Outsourcing – your views

Today I thought I would ask my readers about what they thought about outsourcing. As outsourcing is increasing, especially within western countries, I believe it is important to find out your views on the matter.

Do you believe that outsourcing is worthwhile for the companies? Do you think that quality is jeopardised from outsourcing work to other companies? In my personal opinion I believe that outsourcing is extremely effective. It allows you to bring industry experts into your organisation who will know what they are doing and be able to do the job efficiently and effectively. It means that you do not need to employ people and train them to a level whereby they are competent to carry out a job. On most occasions it also works out to be far more cost effective.

Here at BACK consulting we specialise in Legal technology, Information Management systems, technology audits and websites. Why not try contacting us and see if you can outsource some of your work to us.

Risk Management – Are you planning for the worst

Risk management is an important aspect of any business and it is important to ensure that a business has a plan in place in the case of something happening to their IT system. Do you know what the risk management plan is at your firm?

An excellent example for the need of a risk management plan is the incident that recently occurred at the Swanwick Air Traffic Control Centre. Many flights were delayed and some were even cancelled because of the problem that occurred with there IT system. There was a failure in the link between the centre and other air traffic control systems. Some of Britains biggest airlines were caught up in the frenzy including Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton. Luckily Swanwick had a plan in place which meant that some flights were still able to continue with there journeys. Air traffic controllers had to revert back to manual ways to ensure that the skys above were safe. This is a perfect example which clearly emphasises the need for a risk management plan to be put in place no matter what type of organisation you are part of.

BACK consulting can help you with your risk management and ensure that even if something goes wrong with your IT system you will still be able to function.

Building the next generation IT department

Outsourcing has become more popular over recent years as organisations look to become more efficient and use the skills of experts in the industry instead of training people to carry out a particular role. Has your organisation in the past few years chosen to outsource more?

Changing the skills of an IT department is a top priority and directors should not hold back from the fact that IT outsourcing will happen. Many IT departments have recognised this and have remodelled the skills of staff inside to make the most of the staff on the outside. This involves developing more business, commercial, contractual and people management skills alongside more strategically minded technical people.

The pressure for IT departments to outsource has increased dramatically over the past few years. According the analysts at Gartner, the value of IT outsourcing contracts in Western Europe will be worth 228 billon Euros by 2011. Between 2002 and 2006 it increased by 1.5% a year and yearly increases of 5.6% are expected between 2006 and 2011. Therefore, IT departments are going to have to face up to the fact that they could well end up outsourcing some work in the future and should be prepared for this so that they can be as most efficient as possible.

Project Management in demand throughout organisations

A survey carried out by training company Parity, has found that 64% of companies have expressed that project management is the skill that is in most demand within their organisation.

The survey found that 75% of companies will be investing in project and programme management training for employees in the next year. The survey questioned 225 IT professionals at 50 of the UK’s largest companies which revealed that 66% said that they were too busy to do as much training as they should or would like to do.

A spokesman from Parity said that there was a clear demand among IT staff to develop and accelerate their learning in areas that are important to the success of a business.

There is no reason that staff should not develop their learning especially as there is a desire by professionals to learn and the training courses are available for employees to go on. Therefore there needs to be changes to contracts and workload schedules to enable people to carry out training.

If you are a company that need management of a project then give BACK consulting a ring. We will be able to guide you in the right direction and get you on your way.

Data Loss: How to try minimise risk, liability and the loss of reputation

There is a growing awareness among various regulators and the general public of data security issues. In the past couple of years there have been several cases whereby vast amounts of public data has been misplaced or lost and very regularly found by general members of the public. This comes as a great concern as would be expected. If we trust organisations to keep our private information then they should respect this and ensure all data is securely stored. Many organisations have faced substantial fines because of there behaviour with private information.

A study carried out by Poneman found that 37% of respondents said that they terminated their relationship with organisations because they had received a notification to say that there was a breach in their data security.

There are various basic steps which can be taken by organisations to try and avoid such incidents occurring. There should be human and operational controls in place to ensure staff are fully trained and know what they are doing. This is especially the case if third party companies are dealing with private information. Technical measures should be put in place such as audit trails to track information and ensure that contractual requirements are being met. Firewalls and encryption and access control should be put in place to ensure that private information does not get in the wrong hands. Organisations should also ensure they have plans in place in case there is a loss of private information. If the press gets a hold of the news that an organisation has lost private data than there reputation could be wiped out. Therefore organisations should know how to deal with such events to try and limit the damage as much as possible.

Half of all firms expected to freeze their IT budgets next year

Analyst, Datamonitor say that half of all organisations will freeze their IT budget next year. The survey was carried out against 8,130 IT decision-makers at organisations worldwide.

The report revealed that many organisations are looking to cut back on IT expenditure in 2009. The only exception is the healthcare sector which is planning to increase its spending on IT in 2009.

