 3,265 copyright cases in the past year and warns of links to malware distribution Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Will cloud services follow the evolution of the banking industry?

Cloud service providers say security will become the very reason companies choose cloud services in future Continue Reading

Post Office Horizon system investigation reveals concerns

Investigation into the allegedly faulty accounting system used by sub-postmasters has revealed serious concerns Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How to monitor and improve the health of your datacentre

Any datacentre manager looking to support the business should take an end-to-end systems management approach to keep the datacentre in shape Continue Reading

By

• Clive Longbottom

UK takes cyber threats to infrastructure seriously

The UK is taking seriously potential cyber threats to critical national infrastructure, according to GCHQ head Iain Lobban Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tougher EU penalties for cyber crime not enough, say security experts

The European Parliament has adopted a draft directive to toughen up EU penalties for cyber crime, but security experts say this is not enough on its own Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Prism unlikely to change much

Does the data collected by Prism put the US Government at risk from other state or non-state sponsored activists? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

UK joins EU demands for Google to rewrite privacy policy

The UK’s privacy watchdog has joined data protection authorities in France, Spain, Germany and Italy in demanding changes to Google’s privacy policy Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NSA Prism scandal could hit US cloud providers, says EC vice-president

EC vice-president Neelie Kroes says US cloud services providers could lose business because of fears over US Prism surveillance programme Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

From chess to ping pong: How Pegasystems is capturing the Fortune 500

Pegasystems is winning business from the world's leading companies as business process management technology enters the mainstream Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Azure powers Eurozone network to combat counterfeit drugs

Microsoft Azure will be used to power a cloud platform designment to combat counterfeit pharmaceutical product in the EU Continue Reading

DCMS to force BT’s hand on rural broadband gaps

Maria Miller sets up a meeting to answer calls from local broadband providers and try to make BT identify where they will be needed to connect the final 10% of the UK to superfast fibre Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget