Hewlett Packard has appointed Léo Apotheker, SAP's former chief, as it's new CEO and President.

He replaces Mark Hurd who stepped down after an investigation into claims made by a former HP contractor.

HP have also appointed Ray Lane, a venture capitalist, as non-exec chairman. Both appointments are effective as of 1st November.

HP will hope that Apotheker's appointment can boost the company's offering of software and IT Services. Alongside this he will be tasked with extending HP's dominance in the PC and Printer markets. With Apotheker's background in enterprise computing, his profile and expertise certianly fit the bill.

Is this a successfull move for HP? I would be interested to hear your comments below.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Manager

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Contactless payments have struggled to take off in Europe, despite success in Japan, but Visa is saying the 2012 Olympics could be a watershed moment for it's uptake.

The devices to enable this won't go to mass market anytime soon, but they are on their way. NFC (Near Field Communications) technology makes this possible and by 2015 consumers will be able to use it for both small and high value transactions.

Visa are trialling it in Spain with La Caixa bank and mobile operator Mobistar. 1,500 triallists have each been given a free Samsung Star Touch pre-loaded with a link to their bank account. These devices can be used by simply holding it close to a compatible POS terminal - the device has an NFC antenna and the owners virtual Visa card stored securely on the phone's SIM.

Payments of less than €20 are made simply by tapping the device against a POS reader, without the need for the consumer to enter a PIN. Larger transactions require a PIN to be entered by the user after they have swiped their phone on the reader. If your phone battery is dead, don't worry, the technology works without the phone needing to be on, or even charged.

Feedback to date shows that 70% were highly satisfied with the mobile wallet experience. When asked whether they would use it in the future, 66% said they definitely would do so, 25% said they probably would, and 8% said perhaps. Not a single person trialling it said the would 'probably not' or 'definitely not' use it in the future.

Visa sees the 2012 Olympics as an event to expedite the launch of mobile wallets. New technology is being installed and it is the perfect opportunity to push this inevitable technology.

IT & Communications Divisional Manager

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Analysits have warned that the current Whitehall spending cuts will not bounce back.

Logica has announced it's agreement to cut it's charges for IT services in 55 government departments and agencies. Talks are currently taking place between the Cabinet Office and the government's 19 leading technology suppliers. Logica is the third partner to agree to cuts, with the government reviewing whether 419 new IT projects should start.

Analyst House TechMarketView note that the squeeze was a correction to the governments history of paying over the odds for its technology in the past. As a result, spending was unlikely to ever recover to the previous levels. TechMarketView is forecasting public sector IT spending, estimated at c.£16bn per year, to be cut by 10% between 2009 and 2012, with central government departments cutting their spending by 27% during the same period.

Logica's UK CEO, Craig Boundy, said his company had agreed to make 'efficiency savings' across it's public sector contracts, and  highlighted that some of those savings would be realised immediately.

Will this have an impact on the quality of service provided? Boundy said,

"Quality is relevant to individual needs, so no. I think that is about making sure we deliver to the needs."

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Divisional Manager

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If you're tired of not being able to work or contact your friends when your tube goes underground, 'light at the end of the tunnel' might be just around the corner!

The Mayor of London's Office has confirmed talks are in place with Transport for London (TfL) towards extending mobile coverage to underground stations and tunnels.

In principal there are no technical barriers to implementation, it merely boils down to what was previously perceived as prohibitive costs. TfL originally tendered this opportunity in 2007, however a pilot never evolved out of the drawing board. Cost is ultimately still an issue, which the GLA have confirmed would need to be funded by the private sector.

Vodafone and O2 have confirmed they are in discussions, with the former taking the lead around one year ago. Orange has yet to throw their hat into the ring having so far refused to comment.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Divisional Manager

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Nineteen people have been arrested suspected of stealing millions from online bank accounts.

The Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit raided a number of properties on Monday. The suspects are alleged to be part of a gang that has stolen at least £6m over the past three months. Malicious code was used to capture bank log-in details held on personal computers. The Trojan employed is known as 'Zeus'.

Once the gang had harvested the money into accounts set up solely to receive the money, it was laundered onwards. The Met's e-Crime Unit expect the amount stolen would increase as the investigation progresses.

Damian Hicklin

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BT Openreach has named yet another tranche of exchanges to be upgraded to fibre.

Those exchanges include Birmingham Central, Wapping in London, Mumbles in Wales and Taunton in Somerset. This is in addition to the 303 named in March and are part of a next generation broadband rollout to which BT has pledged £2.5bn by 2015.

The newly announced exchanges will provide c.40Mbps download speeds, with some capable of 100 Mbps.

The full list of exchanges reach urban and rural locations alike, from north to south, east to west. The news comes on the same day that BT have announced they are to survey the country in order to ascertain where the demand the the next wave of upgrades should be.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Divisional Manager

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ARM has been announced as a finalist in two categories for the 2010 National Online Recruiter Awards (NORA).

The first, “Best national recruitment agency website”, puts us amongst some of the industry’s other leading consultancies. We’re proud to receive this recognition following months of passion and professionalism invested into the development of the arm.co.uk website.

The second nomination is for ARM’s internal recruitment website (arm.jobs) which falls within the “Best small employer website” category; an achievement in its own right.

We look forward to the NORAs where the winners will be announced - Thursday 4th November is the big day.

Further details of the NORAs can be seen at www.norauk.com

Watch this space!

Sam Hill

eMarketing Executive

ARM

Following on from my recent post announcing HP's new CEO Leo Apotheker, I have decided to lend my thoughts towards the strategic decision behind this recent revelation.

According to HP's lead independent director, Robert Ryan, Leo Apotheker is a 'strategic thinker' with 'proven operational discipline' and is 'exactly what we were looking for in a new CEO'.

I think this signals a brave move into software, and the Cloud, in order for HP to realise future growth. Given Apotheker's background in software you can't help but admire HP's move and its underlying strategy to leverage their might, power, standing and dollars to dominate yet another IT channel. Whether this channel is developing their own applications, or partnering with other vendors, only time will tell.

Gartner's Managing VP, Martin Reynolds, blogged that HP's software business has the greatest potential for growth. Although HP has bought a portfolio of cloud technologies, the present drive is to cut the costs of computing, rather than new services that the cloud could bring about.

Apotheker's appointment is certainly a departure for HP, something that couldn't have been predicted, but it will undoubtedly lead to other vendors re-examining their own strategies for competing with HP.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Divisional Manager

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How much do you want BT to upgrade your ageing exchange to fibre optic? How much do you crave superfast fibre optic broadband? If the prospect has you drooling with anticipation, don't hold your breath: BT are going to upgrade their exchanges according to demand over the next five years, and they are going to do it according to demand and YOUR VOTE!

Your exchange needs you NOW!

The Race to Infinity is BT giving the nation the chance to decide and tell it what it wants. If your area gets enough votes by percentage then you will win the chance to get superfast broadband plus, BT will donate £5,000 worth of computer equipment to a local community project.

At the time of writing ARM has noted the top five areas by percentage vote are Reading South, Cambridge North, Merseyside West, Edinburgh & Glasgow. If you are not on that list, spread the word! You can utilize the share function of this blog to share this news around your social networks, simply hover over the "Share / Bookmark" link below and select the network of your choice.

Damian Hicklin

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This post is as a follow up to my blog last week about contactless payments at the 2012 Games:

While TfL have shelved plans for commuters to pay for their journeys via NFC-enabled mobile phones, they are keeping a weather eye on the contactless technology in debit and credit cards instead.

As ARM reported earlier in the week NFC is a short-range technology allowing users to make payments by swiping their card or mobile phone over a reader. It is basically a much easier and quicker alternative to paying with cash.

