IT services and outsourcing

Liverpool council to end BT IT joint venture

Liverpool City Council is to cancel a £70m-a-year IT joint venture deal with BT and bring services back in-house Continue Reading

Case study: Virtualised storage adds value to Denmark's tunnel vision

State construction firm Femern selects DataCore system to help speed up Fehmarnbelt undersea odyssey and keep the sharks at bay Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Atos to distance itself from controversial DWP contract

Atos is trying to exit its disability testing contract with the Department for Work and Pensions early as the controversial contract enters its final 18 months Continue Reading

Banking with dinosaurs – the legacy IT crisis in financial services

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the recent IT problems at high-street banks, and find out how outsourcing led to the loss of vital legacy IT skills. We ask what role wearable technology could have in enterprise IT. We take an in-depth look at the tools for using Microsoft Azure for building hybrid clouds. And we analyse the storage infrastructure challenges from introducing desktop virtualisation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Executive interview: Microsoft targets the non-professional developers

The developer community is changing. There are far more people programming now, says Microsoft's Tim O'Brien Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Indian public cloud spend grows faster than rest of world

Organizations in India will increase their spending of public cloud services by almost 30% in 2014 and is predicted to be worth $1.3bn by 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Techtarget India contributor

Diageo selects TCS for global services

Drinks maker Diageo has chosen Indian IT services firm TCS to support its IT infrastructure transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Gloucestershire County Council replaces Capita with Steria to transform IT delivery

Gloucestershire County Council has signed a five-year ICT managed service deal with Steria to support a major change to IT delivery Continue Reading

Indian suppliers face recruitment challenges as visa rejections increase

US clampdowns on Indian IT firms bringing staff to its shores is forcing Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to increase local hires Continue Reading

The UK’s problem with power

Datacentre power buyers say Britain’s deregulated energy market is as complex as trading in derivatives Continue Reading

By

• Nick Booth

Swapping notepads for iPads – creating a digital police force

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the new digital strategy at the Metropolitan Police, as the UK’s largest police force puts technology at the heart of crime fighting. IBM is spending $1.2bn developing cloud datacentres – we assess the plans and ask if the IT giant can catch up the cloud market leaders. And we find out from experts how Edwards Snowden’s NSA web surveillance revelations are affecting corporate IT security strategies. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

BBC starts search for suppliers to replace £2bn Atos outsourcing deal

The BBC is moving away from its single-supplier outsourcing deal to a multi-sourced 'tower' approach for its technology services Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Schneider accreditation aims to boost green datacentre skills

Datacentre supplier offers free vendor-neutral courses and certification through its online Energy University Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Why IT outsourcing is increasingly blamed for IT failures at banks

Are the IT problems at UK banks caused by outsourcing or the use of decades-old mainframe technology – or is it a combination of the two? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Amazon nets lion’s share of $10bn public cloud market

AWS continues its unassailable domination of the sector, despite recent moves by Google, IBM and Microsoft Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

The BBC DMI project - what went wrong?

The BBC and its former CTO have engaged in tit-for-tat allegations over its failed £100m digital media project. But who was right? Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

WIll open source save the datacentre industry?

IT rivals stand cheek-by-jowl to praise Facebook’s Open Compute Project, but is the love-in a Damascene conversion or just damage limitation? Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

BBC CTO John Linwood defends role in failed £100m digital project

Former BBC CTO John Linwood defends his role in the failed £100m DMI project, citing changing business requirements as a key factor Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Microsoft joins Open Compute Project

Redmond giant makes server specs public in bid to influence future datacentre design Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Barclays job cuts to hit IT VPs

Barclays is planning to cut hundreds of jobs in its UK investment banking operation with more jobs expected to go overseas Continue Reading

UK government courts Brazilian technology companies

The British Consulate in São Paulo has launched a competition to help 10 Brazilian technology firms generate business in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

BBC failed to get "sufficient grip” over failed DMI project, says NAO

The National Audit Office has slammed the BBC over its failed Digital Media Initiative (DMI), project saying the broadcaster was “too optimistic” and the BBC executive “did not have sufficient grip of the programme" Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

