IT Services

The announcement that the giant chip manufacturer Intel is buying leading security company McAfee will have made everyone with an interest in technology stop and think about the potential industry-changing consequences of taking core security down to device or even chip level. Intels headline comment that security is about to ... read more..

DataArt, a provider of outsourced software-development services, is targeting buy-side participants in the capital markets, and it has a prestigious list of customers on the sell side to underpin its marketing. Ovum sees a niche in the market for software-development service providers with more specialist knowledge than generalist service providers ... read more..

After a slow start to 2010 the second quarter of the year was the best for 12 months in terms of the number of IT services deals announced. However, concerns remain about the scale of outsourcing in the private sector where the total contract value (TCV) in the quarter slipped ... read more..

Ovum has observed what might be the start of an interesting trend in IT management (ITM) software. Traditionally, there have been IT service management (ITSM) and infrastructure management vendors, plus mega-vendors with operations in both camps. ITSM vendors have already moved into the infrastructure management space with discovery, event monitoring, ... read more..

Last week Rackspace open sourced part of its infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform in partnership with NASA. Though it is early days yet, this promising project, called OpenStack, already has the backing of 29 other companies including AMD, Intel, Dell, and Citrix.GOOD TIMING BETWEEN RACKSPACE AND NASA LEADS TO OPENSTACKAs Rackspace was ... read more..

Wireless communications infrastructure provider Arqiva has been busy stamping out its credentials in the UK smart metering space. A month ago, Arqiva announced the participation of npower in a smart meter proof of concept in Reading. The proof of concept also involves US-based smart metering communications expert Sensus, which Arqiva ... read more..

Microsoft has finally, and unsurprisingly, bowed to customer and partner pressure to make its Windows Azure platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering available outside of its own data centers via the Windows Azure Platform Appliance (WAPA). This is a good, but at present still very tentative, move in the right direction. MORE THAN AN ... read more..

Analysis of the presentations at the upcoming IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) UK Conference reveals three hot topics coming to the fore. Last years emphasis on people is continued, while the oft-neglected ITIL v3 disciplines of service design and continual service improvement get significant coverage. All three need greater exposure ... read more..

Ovum is witnessing what is hopefully the start of an interesting go-to-market trend for IT service management (ITSM) software vendors a change of product markitecture, from ITIL alignment to addressing key IT challenges in better meeting business needs and demonstrating IT-delivered value. While ITIL is still and will continue ... read more..

Canadian alternative equities trading venue Omega ATS has moved onto a newer, faster matching engine, which is the software that matches buy and sell orders in a given stock and thus is the core of any exchange or venue. This indicates that competition in Canada is still growing and demand ... read more..

Numara Software, a provider of service management and asset management solutions, is about to release the findings of its study into the state of IT funding in the UK, Germany, and France, and the consequences of the lack of IT investment during the last few years. The results of this ... read more..

With Salesforce and Apple leading the way in setting up and running successful online marketplaces, other IT vendors are scrambling to follow suit to sell complementary solutions and tools. The latest to join the crowd is Informatica, which in 3Q10 will open up a new online channel for developers, partners, ... read more..

Last week we reported on the Coalition Governments plans to introduce measures to ensure the rapid roll-out of superfast broadband across the country. We will ensure that BT and other infrastructure providers allow the use of their assets to deliver such broadband, and we will seek to introduce superfast broadband ... read more..

There is no doubt that technology will provide a major boost for businesses across the country as they begin to emerge from the recession during 2010. Research shows that firms that have harnessed the power of technology have coped much better with the downturn. In the year ahead, as ... read more..

The National Computing Centre's Daniel Dresner says it's time the standard for escrow is reanimated. There's something deeply suspicious about source code escrow. Only Schrdinger's cat knows what's in the box. OK. So perhaps that's not entirely accurate because if it's done properly you know what's been archived. But like ... read more..

