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DAVID NEAL
The government launched a newdigital strategy last week, design-ed to get all UK citizens online. IT
chiefs could find themselves called onfor support, as a core element will beforging closer ties with industry.
The government will work closelywith firms to improve online security,and with the banking industry toboost online authentication. It willalso look to improve the IT skills of thenation, by setting up a low cost homePC leasing scheme for students.
Infrastructure improvements willbe coordinated by the Broadband Stake-holder Group (BSG), which includesgovernment and private sector repre-sentatives. “We’re making sure the UKexploits and benefits from connectivi-ty,” said BSG chief executive AnthonyWalker. He added that encouraging web
novices to buy broadband may provethe greatest challenge.
Walker argued that service prov-iders should focus on promoting whatbroadband can deliver, rather than itstechnical capabilities. “We have to talkabout the services and applications,such as voice over broadband, thatmean something to people,” he said.“The fact that it is ‘always on’ would bemeaningless to many people.”
John Higgins, director general atIntellect – an IT industry body that con-
tributed to the strategy – said the planis well timed. “Over the last couple ofyears the government has lost focus onits IT activities, and has suffered from alack of leadership,” he added.
Higgins said leadership by the gov-ernment and partnership with the pri-vate sector are foundations for a success-ful digital Britain. “We are getting to adifficult stage [in UK IT development]and need to succeed in implementingtechnology,” he said. “A new initiative isexactly what’s needed for renewed ener-gy and focus. There is a lot of interestfrom Intellect members, many of whomare in the ICT and content industries.”
Walker supported the calls for asharper focus, adding, “The next fewyears will be critical. Other countriesare starting to move on this same agen-da, and it is vital the UK keeps pace.”� Local government IT, p5 � MPs want stronger IT laws, p7� E-government faults, p27 � www.strategy.gov.uk
DAVE BAILEY
Microsoft has released the firstservice pack for Windows Serv-er 2003 (WS2003), to strength-
en security and potentially save ITmanagers a significant amount oftime and effort. Experts said the imp-rovements are long overdue.
The pack, made available for down-load last week, focuses on security andincludes a firewall, said Mark Tennant,UK Windows Server product marketingmanager. “There are several enhance-ments, the key one being the SecurityConfiguration Wizard,” he added.
The wizard identifies the server’srole in its current installation and thenautomatically blocks all ports and serv-ices not associated with that role.Microsoft said this reduces the pointsof possible attack against WS2003.
Gary Barnett of analyst Ovum wel-comed the release. “Anything that sim-plifies the process of securing and
managing servers has got to be a goodthing... [But] some might ask why theydidn’t do this a long time ago.”
In some ways Microsoft is catchingup with Linux, which already offers eas-ier role management, said Barnett. “Alloperating systems must bear in mindthe mortal administrator as opposed tothe ‘Jedi’ administrator,” he added.
WS2003 SP1 is also the underlyingtechnology for the 64bit editions ofWS2003 and Windows XP Professional,due to be available in late April.
The 337MB service pack can bedownloaded from the URL below.� Leader, p12 � Comment, p13 � Windows and Linux, p16� Microsoft beefs up BI, p27 � www.tinyurl.com/4malu
Government leads way to digital Britain
Pack protects Win Server 2003
VNU Business Publications £2.6004.04.05 � Vol 8 � No 13
IN THIS ISSUE
Woudhuysen: Whythe human face ofvideo conferencingis set to increaseproductivity p28
NEWSWEEKServers take Xeon chipswith 64bit extensions � Dell and Unisys are amongthe first vendors putting Intel’snew Xeon MP chips into theirmultiprocessor servers 5
ENTERPRISEWEEKAre firms getting valuefrom their CRM systems?� Can customer relationshipmanagement systems reallydeliver the information thatcompanies require to improvebusiness performance? 16
INTERNETWEEKYahoo extends desktopsearch capabilities � Yahoo’s desktop search toolis updated to reach into theYahoo Address Book and theYahoo Messenger service 17
CLIENTWEEKScreen-scraping comesto the mobile phone� NetManage’s OnWeb Mobilesystem makes it easier forcompanies to put legacy apps on mobile devices with smallscreens and limited power 21
NETWORKWEEKHow to avoid snags invoice over IP rollouts � Voice over IP systems canhave big advantages for firmsand teleworkers, but issues of capacity and reliability needto be considered 25
MANAGEMENTWEEKMicrosoft strengthensbusiness intelligence� New capabilities for the GreatPlains 8.0 suite make it easierfor companies to pull data frombusiness applications andgenerate useful reports 27
THE NEWSWEEKLY FOR THE CONNECTED ENTERPRISE
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Metrics manleads at HP� HP is likely to focus on efficiencyrather than R&D after naming NCRveteran Mark Hurd as chief executive.
Hurd presided over a multiplyingof the firm’s stock price in his twoyears as NCR boss and has beencalled “a master of the metrics” bySteve Milunovich of Merrill Lynch.
HP devotees might prefer a leadercommitted to the “HP Way” of innova-tion but Hurd is likely to highlight exe-cution. “My management style reflectsa fundamental belief in cost disciplineand focused investment,” he said.
Hurd restructured NCRand must considerspinning off or jetti-soning units at HP.� Will HP lose its Way? p12
Government will encourageinternet novices onto broadband
It will work with industry onnew services and adoption
It will accentuate services,applications and comms network
Bridging the digital divide
Hurd: Oversaw NCRrestructuring
A new wizardblocks the ports
and servicesnot used by
the installedserver roles
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ON THE COVER Government details its digital Britainstrategy, which aims to get all UK citizensonline � Microsoft’s first service pack forWindows Server 2003 to boost security � NCRveteran Mark Hurd takes the reins at HP
4 EMC unveils SAN management software � ITchiefs show growing interest in smartphones
5 Intel introduces new family of Xeon MP chips �Microsoft helps boroughs share tools � Doubtsover reliability may stall RFID uptake
6 CRM software market heats up as vendorsprepare new releases for growing hosted sector
7 MPs call for amendments that would make theComputer Misuse Act tougher � Public-sectorbodies may struggle as FoI requests rise
8 Sainsbury's moves the IT team it outsourced toAccenture back into its head office � Verizonlooks set to secure MCI deal with a $7.6bn bid
9 Disaster recovery leader SunGard is to sell outto private equity firms � AMD reveals details ofits Opteron and Athlon virtualisation technology
10Oracle buys ID management software developerOblix, securing access to the firms’ product lines
11 Sybase lawsuit to prevent publication of flawsin its software may put firms at risk � VoIPSAforms group to set VoIP security standards
15 ENTERPRISE Tests show Java apps may runslower in 64bit environments � First publicversion of MySQL open-source database isreleased � Altiris adds safety audit capabilities
17INTERNET Updated Yahoo desktop search applets users archive IM text � European domainname gets go-ahead � Macromedia offers freeupdates to web content management system
21CLIENT NetManage’s OnWeb Mobile allowsmobile access to enterprise apps � Red Hatplays host to diskless boot system � Toshibaannounces new fast-charging battery
23NETWORK Industry giants launch initiative tospeed administrator responses to internetattacks � Force10 plans datacentre switch �
WiMax may fall behind rival DSL
22 CLIENT Released last month, T-Mobile’s SDAis a compact handset based on Microsoft’sWindows Mobile for Smartphone 2003software. At 100g, the device is smaller andlighter than many rival Windows smartphones,and an add-on option is ALK’s CoPilot Livenavigation system, making it attractive formobile workers such as sales staff
16 ENTERPRISE Experts believe it is highlylikely that the next version of Microsoft’sWindows operating system will includeServices for Unix, a tool that allows Windowssystems to host Unix applications. Whilesuch a move should make it easier forenterprises to consolidate server systems, itwould also undermine the Linux and Unixmarkets, potentially putting Microsoft at oddswith antitrust authorities once more
20 INTERNET Following its $1.85bn acquisitionof Ask Jeeves, e-commerce giant IAC plansto increase the search engine’s market shareand create a powerful combination of searchcapabilities and content. However, analystsbelieve IAC will struggle to integrate AskJeeves with its other online operations,which include Ticketmaster and Expedia
COMMENTMADELINE BENNETT� Fears about identitytheft are slowing theuptake of onlineservices, and couldput paid to plans for ID cards 4
LEADERS� Windows Server security � Will HP lose its Way? 12
LETTERS� Passwords � Identity cards �IT and corporate governance 12
MARTIN BUTLER� Such is the rush toget products to mar-ket that suppliersrarely take time toconsider whether they might beused to make our lives worse13
LEM BINGLEY� There is a strongpublic-safety casefor forcing Microsoftto unbundle InternetExplorer from Windows 13
ROGER HOWORTH� Most customerrelationship man-agement tools areessentially personalinformation managementsystems on steroids, and likePIMs they offer limited value 16
DAVID NEAL� Businesses thatignore netspeak mayhave trouble gettingthrough to youngerconsumers 20
MARTIN COURTNEY� Firms consideringalternatives to Micro-soft on the desktopstill face a steep andcostly learning curve 22
BILL PECHEY� Anyone thinking ofswitching to VoIPshould thinkcarefully aboutreliability and access to theemergency services 25
JAMES WOUDHUYSEN� Facial expressionsmean the same theworld over, so videoconferencing shouldgreatly enhance globalbusiness communications 28
GUY KEWNEY� Using speech toinput data soundsfine in theory – untilyou actually listento how people talk 30
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WEEKCONTENTSTHE NEWSWEEKLY FOR THE CONNECTED ENTERPRISE PRINT � ONLINE � PDA � EBOOK
NEWS
CASE STUDIES
NEWS
ANALYSIS
REVIEWS
Sybase gaggingorder, p11
SunGardfor sale, p9
Net securityalliance, p23
Red Hat hostsLan-PC 3, p21
Microsoft beefsup BI tools, p27
This week on itweek.co.uk � HP’s iPaq H6340 reviewed � www.itweek.co.uk/products/hardware/1162257� Securezip Server tested � www.itweek.co.uk/products/software/1162170
IT04.04.05 � Vol 8 � No 13
28 MANAGEMENT Like many companies, F-Secure, a vendor of antivirus and intrusion-prevention tools, was struggling to managehuge amounts of data stored acrossdisparate systems. To tackle the problem, itdecided to look for an easy-to-use, flexiblereporting tool that could be rolled out acrossthe enterprise. After evaluating severaloptions, the firm chose ReportNet frombusiness intelligence tools vendor Cognos
27 MANAGEMENT Mismanagement meanspublic sector fails to maximise e-governmentROI, report says � Microsoft to enhance GreatPlains business apps suite � CA bolsters itsrange of identity management systems
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Storage giant EMC beefed up itsstorage control capabilities last
week by launching managementsoftware specifically for storagearea networks (SANs).
EMC ControlCenter SAN Advi-sor features an automated dataimport engine that allows firms todownload SAN environment datafor testing, modelling and changemanagement. Dennis Ryan of EMCsaid automating the process wouldhelp IT managers to avoid many ofthe risks of downtime associatedwith manual SAN management.
The software also incorporatesSAN design and change manage-ment functions to let firms checkthe compatibility of new devices orupdates before deployment. Auto-mated monthly updates from theEMC E-Lab Support Matrix ensurethe latest device data is available.
The tools will be available bun-dled with EMC’s existing Control-Center management suite.
Tony Lock of analyst BloorResearch said there is burgeoningdemand for such SAN manage-ment systems. He added that busi-nesses need to automate SANmanagement to help them handleever-expanding networks.
4
Internet users are being bombarded by all manner of attacks andattempts to prise them away from their hard-earned cash. Inboxesare being filled with myriad offers of medication and requests to
help out former rulers of distant nations whose money is now care-lessly trapped in bank vaults.
Once users have got rid of the spam, the next task is to catch thephishing emails. If someone is unfortunate enough to have missedthe warnings about these attacks, they could well be fooled intobelieving the scam emails purporting to be from their online bank,and visit a fake web site set up for the purpose of gathering as muchpersonal data as possible to allow phishers to drain out money.
But these fake emails shouldn’t fool too many people – especiallybecause they often come from a bank with which the individualdoes not even hold an account.
The basis of these scams is identity theft, a growing problem inthe UK. Recent figures have put the national cost of identity fraud at about £1.3bn a year. Meanwhile, the theft of a laptop from a USuniversity last month resulted in the exposure of the personal information of thousands of people.
But despite the apparent obviousness of the spam and phishingscams, people are still falling for these tricks. And more worryinglythis is not leading to a realisation among the victims that they arefools for parting with their cash too readily, either through greed or carelessness. Instead, it is fuelling fears about the dangers of e-commerce and online banking sites.
Recent research from analyst firm Forrester highlighted suchattitudes. It found that less than a third of European internet userswere confident about the security of their personal financial infor-mation when carrying out online transactions.
The growing fears are slowing the uptake of internet services.According to the study, two-fifths of users who don’t bank onlinecited security concerns as the reason.
The blame for security problems is being laid at the feet of the ITindustry, firms doing business online, and the government. It seemsonline safety is the responsibility of everyone but consumers.
There are grounds for this attitude. If organisations are going tomake their services available online, they should take steps to pro-tect transactions and prevent theft. After all, they will be the onesmaking money from the online services.
While organisations and users continue to look for a definitivesolution, the UK government is getting involved in the security busi-ness with its ID card proposals. Although this isn’t as much anattempt to protect personal data as to gain complete access to it.
If these proposals go through, individuals will probably find iteven harder to protect their personal information, as it will be storedon a central database – a tempting target for hackers and scammers.
Hopefully, the government won’t implement the proposals untilit can guarantee 100 percent security of the stored data to foster userconfidence. But since such complete protection has evaded even thefinancial services industry, with its reputation as a leader in IT securi-ty, any solution is likely to be a long time coming.➜ [email protected]
EMC softwarecontrols SANs
2005 to be yearof smartphonesIT managers are showing growinginterest in smartphones as busi-ness tools, and 2005 is expected tobe the pivotal year for enterpriseadoption, according to mobile soft-ware specialist Intuwave.
Research released last weekshowed 47 percent of enterprise ITmanagers would consider deploy-ing smartphones, up from 33 per-cent in a similar survey in 2004.
