Security vendors not enthusiastic about government’s super data base

Vendors are sceptical to news that UK government is planning to set up a super data base. They cite governments track record in failing to protect several public data in past. The data base will be logging telephone call, email website visit and SMS made by 60 million UK citizens. Home office is incorporating this in the data communication bill to be announced in November. The large ISPs, which would keep the records for 12 months, and  hand them over for inspection with court’s permission.

The information stored would exclude content of emails and calls. It will only store location and time. Police would be able to use it to analyse communications by and between the suspects.
Jamie Cowper of PGP Corporation, remarks that it is absurd on the part of government to bring in ‘super-data base’ when public has lost confidence in security of data. Instead government should focus on fixing and testing security of existing data base. He has apprehensions that US companies might not trust the governments standards of security.

Chief security architect Chris Mayers of  Citrix UK, also opines that single data base would neither uphold national security nor protect the public.  Centralised data base is not required even as per The Data Retention Directive of the European Union. Public is not likely to benefit any way.  Security experts agree that public has no confidence in the security of data after the loss of 25 million records by HMRC.  But Richard Archdeacon of Symantec sees a sea change in attitudes at the highest levels of government regarding security, and assures that necessary measures are going to be firmly in place.

SugarCRM launches new management console

There is a good news for customers and partners of SugarCRM, the vendor of open-source CRM (Customer Relationship Management). The new version of SugarCRM Data Centre edition will enable the customers to customise instances for business units, while partners will be able to customise  SugarCRM as per users’ requirements and will be free to resell  on demand form. The console creates instance at the click of a button and allows tracking of usage levels and performance for multiple instances.

It is in beta and will be in the market in a few months. Under tentative plans for the partners, it will be priced on basis of number of end users. Enterprises will be charged $100 per user per year.  Ray Wang, an analyst with Forrester Research calls it an interesting move. It provides broader basis for open-source business software plan. He says that this product will be compatible with PHP, ZEND, Linux, MySQL and Thunderbird. This is an attempt to earn credibility from big enterprises. BDO Seidman is the largest user of SugarCRM. It will try to rope in more such customers to expand the elite customer base.
While doing so the bigger challenge will be to keep bulk of those customers happy which own 10 to 20 seats.  SugarCRM, claims it has 3,000 customers in all.

Black Berry updates IT administration software.

Black Berry has demonstrated its new version of IT administration software at user conference held last week. With this update the administrators will be able to fix the servers wherever they are. The software will send e-mail alerts to administrators and enable them to take actions on critical servers such as VMware Microsoft Exchange, Black Berry Enterprise Server and Lotus Notes.

Rove also announced that BlackBerry Bold smart phone will be usable for running client applications.
Version 4.0, introduces a Web interface support for thousands of servers. It will allow storing administration data on a back-end SQL Server database. The company is switching to a new licensing model, from per server to per administrator. It’ will cost US$495 to a user.

Rove Mobile had developed remote access software which facilitated access of mobile devices to the servers. Company has more than 500 customers worldwide, including Google, Wells Fargo, and DHL. Version 3.3 was the last release of Rove Mobile Admin in 2007. PCMobilizr is another handheld application by which individual users can log on to their home PCs and manipulate remotely.

Paul Dumais, of Rove Mobile proudly states that they have provided complete mobility to the administrators. Without going to office or home they can log into network through their Black Berry and resolve any server problem.

Centrica signs £2.1 deal with Fujitsu to halve application costs

Centrica, UK’s large multinational utility company has signed a £2.1 million, 3 years outsourcing deal with Fujitsu UK. Fujitsu UK is known for providing IT services and products across public & private sector industries.

Centrica has planned to cut down application management costs to 50%. Fujitsu will assist Centrica by overhauling certain applications which are currently not cost effective. Billing and customer management system will now be managed by Fujitsu. Centrica will also avail of software maintenance ad support services from Fujitsu.

Centrica and T-systems have already entered into large infrastructure outsourcing deal last year. Capgemini is also assisting it in the implementation of SAP in its business processes. Fujitsu has been providing IT services to Centrica since many years. The deal is an extension of its long IT association.
Under the new contract, Fujitsu will first identify Centrica’s high cost legacy applications and would work to either redesign or replace them to achieve lower running costs.  As part of its programme for cutting down costs, Centrica sold off non-energy business and cut out legacy system, in 2006.

Neil Coop, senior commercial manager, Centrica, acknowledges Fujitsu’s clear understanding of Centrica’s business. He is quite appreciative of Fujitsu’s extensive skills in application management and development and is confident that Centrica will be the biggest beneficiary.

Mozilla rolls out first overhaul of Firefox 3.0

Mozilla is on track on its plan for major overhaul. It took the first step in this direction by rolling out release candidate for Firefox3.0  The Firefox Release Candidate 1 (RC1) arrived much ahead of schedule. Till last Saturday, Mozilla’s chief engineer was unsure whether it will launch the build late in May this year. RC1’s codes were already locked by the company.

Firefox RC1 can now be downloaded from Mozilla’s servers. Users who are running the final beta edition Firefox Beta 5, are being provided with Firefox RC1 as an update.  Mozilla’s interface designer, Mike Beltzner did not refrain from issuing warning to the casual users. He clarified that Firefox 3 Release Candidate is a preview release which is aimed at getting user feed back and is intended for testing by the developers. He was addressing Mozilla’s developer centre blog.

