2010 Archive

Soft skills 'as important as qualifications' when job hunting

Having soft skills in team working, leadership and self motivation are equally important as having the qualifications for a job.

This is according to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, who said that IT qualifications are important when applying for a new role, but ideal candidates will have a "mix of both, varying according to their requirements".
(10 December 2010)

Women in Technology

Cloud hosting 'the way of the future'

Cloud computing will prove to be a transformative technology in the UK, it has been claimed.

Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, claimed that many businesses are now trialling managed hosting services, with some committing to full deployments.
(09 November 2010)

GlobalGold

Are IT executives reluctant to buy into the cloud?

Business executives are more interested in buying into the cloud than IT executives, a new survey has found.

Research by the London School of Economics and Horses for Sources found that business leaders are more attracted to the potential savings and by the way that the technology can transform a business as a whole, while IT executives do not see such potential.
(09 November 2010)

Women in Technology

Business leaders 'have their heads in the cloud'

Many businesses are taking their time before fully committing to the cloud computing revolution, it has been claimed. Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computer Centre, said it is not uncommon for businesses to trial hosted services prior to a full deployment.

He claimed there is a high level of interest about cloud services among organisations, but fewer than expected are overhauling their whole IT infrastructure as yet.
(09 November 2010)

Ashdown Group

Cloud computing to transform business IT

Cloud computing will change the way businesses provide their IT services, despite relatively low uptake of the technology, according to The National Computing Centre (NCC).

The comments from the NCC follow research published last week by the London School of Economics and Horses for Sources which found that business executives are more optimistic about implementing cloud computing than their opposite numbers in the IT industry.
(08 November 2010)

Computeach

NCC says cloud computing adoption will increase

Cloud computing is set to transform the way that IT is provisioned in organisations, it has been claimed. According to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computer Centre, there is a great deal of interest in hosted services – particularly from leading business executives.

He said that while there are still "some unanswered questions about the use of the cloud", companies realise that IT outsourcing can save them time and money. Mr Dean noted that some firms are only trialling cloud computing at present, with a view to a full implementation at a later date.
(08 November 2010)

ihotdesk

Spending Review: "Winter of discontent" ahead for UK IT

I am talking to a few people about their predictions for the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and will be posting different perspectives from industry players here ahead of the announcements next week. In general - as expected - the general feeling is that the CSR is not likely to bring good news to those working in IT.
(14 October 2010)

Computer Weekly

One in three businesses set to increase spending on CRM software this year

Nearly one in three businesses asked by the National Computing Centre for the Evaluation Centre said that they were expecting to spend more on the technology than they did last year. In addition, 38 per cent said that they will be keeping their expenditure on CRM around the same level in 2010.

Evaluation Centre managing director Steve Fox said that businesses should use CRM technology as part of a bigger customer plan.
(23 September 2010)

Outsourcery

Third of businesses increasing CRM investment - report

Almost a third of UK organisations expect to increase their investment in CRM systems over the year ahead in a bid to improve consumer satisfaction and provide sales and marketing staff with better customer information.

A further 38% anticipate that expenditure on their CRM systems will remain at current levels, while only 16% believe budgets will drop. These are the findings of a survey undertaken among 100 UK organisations by the National Computing Centre (NCC).
(23 September 2010)

My Customer

CRM software sales on the rise as recession eases

Nearly a third of organisations expect to invest more in customer relationship management (CRM) software this year as they look to emerge from the recession, according to research from the National Computing Centre (NCC).

The study found that only 16 per cent expect to see a reduction in spending, 38 per cent aim to keep expenditure at the same level and 44 per cent plan to make changes or additions to their CRM implementations in the future.
(17 Spetember 2010)

V3.co.uk

Lazy Consumers Lack Green Motivation

Experts agree that consumers are still apathetic about buying green, according to the results from the latest UKFast round table. Despite a growing awareness of the importance of environmentally friendly practices, many people are still not taking the necessary action.