Handset costs and a limited 3Gavailability were cited as the mainbarriers. But Steve Swatmanof Intuwave said perceptionlags behind reality as 3G net-works are now rolled out.➜ T-Mobile SDA smartphone with GPS, p22
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Published by VNU Business PublicationsIT Week, VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG Tel: 020 7316 9000 Fax: 020 7316 9709 ISSN 1462-396x All rights reserved. All material © VNU Business Publications 2005.This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or inpart without the written consent of the publishers.Origination: St Ives(Roche)Ltd Printed & bound by St Ives (Roche) LtdMailed by Ailec Mailing Services Ltd, St Austell IT Week is printed on paper produced from timber from sustainable forestsPrinted in EnglandEditorial items that were originally published in the US edition of eWeekare the copyrighted property of Ziff Davis Publishing Inc. Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Publishing Inc. eWeek is a trademark of Ziff Davis Publishing Inc.
4 APRIL 2005
NEWSWEEK
IT WEEK
ITCOMMENT Madeline Bennett
Will scammers causemajor identity crisis?The success of online attackers who foolconsumers and elude banks’ securitysystems does not bode well for the UK’sproposed national identity card scheme
Companies are increasinglylikely to deploy smartphones
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5
MARTIN VEITCH AND ROGER HOWORTH
Intel has introduced a new familyof Xeon MP processors, bringingits 64bit extensions to four-way
and higher servers for the first time.The five new chips in the Xeon
MP line are aimed at mid-tier enter-prise servers and use a platformcodenamed Truland. This includesthe new E8500 chipset and supportsEM64T 64bit extensions, up to 8MBRAM caches, PCI Express I/O, DDR2memory and Demand-Based Switch-ing for ratcheting down processorspeeds to cut power consumption.
Support is also included forfuture processors with dual-coreand virtualisation capabilities.
Most buyers will select four-wayconfigurations but Intel said designswill extend to 32-way systems. Ven-dors with early products includeUnisys, which announced that itsES7000 multiprocessor server will beavailable fitted with the new chips.
“We’re seeing increased demandfor 64bit computing based on Intelprocessor architecture across Eur-ope, especially for BI [business intel-ligence] apps and large databases,”said Michael Hjalsted of Unisys.
Dell will use the new Xeon MPchips in its PowerEdge 6800 and6850 servers, priced from £2,889.The servers will be available withoptimised configurations for Oracleand SQL Server and upgraded Open-Manage management software.
Dell is also testing a new con-sulting service intended to helpfirms combat overheating in theirdatacentres, due to ultra-denseservers and other factors.
Though Intel recently said it ispushing its 64bit Itanium proces-sor as an alternative to IBM andother big-iron providers, the newXeon MP 64bit capabilities andincreased use of scale-out architec-tures are causing overlap betweenthe two processors at the high end.
Dell said it did not expect to seeany increased demand for Itaniumdespite plans for a “Montecito” dual-core version of the processor thisyear and a drive to make the deploy-ment of systems more cost-effective.
Neil Hand of Dell said, “It’s notthe growth opportunity that mighthave been asked for. Itanium isincreasingly looking at the highestpart of the high-end marketplace.That’s not what we’re looking at.”� Java apps face 64bit penalties, p15
IN BRIEFRecycling law delayed� The EU’s Waste Electronic andElectrical Equipment (WEEE) Direc-tive will not be made law in the UKthis summer as planned. Imple-mentation of the IT recycling lawhas been put back to 2006.� www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee
BT speeds up broadband� BT’s Business Broadband userswill get a boost this month as thefirm increases connection speedsby up to 400 percent to a maximumof 2Mbit/s, at no extra cost. The firmsaid the upgrades could also reducecosts and improve service levels.� www.btbroadbandoffice.com/speedchanges
Outsourcers may lack skills� Analyst Gartner predicts businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) will gen-erate $134bn of revenue in 2005 – upeight percent on last year. The ana-lyst advised firms to check that BPOproviders have enough qualified per-sonnel to meet the growing de-mands, and said some new vendorsare likely to lack certain expertise.� www.gartner.com
New open-source stack� Open-source firm SourceLabslast week released its SourceLabsAMP product, an integrated stack ofinfrastructure software. The prod-uct integrates the Apache Webserver, the MySQL database and thePHP development environment.� www.sourcelabs.com
O2 emergency service system� O2 last week announced thecompletion of the five-year rollout ofits Airwave emergency servicesradio system to all police forces inEngland, Scotland and Wales, cover-ing 99 percent of the country.� www.airwaveservice.co.uk
Finance law requires reports � The Operating and FinancialReview (OFR) passed into law lastweek, requiring UK quoted compa-nies with a financial year after 1 April to provide an analysis of cur-rent and future performance inannual reports. The first reportswill be due next year and mayrequire firms to make changes totheir IT reporting systems.
Xeon MP powers mid-tier servers
Microsoft scheme helpsboroughs to share dataMARTIN VEITCH
The first fruits of Microsoft’s pushtowards sharing apps between
public-sector peers appeared lastweek, as the London boroughs ofNewham and Kingston showed offprograms that will be available totheir counterparts across the UK.
Kingston’s e-ticketing system,developed on Microsoft CommerceServer, will be made availablethrough the Local Authority OpenApplication Sharing Portal that hasnow gone live on Newham’s site.The portal is part of Mic-rosoft’s global effort, theSolution Sharing Network,to promote the exchangeof information and toolsamong public bodies.
Funded by the Office ofthe Deputy Prime Minister,the My Kingston ticketingprogram is a transactionalsite for access to local ev-ents. The Basingstoke and
Deane local authority will adoptthe solution and it is envisaged thatothers will follow, supplementingthe program with new capabilities.
Kingston IT manager RobinPrince said the scheme would helpboroughs hit their target of puttingall public services online by the endof 2005 and achieve savings man-dated by the Office of GovernmentCommerce. “If more boroughs dothis it helps us in sharing skills andexpertise,” he added.
Newham head of ICT RichardSteel was recently made Public Sec-
tor CIO of the Year, follow-ing last year’s decision toadopt Microsoft instead ofopen-source software.
Oracle last week said abig NHS initiative has gonelive with Oracle Financialsproviding 47 organisationswith shared financial serv-ice capabilities. The num-ber is due to grow to 250.� Report finds e-government faults, p27
4 APRIL 2005
NEWSWEEK
IT WEEK
IT
Doubts delayRFID rolloutsAdoption of radio frequency identi-fication (RFID) wireless tags is indanger of stalling, due to increas-ing doubts over reliability and fearsof rising costs.
According to a report due thismonth, RFID – Seen the Pilots, NowWhat?, from AMR Research, mostfirms have no imminent plans toinvest in RFID technology.
AMR Research surveyed man-agers from 150 firms at two RFIDconferences. Though over 60 per-cent had attended three or moreRFID events, only eight percent hada strategy to deploy the technology.
Reliability is a barrier for adop-tion, according to Nigel Montgo-mery, director of European researchat AMR. “Up to now it has taken a lotof effort to get 100 percent readrates, which has increased costs.”
But David Sommer at IT tradeorganisation Comptia argued thatbusinesses could incur even greatercosts in the long run if they delaypilot testing, and are then forced tohurry deployments under pressurefrom their trading partners.
Intel’s Truland platform
Xeon MP supports four-wayto 32-way configurations
PCI Express I/0 and fasterfront-side bus
DDR2 memory and up to8MB of cache
Demand-Based Switchingpower-down capability
The Kingston appwill be availableto other boroughs
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NEWSWEEK
CRM hosts extend their range4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
MARTIN VEITCH
The strongly contested marketfor customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) software
is heating up as leading vendorsprepare new releases for the grow-ing hosted sector.
UK business software giantSage will next month launch abeta-test version of its hosted serv-ice, called SageCRM.com, and plansa commercial service to be avail-able from late this year.
The firm said that althoughsome prospective customers areinterested in online applications forfast deployment and to keep downcapital expenditure, it expects mostdemand from companies with ab-out 20 user accounts.
“There’s an opportunity to getCRM out to more customers but westill believe that to get the most outof a CRM system there has to be fur-ther investment,” said Gerry Carr,Sage CRM marketing manager.
Over the next few months, Sagealso plans to release a series of freeintegration tools connecting its
CRM and accounting softwarelines. The firm will also change thename of its US subsidiary BestSoftware to Sage after settling a dis-pute over rights to the name.
Siebel last week said it is forgingmore links between its hosted con-tact centre and CRM service offer-ings. The firm said it would buildon last year’s acquisition of InetoServices by providing support forvoice over IP (VoIP). This will meancalls can be routed from Siebel Con-tact OnDemand to call centre staffworking from home on VoIP links.
The new capabilities will beavailable as part of Siebel CRMOnDemand Release 7, which isavailable now in North America. A
UK service is likely to follow short-ly. The release will also include newanalytics capabilities for reportingon call centre performance.
In hosted software, both Siebeland Sage will be up against themarketing might of Salesforce-.com, the best-known name inonline applications.
In July, Salesforce plans to postits Summer 2005 release thatincludes Multiforce, an environ-ment that will allow users to jumpbetween Salesforce and other host-ed applications.
“You can have multiple appli-cations presented to you with onelook and feel from one environ-ment,” said Tim Knight, Salesforceproduct marketing director.
IBM has discussed similar plansfor hosted software.
NetSuite, another hosted appli-cations company, last month rel-eased NetFlex, a rival customisat-ion and application developmentplatform based on web servicesthat it said would not require appli-cations to be hosted.� CRM suffers from a PIMs hangover, p16
6
IT WEEK
Hosted CRM options grow
Starts beta-testing a hostedCRM service next month
Now forging better linksbetween its hosted offerings
Will allow users to switchbetween hosted applications
IN BRIEF
NetIQ offloads WebTrends� Systems and security manage-ment specialist NetIQ has agreedto sell its web analytics softwaresubsidiary WebTrends to privateequity fund Francisco Partners.Nick Sharp, vice-president at Web-Trends in Europe, said the deal,which is due to close before July,would allow both vendors to focuson their core markets. Sharpadded that WebTrends plans tocontinue its drive to offer moreconsultancy services around itshosted and licensed software,which helps companies to measureand optimise web activities.� www.webtrends.com
E-crime details released� The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit(NHTCU) will release research onthe impact of computer crime onbusiness at tomorrow’s e-CrimeCongress in London. Among thespeakers at the event will beeBay's chief security officer andformer White House cyber securityadviser, Howard Schmidt.� www.e-crimecongress.org
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7NEWSWEEK4 APRIL 2005
IT WEEK
MPs make the casefor tougher IT lawsDAVID NEAL
MPs will this week call for astrengthening of the Comput-
er Misuse Act (CMA) after criticismthat the law is too weak to copewith the latest threats. However,security experts said even the newproposals do not go far enough todeter computer crime.
The All Party Internet Group(Apig), a government technologywatchdog, believes penalties foroffences under the current law arenot strong enough. But DerekWyatt, head of Apig, willhave just 10 minutes tomake his case for changeswhen he addresses Parlia-ment on Tuesday.
Apig’s proposals inc-lude the addition of a spe-cific “denial of serviceattack” offence, and anincrease to the penalty forhacking offences from sixmonths to two years.
“This new bill will strengthenthe arm of law enforcement agen-cies to deal with those who mali-ciously attack networks,” comment-ed Richard Allen, Apig vice-presi-dent. “This reform is necessary ifwe are to treat [attacks] with theseriousness they deserve.”
According to Wyatt, Apig’sefforts to amend the law have beenundertaken in the hope that thegovernment will liaise with it afterthe general election.
However, some experts arguedthat the proposed amendments are
still insufficient. In a state-ment, Alan Lawson of ana-lyst firm Butler Group said,“These recommendationsare simply too light. [They]are not strong enough toprevent any significant ille-gal activity, as hardenedcriminals would continueto ignore this legislation.”� www.tinyurl.com/5po8p� www.tinyurl.com/1x2m
Bodies leaveInfo Act gaps Many bodies appear to be copingwell with requests under the Free-dom of Information (FoI) Act,according to new research. Howev-er, a lack of reporting systemscould mean problems in future ifthe number of requests increases.
In a survey of 66 NHS organisa-tions, carried out by web site Free-domofinformation.co.uk and ITfirm Harlequin Solutions, mostsaid they were able to deal withinformation requests within the20-working-day limit set by the act.
But just over half do not have adedicated reporting system fortracking FoI requests – a worryingstatistic, according to John Ashtonof Freedomofinformation.co.uk.And only eight organisations saidthey had a document managementsystem in place to manage theirpublication schemes.
Ashton predicted that the num-ber of information requests wouldincrease steadily as people get usedto using the new law, which cameinto force at the start of this year.� Report finds e-government faults, p27
SECURITY WATCHApple OS X patches� Apple has released a cumulativesecurity update for Mac OS X desktopand server versions 10.3.8 and earli-er. The update fixes buffer overflowsand a local privilege escalation.� www.tinyurl.com/3vj8q
Mozilla suite .gif flaw� The common library used to ren-der .gif images in the Mozilla brows-er before version 1.7.6, the Firefoxbrowser before 1.0.2 and the Thun-derbird email client before 1.0.2 con-tains a heap-based overflow. Usersare advised to upgrade all threecomponents via the following URL.� www.tinyurl.com/7ynbd
Telnet client vulnerability� The Sans Internet Storm Centerhas advised those using Telnet ontheir networks to disable all Telnetdaemons and use SSH instead,after two similar flaws affectingTelnet clients were discovered thatcause buffer overflows. FreeBSD,Linux variants, Solaris and Mac OSX versions of the client are affected.� www.tinyurl.com/4gux5
Wyatt: Calling forstiffer penaltiesfor online attacks
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Sainsbury’s regains IT4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
JAMES MURRAY
Sainsbury’s has revealed plansto move its Accenture-con-trolled IT team back into its
London headquarters. But expertswarned there is a danger that suchreversals in IT outsourcing dealscould be counter-productive.
The supermarket outsourced itsIT unit to consulting and servicesfirm Accenture in 2000, and Accen-ture will continue to run the unit.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’ssaid the relocation was motivatedby a desire to improve efficiencyand cut costs after Sainsbury’s freedroom at its headquarters following
redundancies. “It will be more effi-cient to have the Accenture staff inthe same building as the peoplethey are serving,” she said.
She added that this was not acase of Sainsbury’s taking the ITteam back under its control, insist-ing the firm remained committedto its contract with Accenture.
Douglas Hayward of analystfirm Ovum said the move would getsenior IT staff closer to the heart ofthe business. “The main problemSainsbury’s has had over the lastfew years is that IT and businesstransformation got out of sync.”
But some experts suggested thedecision looks like a first steptowards Sainsbury’s reclaimingcontrol of the division. MarianneKolding of research firm IDC said,“[The move] seems very counterin-tuitive. Unless Sainsbury’s is pre-paring to insource the team.”
