Here is your weekly update on the latest IT news stories. You can comment on these stories if you are logged on.Big data, mobile solutions and new regulation create shortage of IT professionals in the UKGartner says Platform as a Service is on the cusp of several years of strategic ... read more..

From Robert HalfA net four in five (84%) chief information officers (CIOs) are finding it increasingly challenging to find skilled IT professionals, according to the latest Robert Half Professional Hiring Index. Based on responses from 600 executives across the UK, including 100 CIOs, the Index is the first bi-annual recruitment ... read more..

From GartnerPlatform as a service (PaaS) is a core layer of the cloud computing architecture, and its evolution will affect the future of most users and vendors in enterprise software markets, according to Gartner, Inc.With large and growing vendor investment in PaaS, the market is on the cusp of several ... read more..

From ComputerWeekly.com2012 will be a year of change and smarter working, with IT departments focused on improving processes and finding new ways of doing things, a survey of 170 UK businesses reveals.While cost cutting was the key goal across all business sectors in 2011, doing more with less through optimisation ... read more..

From IT ProApple now sells more PCs than HP or Dell. Is it time IT departments dropped their opposition to the Mac?Apple is now the world's leading PC maker, according to figures from market research firm Canalys.In the last quarter of 2011, Apple sold 5 million Macs. More significantly, the ... read more..

From InformationWeekHow important is it to secure and monitor Microsoft SharePoint?Consider the case of Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who's accused of leaking 250,000 government cables to WikiLeaks. According to an Army investigator who testified at a hearing to determine if Manning should face a court martial, one of ... read more..

From IntergenceWith London 2012 just over six months away, the preparation and excitement for these Olympic Games continues to grow. With an anticipated 1 million people descending on London to enjoy 26 different sports, the increase in network traffic will put a huge strain on business-critical applications, according to Dr ... read more..

From silicon.comBusinesses are moving away from trusting single suppliers to deliver multi-billion pound outsourcing megadeals in favour of accessing services from multiple providers instead.Almost 40% of CIOs surveyed by Harvey Nash/PA Consulting Group last year said they planned to increase their use of multi-sourcing where IT or business process ... read more..

From V3.co.ukAnyone who has been to the US will know that passport control is serious. Sure the UK takes it seriously too, but there's something about the officialdom of the US that makes you instinctively add sir to every question you're asked as you try to enter the Land of ... read more..

Here is your weekly update on the latest IT news stories. You can comment on these stories if you are logged on.Teradata-Oracle allianceintroduces next-generation BI capabilitiesGlobal IT survey highlights enthusiasm over tablets in the enterpriseMy email addressis CENSOREDBeg, stealor borrow? Why the current legal definition of theft may not be ... read more..

From TeradataTeradata (NYSE: TDC), the worlds leading analytic data solutions company, today announced next-generation capabilities for progressive companies ready for more control, functionality and business value from Oracle Business Intelligence technologies.To accommodate escalating data volumes and end users, companies are pursuing heightened technology capabilities that cut through data complexity, extend ... read more..

From CiscoOn January 24 Cisco announced findings from a global survey of IT managers' perceptions about tablet form-factor mobile devices in the enterprise.Cisco commissioned Redshift Research to survey 1,500 IT managers and executives in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Spain to assess attitudes, fears and hopes for tablet ... read more..

From IT ProHow public should your email be? That's a question many of us do not really think about, especially within the world of business.After all, your email address is really no different to your street address, is it? The closest dictionary to hand on the iPad I am writing ... read more..

From V3.co.ukVMware has launched an online marketplace to help customers find virtualisation and cloud technologies and hook up with vendors and VMware partners capable of providing the systems they require.The VMware Solution Exchange makes it easier for customers to discover, evaluate, purchase and deploy various products and services built around ... read more..

From silicon.comWhen it comes to the world economy, we live in interesting times. And as businesses grapple with uncertainty, volatility, austerity, the eurozone crisis and markets in recession, what role if any does outsourcing play?In particular, has it become a more or less important feature of the business landscape, and ... read more..