DWP refuses to release value for money reports on Universal Credit IT suppliers

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) refuses to publish details about Universal Credit IT suppliers' performance Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

HB Fuller sticks with HR in the cloud

Cloud based HR system gives adhesives maker the ability to manage its global workforce Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK cloud computing priorities 2014

Research from Computer Weekly and TechTarget shows UK businesses are the most committed to cloud in Europe Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

IBM to open London datacentre as part of $1.2bn global cloud push

New facility first in UK to be based on IBM SoftLayer cloud architecture Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Top IT priorities for 2014 in Europe

Exclusive Computer Weekly research showing how IT decision makers are spending their 2014 budgets. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

HCL and CSC partner to modernise applications

Indian IT services firm HCL and US competitor CSC are working together to win business in the application modernisation and cloud migration segments of the application outsourcing sector Continue Reading

The IT risks facing Universal Credit

Despite Iain Duncan Smith's robust defence of his flagship welfare reform policy, Universal Credit, evidence to the contrary continues to mount Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Post Office seeks contractors for network and back-office work

The Post Office is looking for IT services firms to provide back-office IT applications and networking technologies in contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Big Data and Content Analytics: measuring the ROI

There is a high expectation for the potential value of big data analytics early adopters are achieving good results that are helping to drive decision making in the business, this survey of 340 technology professionals reveals. Continue Reading

What is being said about you on social media?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the sentiment analysis technologies that can help businesses understand what’s being said about them on social media and how best to react. We find out about the development of next-generation Wi-Fi and how it can help improve mobile working. And our supplier profile of Amazon Web Services looks at the challenges and opportunities for the cloud market leader. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

DWP already struggling to recruit digital skills for Universal Credit IT development

DWP is already struggling to recruit IT staff with the digital skills it needs – not just for Universal Credit but also other IT projects Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

CW Europe – Jan 2014 edition

Analysts have predicted that 2014 will see the creation of “executives with no idea about IT sourcing” due to the many changes that digitisation will bring to IT outsourcing. In this issue CW Europe’s outsourcing editor looks at how digitisation and consumerisation are changing the IT department. Continue Reading

Universal Credit faces IT skills shortage risk after GDS withdrawal

The withdrawal of the Government Digital Service (GDS) from work on Universal Credit is one of the major risks for the troubled project over the next 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

DWP to spend further £90m on Universal Credit IT system

Department for Work and Pensions to spend £90m enhancing heavily criticised Universal Credit IT system – much of which will be thrown away Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Accenture: get ready for the smart tech revolution

Consumers are gravitating towards wearable devices like smart watches to complement their digital lifestyle, a new study from Accenture has found Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Universal Credit IT suppliers to be left out of new digital system development

HP, Accenture, IBM and BT will have 'significantly less' involvement in the digital system developed for full roll-out of the benefits scheme Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Is cloud computing almost too good to be true for banks?

The cloud’s most obvious benefits will enable banks to keep up with technology changes while reducing costs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW500 Club in 2013

Computer Weekly's CW500 Club attracts the top IT leaders in the UK to talk to their peers about the topical challenges they face Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

UK citizen wins legal round against Facebook over Prism leaks

A British citizen has applied for a judgement against Facebook in a case that will test the right of tech firms to give UK personal data to the NSA. Continue Reading

By

• Fiona O’Cleirigh

Nvidia delivers GPU grid to power Citrix virtual workstations

Nvidia has released vGPU grid technology for Citrix XenDeskop and Xenserver to support remote, hardware accelerated graphics processing. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

DWP writes off £40m on Universal Credit but insists the IT is working

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is scrapping £40.1m of IT work on Universal Credit, and a further £91m will be written off over five years Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Realising the benefits of a totally connected world

The internet of things will transform everyday life, from managing airports’ passenger flow to heating buildings and caring for the elderly. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Chancellor George Osborne announces datacentre carbon tax break in Autumn Statement

George Osborne exempts datacentre operators from blanket carbon taxes in exchange for climate change agreements Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

Government Digital Service no longer involved with Universal Credit IT development

The Government Digital Service ends direct involvement in the development of the “enhanced IT” for the Universal Credit sheme Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Can Europe give the world cloud coverage?