Sainsbury’s is currently rene-gotiating its business transforma-tion contract with Accenture, afterwriting off £260m last October forcosts associated with flawed sup-ply chain systems.
8
IT WEEK
IN BRIEF
Microsoft bows to EC� Microsoft and the European Com-mission (EC) have finally agreed ona new name for a stripped-downversion of Windows software. Theproduct will be called Windows XPHome Edition N, as suggested bythe EC. Microsoft was fined €497m(£342m) last year by the EC andordered to issue a European versionof Windows that does not bundle inWindows Media Player.� www.microsoft.com
StormShield guards networks� SkyRecon announced last weekthat its StormShield behaviouralsecurity system is now available inthe UK. The Windows-only packageoperates at the kernel level and hasan enterprise-grade architecturewith clustering and load-balancingcapabilities, the firm said. It can beadministered centrally to protectsystems, applications and the net-work. The server runs on Windows2000 Server and Server 2003, andthe client and the admin consolerun on Windows 2000 SP4 and XP.� www.tinyurl.com/6wc7u
Verizon set topurchase MCITelecoms carrier Verizon seems tohave landed the winning blow in itsbattle to gain control of MCI, with anew bid of approximately $7.6bn.
Subject to the usual approvals,the Verizon deal will build a large,financially stable company thatcould push deeper into the UK andEurope where MCI already has a sig-nificant presence. Also, followingon from other huge telecoms merg-er agreements, the deal could leadto more stable pricing generally.
Experts said that rival Qwest,which challenged an original ag-reement between Verizon and MCIin February, is now likely to dropout of the bidding.
Some analysts applauded thelikelihood of a Verizon victory.
“Verizon is in much better fin-ancial and operational shape totake on a company of MCI’s sizeand do what needs to be done toturn it around without sinkingitself in the process,” wrote Ovumanalyst Jan Dawson in a researchnote. “Qwest-MCI would have beena disaster,” he added.
Sainsbury’s to insource?
� Sainsbury's has moved the ITteam it outsourced to Accentureback into its headquarters.
� Sainsbury's said the team willstill be run by Accenture, butthe move will improve commu-nications and cut costs.
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IT WEEK
SunGard to sell outMARTIN VEITCH
Disaster recovery leader Sun-Gard Data Systems is to sellout to private equity groups
in a deal worth about $11.3bn. Thecompany said the move will make ita more nimble competitor.
SunGard, which protects manyblue-chip financial services firms,will become the property of sixgroups, including Bain Capital andGoldman Sachs. The agreementmeans that SunGard will no longerspin off its Availability Services unitas previously planned and willrelinquish its public company status.
Though some industry watch-ers have argued that equity groupswould be more interested in gener-ating profits than investing, Sun-Gard said it would not be relegatedto cash-cow status.
“Our investors are focused on thetechnology sector and take a long-term view of investing and growingthe business,” said chief executiveCristóbal Conde. “When you run apublic company you are always hav-ing to make trade-offs. As a private
company we will be able to favourlong-term investment.”
Analysts said more leveragedbuyouts could follow in the IT sector.But some doubted whether this dealwould prevent the eventual spin-offof the Availability Services businesscontinuity unit.
In a research note, Samad Mas-ood of analyst Ovum wrote, “As apublic company the separation [ofthe Availability Services business]would have been to aid investor vis-ibility into the separate underlyingbusinesses. Now that this is nolonger the case SunGard’s new own-ers have the freedom to do with itas they please.” Masood predictedthis “easily packaged” businesswould be sold after the deal goesthrough, expected to be in thethird quarter of this year.
IN BRIEF
Service keeps email safe� Email security and managementspecialist MessageLabs haslaunched its Boundary Encryptionservice, supporting private commu-nication between mail servers atdifferent companies. The serviceoffers a secure private email net-work so firms can communicatewith selected partners using SMTPover transport layer encryption. Themanaged service means firms donot need to run desktop encryptiontools, according to MessageLabs.� www.messagelabs.com
Juniper eyes VoIP specialist� Network and security specialistJuniper Networks last week sig-nalled a move into the voice over IP(VoIP) market by announcing a dealto acquire Kagoor Networks. Theacquisition will give Juniper accessto Kagoor’s Session Border Control(SBC) technology. Used by about 100carriers worldwide, this technologyenables network operators todeploy cost-effective VoIP and otherrich media services, said the firm.� VoIP telephony, p25 � www.juniper.net
Virtualisationvia AMD chipsAMD has disclosed the first detailsof the virtualisation technology itwill add to its Opteron and Athlon64 chips, which it said will enhancesoftware-based virtualisation toolswith dedicated hardware support.
The technology, codenamed Paci-fica, will appear in AMD 64bit chipsin the first half of 2006. It will featureenhancements in both the processorcore and the on-chip memory con-troller to support virtual machineoperation. A full specification is duelater this month.
Virtualisation enables a comput-er to operate virtual machines thathave their own separate memoryspaces and may be running a differ-ent operating system from the host.This gives firms greater flexibility indeploying applications, as virtualmachines can easily be moved fromone host system to another.
Intel is also putting virtualisa-tion support into its processors,and expects to ship a desktop chipwith its technology, codenamedVanderpool, later this year.� www.amd.com/enterprise
Conde: “As a privatecompany we willbe able to favour long-terminvestment”
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Oracle buys into ID management4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
MARTIN VEITCH
Oracle has acquired identitymanagement software devel-oper Oblix in a move that
will help secure access across theenterprise giant’s burgeoning soft-ware lines. The purchase is part ofa wave of recent merger activity inthe access and identity sector.
Oblix specialises in single sign-on, identity management and userprovisioning. Oracle intends to con-tinue offering Oblix products in-cluding CoreID, ShareID, and CoreSVas standalone packages but will alsofold Oblix features into a broaderidentity infrastructure product.
In a statement, Oblix chief exec-utive Gordon Eubanks said thecombination will provide IT buyerswith “an unprecedented ability tobuild identity into their softwareinfrastructure and applications”.
Experts agreed the deal wouldallow Oracle to provide more secureaccess and help firms comply withregulations. Steve Craggs, vice-chair-man of the Integration Consortiumuser forum, commented, “Everyone
is concerned about identity man-agement, not just because of fraudbut also because of legislation suchas the US Patriot Act.”
The Oblix deal cements Ora-cle’s position as leader in the cur-rent IT merger and acquisitionrush, following its recent agree-ment to acquire retail softwaredeveloper Retek and the comple-tion of its mega-deal to buy rivalapplications provider PeopleSoft.
The acquisition of PeopleSoftcould make Oracle well placed tomeet growing demands for identi-ty management systems. RobertaWitty of analyst Gartner said, “The
HR application is the starting pointfor identity and access manage-ment for internal staff.”
Other industry watchers notedthat the Oblix deal plugs a hole asOracle’s acquisition-based growthhas forced a heterogeneous ap-proach to security.
Firms specialising in identitymanagement tools have been muchin demand by broader IT suppliersrecently as analysts predict steeplygrowing sales. Radicati Group lastyear forecast that the value of thesector would grow from $738m in2004 to $10.2bn by 2008.
Last year, Computer Associatesspent $430m on Netegrity. The soft-ware firm bolstered its portfolioagain last week by acquiring eTrustCleanup, a mainframe identity andaccess management system, fromsecurity company InfoSec. Also lastyear, HP bought TruLogica.
The activity could encourageMicrosoft to strengthen its handbeyond the current Identity Inte-gration Server, and force middle-ware giant BEA to make a move.� CA acquires identity access tools, p27
10
IT WEEK
12-13 APRILMicrosoft Technical RoadshowEdinburgh then rest of UK� www.tinyurl.com/45rwf
12-13 APRILComputer Trade ShowNEC, Birmingham� www.ctshow.co.uk
17-20 APRILSiebel User WeekBarcelona� www.siebeluserweek.com/europe
18-19 APRILGartner Wireless andMobile Summit Royal Lancaster Hotel, London� www.tinyurl.com/6kt6e
20-21 APRILWireless LAN EventOlympia, London� www.wlanevent.com
24-27 APRILWinHECSeattle� www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec
DIARY DATES www.itweek.co.uk/diary
Oracle’s recent shopping spree
Collaxa purchased for process management
PeopleSoft merger to gainscale to challenge SAP
Retek purchase to aimat the retail sector
Oblix acquisition to bolsteridentity management
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IT WEEK
25-26 APRILGartner Outsourcing & ITServices Summit Royal Lancaster Hotel,London� www.tinyurl.com/6sje4
26-28 APRILInfosecurity EuropeGrand Hall, Olympia,London� www.infosec.co.uk
26-28 APRILHelpdesk & IT ShowOlympia, London� www.helpdeskshow.com
26-28 APRILSAP SapphireCopenhagen� www.tinyurl.com/5bnp3
26-28 APRILMETAmorphosis EuropeBarcelona� www.tinyurl.com/4po6g
1-6 MAYNetWorld+InteropLas Vegas� www.interop.com
Sybase gagging ordermay put firms at riskDENNIS FISHER
Recent legal moves by Sybase toprevent publication of details
of flaws in one its products couldmake firms more vulnerable toattack in the future, security ex-perts warned last week.
The legal developments camelast month as Next Generation Sec-urity Software (NGS) was preparingto publish the technical details ofvulnerabilities in Sybase’s AdaptiveServer Enterprise product.
NGS notified Sybase of the issuesand the software vendor releasedpatches for the flaws three monthsago. However, Sybase sent a letternotifying NGS that it would be in vio-lation of Sybase’s end-user licenceagreement if it published furtherinformation about the flaws.
Mark Litchfield, a co-founder ofNGS, said he was shocked by theresponse. He added, “In eight yearswe have never had a response likethis. The typical response [from
vendors] is favourable.” The legalmanoeuvring could hurt users andvendors by stopping the distributionof critical security information or byforcing researchers to publish advi-sories and code anonymously toavoid prosecution. If Sybase’s legalaction is successful, other vendorscould well follow suit.
Thor Larholm, senior securityresearcher at Windows securityspecialist PivX Solutions, said themove has serious implications forsystem security. “The only thingthat will happen is that all of usgood guys won’t want to notify thevendor,” Larholm added.� www.ngssoftware.com � www.pivx.com� www.eweek.com
Group aims tosecure VoIPThe Voice over IP Security Alliance(VoIPSA) has formed a workinggroup to set security standards fornew VoIP products.
The Security Requirements com-mittee is one of five groups set upby the alliance to initiate new stan-dards. Other committees will coverissues of research, testing, bestpractice and education.
VoIPSA is an open group ofcompanies established last monthto address security for VoIP tech-nology. Some 50 companies havesigned up, including MCI, Pricewa-terhouseCoopers and Samsung.
The organisation said its short-term projects to develop a threattaxonomy and define securityrequirements would feed into thenewly-formed committees.
It has also announced the elec-tion of its first board, with DavidEndler of 3Com’s network securityunit, Tipping Point, as chairman.
BorderWare will chair the Secu-rity Requirements committee.� Approach VoIP with caution, p25� www.voipsa.org ©
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Larholm: “The onlything that will happenis all of us good guys
will not want to notifythe vendor [of flaws]”
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Microsoft’s release of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack1 (SP1) late last week will come as welcome news to ITmanagers, many of whom will have burnt much mid-
night oil trying to ensure that infrastructure is as safe as possi-ble from outside attack. The question that many will want toask Microsoft is: “What took you so long?”
SP1 tightens security with a Configuration Wizard that looksat the precise role of each server and blocks off all unnecessaryservices and ports. After SP1 has installed, it also blocks inboundconnections to the server until Windows Update has put inplace the latest security patches. Italso includes the updated Win-dows Firewall introduced in Win-dows XP SP2 last year.
But many business customersmust be asking why Microsoft didnot include such features in Win-dows Server 2003 right from thestart. Many of the security weak-nesses of Windows must have been apparent even before therelease of the platform two years ago.
Firms can draw some comfort from the fact that Microsofthas now moved to address the security implications of its soft-ware’s versatility, even if it is long overdue. But the reassurancemay be short-lived. Given that Windows XP SP2 needed addi-tional security updates just weeks after its release, IT man-agers will be wondering whether the latest security measureswill come up to scratch.
In his first media conference call since accepting the postof HP chief executive last week, Mark Hurd could say littleconcrete but it was pretty clear that his focus will be on
bringing hard-nosed efficiency to the company.Aside from a passing reference to HP’s “proud history of
innovation”, Hurd said little to reassure those who fear hisreign will end the HP Way, the fabled ethos of heavy spendingon innovation that made the firm a Silicon Valley legend.
Compared to the superstar status enjoyed by many high-tech CEOs, Hurd is an unknown quantity, but in his CV, inter-views and writings, he shows every sign of being a driver forefficiency rather than a Next Big Thing visionary.
His references to cost disciplines and execution suggestthat some old cobwebs will be blown away – and HP has plen-ty of them to lose. Its PC operation remains vast but con-tributes little to the bottom line; and the server business lacksdirection and operational excellence. At the same time, manyfeel HP’s industry-leading imaging and printing businesscould benefit from operating in isolation.
Hurd will doubtless spend a few months assessing hisinheritance before making strategic changes, but the likeli-hood is that the practice of ploughing cash into R&D will becurbed in favour of industry standards and leaner operations.
Better late than never
Will HP lose its Way?
How to play safewith passwords� It is no longer feasible to have justfour passwords, as IT body Comptiasuggests (Users need many passwords,28 February; Letters, 14 March). Instead,I use a PDA to store account detailsand passwords in a strongly encrypt-ed file, or “password safe”.
I could have used my PC or aJava-enabled mobile phone, but thePDA is never connected to the inter-net and so offers added protection.The safe itself cannot prevent pass-word theft – keystroke loggers canstill observe passwords as they aretyped into a web browser.
Rather, an increase in the popu-larity of password safes would allowweb sites to support better authen-tication in the future.
My hope is that banks willacknowledge the potential of pass-word safes to reduce fraud.
There is a clear win for any bankthat provides its expertise to anopen source project, to improve thedesign and popularity of a passwordsafe application.James Soutter
Cards raise riskof identity theft� While the government’s identitycard project has suffered a setback(Lords block ID card proposals, 28 March),I’ve yet to learn why a physical IDcard is actually necessary.
In the case of an identity check itis possible to submit a biometric sig-nature to a national database to seeif it matches the claimed name. If,on the other hand, the police orother agencies intend to confirmidentity by the possession of a card,then why bother with the biomet-ric data? The card will be expensiveand seems completely unnecessary.
