silicon.com : Special Reports

Exclusive: Jimmy Wales on what's next for Wikipedia

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:37:01 GMT

In an exclusive interview, Wikipedia founder and silicon.com Agenda Setter Jimmy Wales talks to Natasha Lomas about what's next for Wikipedia and why the site needs geeks of all kinds.

If you've ever written something about Jimmy Wales and posted it online, chances are he's read it. He mentions a Twitter post I made, prior to our interview, asking whether people think he's a hero or villain.

Green IT: Thrifty CIOs should make it a priority

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:58:01 GMT

It's no surprise that for some companies green initiatives are dropping down the list of IT priorities. In a recent silicon.com survey, more than a quarter of respondents admitted green IT was off the agenda because of the recession.

But many organisations have found the key is to align green goals with broader cost-cutting initiatives - which are definitely in vogue with CIOs and CFOs. In some cases government policies are already giving businesses a shove in the right direction. For example, in July 2008, the UK government informed 10,000 businesses that they could be affected by the Carbon Reduction Commitment - a climate change and energy-saving scheme that will take effect in 2010.

Server virtualisation: Why CIOs should start small but think big

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:19:01 GMT

It might not currently be as widespread as industry hype might have it - but server virtualisation is poised to grow rapidly as smaller businesses catch on to the benefits.

Server virtualisation allows multiple instances of an operating system to run simultaneously within one physical server, cutting the amount of hardware organisations have to buy and manage. And because fewer physical servers are required, virtualisation also helps to cut energy costs: no small thing for CIOs and CFOs after a recent study found that, thanks to rocketing energy prices, it now costs more to power some servers than to buy them in the first place.

The top 10 technologies you need to plan for next year

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:46:02 GMT

2009 may not be over yet but analysts have already revealed the top 10 strategic techs that CIOs should be looking at next year.

According to Gartner, the 10 strategic technologies will have an impact on the enterprise over the next three years, with IT chiefs encouraged to make decisions on them within the next two.

Keeping IT green in tough times

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:02 GMT

It's never been easy being green, especially when it comes to electricity-hungry IT infrastructure.

And in the midst of a recession, with cost cutting a priority, it's easy to let slide worthy targets such as becoming carbon neutral - especially if the choice is between a project to shrink the carbon footprint of IT and one that could ensure the company makes a profit in these difficult times.

Cost conscious CIOs: Unified comms' biggest fans

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:55:01 GMT

Unified communications (UC) implementations bring together a variety of digital communication tools to make it easier for users to collaborate and improve business processes.

For example it might mean bringing together instant messaging, presence information, video conferencing, as well as email, SMS, fax and voicemail to improve productivity, and potentially trim the cost of an organisations' IT infrastructure.

Virtualisation: How to get real benefits from your virtual investment

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:01:01 GMT

The mighty twin combination of cost-cutting (driven by the recession) and a desire to reduce IT power consumption (to tackle climate change) means virtualisation has become one of the hottest topics for the IT community, with a whole raft of associated terms such as bare metal hypervisors, virtual machines, and utilisation rates becoming standard parts of the vocabulary of the average CIO.

Virtualisation, is essentially about cutting the connection between the operating system and the underlying hardware it operates on.

Avatars made to wear a suit to work as the style police arrive

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:37:01 GMT

While workers might create outlandish avatars to escape the restraints and monotony of their everyday lives, this may soon become a thing of the past as they are forced to dress their avatars appropriately for work and adhere to a code of conduct within 3D virtual environments.

An avatar is a virtual representation of the computer user, and can consist of anything from a two-dimensional icon to an animated 3D figure. And businesses are increasingly experimenting with virtual worlds - such as Second Life - to cut costs by conducting meetings online.

Who are the silicon.com Agenda Setters top 50?

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:09:01 GMT

Revealed - the silicon.com 2009 Agenda Setters list. Find out who are the movers and shakers who make the global tech industry tick. Who has the upper hand - the business leaders, the CIOs or the entrepreneurs? It's all here in our exclusive tenth annual poll.

Exclusive: Steve Jobs tops list of most influential people in tech

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:54:02 GMT

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been named the most influential individual in the global technology industry, topping the silicon.com 2009 Agenda Setter's list.

Jobs has made pole position on the list for the second time (the first time being in 2003) - the only person to have achieved this feat in the 10-year history of the list.

Who chose the 2009 Agenda Setters?

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:53:01 GMT

Steve Ranger, silicon.com editor and panel chair Steve Ranger is responsible for the overall content on silicon.com spanning news, analysis and special coverage. An editor at silicon.com for more than four years, he has a decade of experience in technology journalism. Areas of expertise include the public sector, offshoring, security and web 2.0.