TfL is in talks with MasterCard, Visa and American Express, aimed at letting commuters use contactless cards for travel in 2012. This isn't a replacement for the Oyster cards, but an alternative for London visitors who don't have a clue about TfL's contactless ticketing system.

Contactless mobile phone payment isn't as quick as an Oyster card, but it is a viable alternative and TfL wants to make the experience as easy as possible, with as many alternatives as possible to its users.

Damian Hicklin

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One of my favourite t-shirts carries the slogun: "It's the year 2000. Where is my jetpack?". But although we're not living in Blade Runner land yet, full of sprawling metropolises buzzing with aerial motor highways, mobile technology does allow us to witness the future unfolding before our very eyes. Mobile phones might not be as iconic as that staple meme of the imagined future, the flying car, but in their way, they are as spectacular.

I remember going to the Telecoms 2000 Expo in Geneva and being blown away by a Nokia phone that could not only take photos, but also send them to someone else. Crivens! A mere ten years ago, and something that we now take for granted as the lowest common denominator in mobile technology was a sandwich-droppingly thrilling shift into the future.

The Japanese have always been trailblazers of technology and gurus of inventing the as-yet-uninvented, so it's no great surprise that it was a recent Japanese trade show that provided the latest insight into what mobiles of the future might look like.

To summarise: A mobile with a transparent sheet of glass providing an 'augmented reality layer' that will give you information about a place of business if you point your phone at it; Fujitsu's 'Fluid Phone', which mimics a block of ice and can change shape and functionality depending on who is using it; Sharpe's prototype 3D camera phone allowing users to shoot and stream pictures/video in 3D. And finally, for the romantics out there, NTT DoCoMo believes that couples should know how their sweetheart feels when they are talking to them. How do they plan on doing this? Well, by giving them a 'Heart' which reveals your partner's mood or reception to what you're saying.

Altogether now, aaaaaaaah. Or should that be "Eeek"?

Does the future development of mobile technology scare or excite you? have you come accross any other futuristic mobile technology innovations? It would be interesting to hear your comments below.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Manager

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I have to confess that I am not personally a fan of Facebook: when I’ve looked at it and considered what it can do for me, I simply find myself my drawn to other media instead, just as for many people (and there are millions of them) it seems to constitute one of those “And Now My Life Is Complete” moments.

But I do understand the buzz around social media and I love using Twitter for work - I'm a regular Tweeter (@ARM_DamianH). Nor would I dispute the fact that these, and other, social media are valuable tools for both business and lifestyle communication.

What I do wonder about is how much of what goes on within social networking sites is a waste of time. I'm talking about the whole raft of sites and communications tools that comprise the social networking world here. But let’s be fair - if you’re going to ask that, you need also to consider its corollary: how much is of great value? It’s like the Henry Ford joke about advertising: he knows that half his advertising works brilliantly….he’s just not sure which half. (And I'm not sure if he was smiling about it).

All of which leads me to ponder the issue, as is my wont, of security. On some social networking sites, people may choose to spend their time completing short "fun" questionnaires (it takes all sorts) to find out what country they should live in or which religion best suits them. They can complete top five lists of their first 5 cars, or their 5 favourite sports teams, or their 5 favourite breakfast cereals. It’s not something I’d choose to send my free time doing, but whatever floats your boat.

One social networking ‘game’ that has done the rounds generates your 'porn name' based on key information supplied by you. Using details like your first pet's name, your mother's maiden name, and the street you grew up on, it generates a ‘joke’ name that you could use if you chose to pursue a career in that industry. Many of the details used by the game are also key pieces of information that are relied on by a number of information security systems.

Many web sites and applications ask users to create security questions to verify their identities in the event that they can't remember their password. Those questions are generally along the same lines as the information asked for by this game. Let’s be clear about this: I am emphatically NOT saying that if you play these games, you are by definition being ripped off. That would be as ridiculous an assertion as it is wrong. But by playing games like this, you may be more at risk from phishing attacks used by hackers who replicate these sorts of games to learn personal information about you.