Moreover, holding lots of otherpersonal data on the card seems anopen invitation to identity theft, nomatter how good the governmentthinks the security will be.Reginald Brown
IT staff must holdgovernance reins� Having read Martin Banks’ col-umn (Governance rules strengthen ITchiefs, 21 March), I felt compelled toshare my experience of the oppor-tunities and threats presented bygovernance laws.
The biggest threat is when com-pliance and risk management solu-tions are bought by disparate areasof the business. This places a hugeburden on the IT department,which must cope with conflictingdemands, piecemeal implementa-tions and a lack of control.
The opportunities outlined inBanks’ piece are there for the tak-ing. By actively championing acoherent strategy for compliancemanagement, the IT professionalwill enjoy the recognition that heor she deserves – both in and out ofthe boardroom.Martin James, OpenPages
Regulations posestorage challenge� Extending the deadline for Sar-banes-Oxley (SOX) Act compliance bya year may indeed provide welcomebreathing space (SOX compliancebrings rewards, 21 March), but shouldnot disguise a broader issue.
SOX is merely the tip of the ice-berg. From the Data Protection Actto the FSA, Money Laundering Reg-ulations to the Patent Office, thereare many regulatory bodies rulingon how UK companies should con-duct business. Finding the right dataarchiving solution is a minefield.
The answer is for vendors andchannel partners to work moreclosely with IT chiefs to understandthe implications of regulations. Theright solution may indeed bringadditional benefits to the business.But get it wrong and an expensiveinvestment may achieve only partialcompliance and damage the effi-ciency of the business. A self-inflict-ed ‘double whammy’.Paul Hickingbotham, Hammer
“Microsoft is finallyaddressing the security implicationsof its software’s versatility”
We welcome your viewsYou can contribute to IT Week’s letters page debate instantly.Simply add your comments online via our Letters blog: www.itweek.co.uk/lettersor email: [email protected]
LEADERS&LETTERSWEEK4 APRIL 2005
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13
Who holds IT vendors to account? As internet difficulties grow, it is unclear whether the private sector is the solution or the problem
Martin Butler
Unsafe at any speedRegulators should look again at the bundling of IE with Windows – on the grounds of public safety
Lem Bingley
It takes only a quick trawlthrough the technology-relatednews sites to realise we are all
in serious trouble. Securitybreaches, phishing scams, out-of-control spam, peer-to-peer copy-right infringements, identitytheft – the list is endless.
Technology that was meant tomake our lives simple is creating aworld of chaos. We are comingclose to meltdown and no oneseems able to stem the tide.
The internet used to be a placeof freedom. Back then there wastalk of creating a new internet, onecontrolled by businesses – but theresulting furore caused this to bescrubbed from human memory.Maybe it’s time to reconsider.
Surely an internet controlled bybusinesses is to be preferred to oneowned by scum. Let’s face it, that’swhat has happened. What’s the
worst that could happen if busi-nesses ran things? We wouldn’t beinundated with pornography, wecould access information relevantto our needs, and we could takeback control of our lives.
A great deal of fuss is madeabout freedom of speech. In China,internet cafés are monitored toensure state-proscribed web sitesare not accessed. Is that really anyworse than allowing every type ofobscenity, illegality, and downrightnastiness into our lives? It mightnot be as easy a question to answeras it was a few years ago.
Technology vendors constantlypush the boundaries. Unfortuna-tely, they are caught up in theirown world of money spinning andhave forgotten some moralresponsibilities that come withrunning a business. Morals andbusinesses are not two words that
sit together well, but they used toexist (perhaps sometimes uncom-fortably) side by side. Now that isgone. Billionaires give large sumsof money to charities to improvelives while running organisations
that impoverish everyone’s lives.Firms rush to market with
the latest technology, but neverconsider how it might be used tomake our lives worse. If you men-tion responsibility, these innova-tors will point the finger ateveryone but themselves, while
reeling in the cash pretending tofix the problems they created.
Perhaps even more worrying isthe increasing reliance on moderntechnologies. There is a growingassumption that everyone has (orwants) the newest gadgets.
It won’t be long before peoplewithout mobile phones will beexcluded from accessing a wholerange of services. Major electronicstores are no longer selling VHSrecorders because, they tell us,there is no longer a call for them.
I find it hard to believe thateveryone wants (or can afford) DVDrecorders. Nor that those samepeople are ready to throw awaytheir investment in video tapes.
Who is pulling the strings? Theanswer is simple. It is the samepeople who force us to use the lat-est technology despite the risks.� [email protected]
Roadside speed cameras are,we’re told, there for ourown safety. There is a well-
known fund-raising element totheir positioning, of course, butuntil recently I assumed that theywould not actively be installedwhere they might encourage car-nage. But now I’ve spotted onewhere this appears to be so.
A yellow box vulture sitswatching the northbound car-riageway of the A12, a few hun-dred yards up from the BlackwallTunnel. It focuses on a section ofroad that narrows from threelanes abruptly down to two, viathe loss of the slow lane.
This stretch of road is alreadychallenging if you don’t know,ahead of time, that your lane isabout to merge with the crashbarrier, but now there is theadded distraction of the camera.
Just when drivers need to checkthe position of rival vehicles, theyare instead checking their mph.
I have no proof that this cam-era causes accidents, but over theEaster weekend I passed it severaltimes and saw more than the aver-age number of near-misses, wildswerves, and Hackney hand sig-nals. The lesson is that the-powers-that-be don’t always put our safetyat the top of their “to do” lists.
Similarly, we are all supposedto feel reassured that EU regula-tors are getting tough withmonopoly-abuser Microsoft.
Sadly, the monopoly policehave seized on the issue of wheth-er Windows comes bundled witha Microsoft Media Player, or is leftopen for the likes of RealPlayer.
A much bigger problem – thecontinued presence of InternetExplorer as an integral part of the
world’s most widely deployeddesktop – continues untouched,apparently beyond the interest ofour public guardians.
It is bizarre in the extremethat music and video playbackshould receive such special atten-tion from regulators, while Micro-soft’s sluice-gate for worms,viruses and hackers is left undis-turbed. It seems like fussing over agrazed elbow while ignoring agunshot wound to the head.
I’m not saying Windows shouldship without internet connectivity.A basic HTML-rendering, file-fetch-ing program is a necessity. But IE –with all its bells, whistles, andflaws – ought to be optional.
I was not surprised to learnthat Internet Explorer can nowreach out and hurt you even ifyou choose to run another brows-er. The first cross-browser attack
recently emerged, which uses Javafacilities within browsers like Fire-fox or Opera to invoke a dormantInternet Explorer. It then gamelyagrees to install spyware.
The root of this risk is toomuch predictability. IE is pre-dictably present on Windows desk-tops, residing in predictablefolders, offering predictably wide-ranging facilities and, in general, ispredictably poorly patched. It’s likeleaving a key under your doormat.Whether we use IE or not, it seems,we are stuck with its dangers andthe need to keep an eye on it.
While Microsoft and the EUargue over details of the Media-Player-free Windows, the rest of theWindows-using world must carryon coping with Internet Explorer.It’s like driving while constantlylooking over your shoulder.� [email protected]
“Vendors are caught upin their own world ofmoney spinning andhave forgotten somemoral responsibilities”
IT WEEK
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ENTERPRISEWEEKEDITOR Roger Howorth SERVERS, STORAGE AND DATACENTRE DEVELOPMENTS
Comment Customer relationship management systems p16Analysis How will firms benefit if Microsoft puts Services for Unix into the upcoming Longhorn version of Windows? p16
ROGER HOWORTH
Independent tests of popular Javavirtual machines (JVMs) runningon 64bit Xeon chips show Java
applications may run slower in64bit environments, because Javavendors have yet to optimise soft-ware for the new chips.
The tests were carried out byJava expert Pier Fumagalli, whowas evaluating new server hostingoptions for a busy Java-based website. Normally such in-house re-search remains private, but in anunusual step, the author of thisreport, who works for IT Week’s pub-lishing company VNU, has madethe results available on his web siteat the URL below.
“There is no doubt, Java doesn’tgain much by running on the 64bitversion of Linux for x86_64 archi-tectures,” states Fumagalli. “Theresults clearly say that if you haveany code whatsoever that still runsat 32bit, it is going to be betweenfive and 15 percent slower with a64bit operating system.”
The results are of great interestto firms running Java-based appli-cations and considering upgradingserver hardware or JVM software.
The findings raise questions aboutthe theory that because JVMs have64bit architectures they will alwaysrun better using 64bit operatingsystem and server hardware.
To some extent the results sup-port the use of such hardware, butthey show software vendors haveyet to take full advantage of the64bit capabilities of Intel’s latestXeon EM64T hardware.
“Results from the 64bit IBMJVM clearly show that a 100 percent64bit environment gives some ad-vantages,” said Fumagalli. “It’s fourpercent faster, for now, but its JVMis branded for AMD64, and there-fore I suspect that IBM’s compileroptimisation settings did not inc-lude Nocona, the optimisation req-uired for Xeon EM64T, but the
AMD-specific optimisation flag.” Although Xeon EM64T and Op-
teron have identical 64bit x86_64instructions, internally the proces-sors use different microcode, socompiler optimisations need to bemade specifically for each chip toget the best results.
The tests were conducted usingservers fitted with two 3GHz XeonEM64T processors, 2GB of RAM andthe Gentoo Linux operating system.
The results indicate that theoptimal combination of 64bit pro-cessor and JVM software could dou-ble the application performance,or halve the server hardware costs.
“I would like to see the BEA JVMcompiled to work at 64bits only andoptimised for the Xeon EM64T,”wrote Fumagalli. “Given the results,that combination could get an extrafour or five percent by running in a64bit-only environment, pushingthe results up to around 225kB/s ofthroughput [or more than doublethe worst performing combinationor 32bit OS and JVM].”
Fumagalli warned that the testresults relate to a specific applica-tion and other software may pro-duce different results.� www.tinyurl.com/6u2hw
ROGER HOWORTH
Developers of the MySQL open-source database have rel-eased the first public beta of
version 5. The series 5 release addsimportant new capabilit-ies, including support forstored procedures, triggersand updatable views.
Security has also beenimproved, and a few fea-tures to support legacyapplications have been re-moved. For example, sup-port for the Isam storageengine has been removed,as has the support for Raid
options in MyIsam tables. Firmsusing these features should converttheir Isam tables to another formatbefore upgrading.
The upgrade has been broadlywelcomed. A contributor to an on-
line discussion site said,“MySQL 5 is a huge leap for-ward, and most of the [pre-vious criticisms of it] willprobably become moot.When MySQL 5 is released,PostgreSQL will get somemore open-source competi-tion and that is a goodthing.” However, otherswere more circumspect.One expert said, “I think
the real question here is, are all ofthese features supported under onetable type? MySQL has full textsearch and relational constraints,but not both at the same timebecause of the different table types.Unless the MySQL team can get allthese features together in MyIsam,I don’t expect a big uptake.”
MySQL is not generally regard-ed as providing leading-edge per-formance, and it seems there havebeen no architectural changes toimprove throughput.
“I still think one of the biggestproblems with MySQL is the meth-od it uses for storing tables on thedisk,” said another poster to thesame forum. “Storing tables in asingle file becomes very limiting interms of disk I/O. They still need tofocus on scalability and enterpriseperformance for large systems.” � www.tinyurl.com/54f7o
Alteris addssafety auditcapabilitiesIT WEEK STAFF
� Automated software provision-ing specialist Alteris is to acquireaudit and vulnerability manage-ment specialist Pedestal Soft-ware for around $65m.
Pedestal’s tools complementAlteris’s suite of desktop and serv-er management products, whichincludes basic hardware and soft-ware audit tools plus desktop per-sonality migration capabilities.
Bill Andrews, Pedestal’s vice-president of marketing, said themain reason firms buy its tools isfor automated auditing of config-uration policies. “We can checkfor allowable hardware and soft-ware installed [on a system] andcheck system settings such aspassword length policy,” he said.
Andrews added that thoughsuch tools cannot directly checkthe Windows passwords againstpolicies, it can use LHI Technolo-gy’s L0phtcrack security tool totry to discover the user’s pass-word using various methods, andso could report on people usingeasily guessed passwords suchas children’s Christian names.
Andrews said many firms buyaudit tools following costly prob-lems. “Our customers are [usingthese tools] because of previoussecurity breaches. For example,someone has already stoleninformation from their database.”Other firms opt for automatedaudit security tools after auditsidentify lax security. “If there is asubsequent breach and the origi-nal audit comes to light duringjudicial discovery that spells bigproblems,” Andrews added.
The Pedestal tools come with45 predefined security policies,many of which are based on defacto standards such as NSA orNist recommendations – both USgovernment security agencies.
Alteris expects the deal tobe completed this month.
Java apps face 64bit penalties
MySQL database updatepromises better views
4 APRIL 2005www.itweek.co.uk
IT WEEK
The public betaof MySQL 5 offersimproved security
64bit OS and JVM benchmarks
BEA JRockit 64bit
BEA JRockit 32bit
Sun HotSpot 32bit
Better0 1
64bit OS2
32bit OS
Source: Pier Fumagalli
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ENTERPRISEWEEK
Imust confess that when itcomes to customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) software, I
took my eye off the ball a longtime ago. In part this is because Itested far too many PIMs – person-al information managers – manyyears ago while working for amagazine that benchmarked kit.
Back then most of the prod-ucts were rather flaky; addingnew data was laborious; and byand large once your customerdata was stored inside them it wasnot a trivial task to get it out ofone and into another.
Well, it seems to me that CRMsystems of today are basically thePIMs of yesteryear with network-ing added on. With the help of alittle TCP/IP, it became possible toadd groupware functions, plusmore stable databases and moreaccurate clocks. All of which isgreat, but none of it actually helpsto get information out of your
desktop applications and into the CRM database.
The main challenges of CRMare to get good data into the system, minimise duplication,ensure data is up to date, and thenperhaps manage it to ensure somedata can remain private while therest can be shared far and wide.
But to me, all these things addup to little more than glorifiedphone books linked to a calendar-ing system. Surely CRM is, inessence, a relatively simple data-base with relatively simple reports and some temporally triggered procedures.
The link between PIMs andCRM might seem spurious, butGoldMine was one of the PIMproducts then, and today it ispositioned as a CRM system.Beside several couplings of thewords “customer” and “relation-ship” on the GoldMine site,Googling for GoldMine PIM pro-
duces some 10,000 hits, whilesearching for GoldMine CRMyields around 150,000.
