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Sunrise Software through Sostenuto Foundation and Sostenuto ITSM offers a rules-driven, browser-based Service Desk solution built around the IT Information Library (ITIL) framework. Sostenuto Foundation incorporates basic Service Desk functionalities such as incident and problem management, service level management, and configuration management, and is aimed at organisations wanting to adopt a phased approach to ITIL adoption. Sostenuto ITSM builds on the aforementioned capabilities of Sostenuto Foundati…
Technology Audits - published 18/07/2008 - Rob Hailstone
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A survey on the topic of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) governance has just been released by Software AG. It can be downloaded at www.softwareag.com/soagovernancesurvey. Some of the survey results could have been predicted (such as the top four drivers behind SOA adoption being improving business agility, simplifying integration, supporting Business Process Management (BPM), and delivering cost savings through reuse). However, other results are not so intuitive and provide an interesting insight. In…
OpinionWire Articles - published 16/07/2008 - Rob Hailstone
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As e-mail volumes continue to grow and the risks posed by failing to maintain and adequately store e-mails increase, demonstrated by ever larger fines for a failure to disclose requested e-mails, more organisations are outsourcing the task of e-mail archiving.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 04/06/2008 - Maxine Holt
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At the turn of the century there were a good number of large IT Outsourcing (ITO) contracts signed with the leading services vendors of the time. Many of these contracts are now nearing their agreed end, and as such the customer organisations will be taking their decisions on whether to renew with the existing supplier or request proposals from alternative providers.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 04/06/2008 - Maxine Holt
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Despite the best efforts of systems integrators, consultants, analysts, and software vendors alike, too many organisations are getting too deeply into SOA implementations without considering the governance effort that will be required. The reasons for this are often due to the success of the initial SOA project, which started life as a standalone proof of concept, but progressed quickly to be the cornerstone of an important business process. Frequently also, different parts of a large organisation will c…
OpinionWire Articles - published 08/04/2008 - Rob Hailstone
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Towards the end of 2007 the Society of IT Management (Socitm – see www.socitm.gov.uk) published its report on IT Trends in Local Government. This is the result of an annual survey sent out to in excess of 500 heads of ICT in local public sectors, including the fire services, housing associations, and local authorities. The 21st report had contributions from approximately 250 organisations, and made some significant comments on (amongst other areas) the information security aspects of IT.
OpinionWire Articles - published 17/01/2008 - Maxine Holt
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It was reported on Sky News last week that the bank details of thousands of Britons were available for sale on the Internet.
OpinionWire Articles - published 14/12/2007 - Maxine Holt
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Unfortunately for hard-pressed IT managers the world over, some of the best IT monitoring and control systems can be a relatively expensive option to install and operate, meaning that a compromise in terms of security and cost might seem the order of the day. This could prove to be false economy and could impact good governance.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 27/11/2007 - Peter Woollacott
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VPMi Professional v3.6 is an integrated set of modules for Project and Portfolio Management (PPM), provided as an on-premises, hosted, and SaaS solution. The focus area of the solution is primarily within IT organisations, facilitating IT Governance initiatives and consistent and efficient strategic IT project delivery. In comparison to other enterprise PPM offerings, the licensing and cost structure of VPMi reduces the initial outlay and greatly reduces the risks typically involved in the deployment of …
Technology Audits - published 21/11/2007 - Balachandar Ganesh, Roy Illsley, Somak Roy
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In Europe the use of outsourcing continues to increase – only last week it was announced that Thomas Cook had extended its outsourcing agreement with Accenture in a deal worth US$400 million over the next ten years.
However, the need for compliance is never far from the IT manager’s mind, and there can be concern that using a third party can affect an organisation’s ability to comply with the various pieces of legislation and regulations that it must adhere to.
OpinionWire Articles - published 16/11/2007 - Maxine Holt
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The Symantec Control Compliance Suite (CCS) is a risk management product that has been developed by Symantec so that end-user organisations can have the ability to properly control and accurately maintain key IT compliance processes. CCS is a software-deployed solution that enables authorised users to define, control, and govern the business and operational policies that organisations need to have in place in order to fulfil their regulatory and security protection commitments. Functionally the product c…
Technology Audits - published 03/10/2007 - Andy Kellett
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The review of risk in IT has developed over the past two years, with more roles becoming involved in the consideration of what to include and how to manage it. Today, rather than simply looking at the solutions and services offered by IT and determining what the risks and effects are of not being able to provide those, IT risk management requires that all levels of risk are identified including executive, managerial, and operational levels, in order that it can mitigate those risks accordingly.
