Angelica Mari, Computing, Wednesday 10 March 2010 at 14:25:00 Insurer to rely on new IT to drive innovation, deliver savings and support compliance Standard Life will place a sharp focus on IT to move forward with its transformation programme, the company said in its results today. The makeover will be helped by the use of technology, which is expected to support its customer and distributor relationships and drive efficiency. According to the insurer, advanced use of new IT tools will enable the introduction of rapid innovation while generating cost savings and compliance with upcoming regulatory changes....Read More »

Nicola Brittain, Computing, Wednesday 10 March 2010 at 16:52:00 Patients should be issued with an opt-out form, says the BMA On Radio Four's Today programme this morning Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA Council, explained that the BMA has "serious concerns" that patient medical records are being uploaded too quickly to a national database. This follows a letter from the British Medical Association (BMA) to health minister Mike O'Brien in which the BMA urged for the rollout of the Summary Care Records (SCR) system to be put on hold. It also asked for independent...Read More »

Angelica Mari, Computing, Wednesday 10 March 2010 at 13:25:00 Baikal manager chosen to run technology for the trading platform Turquoise has announced its new management structure following the completion of its takeover by the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Mark Ryland, formerly IT boss at the LSE’s dark liquidity pool Baikal has been appointed head of technology for the trading firm. Ryland’s core areas of expertise include dark pool, smart order routing and algorithmic trading technology delivery, gained through a series of senior equities trading technology roles in firms such as Merrill Lynch and HSBC. The news...Read More »

Nicola Brittain, Computing, Tuesday 9 March 2010 at 16:34:00 But the company and union will have further talks at the end of the week Some 200 HP employees and members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have gone on strike for a second day today. The strikers, who are based in the north and work for the Department of Work and Pensions, picketed their working colleagues throughout the day, according to national officer at the PCS, Jim Hanson. “We were worried that some members would think that the two day strike was too long...Read More »

Nicola Brittain, Computing, Tuesday 9 March 2010 at 13:12:00 Smaller ICT firms find it particularly difficult to secure finance Private equity investors in the UK information and communication technologies (ICT) sector are facing a liquidity crunch, according to a report from finance and business adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP. The report, called Where is the Smart Money Going in ICT?, is based on interviews with 40 private equity companies involved in the ICT sector. It found that over 80 per cent of the respondents wishing to make an investment in the sector still see the shortage of...Read More »

Angelica Mari, Computing, Monday 8 March 2010 at 16:21:00 And most contractors will see the end of cutbacks in hourly rates, says research Technology chiefs are looking to boost their departments by hiring more staff this year, but salaries are unlikely to increase, according to research. Some 46 per cent of 42 IT directors polled by ReThink Recruitment said they will be looking to hire this year, compared with 17 per cent who plan to make staff redundant. But 59 per cent of respondents said they will keep pay down this year. According to the study,...Read More »

Angelica Mari, Computing, Monday 8 March 2010 at 16:08:00 Former president reveals illness was not the real reason for his departure Former Fujitsu president Kuniaki Nozoe has revealed he was forced to leave the firm in September owing to connections with an unnamed business of " unfavourable reputation". As a result, shares in the company have plunged by 2.7 per cent. Fujitsu had originally said that Nozoe’s departure from Fujitsu after 15 months in the job was due to illness. Despite the alleged wrongdoing, Nozoe wanted to annul his resignation and, in response, the company put...Read More »

Angelica Mari, Computing, Friday 5 March 2010 at 12:32:00 Technology enables more productivity and automation at the insurance giant Streamlined IT and outsourcing played a central role in the modernisation of Aviva, the insurance firm said in its results yesterday. The company's business simplification drive started two years ago and has technology at its heart. It involved a £700m datacentre services deal with HP Business Services (then EDS) last year that has helped the company refocus on business-critical areas and reduce IT spending. According to Aviva, the programme also aims to meet customers' changing service demands...Read More »

Julian S Millstein, Computing, Tuesday 2 March 2010 at 10:45:00 Experienced contract negotiator Julian S Millstein spells out the five most common reasons why novice outsourcers can often come a cropper IT outsourcing is now well into its third decade, having passed through generations of technology and platforms: mainframe, client/server, and now into the cloud. An extraordinary amount of experience has created substantial documented learning that should benefit any company considering outsourcing some or all of its IT and network infrastructure, technology helpdesk or application development and maintenance. Yet companies frequently ignore the lessons of the...Read More »

Dave Bailey, Computing, Monday 1 March 2010 at 11:51:00 Two-day strike by PCS members working at the DWP Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members working for HP in several northern regions of the Department of Work and Pensions are to hold a two-day strike over redundancies and pay freezes next Monday and Tuesday. The 48 hour action on 8 and 9 March by 1,000 HP staff will coincide with a strike announced by up to 270,000 Civil Service staff for the same date. Some 63.4 per cent of PCS union members voting in a national...Read More »