I guess the advent of ubiqui-tous LANs and internet connectiv-ity enabled standalone PIMs toevolve into enterprise CRM andthen hosted CRM systems. I reck-on online, or hosted, CRM is as
successful as it is because it hidesthe simplicity of the back-end sys-tems from the customer. It’s theopposite way round comparedwith most hosted offerings, whichtend to hide the complexity of theback-end systems from customers.
Perhaps I am cynical becausemost of my experience of thesethings has been from the receiv-ing end. Like so many people, Iquestion the long-term benefits ofhassling customers with unso-licited phone calls or SMS mes-sages to cajole them into buyingsomething they don’t really wantor need. I recently received aphone call at some ungodly houron a Sunday from someone tryingto upsell me a larger lettuce orsome such nonsense.
For CRM systems to be trulyeffective, shouldn’t they be inte-grated into the phone networks sothey can measure how long ittakes for the person to hang upthe phone or delete the message?Armed with those metrics, per-haps companies would argue con-vincingly for lower prices fromtheir CRM suppliers.� www.frontrange.com/goldmine� [email protected]
CRM suffers from a PIMs hangoverMost CRM tools are glorified personal information managers, and like PIMs they offer limited value
COMMENT Roger Howorth
“Hosted CRM hides thesimplicity of back-endsystems, whereas mosthosted offerings hideback-end complexity”
4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
Is Microsoft planning to put Ser-vices for Unix (SFU) into theupcoming Longhorn version of
Windows? Currently the companyis promoting SFU as a way of host-ing Unix applications on Windowssystems, which usually involves atleast minor alterations to the appli-cation source code. So SFU is also away of making Unix developersfamiliar with Microsoft’s developertoolkits such as Visual Studio.
If Microsoft makes SFU moreaccessible by putting it in Long-horn it could also undermine themarket for Linux and Unix systems.
SFU could also help firms tomore easily integrate legacy appli-
cations into modern systems. “SFUwas firmly positioned by Microsoftas an aid to organisations who havea great deal of legacy code and whowant to be able to better integrateUnix applications with Windowsapplications,” said Andrew Butlerof analyst Gartner Group.
Butler added, “The ability [ofWindows with SFU] to support twooperating system layers [concur-rently on the same hardware would]encourage more hybrid forms ofapplication, where one operatingsystem supports part of the codebase and the rest is delivered by adifferent operating system.”
Butler also argued that Micro-soft wants to discourage developersfrom writing new Linux and Unixapplications. “Therefore, while Mic-rosoft might well integrate SFUmore closely with Windows, it willprefer to encourage further evolu-tion of the Mono standard as amechanism to enable software ven-dors [and developers] to follow dot-
Net concepts and yet still be able todevelop a single code base that canrun under Windows or Linux.”
Jon Collins of analyst firm Quo-circa said it is very likely that SFUwill appear in Longhorn. “Micro-soft has always positioned SFU as a‘mere’ subsystem but it is far morethan that, because Microsoft doesnot want to compromise its posi-tion as a one-OS company,” he said.
There are various ways of usingSFU – either to run existing appli-cations natively, or as a portingenvironment for application ele-ments that require Unix services,said Collins. “The incorporation ofSFU into Longhorn would makemigrations simpler for those com-panies looking to move away fromlegacy platforms, but there arealternative approaches – not leastrunning virtual machines on asmaller number of more powerfulservers, and migrating applicationsinto virtual environments runningon top of Linux or Windows.”
There may be a danger of Micro-soft breaching antitrust regula-tions if it embeds SFU in Longhorn,though Rob Hailstone at researchfirm IDC argued that the nature ofunderlying operating systems isbecoming less important as moreand more applications are deliv-ered as modular services.
“Initiatives such as web servicesstandards should take the operatingsystem out of the strategic softwareequation,” he argued. “If applicationcomponents can communicate witheach other via standards-based mes-sages, this makes the choice of plat-form a tactical decision rather thana strategic one. It will still be neces-sary to consider all of the old scala-bility, performance, availability andskills issues, but these decisions canbe made on a case-by-case basis.”
How would firms benefit from the inclusion of Services For Unix in Windows Longhorn?
Operating systems ANALYSIS by Martin Banks
Windows opens up to Unix
IT WEEK
16
Summary� Experts believe it is likely that
the next version of Windows willinclude Services for Unix (SFU),a tool that allows Windows sys-tems to host Unix applications.
� Such a move should make iteasier for enterprises to consoli-date server systems.
Hailstone: “Web services standards
should take the OS outof the strategic
software equation”
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17
INTERNETWEEKEDITOR David Neal E-BUSINESS, INTRANETS AND ONLINE TECHNOLOGY
Comment The prevalence of ‘leet speak’ in modern communicationsmay be doing the English language more good than harm p20Analysis IAC to give Ask Jeeves location-based advertising p20
MATT HICKS
Yahoo has started to move desk-top search capabilities beyondthe information sitting on a
user’s hard drive.Late last month, Yahoo updated
its desktop search application withsupport for indexing and searchacross the web-based Yahoo AddressBook and archives of Yahoo Mes-senger instant messaging sessions.
When Yahoo first released abeta of Yahoo Desktop Search in Jan-uary, it outlined plans to quickly tiein a range of its online services intothe applications. Along with theonline address book, Yahoo saidcontent from its email,photo-sharing and onlinegroups services will also bemade searchable throughdesktop search.
“This is all just thebeginning,” wrote WarrenWan, product manager forYahoo Desktop Search, inthe company’s weblog.
“Our goal is to make
the word desktop in ‘Yahoo DesktopSearch’ refer simply to the placewhere you launch the product.”
To activate indexing of YahooMessenger sessions, users mustchoose to archive chats in the in-stant messaging client. They can
then search the archivedsessions whether they areonline or off. Once indexed,contacts from the YahooAddress Book will also beavailable, again regardlessof whether users areonline or disconnected.
Yahoo is not alone inexpanding the features andtypes of data for desktop
search. In March, Google DesktopSearch moved out of beta andGoogle confirmed plans to offer anenterprise version of the application.And specialised search software ven-dors Copernic Technologies and IsysSearch Software recently updatedtheir desktop search products.
Copernic last month launchedversion 1.5 of its free CopernicDesktop Search software. Its newfeatures include support for theindexing of email and attachmentsfrom the Mozilla Thunderbird andEudora mail clients, and there is anew box inside the user interfacethat displays the number of match-ing results in various categories.
Isys in early March began anexternal beta test of its next release,Isys:desktop 7. The release offersfaster indexing and querying, cate-gorises results on the fly and sup-ports the searching of web history.
Isys said its tool is designed forbusiness use. It is expected to releasethe new version later this year.� Jeeves to build up local services, p20� www.eweek.com
MATT HICKS
Approval of the .eu top-leveldomain for the EuropeanUnion came a step closer late
last month, after the internet’sdomain-name oversight body ann-ounced its support for the proposal.
The Internet Corporation forAssigned Names and Numbers(Icann) said its board of directorshad decided to back the establish-ment of .eu, a move first proposedby the European Commission.
The latest development comesafter months of contractual nego-tiations between Icann and Eurid,the Belgian registry selected by theEuropean Commission to operatethe domain. However, general avail-ability of .eu domain names is stillat least a year away.
Eurid said .eu will now be in-cluded in the domain name systemroot, or master directory, overseenby the Internet Assigned NumbersAuthority (Iana).
“Having .eu in the root sets thegreen light for the launch of .eu,”said Eurid general manager MarcVan Wesemael in a statement.
By the end of the year, Euridplans to begin accepting early reg-istrations of .eu domains from gov-ernment bodies and firms holdingtrademarks and other rights tonames in a so-called “sunrise peri-od”. The sunrise period is expectedto last about four months.
Eurid is still finalising its policyfor .eu registrations, which mustgain the approval of the EuropeanCommission. The registry will alsohave to develop a network of regis-
trars – the companies that directlysell .eu registrations to consumersand businesses. To start that effort,it plans to publish its agreementfor registrars in May.
Creating a domain name forthe European Union has not beeneasy. The European Union first pro-posed .eu in 2000 as a way of iden-tifying European companies andinstitutions and to encourage elec-tronic commerce in Europe.
But instead of gaining quickapproval the .eu domain has beendelayed by a number of legislativeand bureaucratic hurdles.� www.eurid.org � www.eweek.com
Macromediaupgrades itsweb controls DAVID NEAL
� Macromedia is offering freedownloadable updates to users ofits Contribute web content man-agement and publishing system –available from the Macromediaweb site at the first URL below.
The updates bring Contributeto version 3.1 and ContributePublishing Services to version1.1. Both bring improved enter-prise functionality, web servicesconnectivity, and support forReally Simple Syndication (RSS)activity feeds.
Tom Hale, the firm’s seniorvice-president, said that the newtools could help firms to improvecommunication and removebottlenecks. “This release[enables] enterprises to improvethe way organisations and teamspublish to the web,” he added.
Macromedia emphasised thatthe upgrade improves administra-tive controls and increases flexi-bility. The support for RSS activityfeeds allows administrators tocustomise the systems so that anychanges to the site are deliveredvia an RSS reader. This meansthat users and administrators canget immediate notification ratherthan waiting for an email.
Improved sub-site manage-ment functions enable elementsof control to be distributed toother users, while the administra-tor retains final cut and approval.
Other new features enablebetter integration with otherenterprise systems, such asMacromedia’s own Breeze weband video conferencing app, anLDAP/AD connectivity interface toimprove searches and queries;and staging to live deployment –letting developers test elementsof sites before going live.
A full list of additions is avail-able at the second URL below.� www.tinyurl.com/5tb73 � www.tinyurl.com/4pska
Yahoo expands desktop search
European domain namefinally given the go-ahead
4 APRIL 2005www.itweek.co.uk
IT WEEK
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Yahoo search continues � Yahoo has launched an updated
version of its desktop search app.� Users can now search Yahoo’s
web-based Address Book.� The update lets Yahoo Messenger
chats be archived and searched.
Top-level domains
Signifies a European presence
Non-profit organisations
Restricted to business use
Users can archiveand search YahooMessenger text
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INTERNETWEEK
According to languageexperts in the US – not anoxymoron – critics of “leet
netspeak” are wrong. It seemsthat the online way of chattingdoes more good than harm to theEnglish language.
Netspeak, such as the above“leet”, which means elite inpierced-eyebrow circles; acronymslike “lol”, which stands for laughout loud; and an assortment ofsmiley faces, such as the ;-) wink-ing colon; are popular among the youth of today. And so nets-peak words and symbols litteremails and instant messaging likeMcDonald’s wrappers litter parks.
As an example, I might write,“This is an article about the preva-lence of leet speak in moderncommunications.” In the hands ofa leet speaker this would become,“7his is 4n 4r7ic13 4b0u7 7h3pr3v413nc3 0f 1337 sp34k in
m0d3rn c0mmunic47i0ns.”According to the aforementioned“3xp3rts” this is not as bad as itsounds, or reads.
Although critics wince at thelack of proper punctuation, andthe presence of abbreviations,acronyms and “out there” spell-ings, the experts say we shouldnot be so picky. At a recent eventin Washington they discussed thelanguage used on the internet,and concluded that though muchof this communication is inacces-sible to the uncomprehending, itactually complements, ratherthan damages, standard English.
Some weeks ago, I wrote in mycolumn about the importance ofusing plain English in communi-cations – for which I was heavilycriticised by one man with toomuch time on his hands and toomany dictionaries at his disposal.My point, which missed its mark
like darts thrown by Stevie Won-der, was that if you want people tounderstand what you are talkingabout, you have to talk to them ina way that they will understand.
Personally, I think that therewill always be a place in English
for even antiquated words like“betwixt”, but I am also a big fanof new words. Recent examplesinclude verbs such as “to Google”,and words such as “cyberslacker”,“phreak” (which means to get afree phone call), and “fuzzy logic”,which have all been added to the
Oxford English Dictionary and tothe day-to-day conversations ofmany of us.
I am not suggesting that firmsshould now start to correspond inthis way, but it may not be longbefore they have to. In the US, therelatively new word “blog” wasvoted as the top word of 2004 by adictionary publisher. The wordearned its place by being one ofthe most looked up terms in 2004,a period in which the use and sig-nificance of blogs grew. Merriam-Webster defines a blog as: “a website that contains an online per-sonal journal with reflections,comments and often hyperlinks”.
As more and more businessesare using blogs to inform theircustomers and staff it is notunusual for this to be a searchterm on their web sites. Will“leet” and others be far behind?� [email protected]
The threat of m0d3rn languageThe way people use the English language online may horrify purists, but can firms resist the trend?
COMMENT David Neal
“Words and symbols of leet netspeak litteremails and messaginglike McDonald’s wrappers litter parks”
4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
Following its $1.85bn bid forsearch firm Ask Jeeves, e-commerce giant IAC has plans
to increase the service’s marketshare, create a more powerful com-bination of search capabilities andcontent, and help firms to targetadvertising for searches tied to spe-cific geographical areas.
However, some experts predictdifficulties in fitting Ask Jeeves’search properties with IAC’s con-sumer sites, ranging from Ticket-master to Match.com and Expedia.
IAC chief executive Barry Dillerhas predicted that Ask Jeeves willincrease its market shareat the expense of heavy-weights Google, Yahoo andMicrosoft’s MSN.
Allen Weiner of analystfirm Gartner commented,“On paper, the combina-tion looks pretty powerful.[Diller] gets himself a por-tal platform at a reason-able price. He adds to [AskJeeves’] revenue instantly
by giving it more traffic and adds tothe power of his sites with the abili-ty to manage content.”
Diller declined to forecast howmuch of the market Ask Jeeveswould gain but said the acquisitionwould immediately drive more traf-fic to the search service. “We’reconvinced that all this hypergrowth [in search] is still at thebeginning stage,” Diller said. “Agroup of four to five players aregoing to be able to thrive.”
Ask Jeeves is ranked fifth as aweb search destination in the USand eighth in the UK. Unlike AOL,
which uses Google’s res-ults, Ask Jeeves uses itsown search technology –the Teoma algorithmic en-gine it acquired in 2001.
Dan Hess of market re-search firm ComScore Net-works said in a statement,“The combination createsintriguing growth oppor-tunities, given that thereis relatively little overlap
between the IAC and Ask Jeevesaudiences.” But analysts said IACmust do more than simply drawmore traffic to its various sites,given the intense competition.
Mark Mahaney, analyst at Am-erican Technology Research, ques-tioned IAC’s track record.