From ITAdviserE-discoverysounds as though it could be something to do with food additives, but in practice its a subject which is currently attracting a lot of attention in business circles. E-discovery (short for electronic discovery) essentially refers to the process of recovering email, SMS and other electronic forms of information ... read more..

From ComputerWeekly.comData protection will be the top security initiative for most UK organisations in 2012, a survey of IT professionals has revealed.Media focus on the topic is driving public awareness as increasing powers of the Information Commissioners Office draw the board's attention to the risks.This is reflected in the fact ... read more..

From ZDNet UKOrganisations that are ready for a disaster reduce its impact and are up and running again more quickly those that don't may never recover.Disasters are inevitable. Even though people know they have to plan for the worst, life gets in the way. Then when disaster strikes, it ... read more..

From ComputerWeekly.comA website has been launched to help people make a bit of cash to cheer them up after a relationship breakdown.The aptly named neverlikeditanyway.com provides a marketplace for people to rid themselves of unwanted gifts from relationships that have gone bad.The brains behind the website had the idea after ... read more..

Here is your weekly update on the latest IT news stories. You can comment on these stories if you are logged on.Is the CIO becoming extinct?SharePoint users develop insecure habitsAmazon Dynamo DB: bigdata's big cloud momentIBM predicts evolution of IT department as social data use growsIntegratedbusiness communicationsadds real value to ... read more..

From CIOThe majority of CIOs dont expect to continue the job in their next role according to research from Gartner.Gartners CIO Agenda survey for 2012, of over 2,300 CIOs across the world, found 55% of respondents didnt think they would be in a CIO role in the next career move. ... read more..

From CryptzoneSurvey finds almost half of SharePoint users disregard the security within SharePoint, and copy sensitive or confidential documents to insecure hard drives, USB keys or even email it to a third party.The results of a survey, released on 19 January, has found that Microsoft SharePoint users are aware of ... read more..

From InformationWeekAmazon Web Services launched the DynamoDB NoSQL database service on Wednesday, marking the company's boldest appeal yet for companies to trust a cloud-based service as a platform for running a business.The question now is whether Amazon really can deliver big-data scale at a reasonable cost through a cloud-based operation.The ... read more..

From V3.co.ukThe role of the IT department is evolving to become ever more central to firms' decision-making processes as staff have access to increasing volumes of relevant social data, according to IBM.The firm's director for social business strategy Doug Heintzman, said as IT staff roll out and manage the use ... read more..

From ITAdviserWith senior management often focused on keeping the business afloat, it is easy to see how IT can become an overlooked entity in many organisations. Inflexible legacy systems often underpin business processes and are perceived to be time-consuming and problematic to update. This, coupled with a lack of understanding ... read more..

From Computerworld.comTo be successful in a difficult economy, companies should continue to focus on their business strategy and on differentiating themselves from rivals, Gartner has advised.The analyst house said that this strategy is the one that makes leading companies stand out from companies that are less successful, as the latter ... read more..

From Computing.co.ukNot many people read IT disaster recovery (DR) plans for pleasure but these documents are often far more insightful than the organisations annual report. Thats because the quality and scope of the DR plan instantly reveals the companys relative priorities, levels of resource investment and commitment to business continuity ... read more..

From ComputerWeekly.comGreen computing is no longer just a whitewash expression, as government schemes like the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme, the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) and the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), are encouraging companies to revaluate their use of IT resources. Finding new ways of improving energy ... read more..

FromForbesI prefer to come into work a little earlier before our 9am start time in order to leave before 5pm. My boss has no problem with my hours, though an older female colleague apparently does. She regularly tells me that this special work schedule is damaging my career trajectory and ... read more..

From IT ProCIOs and other senior business and technology decision makers are time poor, yet suffer from increasing levels of information overload.Rather than add to that sea of data, every quarter we will produce the IT Pro Report. Our aim is to bring together the key information and insight you ... read more..