Thursday, 25 March 2010 at the Trafford Centre - Management Suite Morning Workshop: 9.15am to 12.30pm Afternoon Workshop: 1.45pm to 5.00pm 'If you are drowning in a sea of emails, this course will supply a lifejacket, life-raft and even a paddle to get you to calmer waters'. Toni Bright, City of London ... read more..

With unemployment, hiring freezes and redundancy dominating the headlines, its not surprising that many business professionals will happily say goodbye to a recession-dominated 2009 and look forward to a more positive 2010. The IT sector, like many others, was unable to sidestep the impact of a global recession, experiencing a ... read more..

Information Technology has planted itself firmly at the heart of all modern businesses and has become inseparable. From the moment you wake up, until the moment you go to sleep billions of transistors, sensors, control systems, software applications and business rules shape your day. Gone are the days where a ... read more..

So long as business applications are user-friendly and do the job, users shouldnt need to care about the bits and bytes. Whether youre at the helm of your company or are a time-pressed employee trying to get your job done, the last thing you want is to be slowed down ... read more..

As the CTO of a data protection and encryption company I hear many a tale of woe as other CTOs and CEOs confess to me the stories of how various laptops within their companies have gone astray and the destruction these lost laptops have caused in their wake. With this ... read more..

Choosing the Right Reader With a wide variety of reader technologies to choose from, its important to ensure that the technology selected properly balances risk, cost, and convenience factors. Prox technology is a viable choice, especially for sites where there are existing Prox cards in use, but contactless smart cards ... read more..

As the age of austerity descends upon the UK public sector, attention is turning to shared services as a means of generating efficiency savings. Many organisations in the sector are considering joining forces to deliver services in order to reduce costs and benefit from economies of scale. Major change could ... read more..

(Article taken from Management Guidelines 331 Future of the Desktop)The desktop computing marketplace is fast-paced, with an increasing variety of options for the delivery of information both within an organisation and the wider connected community. In facilitating this information, the way in which applications are installed and accessed has become ... read more..

(Article taken from Legal Guidelines 11 Shoosmiths)There is no universally accepted definition of Cloud Computing. This is perhaps what underlies so many of the misconceptions and gaps in understanding, and what causes difficulties when it comes to communicating the benefits and risks to the various tiers of a business.Regardless ... read more..

Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) to set the standardTop technology leaders have come together to develop a Code of Conduct to help provide understanding and manage users expectations of cloud suppliers.A newly formed self-regulatory body called the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), a sub-group of FAST and Investors in Software (FAST IiS), ... read more..

Ian Kilpatrick of Wick Hill Group discusses how the latest botnet threats are evolving and offers some suggestions as to how you can protect against them.Over the last year, the incidence of botnet (or zombie) attacks has been growing rapidly. Some service providers around the world have already begun to ... read more..

A new Standard and an Accreditation scheme from the National Computing CentreFirst successful IT Departments receive their ITDA awards at the NCC Annual Conference 2009.IT departments are never short of challenges: delivering upon ever-evolving business requirements; deciding when and how to adopt new technologies; managing internal and outsourced relationships; ensuring ... read more..

AccreditUKMichael Dean looks at how the Accredit UK ICT Supplier Standard underpins NCCs IT Department Accreditation.Michael Dean looks at how the Accredit UK ICT Supplier Standard underpins NCCs IT Department Accreditation.Elsewhere in this edition of ITadviser we celebrate the first organisations to be accredited to the National Computing Centres new ... read more..

There is an urgent clash of priorities facing the UK when it comes to IT infrastructure We all understand the importance of ICT in a knowledge-based economy. The need for better, bigger, more sophisticated ICT will only continue to increase as Britain strives to compete as a world leader. ICT ... read more..

Businesses today face more data security threats than ever before.The threat landscape is constantly evolving to the point that as soon as a new security measure is put in place, that measure will likely be breached or become redundant in the face of a new threat. Security aims to stay ... read more..