This month’s issue of CW Europe investigates how Europe could become the “trusted cloud region” according to the European Commission (EC) after the Prism revelation. Read how the EC believes cloud providers in the region can turn this to their advantage by, developing cloud services that global customers would view as more secure and transparent. Continue Reading

UK citizen sues Microsoft over Prism private data leak to NSA

A court action brought in the UK will test Microsoft's legal right to disclose private data on UK citizens to US intelligence services Continue Reading

By

• Fiona O’Cleirigh

Scabal moves to the cloud for storage flexibility

Clothing manufacturer Scabal is moving its entire IT infrastructure to Interoute’s cloud for flexibie storage Continue Reading

Where is Satyam now? Well, it’s not Satyam for a start

Satyam, which was rescued from collapse in 2009, has plans for restoring its position as a top-tier Indian IT services provider Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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

IT suppliers relaxed about contract visibility

IT and BPO suppliers Atos and Capita say they are relaxed about being more open about the often obscured details of large government contracts, as outsourcing giants are put under pressure by MPs to open up to public scrutiny Continue Reading

The state of agile software development in the UK

Lately it is more surprising to hear that businesses are developing using a methodology other than agile, such is its widespread use Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Gartner: What CIOs should know about cloud‑based customer service

IT leaders and managers of customer support need to understand the limits of cloud-based CRM customer service and support software solutions, writes Michael Maoz, vice-president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. Continue Reading

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

Shell delivers global SAP upgrade

Shell has simplified and standardised business processes in its business focused on refining and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals, through a global SAP upgrade Continue Reading

Fear of cloud servers fading fast among UK firms

Research shows traditionally risk-averse UK firms are being persuaded by the benefits of co-location, with more than 20% of servers now outsourced Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

'Extraordinarily poor' Universal Credit project needs clear IT stategy, say MPs

MPs say the Department for Work and Pensions must set out a clear IT strategy for Universal Credit and state how much money will be written off Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Intellect relaunches as TechUK and targets 500,000 new UK IT jobs

The UK’s technology trade association, formerly known as Intellect, has relaunched as TechUK, unveiling plans to create over 500,000 jobs by 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Crown Hosting Service to save £530m from government IT bill by 2018

Government Digital Service to establish new Crown Hosting Service to consolidate hosting across Whitehall, saving £530m per year by 2018 Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

DWP ministers to decide whether to scrap all of the £300m Universal Credit IT

Ministers at the DWP are to decide this month whether to scrap all of the £300m Universal Credit IT systems and start again from scratch Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

DWP refused to release Universal Credit IT review to MPs

DWP has refused to provide MPs with a copy of a review of the IT for the troubled Universal Credit project by programme chief Howard Shiplee Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

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

Former Lord Justice of Appeal Hooper joins Post Office Horizon investigation

The Post Office's Horizon accounting IT inquiry appoints former Lord Justice of Appeal Anthony Hooper to chair mediation stage Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Study finds cloud computing the most valued enterprise IT skill

Cloud computing overtakes virtualisation, security, BI, database and project management as the most valued enterprise IT skill Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Six tips to help you negotiate the best deal with your datacentre provider

Your willingness to negotiate can make a big difference to the deal you get, says Anthony Day, associate at law firm DLA Piper Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Fulham football club address skills shortfall with cloud database

Fulham football club’s IT team moves its database infrastructure to the cloud with a database as a service implementation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HP and Diageo take different paths to cloud-based HR

HP and Diageo took very different approaches when they deployed cloud-based human resources (HR) software from Workday Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

NTT Europe saves time with Sepaton data deduplication VTL deployment

NTT Europe was sick of tape libraries “shoeshining” so went for a $2.5m deployment of Sepaton data deduplication virtual tape libraries to slash backup and restore times Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

BT signs multimillion HR technology contract with Oracle

The project, one of the largest contracts signed so far for Oracle’s Fusion technology, is strategically important both to Oracle and BT Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

High-growth companies selected for government Future Fifty programme

The first high-growth UK companies have been chosen for the government’s Future Fifty fast-track programme. Continue Reading

