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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Reaching cloud nine

We are constantly told that cloud computing offers all sorts of benefits, not least the financial savings through using on-demand, pay-as-you-go applications and services. Peter Bauer, CEO of Mimecast presents a practical how-to guide to selecting the right partner in the cloud.

Over the past year, cloud computing has dominated IT discussions around the country, and rightly so. It offers significant advantages to businesses, especially as resources become more constrained and IT departments struggle to add business value while maintaining all their existing infrastructures. However, care must be taken as not all cloud-based services are created equal. Service delivery models vary greatly from hosted providers that replicate fragmented on-site technologies to sophisticated architectures; and benefits vary greatly too.

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ITIL in the era of the cloud

The world has experienced a major change with the economic downturn and people are searching for solutions that offer better value with reduced cost and less risk. As organisations change their business models and ways of working, cloud computing services may seem attractive. Shirley Lacy reports.

As with all fundamental changes in approach, the move to the cloud will depend on how individuals and organisations adapt their thinking to the new opportunities and ways of working. ITIL provides best practices and models for managing services in the era of the cloud that will help people and organisations to adapt accordingly. It also covers shared services, utility computing, web services and mobile commerce.

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The green advantage

New legislation is forcing many larger companies to look more carefully at their energy usage. Yet as Murray Sherwood, managing director of green IT specialist Externus explains, a well-implemented green IT strategy can help to drive cost savings as well as enhancing green credentials.

Most businesses implement a green IT plan primarily in order to save cost, with legislation also driving the requirement for change. Like any other business investment, the bottom line is that if it does not save money, the company will struggle to justify it.

In the last couple of months, green IT has once again come under the spotlight because of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) legislation that came into force on 1 April. This will start to have a real effect on businesses next year because at the moment, it is still in the measurement phase.

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Growing your own talent

Organisations that have the right skilled people in the right place at the right time tend to prosper. Some IT organisations are in a vicious circle: never enough time to do the job properly, never enough time to invest in skills development, never enough time to get better. Ron McLaren* says it’s time to grow your own talent.

e-Skills UK – the Sector Skills Council for IT – reports that “Despite the recession and a reduction in advertised vacancies, a lack of applicants for technology posts with the required skills, qualifications or experience is still a problem for many employers.” They go on to say that “110,500 new people will need to be brought in to the technology professional workforce every year until 2013.”   In that sort of climate it’s important to grow your own talent!

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