IT STRATEGY ISSUE FOUR The Official Publication of ELITE, the British Computer Society's Forum for IT Directors Edited by John Lamb

Contents of April Issue of IT STRATEGY

Editorial

• How IT became fun once again. John Lamb, Editor of I T STRATEGY

Agenda

• The latest trends. Ron Coates, I T STRATEGY'S News Editor

Elite News

• Why Bluetooth matters. David Rippon, Chaarman of Elite

Special Feature: the Future of m-Commerce

• A review of m-commerce applications by Roger Bellas, General Manager of 724 Solutions.
  M-commerce will be applied across a wide range of industries. However, the financial markets will be first to adopt m-commerce, distributing financial data to hand-held devices. The author looks at the prospects for wireless applications
• An emerging marketplace by Charles Saunders, Vice President of Strategic Planning, at Mercator
  M-Commerce is an emerging market place and one that is hedging its bets as people/companies try to gauge the right time to invest dependent on development of technology, unified languages and systems. This article looks at how companies can get ahead of the game by establishing an m-commerce infrastructure today that will accommodate the technology of tomorrow.
• Multi-channel retailing by Nikki Beckett of NSB
  For retailers, setting up new channels to market is relatively easy. However, integrating them so that systems, back office processes and logistics work together, and that the customer has a consistent view of the retailer regardless of which channel is being used, is a huge challenge and one that retailers have barely addressed.

E-Society

• Can government survive the Internet? by Charles Lowe, General Manager of stepchange.gov, a BT initiative
  Over the next ten years, Internet technology will transform the process and organisation of government. Government will be forced to adopt the Internet actively and intelligently to survive the revolution in living and working patterns that it is fuelling.

E-Commerce

• The Warehouse of the Future by Noelle Abarelli, International Marketing Manager, Manhattan Associates
  More than anything else the Internet is now all about fulfilment and its success relies on getting the right goods on time to the customer. To this end the traditional 'good in, goods out' warehouse is evolving into becoming a multi-channel distribution centre.
• eCRM technologies - the key to a successful e-commerce strategy by Steven Shove, Director of Sales Consulting at Pegasystems
  As companies seek to assert their position within the virtual marketplace they are finding themselves open to an ever more dynamic and variable set of challenges. Not only do they need to consider their brand, products and general marketing position; they need to ensure that they are able to deliver on the promises they make.
• The importance of localisation in a worldwide Web market by Ken Behan, VP worldwide sales for Bowne Global
  If the promise of the Internet is boundary-less, border-less communication, there are substantial barriers to success for the aspiring global e-merchant. Site architecture, content management and workflow, global logistics and customer support are significant hurdles, along with the challenges of overcoming language and cultural barriers.
• Beyond the Hype: The Real Benefits of B2B E-commerce by Graham Sadd, CEO, Infobank
  A recent survey by Anderson Consulting suggests that 82% of senior European business mangers believe e-commerce will have a major impact on business over the next 5 years, but despite these sentiments, 18% of the managers in the same report believe that e-commerce poses a serious threat to their business. Graham Sadd, CEO, Infobank discusses the importance of the Internet as a business tool and the possible consequences of underestimating it's importance in the business environment.
• Taking Stock of Portal Possibilities, by Neil Brownlie, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at New Era of Networks (NEON).
• Supply chains seek a missing link: by Mike Shinya President of EMEA operations for Viewlocity
  The suuply chain is broken. The new reality for global companies is the need to embrace the new concept of the flexible supply web in which trading partners truly co-operate.

Networking

• How big will broadband be? by Alan Taylor, Technical Director EMEA, Juniper Networks.
  By 2005, Forrester Research predicts 27 million European homes, or 18% of the population, will have broadband access, over cable, digital subscriber lines, optical or wireless networks. This article will look at how will the broadband infrastructure evolve in order to handle the massive bandwidth demands.
• Systems Management Software by Andrew Mallaband, Area Director EMEA Operations at SMARTS
  Any failure in a companies network can have disastrous consequences. For instance First Albany Research puts the cost of downtime for a financial institution at over £62,500 per minute - or £3.75 million an hour! System failures not only cost money in terms of lost transactions, they also cause long-term damage to an institution's reputation. How then can these highly damaging situations be avoided?

Application Development Tools.

• Review of the latest tools for building e-Commerce applications by Chris Nugent, Vice President of Global Sales at Popkin
  A look at graphical generators, simulators and other tools that can be used by end users to develop new applications.

Services

• Making a success of offshore software development by Simon Denison-Smith, Managing Director of Rave Technologies
  The IT skills shortage is still a huge problem, especially in key new technology areas needed to harness the Internet. Many companies risk being left behind because they simply can't get hold of experienced development engineers with the right skills to web-enable existing applications or get new Internet related projects off the ground. While HR departments ponder long term solutions to the skill gap, it is rapid fixes that are often needed. One increasingly popular and successful solution is to tap into skills available offshore.

Data Storage

• Your guide to the novel breed of Storage Service Providers by Andy Chudzik, Managing Director of Posetiv
  What are the right questions to ask before opting to put your storage on the web. What do SSP companies have to offer and how do they operate?
• Relieving data format headaches by David Bearne, Director, Alchemy Data Solutions
  Whether it is a data warehouse, ERP implementation, CRM project or system integration, the single common denominator is data. Without accurate, reliable, high-quality data all of these major IT initiatives will be compromised. But data is not very 'sexy' and in most cases it is a headache. Maybe that is why the subject often gets sidelined or brushed under the carpet by eager sales teams pushing the benefits of the latest CRM software or the compelling business case for SAP.

Security

• Public key infrastructure and directories by Ian Lakie, Product Manager at Critical Path.
  PKI has the potential to instil much-needed trust into global e-business. However, it is essential that the authentication process is not too time-consuming. Customers receiving PKI encrypted information usually need to access a public key and certificate revocation list, which is held in a directory.
• Fraud detection by Peter Whittleton, Senior Consultant, Commerce NTI
  While this phenomenal growth in Internet commerce is undoubtedly great news for e-retailers, there is a downside. Along with the rise in revenues has come a significant increase in the incidence of credit card fraud. Various techniques have been developed over the last few years to meet this challenge.
• Integrated defence is the best strategy by Martin Saunders, Marketing Programmes Manager Computer Associates
  The article explains how the common types of security violations can be prevented, even when a previously unseen type of virus or attack is launched. It will also discuss some of the challenges of securing an entire e-business application and the importance of a cohesive, integrated security policy.

Emerging technologies

• The growing importance of open source. Interview with Ed Cole, Managing Director of VA Linux, by John Lamb, IT Strategy editor.

Management

• Testing e-business applications by Colin Armitage, Managing Director the Original Software Group
  The pressure is always on to develop applications and go live as quickly as possible, to maintain a competitive edge - especially in these heady days of e-commerce. And applications testing, as ever, gets squeezed into a last-minute, quick-run-through-and-check, manual process - or even pushed out of the frame altogether. Or does it?
• Project management by Fred Engel, Executive VP and CTO, Concord Communications
  Our Technology May be 'State of the Art', but the Lessons of Project Management have changed little since the 17th Century.
• Web design by Sue Thexton, Vice-President of Macromedia Europe
  According to recent research, 77% of information on company websites is out of date at any one time.* How can this happen when content can be updated by those outside of the IT department? What we are seeing is that many companies are not making their web site a vital component of their business.