The report has pointed out that this is not solely down to the economic downturn and has been apparent that this would happen for the past couple of years. Organisations are changing there approach and are becoming far more wary of the global economy and considering this a great deal more when deciding on whether to invest in IT.

More than 50% of the respondents said they expect to keep their IT budgets the same in 2009, with 13% of respondents suggesting that they would see a cut in there IT expenditure in 2009. 37% of respondents suggested that they would still anticipate having their IT budgets increased in 2009.

Retail and manufacturing industries are being hit the hardest because of increased interest rates and a fall in consumer demand as people look to make savings wherever possible. The healthcare industry is looking at increasing expenditure with 57% of respondents suggesting that there budgets would rise in the next year.

Meltdown in Finanacial services expected to effect IT spending

Reports today have suggested that the meltdown in the Finance sector, the sector that spends most in IT, will reshape the IT industry. It is believed that the current crisis will have an effect on both IT professionals and IT suppliers that deal with the sector both directly and indirectly.

As the financial institutes cuts its budget, IT suppliers will be met with a fall in their revenues and an increasing pressure to deliver for efficient systems as IT departments look for higher returns on their investment.

According to a report by Gartner it is anticipated that the Financial sector across Europe will spend £74bn this year on external IT this year. However, Financial services analyst firm Towergroup has suggested that there will be a dramatic drop in technology spending across the industry as the top spenders either exit the business or reduce their overall comitments to IT investments as a whole. With so many conflicting reports it is hard to believe what will and wont happen. It seems that it simply will be time that tells the story. What are your views on the issue and are you someone that works in an IT department for one of these firms? Let us know your thoughts.

CIOs’ information desert

Thirty years after computers became mainstream it is nerving that software projects still come in over budget and late because of CIOs inability to manage to IT projects says Tod Nielsen, Borland’s CEO.

It is important to improve a CIOs ability to manage an IT project to try and combat the issue of projects going over budget and in some cases being many months late. CIOs are able to see dashboards that show the status of the company and how they are progressing. This dashboard covers all departments expect for IT departments. Instead IT departments simply use a traffic light system which is usually only measured by red and green. Whenever there is a problem the project goes into red on a graph which they measure progress. However, shouldn’t there be a stage in the middle? If there was a progressive sliding slop this would enable project to be managed more effectively and more importantly would help keep projects on time and to budget. If you need any help with managing projects efficiently why not give BACK a call. Our warm and friendly team can be with you from start to end.

Is your system secure?

Today I thought I would ask the question – Is your system secure? There are many hackers out there who are continuously trying to hack into systems. Does your system have up-to-date anti virus software? Well it is important that all precautions are taken to ensure you have an anti-virus program installed and that you ensure it is fully functional and up-to-date. This will give you the best chance of stopping any new viruses effecting your computer.

Have you recently had a technology audit carried out to ensure that your system including your server is safe and secure. Is your server in the correct environment? Do you ensure backups are taken in case there is a problem? Do you have a disaster recovery plan? Let me know your answers to this.

If you need any help or would like some guidance with your system security please free to contact BACK consulting at any time. We are always happy to assist with your enquiries.

Despite rough times IT expenditure to grow

Many IT analysts have said that they believe IT spending will grow despite the troubles of many high profile financial institutions like AIG and Lehman Brothers expressing recession fears.

Traditionally, financial institutes have been some of the biggest drivers in the IT industry, as many major banks and insurance firms spend billons of pounds a year to maintain and upgrade their IT infrastructure.

This may scare a lot of technology vendors as they see the demise of the financial market fall before them with the likes of Lehman Brothers declaring bankruptcy and AIG scrambling to secure billions of pounds of capital.

However, many analysts have said that it will not lead to the fall in the IT industry. Gartner research has found that spending in 2009 may slow down but it will not fall into negative growth. Although the financial market appears to be in ruins companies still need to upgrade and maintain their IT to stay competitive within the market and therefore it is believed that they will continue to spend. Even Lehman Brothers as they were falling into bankruptcy were still spending on IT.

However, there are concerns that IT workers in the finance industry will see redundancies as mergers and further possible bankruptcies take place.

Security patch may not be compatible with some applications

One of the security patches that Microsoft released last Tuesday in their monthly patch Tuesday may not be compatible with some applications. The applications are closely integrated with the Microsoft windows operating system.

ChangeBASE, who are an application testing company say that the security update MS08-052, which is designed to tackle security vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows GDI+, may struggle to work properly with a variety of applications.

Some of the applications which could be affected are: Microsoft Messenger, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Microsoft Digital Image.

The security update is part of a DLL file which is part of the graphics library for Windows XP. A number of applications contain this file in their routine installation routine, which could lead to compatibility issues when these particular applications are deployed.

Microsoft should be trying to finding a solution to this problem and I will keep you updated of any further progress.

Workplace monitoring: Risk and Reward

Workplace monitoring is a very debatable topic which is heavily discussed on a regular basis. With the looming recession workplace monitoring can be seen as more important than ever with industrial spies trying to gain a competitive advantage.

