The most recent Comment from VNU Business Publications

A second time around for CRM?

John Haigh — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:27:00 GMT

John Haigh, CRN, Friday 9 May 2008 at 12:27:00

It is time to give CRM another chance and secure real ROI, writes John Haigh

There are few mid-market organisations that have not dabbled with some form of CRM implementation over the past few years, especially as the price of software has fallen....

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Why Breaches happen

Matt Fisher — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:21:00 GMT

Matt Fisher, CRN, Friday 9 May 2008 at 12:21:00

Centennial Software's Matt Fisher explains why so many data breaches have been happening

Unless you have been on Mars for the past six months, you will not have missed the high-profile data breaches suffered by both Government and private sector organisations....

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A vertical approach to selling mobile

David Fryer — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:16:00 GMT

David Fryer, CRN, Friday 9 May 2008 at 12:16:00

David Fryer, chief executive of BigHand, discusses how adopting a vertical approach to selling mobile applications can help service providers grow their business

The noise in the business mobile market is making it difficult for customers to choose between different offerings with confidence....

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Shortening the supply chain

Stuart Thorn — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:34:00 GMT

Stuart Thorn, CRN, Friday 9 May 2008 at 11:34:00

Retailers need to look closely at their IT manufacturer supply chain, writes Stuart Thorn

Household names such as EasyJet and Dell have become experts at streamlining the market down to its basics - no stock, order on-line, buy direct from the supplier....

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IT leader profile: Chris Brown

IT Week staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:12:00 GMT

IT Week staff, IT Week, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:12:00

Chris Brown is IT support manager at server hosting firm Smartbunker, heading 35 staff

What does your job entail? I oversee internal IT support at the organisation and that of our managed services. How did you get into the IT profession? I've been interested...

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Leader: The dilemma facing SAP

IT Week staff — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:02:00 GMT

IT Week staff, IT Week, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:02:00

What next for German software firm SAP?

SAP is in a dilemma. It is trying to adapt to an evolving market, but there are signs that in doing so this once highly focused firm is losing its...

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Inside information: The future for HD DVD users

Gordon Laing — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Gordon Laing, Personal Computer World, Friday 9 May 2008 at 10:00:00

Sony's Blu-ray has won the HD format war, but what does that mean for early adopters who chose its defeated rival, HD DVD?

On 19 February 2008, Toshiba announced it would discontinue its HD DVD business. As the major backer of the format, this essentially ended the HD format war....

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Progressive thinking: be a gentle giant

Lynn Williams — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:02:00 GMT

Lynn Williams, Accountancy Age, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 23:02:00

Assertiveness is good and a lack of assertiveness can stall your career

When two people have similar skills and experience, it's often the more assertive one who gets promoted. Some people confuse assertiveness with being aggressive, however....

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BDO and Banco Espirito Santo - a relationship gone bad?

Accountancy Age — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:54:00 GMT

Accountancy Age, Accountancy Age, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 22:54:00

Later this year lawyers for Banco Espirito Santo will go before a US jury to argue that BDO International should be liable for damages awarded against member firm BDO Seidman

In a ruling against Seidman, in Miami, a court found against the firm over the audit of ES Bankest, a factoring company owned by Banco Espirito....

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On the money with Gavin Hinks

Gavin Hinks — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:48:00 GMT

Gavin Hinks, Accountancy Age, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 22:48:00

When the Association of British Insurers berated Stuart Rose at Marks & Spencer for taking on the CEO and chairman's role, it was made possible because of one man - Sir Derek Higgs

Sir Derek, who passed away suddenly last week, was the man who wrote the Higgs Report on non-executive directors in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom corporate collapses....

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Cheques are history

Adrian Stafford-Jones — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:39:00 GMT

Adrian Stafford-Jones, Accountancy Age, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 22:39:00

The faster payments initiative will rewrite UK business books

This May the UK banking industry will deliver the faster payments initiative, offering business a near 'real-time' payment system for sums up to £10,000....

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Is it time to go public?

Alex Hawkes — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:29:00 GMT

Alex Hawkes, Accountancy Age, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 22:29:00

Would UK accountants be more publicly minded if, like their American counterparts, they were described as 'public' accountants?

In the US you are a CPA, a 'certified public accountant'. In the same way, presumably, that the US bill of rights stamps the founding principles of liberty and democracy...