“There may be revenue synergies– especially with [IAC] promotingthe Ask Jeeves search box on every[IAC] site – but our view is that [IAC’s]record of generating revenue syner-gies has been limited to date,”Mahaney wrote in a research note.“Further, we note that to date, [IAC]has had difficulties in integratingits numerous acquisitions.”
One of IAC’s aims is to developadvertising business tied to localsearches for results connected toparticular geographical areas.
In the past year Ask Jeeves hasexpanded its local search optionsto compete with its major rivals. Aspart of these services, Ask Jeeves isalready working with IAC’s City-search local information service.
Local search services are a grow-ing business and the global searchproviders see a good opportunityto attract more advertising. TheKelsey Group predicts that thelocal-search market will grow to$3.4bn in revenues by 2009.
In an email interview, Greg Ster-ling, programme director at TheKelsey Group, raised concerns ab-out IAC’s management.
“We’ve seen IAC make big pre-dictions in the past and fail to del-iver,” said Sterling. “I think that thepotential is there to make Jeeves aleader in local search, if the focusand the resources are put behindthe effort. But local search businessis as competitive as general websearch, if not more, and simply say-ing [Ask Jeeves will succeed] willnot necessarily make it so.”� www.ask.com � www.eweek.com
IAC hopes location-based advertising will help make Ask Jeeves a search leader
Search technology ANALYSIS by Matt Hicks
Jeeves to build up local services
IT WEEK
20
Summary
� Online commerce firm IAC hasagreed to buy web search firmAsk Jeeves for $1.85bn.
� IAC runs sites including Ticket-master and Expedia, and plansto develop Ask’s local searchfeatures to attract advertising.
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21
CLIENTWEEKEDITOR Daniel Robinson DESKTOPS, MOBILITY AND PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
Comment Any money that a Linux desktop suite can save must beoffset against the cost of training and a blip in productivity p22Review T-Mobile’s latest smartphone puts users on the map p22
DANIEL ROBINSON
NetManage last week intro-duced an update to its On-Web product family for web-
enabling enterprise applications,giving firms the ability to extendaccess to staff using mobile andwireless devices.
NetManage’s OnWeb Mobile con-nects to back-end systems includingmainframes, Unix and IBM iSeriesservers, and re-publishes applica-tions and data in a format suitablefor handheld clients without need-ing any modifications to the origi-nal applications.
“We can connect to the wholerange of enterprise applications,such as SAP and Siebel, and offer achoice of presentation on the dev-ice, including HTML or combiningdata from more than one applica-tion into a composite screen,” saidEyal Orgil, NetManage’s Europeanmarketing manager.
Orgil said that many companieshave legacy back-end applicationsthat still work very well, but they
need to present the applica-tions in a way that users canaccess via PDAs and other mobiledevices that are typically equippedwith small screens and limited pro-cessing power.
NetManage gives firms the abili-ty to simply represent the hostscreen on a browser, according toOrgil, but with a little work the dis-play can be modified to make it eas-ier to use. “Mobilising is more thanjust adding wireless access,” he said.
To help the process, OnWeb Mo-
bile comes with a point-and-clickdevelopment environment withwizard-driven help to build theclient-side application logic, and re-package applications into web serv-ices that can be downloaded to themobile client if necessary. However,the amount of development workneeded is minimal, Orgil said.
The final look of the applica-tion will depend on the origi-
nal and on the informationthat has to be presented,according to NetMan-age. “You might end up
with just a small stand-alone executable on the
PDA that queries specific datafrom the back-end system,” Orgilsaid. “It’s the application that large-ly defines how you will need tointeract with the OnWeb server.”
OnWeb Mobile is licensed acc-ording to the number of users orconcurrent users that access theback-end systems. Pricing has yet tobe announced, but is expected tostart at under £6,000, Orgil said.� www.netmanage.com/onweb
DANIEL ROBINSON
Qualystem Technology has re-leased a new version of itsLan-PC software that enables
diskless workstations to boot froma server instead of a local copy ofWindows. The updated version im-proves performance and adds sup-port for Red Hat Enterprise LinuxES as a host system.
Lan-PC 3 version 6, availableimmediately, enables a network ofWindows client syst-ems to boot from cen-trally managed Wind-ows images, allowingadministrators tight-
er control over the user environ-ment and eliminating the require-ment to install Windows on eachsystem on the network.
Qualystem already supported arange of host platforms, includingWindows, Unix and Linux. Qua-lystem said it was responding tocustomer requests to port Lan-PCspecifically to Red Hat’s EnterpriseLinux ES server distribution.
Qualystem added it has boostedperformance in Lan-PC 3 version 6through improvements such as
multi-threaded disk op-erations. The new ver-sion also works withanother Qualystem tool,ActiveCloner, to speedup restore operations,
according to the firm.Under Lan-PC 3,
each computer boots the operatingsystem from a server hard diskusing the Preboot Execution Envi-ronment (PXE) standard.
Administrators can allow usersto customise their desktop envi-ronment and save their configura-tion, or force them to boot up eachtime with the initial configuration.The latter mode is useful for con-trolling kiosks or classroom sce-narios, according to Qualystem.
Lan-PC 3 version 6 supportsWindows 2000, Windows XP, or XPEmbedded (XPE) clients. Pricingstarts at €99 (£70) per seat.� Linux desktops, p22 � www.qualystem.com
New batteryrecharges in minutes IT WEEK STAFF
� Toshiba last week announced anew type of battery that can becharged much faster than thosemade using previous technolo-gies. This means that mobile staffmay in future only have to waitminutes for their laptop or phoneto recharge before they can use it,greatly reducing downtime.
Toshiba’s new battery tech-nology, which it expects to bringto market in 2006, can recharge80 percent of a power cell’s ener-gy capacity in only one minute,which the company said isapproximately 60 times fasterthan the typical lithium-ion bat-teries in wide use today.
Laptops, for example, typic-ally take several hours to chargetheir batteries, which can be adisadvantage if an employeeneeds to take their system on theroad at short notice.
Although batteries using thenew technology are still basicallylithium-ion, Toshiba said it hadboosted performance through theuse of nano-scale materials, par-ticularly in the negative elec-trode. The nano-particles quicklyabsorb and store vast amounts oflithium ions, without causing anydeterioration in the electrode,according to Toshiba.
As well as allowing portableequipment to be rechargedquickly, the new technology willlead to batteries with a longeruseful lifecycle, Toshiba said.While current batteries lose theirability to hold charge relativelyquickly, the new lithium-ion cellslose only about one percent oftheir capacity after a thousandcharge/discharge cycles.
Toshiba said it expects thebatteries to power a new genera-tion of hybrid electric vehicles, butthe technology is likely to be usedin a wide range of applications if itdelivers on its early promise.
Tool mobilises legacy applications
Red Hat plays host todiskless boot system
Lan-PC gets a revamp� Qualystem has updated its Lan-
PC tool that lets diskless Windowsworkstations boot from servers.
� Lan-PC 3 version 6 offers en-hanced performance and addssupport for Red Hat EnterpriseLinux ES as a host system.
4 APRIL 2005www.itweek.co.uk
IT WEEK
Data tailored to mobiles� NetManage’s OnWeb Mobile en-
ables mobile access to enterpriseapplications, including legacycode running on mainframes.
� The OnWeb server presents thedata in a format that is suitablefor mobile client devices.
OnWeb can bring togetherdata from several sources
Lan-PC gives IT staffmore control over clients
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CLIENTWEEK
Any standard is better thanno standard at all is amantra that many veterans
in the technology industry havelearnt through bitter experience.And for this reason, howevermuch you may hate the securityvulnerabilities, unnecessary fea-tures and general unreliability,there is at least one benefit to hav-ing Windows on your desktop PC.
Because Windows is thedefault operating system installedon the vast majority of PCs andlaptops, whether destined for theoffice or the home, virtually everyemployee in the world alreadyknows how to use it with somedegree of competence. This alsomeans that training costs areeither minimal or non-existent.
The ubiquity of Windows alsomakes it the primary target forsoftware developers. Therefore,any IT manager looking for a newapplication can be fairly certain
that if they deploy Windows, theywill be able to get their hands onthe tools they are looking for andwill have few problems installingor supporting them.
All of this means that thougha casual observer might back the underdog and expect Linux tomake a significant dent in Micro-soft’s market share in desktopPCs and workstations, there aregood reasons to suggest the open-source platform will continue tofight a steep uphill battle.
Novell first threw its weightbehind Linux four years ago, butthe networking specialist has nowbroadened its portfolio to offerLinux desktop suites for bothsmall and large businesses, as wellas an open-source server platformto rival the once-mighty NetWare.
Building Linux into server oper-ating systems that are used directlyonly by experienced IT staff is onething because this type of user is
generally more open to trying outnew technology. But deployingLinux and Linux-based applica-tions on the desktop PCs of staff,who have been using Windows formost of their working lives, issomething very different.
Any money that a Linux desk-top suite can save in terms of
licensing and maintenance com-pared with Windows must be off-set against the cost of trainingpeople to use the new operatingsystem and associated software.
Then there is the reduction inbusiness efficiency that will inevit-
ably occur as employees struggleto get to grips with the new plat-form. This price must also betaken into account.
There is also the question ofwhether the specific softwarerequired by many large organisa-tions is even available for Linux inthe first place. But the open-source community is trying toencourage developers to createmore Linux software to reducethis shortcoming.
For its part, Novell is givingdevelopers access to its distributionchannel in a bid to make it easierand cheaper for them to get fin-ished Linux open-source applica-tions onto the market.
How much this will do tospread the open-source creed, onlytime will tell. Apart from theWindows fanatics, most computerusers will be cheering on the chal-lenger from the sidelines, at least.� [email protected]
Familiar Windows shuts out LinuxCOMMENT Martin Courtney
“Any money that a Linuxdesktop suite can savemust be offset againstthe cost of training andany loss of efficiency”
4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
T-Mobile’s SDA is a compacthandset based on Microsoft’sWindows Mobile for Smart-
phone 2003 software. The device issmaller and lighter than many rivalWindows smartphones at 100g, andthe add-on option of ALK’s CoPilotLive navigation system makes it anattractive choice for mobile work-ers such as sales staff.
Available since March, the SDAis the first phone we have seen tooffer Global Positioning System(GPS) software as a pre-installedoption. Our unit had the CoPilotLive software, a separate BluetoothGPS receiver with rechargeablebatteries, a car kit includingphone and GPS chargers, andmaps of the UK stored on aSecure Digital (SD) card.
Because the SDA runsWindows Mobile, it integrates
well with Microsoft’s ExchangeServer 2003 mail system, allowingusers to synchronise email, calen-dar and contacts information overthe air. It also features a built-indigital camera.
In tests we were impressed bythe small size of the phone, whichmakes it easy to carry comparedwith most PDAs. The supplied mapsare stored on a 256MB SD card anduse about 100MB of its capacity,leaving the rest free for file storage.
The phone’s non-volatile mem-ory also stores user settings such asemail account details and the con-
tents of the user’s inbox, soresetting the device does notwipe out vital user data.
We were impressed withthe search facility in the add-ress book software, which canuse the T9 system for predic-tive text input to quickly loc-ate people’s details withoutrequiring their full names tobe entered first.
The smartphone edition of Co-Pilot Live has been adapted so it canbe used with the phone’s numerickeypad rather than a touch-screen.It has also been customised so theBluetooth link to the GPS receivercan be managed from inside theCoPilot software. Though the screenis smaller than that of most PDAs,we found it more than adequate forthe navigation software.
We had few gripes with theCoPilot system. Like many of itskind, the navigation capability islost if the user drives into a longtunnel or other area where GPS sig-nals cannot be received.
On the other hand, CoPilot offersa few web services alongside thebasic navigation tools. For example,we could email colleagues with alink to a special CoPilot web sitewhere recipients could track ourprogress on a particular journey.Similarly, managers could use theweb interface to send new waypointsor additional locations to a phone,
and the phone’s software wouldthen recalculate the route as needed.
We tested the unit’s mail clientby connecting to internet-basedImap and POP3 mail accounts. Theunit’s SSL support let us use securelinks to the Imap mail system, butwe were unable to test SSL encryp-tion with our POP3 mailbox as ourservice provider did not support it.
T-Mobile also provides an SMTPserver that can be used by the phoneto send mail. This is useful if serviceproviders only allow connectionsfrom their own networks.
T-Mobile’s Windows smartphone supports an optional GPS system for mobile staff
T-Mobile SDA REVIEW by Roger Howorth
Smartphone navigates via satellite
22
Firms considering alternatives to Microsoft on the desktop still face a steep and costly learning curve
IT WEEK
FINDINGSThe SDA is T-Mobile’s first own-brandWindows-based smartphone, and thefirst we have seen to come with builtin GPS mapping software.� Price: approximately £70 + VATdepending on service contract;£212 + VAT with GPS� T-Mobile: 0800 956 5001� www.t-mobile.co.uk/sda
Compact; over 100MB of non-volatile memory for user data.
No motion compensation if theGPS signal is lost.
+
-
The SDA handset runs WindowsMobile for Smartphone 2003
TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine!
23
NETWORKWEEKEDITOR Dave Bailey VOICE, WIRED AND WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE
Comment Any organisation considering the transition to voice over IP for their phone services should think carefully about reliability and access to the emergency services p25
DAVE BAILEY
Anumber of industry giantshave joined forces to formthe Fingerprint Sharing Al-
liance, a global initiative to helpnetwork operators quickly andautomatically respond to global in-frastructure attacks.
Rob Pollard, vice-president forEurope at founder member ArborNetworks, said, “These attacks arecoming in on many different inter-faces [of an ISP’s networks] andmanually identifying these is a bigproblem. [This initiative means] Ican sort out my local customersand then share the attackfingerprint with networkproviders worldwide.”
Other members of thealliance include BT, MCI,NTT, Asia Netcom, CiscoSystems, Earthlink, andUK company Energis.
Current Analysis ana-lyst Sandra O’Boyle said,“This is a step in the rightdirection to protect public
networks; and enterprise custom-ers will welcome the co-operationfrom network operators.”
Pollard added that as well as shar-ing fingerprints of attacks,the system allows contactdetails to be exchanged soISP network administratorscan contact each other dir-ectly on a one-to-one basis,speeding up a process thatpreviously involved com-munication via user for-ums, for example.
One major benefit isthat service providers and
their customers should now spendless time dealing with attacks.Another benefit is that the attacksshould be mitigated closer to theingress points. The improvementsmay also lead to enhanced servicelevel agreements (SLAs) betweenISPs and their customers.