OpinionWire Articles - published 13/09/2007 - Maxine Holt
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As information sharing moves higher up the Government agenda for improving and modernising public services in the UK, confusion abounds amongst the sector on sharing personal data. On the one hand they have the information-sharing requirements of the likes of the Bishard enquiry and the Varney report, and on the other the legal implications of the Data Protection Act (DPA). The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has, apparently, been forced to act in response to the large number of queries that it r…
OpinionWire Articles - published 23/08/2007 - Sarah Burnett
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It was announced last week that Google has agreed to buy Postini for US$625 million, as part of its bid to increase the appeal of Google Apps to large enterprises. Postini provides secure electronic communications for e-mail, instant messaging, and the Web. As recently as February this year, Google Apps Premier Edition had attracted the support of Postini to integrate its offering with Google’s new hosted applications offering for enterprises.
OpinionWire Articles - published 20/07/2007 - Maxine Holt
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OpenPages General Compliance Management (GCM) and OpenPages IT Governance (ITG) modules respectively focus on addressing ‘general compliance management’ relating to total risk portfolios, and compliance with IT risk governance obligations. Many organisations now incur burdensome costs in achieving compliance, and are concerned about the inefficiencies and flawed processes that often pervade systems of both types.
Technology Audits - published 11/06/2007 - Alan Rodger
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The main drivers for the first wave of legislation and regulations across the globe were to improve market integrity and reduce the risk of failure, as well as improve regulatory harmonisation. However, the cost of achieving compliance is high – take, for example, one of the most heavily regulated industries: banking.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 31/05/2007 - Maxine Holt
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Calling it a beginning, not an end, IBM is rolling out the first of a new series of product and service offerings targeted around governance, risk, and compliance. IBM is initially targeting three areas, including IT security, business resilience, and service management.
TECHwatch Articles - published 31/05/2007 - Datamonitor Analysts
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Compliance is a subject that Butler Group subscribers will be very familiar with. However, the number of laws and regulations has continued to increase in recent years, and as such so has the cost and complexity of compliance. What is of more concern is so-called ‘compliance fatigue’ and the fact that although on the face of it many organisations are not struggling with compliance, behind the scenes it can be a very different matter, with an over-reliance on technology, and a lack of skills to manage the…
OpinionWire Articles - published 22/03/2007 - Maxine Holt
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The results of a recent survey by Utimaco, a company that offers data security solutions, show a worrying lack of commitment to the protection of data during time that it spends outside the organisational data centre environment. Of over 1,100 business users of mobile data, fewer than 20% protect data with encryption or passwords, or in fact implement any protection except in exceptional circumstances. Worst of all, security guidelines have only been defined in 7.3% of respondents’ companies, which were …
OpinionWire Articles - published 15/03/2007 - Alan Rodger
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OpenPages ORM (Operational Risk Management), and OpenPages FCM (Financial Controls Management), are solutions by OpenPages that respectively meet organisations’ operational risk, and financial control, compliance needs. In both these areas, organisations of many kinds have been facing a growing burden, imposed in recent years by a raft of legislation and regulation, unleashed post-Enron and post-9/11, and it is widely thought likely that the scale of challenges presented in complying with these requireme…
Technology Audits - published 17/11/2006 - Alan Rodger
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One of the more interesting items to be announced at the Microsoft Convergence EMEA last week (an event for users of Microsoft Dynamics, the company’s enterprise applications portfolio made up of what was previously called Great Plains, Axapta, Navision, and Solomon) was the concept of ‘snaps’. The company had already launched four such snaps earlier in the year, and a few more were added to the list. So what exactly are snaps and what use might they be to an organisation using one of the Dynamics products?
OpinionWire Articles - published 16/11/2006 - Teresa Jones
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The implementation timescale of 1st November 2007 for the forthcoming Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is over-ambitious. This point is even more pertinent now that the New Year is approaching and still many European Union (EU) member states are in the process of finalising the implementation details of the directive. It is essential that financial firms act now and in parallel with the legislative process, in order to be ready for MiFID on-time. The first step is to formulate a complia…
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/11/2006 - Sarah Burnett
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ZANTAZ Introspect is an on-site or on-demand disclosure review solution that enables organisations to handle complex litigation and compliance projects. Organisations are increasingly finding themselves subject to discovery requests either for compliance or for litigation. Introspect is able to speed up the review of what is often many thousands of documents, through a variety of techniques including the ability to group together near duplicate documents so that a reviewer only needs to examine a small n…
Technology Audits - published 09/10/2006 - Sue Clarke
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Active Risk Manager enables organisations to adopt and deploy enterprise-wide processes to risk and opportunity management. This all encompassing approach to risk management is frequently defined as Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), or Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), which is embodied in Strategic Thought’s product vision. Increased regulatory pressures now mean that risk management can no longer be left in the hands of experts in isolation, senior executives and managers need to take an active rol…
Technology Audits - published 22/09/2006 - Mark Blowers
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Traditionally, risk management has been very much a specialist subject, handled by staff with expertise in the area. Risks would be identified, assessed, measured, and mitigated on an ad-hoc project basis, and by risk experts assigned to the role. The risk management process has tended not to be integrated into either the strategic or operational decision-making procedures of the organisation. It is becoming increasingly important for organisations to include all areas of the enterprise in the risk manag…
OpinionWire Articles - published 14/09/2006 - Mark Blowers
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