Spanish bank La Caixa looks to startups for innovation

La Caixa is looking for ways to innovate in an increasingly competitive environment, and is turning to startups for new and niche technologies Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Case study: Richard Branson's Virgin Management moves to IaaS platform

Virgin Management, a subsidiary of Virgin Group, has migrated its IT to a cloud-based IaaS platform for BYOD capabilities and savings Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

The UK is an attractive location for IT service providers

The UK is an attractive location for IT services and BPO suppliers as these services mature beyond being used merely as a cost-cutting tool Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

OFT launches investigation into public sector IT supply

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a formal study into the supply of IT products and services to the public sector Continue Reading

BT seeks startups for superfast broadband services

BT joins East London's TechHub encouraging startups to develop applications and services using superfast connectivity Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Home Office e-borders programme still using pilot IT system from 2004

Home Office yet to replace sacked Raytheon with new supplier for flagship programme to help protect UK borders Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

IBM interns join ShopDirect to combine gamification and Twitter analysis

Undergraduate ShopDirect interns spent the summer with IBM on a project using gamification and Twitter to engage with customers Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Make a high-performance computing and high-availability datacentre

High performance computing and high availability systems are no longer limited to engineers and scientists. But is your datacentre ready? Continue Reading

By

• Clive Longbottom

IT outsourcing no longer main recession-busting tool

Process optimisation and shared services have become a higher priority than IT outsourcing Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Charity uses cloud HR system to keep track of staff working in danger zones

It took a disaster in Haiti to demonstrate to charity World Vision why it needed better HR systems Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Cloud computing drives infrastructure upgrade at service provider

IT services company Ardenta has implemented F5 network security to upgrade its infrastructure and offer cloud services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Google to rethink resilient networking following dual failure

In spite of running a dual redundant network, Google's Gmail system has had a major failure. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How Capgemini keeps its Merlin datacentre green and energy-efficient

Capgemini's Swindon-based Merlin datacentre is one of the most energy-efficient in the world. But what makes it green? Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

How Amadeus keeps travellers moving

Computer Weekly visits the Amadeus datacentre just outside Munich, which provides mission critical IT for the travel industry. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Steve Ballmer uses final investor call to target Google

In his last investor call as CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer took the opportunity to attack Google’s business practices Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

A guide to WebRTC

Real-time communications standards aim to help more users speak with ease over the internet. Computer Weekly looks at how the systems work Continue Reading

By

• Simon Bisson

BMW gears up IT resilience with private cloud infrastructure

After testing and validating its own private cloud services, BMW's IT team is ready to use it in production Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

MPs brand NHS National Programme for IT a 'fiasco' as posthumous costs rise

The now-axed NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is still incurring significant costs following the failure of the government IT project Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

After virtualising IT estate, Jaguar Land Rover now eyes cloud computing

Jaguar Land Rover's IT team takes its newly virtualised infrastructure to the next stage of IT evolution by adopting cloud-based services Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

TSB’s reliance on Lloyds IT could impair new bank's competitiveness

New high street bank TSB might struggle to compete as a result of its reliance on the IT systems of Lloyds Banking Group, says OFT Continue Reading

£200m of Universal Credit IT could be scrapped, MPs told

£200m of IT work on the troubled Universal Credit programme could be written off, says government project management chief Norma Wood Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

£480bn of government revenue depends on "risky" legacy IT

Almost £480bn of the UK government’s revenues are dependent on legacy IT systems that “could present a very significant risk” Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Boris Johnson calls for ‘London Visa’ to attract tech experts from around the world

The mayor of London submits a plan to the Home Office proposing a “London Visa” to attract businesses to the capital. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

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

Sap and SuccessFactors Break Adoption Silos

SAP has articulated a compelling vision of the all-in-one, cloud-based HCM (Human Capital Management) solution – what it needs is a path to help traditionalists get there, says analyst group Nucleus Research. Continue Reading

Box.com forges new cloud security model

Service providers and consumers need to move to a security model better suited to the cloud computing, says Box.com Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Introducing the BIG Awards semi-finalists

Here’s a handful of the semi-finalists, who have a range of innovative tech in both the B2B and B2C space. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

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

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