The alliance will use Arbor’sPeakflow SP system to alert mem-bers when attacks occur. PeakflowSP is an enhanced version of soft-ware already used by leading serv-ice providers worldwide to shareattack fingerprints automaticallyacross network boundaries, withoutrevealing competitive information.
Peakflow provides real-time net-work views, enabling organisationsto protect against worms, distrib-uted denial of service (DDoS) attacksand insider misuse, as well as trafficand routing instabilities.
“Network security is a top con-cern and with IP telephony growthit will become even more critical.There should be more shared secu-rity initiatives of this type,” saidO’Boyle of Current Analysis.
PAULA MUSICH AND DAVE BAILEY
Force10 Networks has releasedits first fixed-configurationswitch – a move that the high-
end network switch company be-lieves will help it extend beyond itstraditional network core marketand into the datacentre.
The 1U Force10 S50 switch has48 Gigabit Ethernet ports and two10 Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports.The S50’s switching fabric supportsan aggregate switching capacity of192Gbit/s and will process 20 per-cent more traffic than competitiveofferings, said Force10.
“I don’t know of another prod-uct that has the same switchingcapacity [in that type of design],”said Zeus Kerravala of analyst com-pany Yankee Group.
Force10 aims to compete withthe likes of Cisco, HP’s ProCurvenetworking unit and Foundry Net-works. Pricing for the S50 starts at£4,250 + VAT for the base unit and£3,460 + VAT for the two-port 10Gigabit Ethernet interface.
However, some observers doubt-ed that the S50 will help Force10move beyond its installed base ofcustomers. “Will they make a hugesplash with this? I don’t think so,”said Current Analysis analyst StevenSchuchart. “For customers who’veenjoyed their Force10 equipmentbut needed something less expen-sive and with less capacity, this letsthose customers continue with
Force10 equipment,” he added.Meanwhile companies wishing
to move data and voice onto a singleconverged network were given moreoptions last week after switch vendorExtreme Networks released a seriesof Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet switchesspecifically for IP telephony, wirelessand converged applications.
There are currently two switch-es in Extreme’s new Summit 400-24range, the 400-24t and the 400-24p,
priced at £2,620 + VAT and£3,200 + VAT respectively.
� www.extremenetworks.com� www.force10networks.com� www.eweek.com
WiMax mustmove quicklyto beat DSLDAVE BAILEY
� WiMax broadband wirelesstechnology needs to make fastprogress if it is to be a main-stream competitor to DSL land-lines, according to Ian Keene ofanalyst firm Gartner.
Speaking at a recent WiMaxevent at the National ScienceMuseum’s Wroughton site nearSwindon, Keene asked, “If WiMaxis going to be ‘very’ as opposed to‘moderately’ successful, then thequestion is, can WiMax be readyin time with low-cost equipmentto take money away from theDSL service providers?”
Keene said the importanttime for WiMax will be when PCvendors integrate it into chipsets,and pointed out that Wi-Fi onlytook off after chipsets supportedit. “The opportunity for WiMax isto get in sooner rather thanlater,” Keene added.
At the Wroughton event, Inteland WiMax equipment vendorAlvarion joined forces to put on ademonstration of the technology.
The equipment for the demowas an Alvarion four-sector basestation costing about £35,000, atIntel’s headquarters; and Breeze-Max 3500 customer premisesequipment (CPE) costing about£400, at each of seven hangars.
The Alvarion CPE aggregatedWi-Fi feeds from roof-mounted802.11a/b/g access points and thenlinked via WiMax to Intel’s site inSwindon, about 5km away. Remotedatabases and the Science Muse-um’s web site were accessed bystaff using Wi-Fi-enabled TabletPCs to catalogue exhibits.
Intel had obtained a test anddevelopment licence to use the3.5GHz licensed radio-frequencyband from Ofcom, to support thedemonstration and further use byScience Museum staff.� www.alvarion.com� www.intel.com/netcomms/technologies/wimax
Operators unite to boost security
Force10 switches intodatacentre hardware
4 APRIL 2005www.itweek.co.uk
IT WEEK
Rapid response to attacks � A new alliance of telecoms and
IT giants aims to help networkoperators respond more quicklyto internet attacks.
� The Fingerprint Sharing Alliancewill use Arbor’s Peakflow SPsoftware to co-ordinate thesharing of attack fingerprints.
The alliance willuse Peakflow SPto alert members
New networking options� Force10 hopes to extend its
reach into the datacentre withthe launch of its S50 switch.
� Extreme has released Layer 3Gigabit Ethernet switches for IP telephony, wireless and con-verged applications.
The S50 is Force10’sfirst datacentre switch
©eW
eek
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www.itweek.co.uk
Hardly a week goes by with-out a new voice over IP(VoIP) offering being ann-
ounced, and if you have a broad-band internet connection you cantake advantage of these services.
The initial offerings were one-way – you could make calls to con-ventional telephone numbers butthey couldn’t call you back. Thecurrent crop offers a wide range ofphone numbers, typically Londonnumbers or 0870 ones, as well asother local area code numbers,and communications watchdogOfcom is also offering numbers inthe 054 range for users not alwaysat a particular location.
The prices are low but it’s nota good idea to use VoIP just to savemoney because similar tariffs areavailable for conventional land-lines. However, there are manyother attractions to the new serv-ices, especially for smaller compa-nies. For example, it is easy to setup a Centrex-like service where no
private branch exchange (PBX) isneeded and each employee has aVoIP phone connected to theoffice local area network (LAN).This can save a lot of money and,because calls can be redirected toany internet connection, it is veryuseful for employees on the road.
VoIP services have advantagesfor the increasingly-popular “dis-tributed company” where employ-ees work from home or are inseveral small offices. VoIP canmake the whole thing look like aconventional structure with allthe PBX features and systems thatwould otherwise be set up withconventional telephone lines,which would be more expensiveand not so flexible.
However, not everything isrosy, since the performance ofVoIP systems depends on the qual-ity of the internet connection. Afew seconds interruption is usual-ly not a problem for a data servicebut can cause serious difficulties
when it comes to voice calls. Inaddition, you have to think care-fully about what happens whenthe power fails. It is taken forgranted that a conventionalphone line just keeps on working,but with VoIP, battery-backed sys-tems will be essential and a lot of
LAN kit will have to be protectedfor voice services.
Then there is the issue of 999calls. A conventional call to theemergency services has higher pri-ority and the networks provideinformation about the location ofthe phone, whether fixed ormobile. Providing higher priority
on the internet is not a trivialmatter, however, and how do youprovide location informationwhen the caller could be any-where in the world? As a result,VoIP network operators are notkeen to support 999 calls.
Ofcom has been looking intoregulation of VoIP services andhas consulted widely. The ques-tion of access to the emergencyservices has been the hottestissue. The conclusions should beavailable soon, although Ofcomhas already indicated that itfavours light regulation.
Some companies will use VoIPconnections to provide extracapacity for an existing PBX, butit’s a good idea to check the priceof the extra gateway equipmentrequired. Anyone thinking ofswitching to VoIP for their phoneservices should think carefullyabout reliability and access to theemergency services.� [email protected]
Approach VoIP with cautionVoice over IP services for teleworkers seem like a good idea in theory, but there are some drawbacks
COMMENT Bill Pechey
“How do you providelocation informationwhen a VoIP phone usercould be calling fromanywhere in the world”
IT WEEK
25NETWORKWEEK4 APRIL 2005
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04 APRIL 2005
APPOINTMENTWEEK26
www.itweek.co.uk
We’re leading the world by example
Application Analyst Team ManagerCirca £70,000 p.a.Drawing on your experience of managing project teams, you’ll be responsible forleading the application analysts, working very closely with the Process DesignManager and other key stakeholders, ensuring a consistent approach and output andensuring delivery against key milestones. You should have a track record of projectmanagement, have successfully implemented health care IT systems in a multi-disciplinary environment and ideally have a clinical background. Ref: NPIT 2148.
Infrastructure ArchitectSMP 2b £56,473 - £62,795 p.a.You will communicate, advise and provide support to the NHS London IT usercommunity on technical infrastructure standards that assure the efficient deliveryof quality IT services to end-users. As a member of the NPfIT London architectureteam, you will interact with our suppliers on NHS Trust infrastructure standardsand the systems architecture for Trust deployed solutions e.g. PACS and documentmanagement. Ref: NPIT 2876.
Project Manager SMP 3a £50,715 - £54,543 p.a.You will support the workstream managers in all aspects of project managementincluding managing the integrated project plan and managing dependent risks andissues. You will work as the programme ‘common decisions’ project manager,managing common issues and decisions that affect the CRS solution. Ref: NPIT 2874.
Business Continuity ManagerSMP 3b, £45,504 - £48,905 p.a.You will ensure that throughout the London Cluster, Business Continuity processesare designed, documented and maintained with Suppliers and the National ServiceManagement Directorate, using the governance of ITIL processes, raising theawareness of Business Continuity to highlight and mitigate the potential risks andbusiness impacts. Ref: NPIT 2875.
Registration Authority ManagerSMP 3b £45,504 - £48,905 p.a.You will ensure that appropriate IT Security frameworks and authenticationservices are established and maintained for handling personal information in aconfidential manner, to quality standards, as part of the London NHS CRS andNational Spine. Ref: NPIT 2872.
Service Management AnalystSMP 3b £45,504 - £48,905 p.a.You will apply ITIL standards to assure Service Management governance ofthe London CRS programme and ensure that Problem, Change, Configuration,Software Asset, and Service Introduction and Release Managementresponsibilities across all the new applications are properly represented withinthe cluster governance structure. Ref: NPIT 2868.
Interface AnalystSMP 3b £45,504 - £48,905 p.a.Responsible for working with suppliers on the planning, analysis, developmentand testing of critical interfaces required by sites during CRS deployment, you willhelp sites plan the work that needs to be undertaken locally, mapping throughinterface engines and working with the legacy suppliers to identify any issueswhich may impede implementation plans. Ref: NPIT 2869.
Data Warehouse ManagerSMP 3b £45,504 - £48,905 p.a.You will lead engagement with the London Cluster Trusts and the CRS supplier toensure that the data warehouse service provides for all the information reportingneeds. You will develop business change management processes to ensure that thedata warehouse is understood and that each organisation has a process in place torealise opportunities and address challenges in the effective use of the CRS datawarehouse. Ref: NPIT 2873.
Testing AnalystSMP 4b £36,755 - £39,435 p.a.You will provide specialist software testing input covering Module, System andIntegration Testing, to ensure the CRS solution meets the agreed programmequality standards. This will include contributing to a wide range of testingactivities, including development and review of guidance, test plans, testscenarios, test cases, problem resolution and delivery of testing services.Ref: NPIT 2871.
Based from the National Programme for IT London offices in W2, all posts areavailable as either a two-year fixed term contract or secondment.
Application forms including the option to apply online are available throughour hosting Health Authority at www.selssp.nhs.uk clicking on ‘NationalProgramme for IT’ and searching by reference number. Alternatively, telephonethe 24-hour recruitment hotline on 020 7717 4072, quoting the appropriatereference number.
Closing date: Midday, 11 April 2005.
We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome
applications from all sections of the community.
All applicants who have a disability and meet the
minimum criteria for the posts will be invited to interview.
Within ten years, patients and NHS staff in England will have access to recent medical historyusing the NHS Care Records Service. Providing patients with direct access to their healthcare information
will give them more control and choice. Connecting GPs, hospitals and community care with up-to-dateinformation also means that patients will receive better care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We’re at the start of this ten-year national initiative. Jump on board in London and help us shape the future.
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27
MANAGEMENTWEEKEDITOR Madeline Bennett LEADERSHIP, LEGISLATION AND CAREERS INFORMATION
Comment Why firms will want video conferencing p28Case study How Cognos’s ReportNet system helpedantivirus vendor F-Secure improve sales reporting p28
JAMES MURRAY
The Work Foundation last weekcriticised the government’s ITstrategy, claiming that mis-
management means the public sec-tor is failing to maximise return oninvestment (ROI) from e-govern-ment projects.
The consultancy company’s find-ings were based on a survey of gov-ernment employees and the public.It concluded that failure to consultfrontline staff, and poor communi-cation with a public that is largelyunaware of e-government services,resulted in a disappointing returnon IT investments.
Ian Cockerill, government prac-tice manager for Europe at AdobeSystems, which sponsored the re-search, said although there havebeen huge investment in public sec-tor IT, most people did not feel thatthey provided the expected returns.
The Work Foundation reportsuggests that poor communicationbetween managers, frontline staffand the public is at the root of the
problem. Alexandra Jones, seniorresearcher at the Work Foundation,cited last year’s delays in recordchecks at the Criminal RecordsBureau as an example of the com-munication gap.
The bureau’s new IT systemswere installed on the understand-ing that over 70 percent of applica-tions would then be made online.However, it found 80 percent ofapplications were still on paper,and this created a backlog. “Thestrategy wasn’t necessarily wrong,but not enough people knew youcould apply online and that therewere incentives to do so,” said Jones.
The report also claimed that thegovernment, and particularly theGershon Review of public sectorefficiency, regarded IT as a panacea,and neglected the need for processchanges. “Too many projects areskipping the business case phaseand seeing technology as an end initself,” commented Jones.
The Work Foundation recom-mended that technology’s role inpublic sector projects should bedetermined earlier. It also saidthere should be more publicity toencourage use of new services, andthat frontline IT staff should beconsulted and given more training.
The report’s findings echo thoseof Socitm, the association for publicsector IT managers. On the launchof its e2Government campaign inFebruary, Socitm claimed the firstwave of e-government projects hadfailed to transform processes.
The latest criticism is a blow tothe government, which last Decem-ber claimed 96 percent of govern-ment services would meet the targetto be online by the end of 2005.
JAMES MURRAY
Microsoft Business Solutions(MBS) will enhance its busi-ness intelligence (BI) capa-
bilities this month with new func-tionality for its Great Plains 8.0business applications suite.
At the heart of the launch is anew BI foundation layer, includingkey performance indicatorsfor MBS Business Portal,SQL Server 2000 ReportingServices Report Packs andSmartList Builder.
The Analysis Cubes forExcel product set, whichMicrosoft acquired fromProfessional Advantage infebruary, will also be inc-luded in the launch.
Gerice Anderson, sen-
ior global product manager forMicrosoft Great Plains, said thatthe extended BI functionality isexpected to ship from mid-April.She added that the new tools wouldhelp businesses to extract datainput into business applications,which would enable them to makebetter business decisions.
