We’re coming towards the end of the year, so we thought it may be time to re-visit the topic of virtualisation to understand how IT directors’ thoughts are progressing around the issue. [Read more →]

With the media spotlight shining brightly on the need for data security - more BBC headlines around lost Government computers today - it’s never been more important to ensure that as a security manager, you have the right data management processes and technologies in place.Which leads us neatly to talk about a forthcoming workshop tackling the topical subject of data security in an outsourced environment. In the workshop, we’ll be asking what measures security professionals need to put in place when outsourcing, what the risk factors of outsourcing are and what level of trust should be given to third party personnel - who could be operating thousands of miles away. It will also be examine what level of access different companies give to third party suppliers handling sensitive data and what controls must be put in place.

The event will feature a case study presentation from an IS chief from a company with outsourcing relationships which span the globe: onshore, nearshore and offshore.

If you are subscriber, click here to find out more and register.

We’ve blogged before that many of the Forum’s SAP customers are confused about the changes that the ERP vendor is planning to make to its support contracts - changes that many IT chiefs think could lead to significant price hikes. [Read more →]

The formation of a new Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) in the UK may not be enough to restore damaged corporate confidence in the Government’s approach to combating high-tech crime – suggests a membership survey by The Corporate IT Forum, a business association of over 150 large, blue-chip companies.

The survey finds that whilst companies are being attacked daily with increasing levels of deliberate* electronic crime (69% of companies reported ‘increases’ or ‘dramatic increases’ in deliberate high-tech crime), confidence in the Government’s willingness or ability to solve these crimes is very low.

57% of respondents said that they thought that instances of malicious high-tech crime would not be investigated properly if reported whilst 30% said that no adequately-resourced body existed to report such crimes to.  As a consequence, just 4% of organisations surveyed ‘always report’ malicious cyber crime whilst 60% report it ‘sometimes’ and 36% report it ‘rarely’.

When asked what would help, 48% of respondents gave their highest level of support to ‘consistent and appropriate penalties for cyber criminals and cross-border ecrime legislation’.

The survey also finds businesses spending increasingly large amounts of money on fighting deliberate cyber crime. It reveals that 68% of companies are now forced to spend up to 40% of their security budgets protecting themselves against cyber crime. It also finds that 42% of companies are spending ‘more’ or ‘dramatically more’ on combating ecrime – none reported spending less.

David Roberts, chief executive of The Corporate IT Forum said:

“IT chiefs in UK PLCs don’t think the Government appreciates the scale of the cyber crime threat, the seriousness of the threat or, how much it’s costing.

Business confidence in the Government’s ability to help them fight cyber crime is at rock-bottom.

Large businesses welcome the formation of the New Police Central e-crime Unit as a good first step – but they think it’s only part of the solution. 

Now, the Government must pay urgent attention to putting the penalties and legal frameworks in place to deter these criminals – wherever they are in the world.

Cyber crime shouldn’t be treated as a special case. Ecrime must be treated just like any form of activity designed to steal or maliciously damage someone else’s property – as a crime – with a proper legal framework of penalties and legislation attached.”

Read the full BBC story headlined on Radio 4 Today’s Programme here.

Download the full survey results here.

Whilst Microsoft is still saying that there are still some good reasons to move to Vista, Steve Balmer’s admittance that Windows 7 will be ‘backwards compatible’ does seem to suggest that the Redmond giant already knows that many customers on XP may skip Vista altogether and move to the new platform. [Read more →]

Confusion reigns around the changes that SAP has made to its support contracts - changes that could lead to significant price hikes for some users. Participants at a recent Forum workshop - all enterprise level buyers of SAP products - expressed confusion and frustration around SAP’s communications with them so far. [Read more →]