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On the web, it pays to suspect everything

David Neal — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:09:00 GMT

David Neal, IT Week, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 12:09:00

Users must be taught that even the most innocent-looking sites can harbour threats

When I was a much younger man I foolishly bought some magic beans. I say foolishly, because these beans led to a rather embarrassing scene after I mistook them for...

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Stop the bullies

Martin Williams — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:45:00 GMT

Martin Williams, Accountancy Age, Thursday 8 May 2008 at 18:45:00

Moves to tackle contractual bullying by retailers should be extended

After two years of investigation, the Competition Commission finally announced a swathe of measures designed to curb the purchasing power of the supermarket giants on 30 April....

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Row over iPlayer highlights need for fibre

Dave Bailey — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:28:00 GMT

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 14:28:00

The UK's creaky internet infrastructure has brought the BBC and ISPs to blows

Have you used Aunty Beeb's streaming TV programme service, the iPlayer, yet? I hadn't until I came to write this column....

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Is internet activity destroying the planet?

David Tebbutt — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:19:00 GMT

David Tebbutt, Information World Review, Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 11:19:00

Social networking sites, online gaming, YouTube, iPlayer, you name it - they all boost internet activity. But what's the effect of all this activity on the environment?

Calculating carbon footprints has got to be one of the hardest jobs in the world. Carbon release has become the prime measure of our environmental unfriendliness and, like it or...

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The real price of knowledge

Peter Williams — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:08:00 GMT

Peter Williams, Information World Review, Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 11:08:00

Is public loss of confidence in government's ability to protect our personal data justified?

At the dawn of a new technological age, moments of doubt are inevitable. Despite the actual and potential benefits of the digital era, it is clear that many are now...

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Poor data protection must carry a heavy price

Madeline Bennett — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:22:00 GMT

Madeline Bennett, IT Week, Friday 2 May 2008 at 16:22:00

If firms want to avoid tougher penalties and more regulation, they must step up their data protection efforts

It was difficult to avoid the issue of IT security last month. Two of the industry's biggest events the RSA security show in San Francisco and Infosecurity Europe 2008...

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CSIA: a progress report

Guy Kewney — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:09:00 GMT

Guy Kewney, IT Week, Friday 2 May 2008 at 11:09:00

When the history of useless security initiatives is written, a chapter should be set aside for the CSIA

Happy birthday, the CSIA. No, I don't mean the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, which recently got surreptitiously swallowed up by the Information Technology Association of America....

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Microsoft opens arms to Linux

IT Week Staff — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:56:00 GMT

IT Week Staff, IT Week, Friday 2 May 2008 at 10:56:00

Commercial imperitive to strong for Redmond to ignore

Many IT experts will check the date to make sure it is not the first of April when they hear that Microsoft is to support Linux servers in a beta...

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View from the board: group dynamics

Mark Freebairn — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:15:00 GMT

Mark Freebairn, Accountancy Age, Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 19:15:00

I have written many times about how the role of finance has evolved, and I won't bore you all again with yet more stories of commerciality and operational support.

But there have been some very definite developments in the senior finance roles at group level, however, and these are worth discussing....

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Independence is rule number one for neds

Gavin Hinks — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:13:00 GMT

Gavin Hinks, Accountancy Age, Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 19:13:00

Among the ten 'to-dos' audit committee members should observe this year, according to the audit committee institute at KPMG, is No.7: 'Be prepared for a crisis'

I doubt very much that lastminute.com founder Martha Lane-Fox thought she would need this advice about her own membership of the Marks & Spencer board....

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On the money with Gavin Hinks

Gavin Hinks — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:11:00 GMT

Gavin Hinks, Accountancy Age, Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 19:11:00

Wouldn't we all love to be able to hire a top accountancy firm to measure our effectiveness at work?

Of course, we would, we'd all appreciate an honest insight into our abilities to cope with our jobs, a detailed sense of whether we're worth the pay cheque at the...

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Recovery experts: you shouldn't be surprised

Chris Laughton — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:08:00 GMT

Chris Laughton, Accountancy Age, Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 19:08:00

Recovery experts are the obvious choice to lead firms

Is it a coincidence that the incoming UK heads of PricewaterhouseCoopers and BDO are from a restructuring background in the current economic climate? Ian Powell takes the helm at PwC...

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Brave the new world

Larry Levine — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:06:00 GMT

Larry Levine, Accountancy Age, Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 19:06:00

Fair value is here to stay - so deal with it

There has been a sea change in accounting's orientation regarding valuing assets and liabilities from an historical cost perspective to a fair value perspective....

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