IT NEWS
Gartner: IT leaders must prepare for bumpy economy
Analyst warns
that a tightening economy could change the growth rate of the IT
industry in
IT leaders must prepare for changed business priorities with a
harsher economic climate ahead, Gartner's head of global research
Peter Sondergaard has warned. "We see the potential for troubled
times ahead," Sondergaard told delegates at Gartner's symposium in
Cannes, France. The troubled housing market, the credit crunch,
the continuing energy crisis "and last but not least the declining
rate of CEO confidence" all signaled more difficult times, he
said.
This would change the priorities and strategies of businesses, he
warned in his keynote address. "Your bosses will move from growth
to execution. You must be prepared for changing business
objectives." Sondergaard questioned the belief among chief
information officers that IT budgets would continue to grow. A
Gartner survey had shown 59 percent of CIOs expected an increase
in their IT budgets in 2008. "But are you sure this is the case
three months from now?" he asked." CIOs should prepare two budgets
for 2008, he urged, echoing remarks he made last month at
Gartner's ITXpo in Orlando, Florida.
The first should assume growth similar to that seen over the past
six years. The second should "assume the need to cut costs with
the arrival of a recession," Sondergaard said. CIOs and other
business executives would try to deal with the more difficult
economic climate with "new efficiencies, new innovations and new
ideas to sustain growth", he said. "IT will be at the core of
those responses." This situation "confronts you with heavy
responsibilities", Sondergaard warned.
The Gartner research chief said 2007 had been a "milestone year"
for IT, which was set to become a £ 1.5 trillion market. But a
tightening economy would "change the growth rate of the IT
industry in 2008," he cautioned. The past year had seen other key
developments, such as the huge growth of consumer-driven Web 2.0
technologies. In the U.S. this year, the MySpace social network
had accounted for 6 percent of internet visits, "33 percent more
than Google," Sondergaard said, while 2007 had been "the year of
green", with an increased understanding of the importance of power
consumption issues among IT users.
Increased interest in virtualization and the rise of software as a
service had also marked the year out, he added. "Innovations such
as these are increasingly visible to business leaders and your
non-IT colleagues," Sondergaard said. IT leaders would find their
colleagues wondering why these new developments were in the
marketplace but not in their own enterprise, he added.
Sondergaard listed a series of "imperatives" for IT organizations:
attracting and retaining customers, maximizing performance and
profitability, improving critical business processes, boosting the
effectiveness of the workforce, and managing risk and compliance.
"May the computing force be with you," he concluded.
Source: Infoworld
Indiatimes.com visitors risk high exposure to
malware
The English-language version of the newspaper contains
434 malicious scripts, binaries, cookies, and images, according to
a ScanSafe report.
Visitors to IndiaTimes.com, a major English-language Indian
news site, risk infecting their computers with a deluge of malware,
according to Mary Landesman, senior security researcher at
ScanSafe. "It's an entire cocktail of downloader Trojans and
dropper Trojans," Landesman said Friday, putting the number of
malicious files involved at 434. This includes scripts, binaries,
cookies, and images. Landesman characterized the size of the
malicious payload as unusually large. She also noted that the
attack involved a large number of Web sites. Analyzing just two of
the binaries, she said that ScanSafe had identified at least 18
different IP addresses involved in the attack.
"Only certain pages of the IndiaTimes.com are infected," ScanSafe
said in its Nov. 9 Threat Alert. "The impacted pages contain a
script which points to a remote site containing iframes pointing
to two additional sites. One of the sites included cookie scripts
and an iframe pointing to a non-active site. The other iframe
pointed to an encrypted script which exploits multiple
vulnerabilities in an attempt to download malicious software onto
susceptible systems of users visiting indiatimes.com."
"It appears that the Metasploit Framework was the framework used
to facilitate these attacks," Landesman said. The Metasploit
Framework is a security testing tool that can also be used
maliciously.
Landesman decline to elaborate on the specifics of the exploit
other than to say it involved cross-site scripting and that it
could turn the victim's computer into a site for malware
distribution. "We have reason to believe these are zero-day
vulnerabilities," she said. "What we don't want to do are
irresponsibly lead people to those exploiting pages."
ScanSafe's Nov. 9 Threat Alert identifies one of the
vulnerabilities as the MDAC vulnerability described in Microsoft
Security Bulletin MS06-014. Warning that much of current antivirus
software misses this exploit, Landesman said that "a person even
with up-to-date antivirus software is going to be susceptible to
this. In the normal course of using this service, you'd arrive at
this page and you'd be silently infected."
While Landesman would not say which operating systems or browsers
could be affected, she acknowledged that ScanSafe had contacted
Microsoft about this particular attack. She also said
that her company had reached out to IndiaTimes.com, but pointed
out that Nov. 9 is a holiday in India.