Ian Jones, head of research at The National Computing Centre says that when it comes to choosing between products, price is normally the deciding factor. Ian says, "The green part of the decision is only a very small part of any decision at the moment."
(10 September 2010)

IT Industry Today

GCSE students need IT role models, says NCC

The continued decline in the numbers of students taking GCSE ICT is down to a lack of role models in the IT industry, according to the National Computing Centre (NCC). This morning's results showed 61,022 students took GCSE ICT this year compared with 73,519 last year, representing a drop of 17%. Michael Dean, head of marketing at the NCC, believes the lack of role models in the IT sector is partly to blame.
(24 August 2010)

Computer Weekly

Government urged to evaluate IT outsourcing projects

The new government should exercise greater caution than its predecessor when evaluating the merits of particular IT projects, it has been claimed. Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, noted that some of the recent major IT initiatives have been costly failures.
(30 July 2010)

ihotdesk

Government must make IT projects 'more effective'

The coalition government must manage its IT projects more effectively in the future, according to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre (NCC). His comments come after the NHS has experienced "major problems" with its new electronic patient record system, which is still not fully operational.
(30 July 2010)

Women in Technology

IT industry news: 'Coalition should have a practical approach to IT projects'

The new coalition government should scrutinize spending for major IT projects in a pragmatic way, according to Michael Dean, head of marketing at IT organisation the NCC. "Billions of pounds of cash has gone into the NHS's IT programme with the objective of creating a working electronic patient record system, yet the project has suffered major problems and is not fully operational," Mr Dean said.
(30 July 2010)

Computeach

NCC warning over govt IT contract renegotiation

UK outsourcing firms may be affected if the government chooses to renegotiate its major IT contracts, the National Computing Centre (NCC) has said. A total of 35 major government IT outsourcing contracts are potentially at risk of renegotiation in the coming years, technology analyst Ovum claimed last week. The company issued the warning after the Con-Lib coalition imposed a £100 million cap on public IT contracts, seeking to cut spending and reduce the budget deficit.

Michael Dean, head of marketing at information technology membership and research organisation the NCC, said the impacts of the spending cuts "could be significant".
(29 July 2010)

Ashdown Group

AQA IT department wins accreditation

“The IT Department has developed a good reputation, but we still need to establish a mutual understanding with the business about what a good catalogue of IT services looks like,” says AQA IT director Peter Dawson. “The ability to benchmark ourselves against a recognised industry standard was a key factor in our decision to seek IT Department accreditation from the NCC.”

AQA joins a list of organisations whose IT departments have been accredited to the NCC Standard, including Imperial College London, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, North Wales Police, and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service - UCAS.
(10 July 2010)

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Businesses 'will increase spend on desktop virtualisation'

Businesses are likely to start spending on more IT services this year and according to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, spend will go on desktop virtualisation.
(08 July 2010)

Women in Technology

Virtualisation spending to increase this year

According to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computer Centre, the trend for virtualisation is being driven by a number of factors, including cost reductions associated with the technology.
(08 July 2010)

ihotdesk

SMEs looking to invest in managed hosting services

More small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considering migrating to managed hosting services, one IT expert has claimed. According to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, business owners are increasingly questioning existing technology models.
(08 July 2010)

GlobalGold

Could employees work harder with IT training?

Employees could work harder if they had more IT training,the latest report by Lifelong Learning UK has found. It revealed that half of workers believe that they would waste less time at work if they had more knowledge of IT and 49 per cent said that they would feel more confident using technology if it had been incorporated more in their training and education.

Commenting on the results, Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, said: "Quite often money is spent on training when a system is introduced, but then it is often not maintained."
(08 June 2010)

Women in Technology

Incomplete staff training 'leads to IT potential not being achieved'

Businesses are not realising their full technological potential because staff have received incomplete or curtailed training, it has been suggested.

Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, said that while most firms did train staff when upgrading their IT systems, many failed to implement training from then onwards.
(07 June 2010)

Chartered Institue of Managers

Incomplete training means firms are not fulfilling potential, says expert

British businesses are not fulfilling their potential with regard to technology in cases where training programmes are left incomplete.

This is the view of the National Computing Centre (NCC), which said firms are too often cutting training from the budget of a systems upgrade, meaning the new systems are not reaching their potential.
(07 June 2010)

BCS.org

IT market on the road to recovery?

Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, noted that the UK will not be in as good a position as other countries when it comes to IT spending: "With the UK economy lagging in recovery behind the US, tech spending will not be so spectacular.
(28 May 2010)

Rackspace.co.uk

Experts' views on Red Gate Software

Jo Causon of the Institute of Customer Service, The National Computing Centre's Michael Dean and Maria Farnell of Peninsula give their expert advice to help Red Gate Software solve its recruitment problems.
(27 May 2010)

Telegraph.co.uk

UK's IT industry still to recover from recession

The UK's IT industry has not yet fully recovered from the effects of the recession, according to one expert. Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre (NCC), said the recession has led to large firms buying out their smaller competitors.
(18 May 2010)

BCS

UK IT sector shows signs of recovery

The UK IT sector has shown a sign of recovery, as according to figures from e-skills, investment in IT has risen and the unemployment rate for IT jobs has fallen. The sector skills council for business and IT released its figures this month for the final quarter of 2009. It found that the unemployment rate for IT professionals fell from 5.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent, showing steps towards economic recovery for the industry. However, Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre argued that the UK IT industry has not fully recovered from the crisis.
(18 May 2010)

Women in Technology

Natural "buoyancy" of IT sector may boost technology jobs in banking in London

Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre (NCC), has suggested the recession has "enabled the big players to buy up all of their smaller competitors who couldn''t ride out the storm", while "new challengers to established players" have emerged.
(17 May 2010)

Astbury Marsden

UK IT sector still not recovered from recession, says National Computing Centre

According to Michael Dean, head of marketing at the National Computing Centre, the technology industry in the UK has not yet fully recovered from the global financial crisis, but it's a naturally buoyant sector.
(17 May 2010)

Computeach

Shared services centres to take over from in-house finance?

Work performed by in-house finance departments is being farmed out to shared services centres as organisations look for fresh opportunities to save money.

Almost one-third of businesses (31 per cent) surveyed by the National Computing Centre, a body representing corporate IT users, have migrated their finance and accounting systems over to shared services centres, while another five per cent are planning to do so.
(30 April 2010)

Silicon

NCC: Don't expect major UK recovery this year

IT spending will be slower to pick up in the UK than other markets, though cloud services and SaaS should flourish, according to the National Computing Centre. The UK will see a rise in IT spending this year, but it's likely to be far more subdued than in other markets.
(19 April 2010)

ITPro

Experts' view on énergie fitness clubs

Michael Dean of The National Computing Centre, David James from the Henley Business School and Robert Allison, MD at Expense Reduction Analysts look over énergie fitness clubs's business plans.
(14 April 2010)

Telegraph.co.uk

Ensuring a smooth transition to Unified Communications

Michael Dean, director of advisory services at the National Computing Centre, says in the current climate, employees might want to feel visible, particularly if they feel their job is under threat. One potential benefit to UC is even those staff working remotely can be as visible and accessible as their office-based counterparts.
(16 March 2010)

Computing

Experts' view on Stockshifters's business plan

Michael Dean of the National Computing Centre, Rupert Merson, a lecturer at the London Business School and Simon Dolph from the CMI evaluate the Stockshifters business plan.
(07 April 2010)

Telegraph.co.uk

Lessons for software developers from Toyota's ABS safety alert

Danny Dresner, head of information assurance practice at the National Computing Centre, says, "With the Toyota software, if the brakes failed under a combination of circumstances, then the software has always been broken."
(12 February 2010)

Computer Weekly

IT outsourcing brings SME benefits

Some 81% of IT departments made cost cuts over the past 12 months, according to a study from the National Computing Centre (NCC)
(20 January 2010)

ITWeb

IT departments still slashing costs, says NCC

Eighty one percent of IT departments made cost cuts over the last 12 months, according to a study from the National Computing Centre (NCC).
(15 January 2010)

ComputerworldUK

IT departments still under the cosh

Pressure to reduce cost and budgets as well as delayed projects are still common features of many technology departments, according to a survey on IT infrastructure plans carried out by the National Computing Centre (NCC).
(14 January 2010)

Computing

Gloomy 2010 in store as firms delay upgrades

National Computing Centre research finds many companies expecting more budget cuts this year.

This year may see an end to the technology downturn, according to analyst firm Forrester, but the reality for many IT departments will be continued cost cutting, delayed projects and reduced budgets, according to new research from the National Computing Centre (NCC).
(14 January 2010)

V3.co.uk

IT budget cuts expected in 2010

Businesses expect to make significantcuts to their IT budgetsduring 2010 according to the National Computing Centre's (NCC) latest survey of IT infrastructure plans.

The research, which was based on a survey of 100 companies and undertaken by NCC's Evaluation Centre, reported that 28% of those surveyed admitted they have had to undertake significant cost-cutting in their IT operations and a further 32% have had to make moderate cuts.
(12 January 2010)

Computer Weekly

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