To avoid phishing attacks, think about what information you share and just who has access to it when you are playing games and posting details on social networking sites. Some find it amusing to share and compare favourite rock bands or favourite superheroes, but attackers can also collect information like that from social networking sites. If you have ever used your all-time favourite band as a password, or ever answered the question 'what is your all-time favourite band' as a security question, then by sharing that information on a public forum such as a social networking site you open yourself up to potential compromise.

For those of you reading this who are old enough to remember the kids programme “Why Don’t You?”, I’d thoroughly recommend not filling in your top 5s on social networking sites, not updating everything you do from making a cup of tea to driving your car, and instead, to paraphrase and modernise the mantra from that estimable old TV show, switch off your PC and go out and do something less boring instead”. If you take my advice you may just save your personal information from being compromised.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Manager

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Tough times, tough decisions. This is the stance the Coalition Government has taken in its first Comprehensive Spending Review, with perhaps the biggest headline being the potential loss of 490,000 public sector jobs. But what else was announced?

Key highlights (or rather lowlights) included:

• An average of 19% four year cuts in departmental budgets
• Structural Deficit to be eliminated by 2015
• £7bn in additional welfare cuts
• Police funding down 4% a year
• The retirement age to increase from 65 to 66 by 2020

Why is the government doing this? Well, according to Mr Osborne the UK's public debt interest repayments are £120m A DAY (that is £43bn per year...just on interest payments!).

How is the government trimming its expenditure? In a nutshell the core government departments will make cost savings of £6bn a year over the next four years - the average is 19% but the Foreign Office is the biggest loser with a budget cut of 24% (I bet a few diplomats are quaking in their Brogues right now!).

So, the key headlines sound scary - big numbers, people losing their jobs with all of the ramifications that fall out of such a programme of cuts, but is there any upside? Yes there is, read on....(it won't take long, this piece is, after all, about 'cuts').

The NHS is protected with an extra £2bn for social care; school budgets increase every year until 2015 and £30bn capital expenditure on transport (key projects include a new bridge over the River Mersey, upgrade to the Tyne & Wear Metro and the Crossrail project WILL continue) has been announced.

So what were the alternatives? Labour pressed for raising taxes with more modest spending cuts (with a 33/67% split), while other more radical think-tanks have come up with all sorts of alternatives including one, Compass, who proposed introducing a 50% income tax at a lower threshold. Yikes!

Finally, what of the Unions?? The government states that the 490,000 jobs at risk will be through natural turnover with 'some redundancies' - will the Unions buy that, or could they justify a general strike - are we in for another 'Winter of Discontent' (according to my parents I am a product of the electricity strikes of winter 1969...(we'll leave it there, although we now all know how old you are - Ed).

There is a lot to consider. How will these job losses be absorbed? Is the private sector strong enough to act as a sponge? Is a double dip around the corner? At ARM we are feeling a very positive mood amongst our clients, with no sign of abating at the time of writing. Cross your fingers!

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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It has long been reported that the UK's broadband speeds are not up to, well, speed! The good news is we are climbing up the rankings, albeit slowly (ironic use of vocabulary as we are talking about speed!).

Cisco's annual report has looked at how countries are doing in terms of quality and penetration of net services. The UK came out 18th, up from 25th place last year, out of 72 countries surveyed. Who was top of the list? South Korea - AGAIN!

Fourteen countries were classed as being in the 'elite' club (in other words they are ready for 'tomorrow') - in 2008 only one country qualified: Japan. To be classed as ready for tomorrow's internet the study looked at whether the network could cope with high definition internet TV and high quality video communications. For this average download speeds of 11Mbps and upload speeds of 5Mbps would be required.

So what is the UK currently capable of? Erm, an embarrassing average upload speed of 1.7Mbps! Cisco noted that while the UK is not ready for tomorrow, there had been improvements.