"We're hoping they will cut their holiday short and take the
appropriate actions," she said.
Source: InformationWeek
iPhone named
'Invention of the Year'
The device's critical shortcomings did not
overshadow Time's endorsement of the touch-screen smartphone.
Time magazine has named Apple's iPhone
"invention of the year," citing is design, innovative touch
screen, and potential for changing the tech industry's approach to
mobile computing. While bestowing the honor on the popular
cellular phone/handheld computer, Time acknowledged the iPhone's
flaws: the device's on-screen keyboard is too hard to type on, the
gadget is too big for a mobile phone, there no instant messaging,
it doesn't work on most people's work e-mail, and it's locked to
service provider AT&T.
Nevertheless, those shortcomings didn't overshadow the five
elements Time listed as making the device special.
First is its design. The iPhone and its software let someone
discover, understand and use its features without having to read a
manual. "All the cool features in the world won't do you any good
unless you can figure out how to use said features, and feel smart
and attractive while doing it," Lev Grossman, Time book and
technology writer, said in an article announcing the magazine's
choice.
Second was the iPhone touch screen, which offers a new kind of
interface that gives people the illusion of physically
manipulating data with their fingers. People can use their digits,
for example, to flip through album covers, click links, and resize
photos. "This is, as engineers say, nontrivial," Grossman said.
"It's part of a new way of relating to computers."
Third is more to do with Apple chief executive Steve Jobs than
iPhone engineers. In negotiating the deal with AT&T to carry the
iPhone, Jobs made sure that Apple held the right to build the
device anyway it saw fit. This was unprecedented in an industry
where carriers often have a hand in the development of mobile
phones. Now that Apple has shown that manufacturers know more
about design than carriers, other cellular phone makers are
expected to demand more freedom, which should lead to more
innovation, according to Time.
Fourth is Apple's decision to make the iPhone a genuine handheld
computer. Because the device runs on a mobile version of the Mac
OS X, the iPhone is truly a platform on which we can take Web
applications, such as Google Maps, from cyberspace
and onto the streets where they'll be most useful.
Finally, by selling 1.4 million units since the iPhone's release
June 29, Apple has shown that there's enough of a demand to keep
the gadget around for a while. As a result, the iPhone is likely
to evolve into something far better, much like the first iPod over
the last six years. "It'll be very cool," Grossman said of the
future iPhone. "And it'll be even cheaper."
Source: InformationWeek
TRENDS
'Village Phone' initiative aims to improve access in developing
countries
The Grameen Foundation and ITU are working to provide
affordable telecom rates to users, while giving owners income to
repay loans and earn profits. Grameen Foundation and the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) have launched the
Village Phone Direct Manual to help microfinance institutions and
other organizations in developing micro-franchise Village Phone
operations.
The move is aimed at spreading affordable telecommunications
access and business opportunities in rural communities in the
developing world. It coincides with the ITU Connect Africa Summit
taking place in Rwanda this week, as well as Grameen's
Microfinance Partner Conference in Bolivia. The Village Phone
Direct Manual, based on the Grameen Foundation's Village Phone
Replication initiative, provides Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
and other organizations with resources and information for
independently developing a local, targeted Village Phone product
for their clients. Grameen Foundation links the telecommunications
sector and the microfinance sector so clients can buy a "Village
Phone business". Grameen describes the offering as "a business in
a box."
The owners, or Village Phone Operators, run businesses in rural
villages where no telecommunications services previously existed.
They rent the use of a phone to their community on a per-call
basis. The goal is to provide affordable rates to users, while
giving owners income to repay loans and earn profits, which allow
the business owners to invest in their children's health,
nutrition, and education, as well as other business ventures.
"Our past success in Africa proves that Village Phone is a viable
and sustainable tool in the continent's ongoing telecommunications
expansion, especially in poor, rural areas," Peter Bladin,
Director of Grameen Foundation's Technology Centre said during a
summit in Rwanda. "With the new Village Phone Direct Manual, we
have a greater opportunity to expand access and create new
technology business opportunities for poor micro-entrepreneurs,
not only in Africa, but throughout the developing world." Grameen
Foundation has also developed an online assistance centre that
serves as a central hub for exchanging the information and
resources that organizations need to create their own Village
Phone products. The organizations plan to translate the guide into
Spanish, French, Arabic, and other languages.
Grameen Foundation is a global non-profit that combines
microfinance, technology, and innovation with the goal of
empowering the world's poorest people to escape poverty. It has a
network of partners in 25 countries. It was founded by Alex
Counts, who began his work in microfinance with Grameen Bank
founder and recent Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Muhammad Yunus,
also the director of the foundation.