Technology is being more heavily used within organisations systems to try and combat any improper conduct and activities carried out by employees during such a critical financial time for businesses.

A recent example of where this technology has been in place and has worked is within Marks & Spencer’s where they were able to uncover the activities of the Whistleblower by reading his emails to the Times Newspaper. As managers become more paranoid about losing their competitive advantage or their company assets being exploited they will further use technology to try and combat this.

However, when you put the coin on the other side there is a great debate as to whether this monitoring of employees is actually intruding an individuals civil liberties. Is it fair that employees are constantly being watched? Shouldn’t staff be trusted? Don’t individuals have a right to some privacy? It is a great debate that has many different points of view. Let us know your views about the increased use of monitoring in the workplace.

Outsourcing used to beat downturn

A key trend for 2009 is expected to be the rise in outsourcing to try to react from increased financial pressure which is being caused by the economic downturn.

This trend would tend to support research by Forrester Research which has revealed the true extent of the economic downturn on IT departments and their budgets.

As a result of the downturn the report claimed that 43% of companies have already increased their infrastructure outsourcing. A similar number of companies said that they would also move their work offshore to try and save money.

As companies are needing to cut costs 14% of firms have said that they have increased there usage of offshore services. Although 22% of firms are not actively using offshore services they are tracking developments and are considering the benefits that they can gain from using them.

However, the research also outlined some of the disadvantages associated with using offshore services. A lot of firms questioned the quality of the work that would be done and other companies stated that it did not save them as much money as they at first thought. However, with the effects of the economic downturn companies will look to outsource some of their work to try and save money.

Microsoft plans 4 critical security bulletins for patch Tuesday

Microsoft has planned 4 security bulletins for there monthly patch Tuesday. These bulletins have been labelled as critical which is Microsoft’s highest classification. The security fixes address remote execution vulnerabilities in Windows media player, the Windows operating system and other Microsoft products.

Though this is one of the quieter patch Tuesdays of the year in terms of the number of bulletins – in August there was 11 – nevertheless they are important and should be downloaded to help protect you and your firms pc’s.

So as soon as they become available today spend 5 minutes updating your pc to keep you protected.

Massive launch to recall Sony Vaio

Sony is recalling around 438,000 Vaio TZ series notebooks worldwide that may overheat and cause burns. The problem is cause by irregularly positioned wires near the computers hinge and/or dislodged screw that can cause a short circuit and overheating.

The problem effects the Sony Vaio VGN-TZ100/200/300 and 2000 series. Any of these laptops bought between July 2007 and August 2008 for between £850 and £2000.

Sony has received 15 reports of overheating and 1 person has suffered a minor burn because of the laptop. The company has said it would inspect and repair laptops if needed.

The launch of Google Chrome

Google has now seen its Beta version of Google Chrome launched to over 100 countries. Google Chrome is a new web browser which aims to compete with the likes of Internet Explorer.

Chrome was designed to be stable, fast and clear and present a real challenge to Microsoft. Google explained how they didn’t just want a browser but wanted a modern platform for applications and webpages.

Google Chrome is based on several open source projects including components of Apples web kit and Mozillas Firefox.

Chrome is far from being fully complete but they wanted to release a Beta version to get the opinion of the open source community.

A lot of critics have suggested that it won’t compete with the likes of Firefox or IE8 just yet, but in time Google could become a major factor in the web browser platform.

Computer fault at Heathrow disrupts thousands

A computer fault in Heathrow’s terminal 3 yesterday caused problems for thousands as passengers were left stranded.

The glitch, which affected mostly long haul flights lead to 2 flights being cancelled, other delayed and thousands of bags not being loaded onto planes.

Around 3,000 passengers boarded flights not being aware that their baggage was not on board. Today there is the task of trying to reunite passengers with their luggage.

The terminal has two networks, a legacy one and a new one which has recently been adopted. It is believed that someone plugged something in to both networks and there was a conflict between the two leading to the fault occurring.

The problem in Terminal 3 has been fixed over night and everything is operational once again.

Microsoft looks to reduce piracy copies of XP

As times get harder it seems that even Microsoft are trying to find ways of weathering the storm. They have recently stepped up their efforts to stop piracy of their Windows XP operating System. Using their Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) anti-piracy software they are trying to reduce the number of people using pirated copies of XP. Microsoft believe XP Professional is the most pirated edition of XP and want to try and combat this.

Updates of Microsoft’s WGA software means that they have an improved chance of detecting stolen or fake product keys. If a pirated copy of XP is found a black screen will appear on the users computer every hour to encourage them to purchase a real license key. WGA will also display a persistent desktop message over the user’s system tray and until they purchase a real license key.

However, in the past it was found that Microsoft’s WGA software was picking up legitimate license key holders software and deeming it as a fake or stolen. This led to lawsuits been taken out against Microsoft because of these issues. It will certainly be interesting to see if their new WGA software will in fact be more accurate.