As ARM reported on 15th October ('To Infinity & Beyond'), the UK is likely to raise its game over the next 12 months due to BT's fibre optic roll-outs and Virgin extending their network. A Welcomed improvement i must say!

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Nokia's major reorganisation will see 1,800 jobs cut, and a smartphone product realignment.

Quarterly results last week saw a growth in Smartphone sales but a drop off in their lower end device range due to issues sourcing screen and camera supply constraints.

Nokia's CEO, Stephen Elop, observed Nokia's pipeline as being full of 'unpolished gems' that could be realised through the deployment of a 'crisply articulated strategy'.

ARM's David Powell commented, "While iPhone sales have outstripped RIM's devices, and Windows Phone 7 giving Samsung and HTC and lift, Nokia need to freshen up their device offering with a new user experience."

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Yup, pretty much everyone these days! Long gone are the times when you had to pay for a wireless router - you get them free now. And how easy are they to set up? It takes about five minutes and apparently you have a secure wireless network at home. Easy peasy eh? Not so according to a recent study by CPP, a life assistance company.

CPP looked at six cities in the UK and nearly 40,000 Wi-Fi networks were at high risk and could be attacked and accessed in less than FIVE seconds. How? Once again, easy peesy - by downloading free software from the net.

Of greater concern was that publicly available networks were also at risk, resulting in security implications for business, as they were likely to be accessed by mobile devices for work related tasks.

Hackers could get usernames and passwords from people using public networks at the rate of more than 250 per hour - once again another alarm bell was that more than 200 people an hour accessed a fake WiFi network which they thought was legitimate.

ITD's and CSO's might have the latest software, patches and firewalls, but do they educate staff on the basics of network security? Probably not. I know that I regularly meet people on neutral locations and log my laptop and mobile device onto a public WiFi network - I will be speaking with my ITD shortly to understand more and make sure I am working smartly and safely.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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ARM delights in industry recognition for two employees.

Evening, The Brewery, London: Professionals from across the UK recruitment industry celebrate the industry’s gold standard, the Institute of Recruitment Professionals Awards.

Earlier in the year, ARM had delighted in the confirmation that two of its employees were finalists: Nina Wong (Best Newcomer) and John Dunaway (Best Business Manager).

On the night, we were delighted to see Nina win her award and John receive a commendation in his category.

Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC, said of the awards:

“The standard of entries was exceptional. For those who were shortlisted, bask in the glory of your achievements, the bar was set high”.

From left to right:

John Dunaway, Joel Hard, Mike Gawthorne, Kevin Green, Samantha Templer and Nina Wong

This is what the Institute of Recruitment Professionals said about our deserving winner:

BEST NEWCOMER AWARD – Nina Wong, ARM.

“Nina was seeking a new challenge and an opportunity to have an impact on individuals when she decided to pursue a career in recruitment. She joined the Automotive Engineering Team at ARM in October 2009 in the midst of the recession when many companies had imposed recruitment freezes. Nina focused on the long-term vision and persevered despite the economic gloom. She is one of three in a team at ARM who have generated a turnover of £0.5 million this year. The judges recognised Nina’s innovative ideas and fresh approach to recruiting while building strong relationships with clients based on trust.”

Nina said,

“I was so happy to just be shortlisted but to actually win is one of my best ever achievements! This is also an achievement for the people within ARM who have invested their time and knowledge in helping me to get to where I am”.

ARM’s other finalist, John Dunaway, was highly commended in the category of Business Manager of the year award. John’s outstanding career at ARM saw him recently promoted to Director level. John said of last night’s awards:

“I felt incredibly proud when the knife's edge atmosphere was cut, with the announcement of 'Nina Wong - Best Newcomer'! She truly deserves it, having started her recruitment career in the recession and now performing well above expectations - she's smart and she works hard, that's her secret. But I won't take the credit for her meteoric rise. ARM’s Joel Hard hired Nina and developed her. He continues to do so, and they are a truly winning team”.