Source: Information Week
Qwest hires a psychologist to help parents
deal with digital kids
Qwest has partnered with psychologist
Linda Young, who offers advice on dealing with the online
activities of children
Families grappling with the vagaries of the Internet have a
psychologist "to bridge the digital divide," according to Qwest
Communications International's description of its program to help
children and their parents deal with the ever-challenging
Internet. Qwest reported this week that it has partnered with
psychologist Linda Young, who offers advice on dealing largely
with online activities of children.
"The accelerating popularity of social networking sites has
created an online environment for interaction among users that
mirrors much of what happens in real life," said Dr. Young in a
statement. "Online culture is starting to reproduce exactly the
same kinds of interactions that we've always seen in person."
Qwest's Online Safety Coalition has produced three short videos
featuring Dr. Young, who describes why good kids do bad things on
the Web and discusses how technology that seems to be always-on
often tethers children. The third video discusses ways of
communicating with teens that can change behaviour.
Qwest's Online Safety Coalition consists of officials in law
enforcement, education, and government in Colorado, Minnesota, and
Washington; after identifying a need for more educational outreach
on new issues impacting children surfing the Web, the coalition
concluded that an expert adviser was needed and Dr. Young was
brought in as a counsellor.
A Qwest Web site - Incredible Internet - has been set up to help
families deal with some of the most pressing sociological issues
involving Internet surfing; they include how to protect IDs, how
to encourage parents to get involved in their children's social
networking, and how to use the Internet for educational purposes.
Source: InformationWeek
Offshoring -
advantages and challenges
Offshoring - a trend in business for most of
the IT organizations of companies in US and Europe is not a long
term solution unless it matures to the level of creating a wholly
owned captive IT centre. In most cases the companies are dependent
on the third party offshore partners, who retain their application
and technology knowledge and also show case the same to their
partners to seek new orders.
There are definite challenges in creating a wholly owned captive
IT service company. The challenges include:
1. Setting up operations in an unknown country
2. Understanding the nuances of hiring and retaining the talent
3. Face competition from offshore Indian IT services
4. Transfer existing knowledge - both from parent company and
offshore vendors to the wholly owned subsidiary
Huge savings in terms of dollars are made and competency can be
created and retained and companies stop being the prey in the
hands of offshore vendors.
Source: CIO
STUDIES
Understaffed data centers threaten service agreements
More than half of the respondents to a Symantec survey
admitted their data centers are currently understaffed, and 86%
say they have difficulty finding qualified applicants.
Understaffed with workers that have inadequate skills sets, half
of all large-scale enterprise IT departments have failed to meet
internal service level agreements within the past two years,
according to a recently published "State of the Data Center"
research report by Symantec. More than half of the respondents to
the survey say their data centers are currently understaffed, and
86% say they have difficulty finding qualified applicants. Nearly
two-thirds of the companies surveyed believe their staff skill
sets are too narrow, and 57% indicate that employees' skill sets
do not match their current needs.
The Symantec survey focused on Global 2000-sized organizations and
more than 800 data center managers and other IT executives were
surveyed in phone interviews and focus groups around the world,
said Sean Derrington, a director of storage management for
Symantec. Data centers managers are facing a growing list of
challenges, Derrington said, as they attempt to reduce cost and
meet service level agreements, while working with small and often
ill-trained staffs in an attempt to address rising complexity.
"One participate in a focus group in London told us that while the
service level agreements he was being asked to meet were 'absurd,'
there was really nothing that could be done but adapt to the new
levels of expectations for IT delivery," Derrington said. "But
these data center managers are having a hard time finding
qualified staff, retaining qualified staff, and finding
administrators with the right skill sets necessary to deliver
appropriate business application value.
"Two-thirds of respondents say they have formal service level
agreements inside their organizations, and 51% say they have
failed to meet at least some of those agreements in the past two
years. Part of the reason is that 85% of data center managers say
service level agreements have increased over the past few years,
while actual budget have remained stagnant.
According to survey, the data center operational costs are growing
at 5% a year, and although the average IT budget is growing at 7%,
when adjusted for inflation there is little or no actual budget
growth, Derrington said. Server virtualization and consolidation
are considered top cost containment strategies for most
respondents, with 90% at least discussing virtualization, and 50%
implementing virtualization strategies. Ninety-one percent are at
least discussing server consolidation, and 58% are actively
pursuing consolidation efforts.
But consolidation and virtualization add their own complexities,
and large enterprises are currently using multiple virtualization
platforms within their organizations. According to the study,
companies based in the United States have implemented 2.3
different virtualization platforms; while business outside the
United States have implemented an average of 2.7 different
virtualization packages.