Beltzner highlighted induction of user interface changes, compatibility fixes, stability and various performance improvements in RC1. The RC1 note informed users that they might come across some add-ons which would not work with the candidate. Firefox 3 will most likely be shipped in June, 2008.
As per data from Net Applications, Firefox accounts for 17.7% of market share in the browser market. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer commands the highest share of 74.8 percent, while Apple Safari has 5.8 % share in the market.

Becta steps up fight against Microsoft

Becta a renowned educational technology agency of UK is fighting against Microsoft. It had delivered the first blow when it complained to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) about Microsoft’s anti competitive practices. The agency, at British Education Training Technology (BETT) show had recommended schools and colleges to read its report on Microsoft Vista and Office, before making any investments.

Becta has further stepped up its Microsoft fight and referred its concerns over interoperability to the European Commission (EC).  It has submitted interoperability complaint and evidence to European Commission which had already initiated investigations on Microsoft’s approach.

The Commission is going to investigate various concerns. Microsoft’s investigation will take in a number of concerns, including whether Microsoft’s new Office Open XML will also be subject to investigation for sufficient interoperability with competitors’ products. According to Becta, its complaint about School Agreement licensing model will remain with OFT for consideration.

Dr Stephen Lucey, Becta’s executive director of strategic technologies opines that by creating barriers to effective interoperability, not only the interests of competitors and markets get damaged; teachers, learners and training organisations’ interests also suffer badly. He welcomed Commission’s decision to conduct wide ranging investigation.

UK computing students are blank on security

A report by the Government funded Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (CSKTN) points out that UK computing students get no education on software security even at the basic level. UK computing students supposed to design and develop new software applications, are not taught how to incorporate security functionality. The report is very much shocking.

This pathetic revelation came to light when CSKTN scrutinised 75 UK universities for their web material.
Bill Whyte, author of the report and himself a security  consultant was surprised to find that only 20% of UK computing graduates get just 5 hours’ of education on software security and there are many who get no education at all.

Security is one of the most important requirements of computing market. Without software security, computing markets stand exposed to threats of financial losses. It is therefore essential that large percentage of software designers and developers be   educated on security. Knowledge on software security should be made compulsory element of the software design and development curriculum.  CSKTN director Nigel Jones believes that security is not getting priority in UK’s IT software development list. This is a pathetic situation and needs serious and urgent action on the part of Government and Universities.

Patients care records getting delayed by 4 years

A report released by National Audit Office (NAO) today, says that some parts of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) scheme are getting delayed, though other parts are on schedule. The infrastructure of the programme has been already deployed as per schedule. PACS digital x-ray scheme, Choose and Book appointment booking and electronic prescription services are also completed on schedule.. schemes also have been completed

But the largest part of programme, called Summary Care Records scheme is very much behind schedule. The scheme would not be deployed before 2014, resulting in inordinate delay of 4 years.  Tim Burr, head of NAO feels that the agency Connecting for Health, which is running the scheme, will have to assign top priority to deployment of scheme. The scale of work involved in delivering the NPfIT was highly underestimated. Developing and deploying these systems at the earliest would be the first priority.

Failure of on part of iSoft, to supply Lorenzo patient software is the major cause for delay. Problems with Millenium patient software, being supplied by Cerner, are aggravating the situation. As an interim measure, existing care records systems have been upgraded by the local service providers to fill the gap. A review of all aspects of data security is under way. and the scheme has also been hampered by security concerns.

Strategic Health Authorities are conducting a detailed review of all aspects of data security across their parts of the NHS. A report on the Summary Care Records system by University College London recommended modifications in the consent model, which is welcomed by the British Medical Association. The modification suggestion is under consideration of Connecting for Health.

IT professionals expecting bigger hike in pay

IT industry is plagued with a peculiar problem. Its employees want higher pays and yet leave the company after getting it. Staff turnover is costing big money to the employers. A recent survey by a recruitment group reveals that professionals’ expectation of raise in salary this year is 4.5%. It was 3.7% the previous year.

Average salary drawn by a permanent employee is £35,160. Average bonus received was £5,015 last year.
But despite offering handsome salary and bonus, employers are facing a grim situation. The staff loyalty is very much missing. Employers are losing both money and the employee.  70 per cent of IT staff expects a pay rise within one year and 90 per cent voluntarily switch jobs within three years. It is reported that 87% of the professionals are currently in search of a job change. They do not spend more than average four years in a role.

The process of recruitment is not short. It takes 8.7 weeks to get the replacement of an IT professional. Companies lose another 6 weeks in their familiarisation of organization and work.  Though the loyalty of professionals with their employers is so weak, their faith in IT is very strong. A survey report indicates 75% of IT professionals will recommend a career in IT to their children.

Dixons plan £50m cost saving with IT overhaul

Axe is set to fall on Dixons staff as DGS international, the owners of Dixons, Digital and PC World stores are going to announce closure of stores. Prevailing systems of operations are so complex that management is compelled to undertake drastic measures to accomplish cost saving of minimum £50 million this year. It proposes to achieve the target by overhauling IT, removing excess staff and introducing efficient processes.

The group will use a common operating model and simplify decision making process. It admitted that complex processes and IT systems have resulted in poor sales. While details of action plan are being worked out, lay off of 400 staff from head office and supply chain is certain. More than 75 stores are also heading for closure. While it is aiming to improve supply chain visibility, IT development costs are being slashed to achieve savings.
Analysing the causes for significant drop in sales, which is the indicator of customer dissatisfaction, John Browett, newly appointed chief executive, admitted  that Dixons did not keep pace with the changing needs of the customer. He is however confident that its new radical plans and IT overhaul will transform their business in next three years. The company is also improving its operations in other countries and intends targeting higher sales through internet.

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