The last word on this BLOG goes to Mike Gawthorne, our MD, who posted this message to me this morning:

"I’m absolutely delighted with Nina for winning her award, because it highlights the passion she has shown in helping customers develop in a really tough climate. She joined ARM in a recession and despite this has had a burgeoning career supported brilliantly by Joel Hard and the rest of her team. John Dunaway's commendation reflects what all of us at ARM already know about his commitment and dedication to his clients and his ARM teams alike. ARM aims to remain a permanent fixture at these awards, which are doing much to highlight the professionalism of our industry today."

In the words of Dr Evil, 'One MILLION dollars', er, no Dr Evi - more like 'One hundred BILLION pounds'! Yes, that's right, well it is according to a recent survey by Google.

The research looked at the internet's contribution to the UK economy and was conducted by the Boston Consulting Group. If the net was a sector in its own right, the report states that it would be the fifth largest, equivalent to 7.2% of GDP. This figure could rise to £174bn by 2015.

The report ranks the UK sixth in the OECD's 'e-intensity Index' which measures the depth and reach of the internet in commerce and society as a whole. While the headline figure in this blog is impressive, what doesn't jump off the page is that the report shows the UK performing poorly in terms of infrastructure. Outside of London and the south east for example, there is lower internet consumption.

I understand that people are nervous about online security but how easy is it to sit on your sofa, find the product you want, compare prices of similar products or competitor suppliers, click to buy, and within a few days it's on your doorstep. I shall be doing 90% of my Christmas shopping online this year, possibly much to the displeasure of my other half who likes a mooch round the shops! Which reminds me, there are only 57 days until Christmas - I need to get a wiggle on.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Juniper has announced a complete mobile security platform.

Sexily named 'Junos Pulse Mobile Security Suite', early reports suggest it will have great appeal to both service providers and enterprise IT departments. In essence it bundles security tools together with device management and access control services.

Juniper has moved quickly to address a growing mobile malware problem for users. In an holistic approach Juniper will support the vast majority of smartphone platforms. Junos currently supports Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry; Apple's iOS is planned for a H1 2011 roll out.

In an effort to penetrate the Enterprise and Service Provider markets Juniper will release a platform geared to allowing a management tool that will give IT administrators access to remove files and control permissions for end-user devices.

A line has been drawn in the sand, who dares cross it and step up (and across) to the mark!?

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Cloud users still find security difficult to rationalise according to a survey by Courion.

Of 384 Large Enterprise managers questioned, one in seven stated that they knew of access violations in their cloud, while also admitting that they did not know how to find them.

Half said they were not confident that a compliance audit of their cloud-based applications would show that all access is appropriate. An eight per cent rise over the previous year reported they didn't know who had access to what system or applications: these 'zombie' accounts remain active after people leave their jobs, leaving companies open to data breaches.

As a result of all of this, large businesses lack confidence that they can prevent former employees (and there are few greater risks than a disgruntled former employee) accessing their systems.

Perhaps most worrying is that no-one seems to be taking responsibility for it. The survey found that over three quarters of respondents couldn't identify a single person who was responsible for securing cloud data.

With a gathering momentum towards cloud computing it is time for both business and the IT Security industry to propose solutions, delegate ownership of the cloud's security elements, and start to get a grip on what is obviously an issue.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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The Dutch High Tech Crime Unit has scythed down a global and dangerous botnet after they arrested its ringleader this week.

This particular botnet had infected at least 30 million computers around the world and formed part of the Bredolab network which is used to distribute malware to user PCs. The Netherlands' largest hosting provider, LeaseWeb, was the unsuspecting host of their attacks.

LeaseWeb was only informed of the malicious activity via its community outreach programme through which it provides free bandwidth and capacity to IT Security companies. When LeaseWeb alerted the authorities they were ordered to keep the server running so they could perform their investigations.

The Unit first contacted LeaseWeb in August, and two months later the botnet leader was arrested in Armenia.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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