"Not only is the physical data center heterogeneous and complex,
but now the virtualized infrastructure is also heterogeneous and
complex," Derrington said. "The day to day requirements for more
centralized management were already increasing, and virtualized
environments are making things even more complex while resources
remain limited."
Source: Information Week
Tech sector job market, a fright in
October
Bad news about the mortgage industry and credit are fueling the
uneasiness among IT and telecom professionals, according to HR
staffing firm Hudson's latest report.
Job confidence among techies slipped a bit in October as IT and
telecom professionals worried about job security and were slightly
less happy at work, according to the latest monthly survey by
staffing and outsourcing firm Hudson. Still, despite the 2.9 drop
in job confidence levels from September to 111.7 in October,
techies overall were a comparatively upbeat group.
The October score was still 2.1 higher than it was in October
2006, when tech professionals rated their job optimism at 109.6.
Also, it was hard to beat September's score of 114.6, which had
been the highest rating in techie job confidence in nearly two
years. Last month, IT and telecom pros were considerably more
optimistic about jobs than workers across other sectors, which
nationally rated their job confidence at only 100.8 in October,
which was actually up 3.7 points from a gloomy 97.1 rating in
September.
Each month, Hudson phone surveys about 9,000 workers across
several sectors, including more than 400 IT and telecom
professionals. Monthly scores are compared with a base rating of
100 established when Hudson began doing its surveys in January
2004. Only 74% of tech pros said they were satisfied with their
jobs in October, down from 80% who felt that way in September. And
while more techies in October than September expected their
companies to add staff in coming months, 20% of tech pros also
worried about losing their own jobs, which was up 3% from
September. Hudson regional VP Paul Taylor suspects that "external"
issues -- including bad news about the mortgage industry and
credit -- are fueling the uneasiness among techies.
"Clients [employers] are very bullish and robust -- they expect to
increase head count and increase projects" in the months to come,
he said. Also, pay rates of IT talent are up an average of 5% from
this time last year, he said. Some of the hottest skill sets are
seeing even bigger increases, such as project managers, whose pay
increased about 8% to 9% in October, compared to the same month in
2006.
"There's a huge demand for skills, and some of it is going
unfilled," he said, especially in some sectors like financial
services who are seeking Web development talent, including Ajax
and Java programmers, he said.
Source: InformationWeek
Customers to switch to wireless carriers
for better device management
CIOs feel mobile devices improve productivity, but say
effective management of these devices is becoming increasingly
difficult, according to a survey.
Two-thirds of businesses would be willing to switch wireless
carriers for mobile device management, according to survey results
released on Thursday by Mformation Technologies. Businesses are
currently facing many challenges that stem from a growing mobile
workforce, the rapid introduction of new smartphones, and the
demand for mobile applications. CIOs feel that the use of mobile
devices by employees improves productivity, but at the same time
they find that effective management of these devices is becoming
increasingly difficult, according to Mformation, a provider of
mobile device management software.
Mformation recently surveyed CIOs from large businesses and found
that 45% of the CIOs are looking to wireless carriers to assist
them with the management of mobile devices. Furthermore, 62% of
the CIOs said they would change their existing carrier if a
competing carrier offered them a complete mobile device management
package. The survey was conducted by research firm Coleman Parkes
and included interviews with 200 CIOs and telecommunications
directors at companies with operations in the U.S. and Europe.
One survey conclusion is that businesses want wireless carriers to
play a larger role in helping them deal with the growing
complexity of mobile workers and applications. 82% of CIOs
reported that managing mobile devices has become increasingly
difficult. The majority of the CIOs surveyed (95%) are looking for
products and services for managing and securing mobile devices and
applications. 88% expect carriers to play a role in mobile device
management, while 60% would prefer to make an arrangement with
carriers that would give their IT department direct control over
company-issued mobile devices.
CIOs want to provide a high level of device and network security,
while being able to remotely support users. By having the option
of remote support, they can identify and fix problems quickly,
send updates to mobile devices wirelessly, and keep support costs
under control. But most CIOs today feel that they're on their own
when it comes to managing mobile devices; 60% of U.S.-based
businesses surveyed didn't have a positive opinion of device
management support currently provided by carriers. That's why many
businesses are taking matters into their own hands. 74% said they
have increased investment in data and system security, and 71% are
allocating more resources to staff training, according to the
survey.
Another option for businesses is to turn to mobile platform
providers for support. Research In Motion offers
mobile device management products and services to its BlackBerry
users, and Microsoft last month introduced a server
for managing and securing Windows Mobile-based devices.
Microsoft's System Center Mobile Device Manager, due in the first
half of 2008, will become a direct competitor of RIM's BlackBerry
Enterprise Server. Third-party tools for mobile e-mail control are
being offered as well by providers such as Altiris and LANDesk.
Source: Information week