Simon Briskman, lawyer Simon Briskman specialises in outsourcing and IT law at Field Fisher Waterhouse and has considerable commercial in-house experience, having spent three years with Fujitsu Services. His work covers an assortment of sectors, including telecoms, financial services and retail, and his clients range from start-ups to some of the world's biggest names.

Photos: Inside the RSA cybercrime war room

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:14:02 GMT

At RSA's Anti-Fraud Command Centre (AFCC) in Herzelia, Israel, more than 100 staff work to detect, dissect and block phishing sites and Trojan attacks 24 hours per day.

From the AFCC, the security firm sifts through more than 10 million emails every day, as well as domain names and fraudster chat rooms, searching for threats to its customers, which include a selection of Britain's high street banks.

Who will hold the offshoring crown in 2020?

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:29:02 GMT

Noshir Kaka is a director in the Mumbai office of analyst house McKinsey & Company. In an exclusive interview, silicon.com reporter Nick Heath spoke to Kaka about his forthcoming report on how India's 50 per cent share of the global offshore technology and business services market could slip away by 2020.

To view the full article Strengthening India's offshoring industry, just published on McKinsey Quarterly, click here.

Photos: UK's ID card revealed

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:03:01 GMT

This is the first glimpse at what the British ID card will look like.

The design for the British cards was unveiled by Home Secretary Alan Johnson at events in London and Manchester today.

CIOs on the joys of working in IT

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:21:01 GMT

Despite the stresses and strains of working in IT, it remains a challenging and rewarding career.

At this year's exclusive silicon.com CIO50 event, IT chiefs discuss what they love about their jobs and what makes them get up in the morning.

Revealed: £12.4m cost of pilots' ID cards project

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:00:02 GMT

The government has spent millions of pounds on a project to provide airport staff with ID cards - despite doubts over whether any workers will actually take part in the scheme.

According to the Identity and Passport Service's (IPS) annual accounts, published earlier this week, £12.4m was spent on the Critical Workers Identity Card (CWIC) scheme last year.

Do small businesses need BI?

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:06:02 GMT

Is business intelligence too much bother for smaller organisations? Danny Bradbury looks at how analytics can work for all sizes.

When your business costs nine pounds per minute to run, it is imperative that you maximise your revenues. Luckily, David Wilkinson, the IT director at York Minster, is also the assistant to the chief accountant, so he understands how technology can help managers to find potential improvement in the business.

Work-for-free techies help save British Airways £2m

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:12:02 GMT

IT staff at British Airways (BA) have saved the company more than £2m by working for free or taking unpaid leave amid forecasts of a slump in airline IT spend this year.

Techies were credited by BA CEO Willie Walsh for being among the 7,000 of BA's 40,000 staff who cut back on hours or pay to help the company through the credit crunch.

Q: What's one broadcaster's most important IT investment in years?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:47:01 GMT

The shift to digital and on-demand content has not been kind to traditional media business models. So how can media companies ensure their survival in this ever so demanding digital world?

Business intelligence could well be the order of the day.

PayPal techies hit fraudsters where it hurts

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:31:02 GMT

Levels of fraud have fallen at online payment provider PayPal thanks to cybercrime detection and prevention technologies.

Fraudulent transactions accounted for 0.28 per cent of the value of all payments using PayPal in 2008, down from 0.3 per cent in 2007, according to Garreth Griffith, head of risk management for PayPal UK.

Ask the Experts: Should you invest in business intelligence?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:30:00 GMT

silicon.com experts weigh in on whether analytics can help businesses weather turbulent economic times.

Q: How helpful are business intelligence tools to the bottom line? Would you consider them a key investment during a recession?

Parliamentary tech boss backs call for £1bn IT fund

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:01:01 GMT

The leader of Parliament's IT committee has backed a consortium calling for a £1bn fund to stimulate investment in green tech and shared services.

MP Andrew Miller, chairman of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee (Pitcom), supported calls for the government to establish the fund, which would be used to loan money to central and local government organisations.

Top 10 tips to make better use of business intelligence

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:46:01 GMT

Business intelligence is getting a lot of attention amid the economic downturn as organisations try to use data they gather to become more efficient and compete more effectively with rivals.

With this in mind, silicon.com has picked the brains of analysts specialising in BI to come up with some top tips about how you can make the most out of this growing area.

Business intelligence: The next best thing to a crystal ball?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:39:02 GMT

Amid the difficulties the economic crisis inflicted on the computing industry, there's also been a silver lining: business intelligence software that's designed to help companies understand what's going on and make more informed decisions.

BI software certainly hasn't been immune to the spending clampdown on corporate computing. And it's not technologically flawless but the technology is helping those who have taken the BI plunge to adjust to today's new business realities.

Can BI get your business back in the black?

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Business intelligence is often touted as a way to boost profits. But how? Here Jesper Thorlund explains his innovative technique of turning lost trades into future deals.

Let's begin with a real life example that I observed as a BI consultant a few years ago.