The new modules will be fullyintegrated with the GreatPlains suite, so they willnot require existing custo-mers to migrate any data,according to Anderson.
“This is the first fullProject Green release fromGreat Plains,” said Ander-son. “It shows our com-mitment to the existingproduct set while includ-ing greater integration.”
The BI extensions will be accom-panied by the release of Great PlainsExtender – a tool to modify data-entry windows – as well as enhancedintegration capabilities for the Ana-lytical Accounting module.
The announcement completesa busy few weeks for Microsoft’sGreat Plains. MBS last month laun-ched a range of modules with im-proved functionality for charitiesand public sector bodies, as well asfree upgrades for SQL Server Rep-orts and Business Portal 2.5.
Microsoft plans to launch GreatPlains version 8.5 at the end of 2005.
CA acquisitionadds identityaccess optionsMADELINE BENNETT
� Computer Associates hasacquired an identity and accessmanagement system for main-frames, designed to protect firmsagainst security attacks by closingdown obsolete user access codes.
CA announced its purchase ofeTrust Cleanup from data securityvendor InfoSec last week. Thetechnology is designed to identifyand remove out-of-date and rogueaccounts, to prevent unauthorisedaccess to corporate systems.
The tools can also help firmsto manage the demands of priva-cy legislation and auditing regula-tions such as Basel II and the USSarbanes-Oxley Act, whichrequire evidence that corporatedata has not been tampered with.
The acquisition is evidence ofthe firm’s security focus, accordingto Mike Small, CA’s director ofeTrust strategy. “We believe iden-tity and account management isthe cornerstone of security,” hesaid. “Many security vendors havedefined computer security asdefending against hackers andviruses. I’m not saying that’s notimportant, but another pillar ishaving control of who is allowedto access what.”
CA already offers mainframeidentity management systems,and the Cleanup technology willsupport its existing capabilities.
“Nearly all large firms dependupon the mainframe. But as it’smatured people have been givenaccounts that haven’t been re-moved,” said Small. He added thatthe Cleanup product helps firmssafely locate accounts for deletion.
CA was previously resellingthe product as a third-party add-on, but Small said the acquisitionnow gives it complete control overdevelopment of the technology.“We’ve got a vision of an integrat-ed, complete suite for identity andaccess management.”
Report finds e-government faults
Microsoft beefs up itsbusiness intelligence
4 APRIL 2005www.itweek.co.uk
IT WEEK
BI boosts Great Plains� Microsoft is to enhance its Great
Plains business apps suite.� A BI foundation layer will add key
performance indicators for MBSBusiness Portal and reportingservices for SQL Server 2000.
� New tools will help firms extractdata from business applications.
E-government shortcomings
E-projects failing to meetpublic demand for choice
Service Improvements noteffectively communicated
Frontline staff are not beingconsulted about e-projects
Source: The Work Foundation
New modules willboost Great Plains’reporting abilities
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MANAGEMENTWEEK
Do a Google search for “pro-ductivity benefits of video-conferencing” (including
quotation marks) and you’ll findthree entries. So if the voice overIP community has been slow toexplain the productivity benefitsof VoIP, it has been slower still toforesee the coming revolution inPC-based video conferencing.
Yet Manchester BusinessSchool recently found that, of 36UK and Irish firms planning toimplement new technology, nofewer than 24 said they had videoconferencing in mind. The mainbenefits of video conferencing,according to current users, arethat it cuts costs and saves time,particularly in global applications.
But what are the wider busi-ness benefits? Ever since GerardNierenberg and Henry Calero’s Howto Read a Person Like a Book (1971)and Desmond Morris’s Manwatch-ing: A Field Guide to Human Behaviour(1977), the study of body languagehas become a subject of great aca-
demic and popular interest. Yetwhat is not so well known is howCharles Darwin’s The Expression ofEmotions in Man and Animals (1872)revealed that the same facialexpressions are common to humanbeings all over the world.
In a riposte to the racists of hisday, Darwin affirmed humanity’scommon descent and what hecalled “the unity of mankind”. Itis this universal aspect of humanfacial expression that explainssome of the global benefits ofvideo conferencing.
The Japanese or the Chineseare all supposed to look the same,be inscrutable, and hate to “loseface”. But in today’s new phase ofglobalisation, where more andmore of the production of theplanet’s wealth will involve Asia,even a Londoner can recognise, ona screen, when someone from theFar East is angry, joyful, surprised,afraid, distressed or disgusted.
Some psychologists say sixemotional states are the building
blocks of a repertoire of up to 30complex emotions, including irri-tation, exasperation, pride, grati-tude – and of course love. But theproductivity of the human face,both to its owner and its audience,goes further than its expression ofemotions. Working with the voice,a face can also help express the
logic of an argument, and how anargument is being received.
We purse our lips when we con-centrate on doing something. Weopen our mouth when listeningintently. From infancy onward, thesymmetry, asymmetry and anima-tion of the face are powerfulsources of communication. When
the face comes to IT, it will finallyconfirm an old adage – that mostinterpersonal communication isactually conducted at a visual,not an aural level.
On-screen faces will not just bea fun “nice-to-have”. They will dra-matically improve the quality ofcomprehension in business – espe-cially in global business, wheredifferent native tongues remain animpediment to clear and clearlyunderstood global English.
It would be foolish to underes-timate the power of the voice, andthe advent of CD-quality voice callsto mobile phones is certainly a stepforward. But in voice-only telecon-ferencing, distinguishing among,say, eight participants is tough.
Moreover, speech itself will beenormously assisted by the intro-duction of brows, eyebrows, twin-kles, flared nostrils and all that.
People play movies on theirfaces, so faces on screens will becentral to the future of business.� [email protected]
Video conferencing means business COMMENT James Woudhuysen
“Working with thevoice, a face can alsohelp express the logicof an argument, andhow it is being received”
4 APRIL 2005 www.itweek.co.uk
Like many firms, Finland-basedF-Secure, a vendor of antivirusand intrusion-prevention tools,
found it was struggling to managehuge amounts of data stored acrossdisparate systems. To tackle the prob-lem, it decided to look for a flexiblereporting tool that could be usedacross the enterprise.
After looking at several options,the firm chose ReportNet from busi-ness intelligence (BI) tools vendorCognos. One reason for thechoice was that Cognosalready supplied F-Securewith tools – PowerPlay foranalysis; and Decision-Stream to extract data fromSAP and Siebel systems – soit was relatively easy to inte-grate the system with itsother BI software, says EsaMartonen, chief informa-tion officer at F-Secure.
This enabled the first reports to begenerated just a few weeks after F-Secure chose the product.
Previously, F-Secure’s managershad been using a number of applica-tions, including Microsoft Excel andAccess, to track information and pro-duce reports. The absence of a singleunified system meant there wereoften disagreements over whose rep-orts were the most accurate.
“Discussion was not on the cor-rect level – it was difficultto steer the whole ship,”says Martonen. “The mostimportant reason for choos-ing ReportNet software wasthat we all needed to speakthe same language and havea standard reporting tool.”
Martonen says the im-plementation went verysmoothly, partly thanks tothe expertise of a local
Finnish partner with experience ofa range of Cognos products. Thispartner was able to give hands-onadvice to the company and enabledF-Secure to avoid mistakes the part-ner had seen in the past.
“We also trained specialists inusing the product for one or twoweeks, which was helpful as it en-abled a fast rollout,” says Martonen.
Because ReportNet consolidatesall of F-Secure’s sales reportingrequirements in a single system,senior managers now spend moretime productively analysing figuresand improving the business, ratherthan arguing about whether thefigures are correct, says Martonen.
Martonen also praises the speedand usability of the ReportNet sys-tem. Because it is web-based, busi-ness data is available online and inreal time from any location. “It isvery easy now to create reports and
to do it quite quickly,” he says. “Rep-orting is a continuous process andit’s important to be able to respondquickly to changes.”
The new software has also en-abled a specialist business unit toassume all reporting responsibili-ties, where in the past it was thejob of an information systems unit,which also dealt with data integra-tion. Martonen says the informa-tion systems unit can now con-centrate its efforts fully on dataintegration and it has already beenable to collect more data frommore sources as a result.
For the future, F-Secure plansto extend the tools for financialreporting and cost reporting.
Antivirus firm F-Secure needed a unified reporting tool to make it easier and quickerto compile and analyse business data, while at the same time ensuring accuracy
Business intelligence CASE STUDY by Phil Muncaster
Unified reporting aids decision-making
IT WEEK
28
In future business will depend much more heavily on video systems for face-to-face communication
Martonen: Datais available onlineand in real time
Summary� Antivirus vendor F-Secure has
deployed Cognos’s ReportNetsuite as a single, standardisedreporting system for its salesperformance worldwide.
� It says the system makes it easi-er for business users to bring to-gether data from many sourcesto create and amend reports.
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Just do it� Reader Paul Harper has sentin the best nomination so farfor Sneak’s version of Room101, detailing an IT term orpractice fit to be banished tooblivion. “The word ‘para-digm’”, he writes. “For severalreasons, not least because it’sjust a poncy way of saying ‘doit’. ‘Paradigm shift’ = ‘Do it dif-ferently’; ‘Develop a new para-digm’ = ‘We don’t know how todo it yet’; ‘Robust paradigm’ =‘How the boss wants it doneand we ain’t arguing’; ‘Para-digm failure’ = ‘It used to workbut it’s busted and we don’tknow why’; ‘Paradigm imple-mentation’ = ‘I can do it on mynew BlackBerry executivepenis-extension’.” Yes, we allknow where Harper is comingfrom. If you have a pet peeve,just fire up your penis-exten-sion and drop Sneak a note.
Flimsy formula� It arrived a fortnight tooearly, so Sneak assumes thisbonkers press release fromMicrosoft is not an April Fool’sjest: “A London MetropolitanUniversity survey, carried outon behalf of Microsoft, hasfound a precise play of vari-ables is at work in business.Followed in the right ratio, they
should help guarantee suc-cess.” And the formula isS=0.77T+0.51R+0.17P-0.37C-0.2I+4.4, apparently, where theletters stand for success, trust,respect, passion, communica-tion and intelligence. So, toform a perfect relationshipwith, say, Microsoft, Sneakmust up his trust level to 0.77from, well, zero; increaserespect to 0.51 from zero; findsome passion about the firm;communicate a bit; and sup-press 80 percent of his intelli-gence. And then add 4.4...� www.tinyurl.com/3qvfc
Get shorty?� Sneak is a fan of the TinyURLservice, as above, which takeslong URLs and turns them into
something that a sane personmight bother to type, but it’s abit of a lucky dip. You can’t tellthat the link above takes you toa bonkers press release: itmight take you to Sneak’s per-sonal phish pharm. So a warn-ing of the destination wouldhelp. This is what the MakeA-ShorterLink service offers, dis-playing the target URL brieflyto give a chance to opt out.The only problem? Links likehttp://makeashorterlink.com/?A2FC535CA. MakeAShorter-Link seems to have forgottenthat it would help – a lot – if itslinks were actually short.
30
4 APRIL 2005
WEEKENDKEWNEYCOMMENTVoice recognition mayfail chattering classesIs Bill Gates right to be so gung hoabout voice recognition technology?
� I have very bad handwriting. Actually, I’m not sureit qualifies as handwriting. I don’t mean that you’dhave trouble reading it. In fact, you’d probably beable to read it just fine, but you’d never understandhow it could all be written by the same hand. Andthat won’t do for computerised handwriting-recog-nition, which requires some sort of consistency.
So the first sentence of this column, written on afirst-generation Tablet PC device, comes out “Than trybad handwriting” – and that’s a very good example.Mostly, it is worse. And yet I know – because I showmy now-antique ViewSonic Tablet to visitors and askthem to try this feature – that most people are aston-ished how good the handwriting-recognition is.
So it’s hard for me to get a feel for how good thenext-generation Tablet will be at voice recognition.
My sceptical soul says it will be worse than thecurrent one is at handwriting; but I know that BillGates is entranced by the performance of the newspeech chip, which ViewSonic is finalising for thenext generation. Half of me remembers how enthu-siastic Gates has been about some absolute turkeys inthe past. And half looks at my friends, and the hand-writing samples they’ve given me, and the spookilyaccurate transcription, and thinks: “Maybe... justmaybe...” and wonders if there is a rollover this week.
The thing is, we write sentences. We don’t speakthem. And unfortunately, most voice recognitiontests I’ve seen are tests of people reading aloud – frombooks, articles and so on.
That’s not a fair test. Much of the business ofrecognition is context. It’s not just the word: it’s thewords before and after. And in human voice interac-tion (conversations, duh!) much of that context ismissing. “Have you...?” “Erm, no, not... because Dad.But...?” “I was waiting...” “Can’t help that, Betty saidit would be.” “Well, Betty...” Just one ambiguoussequence of syllables in there, andtranscription becomes a lottery.
And so, I don’t feel that thespeech chip won’t work. I’msure ViewSonic and Microsoftare onto a breakthrough. I’mjust sceptical about how usefulit will be. In short, I think mostpeople’s speech-writing match-es my handwriting. You maybe able to see what it lookslike, but you’ll need to be ahuman to understand it.� [email protected]
ITSNEAK Read Sneak’s daily blog at www.itweek.co.uk/sneak
Who would trust a schoolchild with a pencil?There is a danger they would use it to draw ontheir desk and waste time, rather than writeessays or tackle problems of quantum physics,so it’s best not to take the risk.
This is the logic of conclusions drawn fromMunich University’s analysis of computer useby 100,000 15-year-olds in 31 countries. The aca-demics said claims that computer use boostedacademic performance were wrong and hadnot taken into account that people with PCstend to be wealthier with all the advantagesthat brings. They added that distractions suchas games and online chat might explain whymore time spent on computers, leads to lowerperformance in maths and English.
This was welcome news for technophobesin the media. “Children’s learning is hinderedrather than helped by computers,” said a DailyMail report. But almost all missed the point:like pens or paper, computers are just tools thatcan be used well or badly. If the Munich analy-sis is right – a big “if” – it merely suggests thereis poor supervision in schools and homes.
The Munich arguments may be useful ifthey make people look at the quality of educa-tional computing rather than just the amountof time spent at computers. Much of the soft-ware for subjects ranging from languages tomaths is excellent, so it would be a shame if itwere abandoned along with copies of Doom.� [email protected]
LASTWORD
Got a story for Sneak?Confidentiality assuredif requested� [email protected]
“These nice people have analysed the linguistic patterns in youremail and would like you to go with them.”
IT WEEK
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