The consumerisation of IT

Responding to the growing trend for users to bring web enabled gadgets such as laptops, smart phones and iPads into the workplace, an independent technology solutions provider is encouraging companies to accelerate their discussions around this issue as a matter of urgency. With instant messaging and social networking fast becoming a staple of 21st Century office culture, SCC believes that firms need to actively explore their options without delay, to avoid any potential pitfalls.

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Survey reveals vast scale of cloud hacking

An in-depth survey carried out amongst 100 of the elite IT professionals attending this year’s DEF CON 2010 hacker conference in Las Vegas recently revealed that hackers view the cloud as having a silver lining for them. 

An overwhelming 96 percent of the respondents to Fortify Software’s poll at this year’s DEF CON 2010 hacker conference said they believed the cloud would open up more hacking opportunities for them. This is being driven, says Barmak Meftah, chief products officer with Fortify specialist, by the belief that cloud vendors are not doing enough to address the security issues of their services. … Continue Reading

Poor results for IT in this year’s exams

With the release of this year’s GCSE and A level results, the IT industry is calling for a greater emphasis on IT in general and IT security in particular. 

This year’s A level results show that the number of students studying ICT and computing courses is down for the sixth year running, despite there being an overall skills shortage across the UK of skilled IT professionals. Davin Yap CEO of software company comments: “If this worrying trend continues we won’t have any choice but to look oversees to fill the shortfall. … Continue Reading

Focus on the future

Announced in the last issue of VitAL, The VitAL Focus Groups which take place on 21st June 2011 at the Park Inn Hotel, Heathrow, will aim to focus on key strategies to help IT professionals through the tough economic times ahead.

“The real theme of our time seems to be ‘doing more with less’ and clearly IT is the key to this process. The VitAL Focus Groups aim to equip its delegates with the tools to cut costs while improving their service levels,” comments VitAL editor Matt Bailey. “While June 2011 is nearly a year away, I suspect we can safely assume that the economic situation, while unpredictably fluid and dynamic in many respects, will still be forcing companies to drive out cost.”

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Cost cutting is top of the agenda for CIOs

In a survey of 250 chief information officers and IT professionals in organisations of 1,000 employees or more, 43 percent of British IT leaders said that reducing expenditure would be their top priority for the next three years, compared to 26 percent of their peers in the US, and just 17 percent in Germany. The research also showed that 50 percent have had their IT budgets cut for the current year (the same as the global average), despite the UK’s economy officially emerging from recession in January. The survey focused on recipients in global companies based in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany across the verticals of financial services, healthcare, retail and the public sector.

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