At the end of June, 11 adventurous ARM employees will take on the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for ARM's nominated charities "Make a Wish" and "Macmillan Cancer Support". The trip is entirely self-funded and the team will not be receiving any assistance from the charities, maximising the amount of money that goes to the good causes.

Keep up to date of their progress via Facebook, Twitter and the ARM news page.

The sponsorship page is up and running if you want to help support them, please click here.

Earls Court has been home to the ICE event for many years, and each year new gaming innovation and solutions are shown to the world.

ARM iGaming find events like these very useful as we get to meet like minded professionals and learn more about the market place.

If you would like to see how ARM iGaming can help you find a job, or if you would like an informal chat on some of the challenges you face call: 01202 924 924 or visit our igaming page.

It is hard to believe that it’s almost two years since Mike and I got our heads together and decided to launch a brand new ARM Division from sunny Bournemouth. Our first office was nothing more than a broom cupboard with room for five desks and not even enough room to swing a cat. Meetings were regularly conducted in the car park or local Costa Coffee - it really was back to basics launching a brand new and exciting venture from scratch.

Two years later, a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears and we have now moved into our third office. This stunning new office space has room for more than fifty staff, a board room, meeting room and a full kitchen and will provide the vehicle for ARM iGaming, ARM Marketing and ARM International to grow into mature businesses with huge scope for future growth, and career progression for all who sail in her.

Thank you to Amy, Alex and Stephanie who have been with us since the early days, and Mike and the rest of the board for support during our infancy.

Stuart Roe

Divisional Manager

iGaming, Marketing & International

Read his first blog here.

Well, three weeks have passed since my last blog, and Mike and I have completed our second training ride together, a crazy high-speed blast around Portsmouth and Southsea, averaging 18.6mph, after a long day at the office. Since this, I have completed 3 more rides of 20, 23 and 25 miles, the last being a particularly nasty ride in wind, rain and sleet, which has to go down as the least pleasant cycle ride of my life so far. My training now takes a temporary pause whilst I grab 10 days' sunshine and rest in Barbados, before training resumes in earnest on Sunday 18th March. Until then.....

You can sponsor Paul and Mike here!

If you would like to sponsor Paul and Mike in the London to Paris Cycle Ride, you can donate at this page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ARMDirectors

Thank you.

Advanced Resource Managers.

Simon has 22 years’ board experience in the Telecoms and Networking, IT and Recruitment markets. In the early 1990s, he was founding Managing Director of two companies (in Multimedia and Cable Television).

He has also been on the main board of two firms through IPO – one of these in the staffing industry, led a number of company acquisitions and integrations and is a director of Elite Leaders, a peer to peer learning forum for the owners and managing directors of recruitment companies.

Simon says of his appointment:

Mike Gawthorne, MD of ARM, said:

We’ve had knowledge of Simon’s experience for years. His appointment as a NED gives ARM vital confidence and support in our growth. He brings a wealth of expertise in strategic account development which he has imparted to the business, and this will support the growth of clients, our own employees and our strategy going forward.”

So why did I sign up for this crazy challenge? I’ve been entering cycling events for the past three years, starting with Round The Harbours (36 miles) which I have completed in 3 consecutive years, and London to Brighton (60 miles on the day once I had cycled from my hotel to the start, and from the finish to where I was being collected), so already had the bug.

But why Make-a-Wish? It’s one of the charities we at ARM have chosen to support this year, and like everybody else at the company I was deeply moved when volunteer Adrian Dixon came to ARM HQ and presented to us on the charity’s activities and achievements. So I decided to see if any other idiots from the Directors’ team fancied joining me in a sponsored cycle ride to raise funds for the charity, and Mike Gawthorne stepped proudly forward. Temporary insanity over a glass of red on a Friday night, combined with my looming 45th birthday, spurred me on - and the gauntlet was firmly laid down!

Now onto the training plan. I started training on a static trainer, but two twenty minute sessions later the boredom had got me out onto the road and I’d invested in a shiny new carbon fibre road bike! So much for static training.

Five weeks ahead of the plan supplied by the organisers, I had completed five rides by the end of January 2012, of distances varying from over 18 to over 30 miles - including a particularly gruelling weekend when I did 25 and 28-milers on consecutive days. The next two days at the office were mostly spent stood up for some reason!

A chill snap welcomes the start of February, and a 10am photo shoot on a cold Saturday morning beckons for Mike and me, so that the PR Express of ARM’s Marketing team can get us out there and help us smash our £4k sponsorship target.

You can sponsor Paul and Mike here!

If you would like to sponsor Paul and Mike in the London to Paris Cycle Ride, you can donate at this page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ARMDirectors

Thank you.

Advanced Resource Managers.

From my conversations with online gaming operators before the Christmas break, it became very apparent that the need for marketing professionals with casino experience is at its peak. This need is necessary to support the dynamic marketing strategies of key iGaming brands for 2012.

Now is the time for iGaming companies and candidates from London, Gibraltar, Malta and further afield to embrace the market with new vigor for the year ahead.

If you are looking to kick start your Marketing career this New Year, get in touch with ARM’s iGaming recruitment team to discuss the exciting opportunities we have available with our extensive client base.

All the best and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Ben Phillips

Marketing Recruitment Specialist

Marketing jobs

Tel: 01202 924924

Email: benp@arm.co.uk

Alas there can only be one winner. One entry stood out to us from Gordon Foot via LinkedIn:

Please Santa wish all those working over Christmas safe seas, safe watch and safe passage home to their families. If I win a Kindle please auction it with proceeds to the RNLI

This entry came close to our hearts reflecting on our own focus to support two charities (Macmillin cancer support and Make A Wish Foundation) for this financial year.

We would like to thank Gordon Foot for his submission and announce him as the winner of this year’s competition. The prize is now in the post to Gordon who is going to auction it off and transfer the proceeds to the RNLI. Check back here to hear how much is raised over the coming weeks.

Update: Auction now live

10.01.12: The auction for the Amazon Kindle is now live on Ebay.

Sam Hill

Add me on LinkedIn

Advanced Resource Managers

I already have my own predictions having spoken to Danish eGaming marketing experts over the past few months, though I will keep these to myself and wait and see if they materialise! Please feel free to note your opinions in the comments.

I certainly look forward to the rebranding of the Danish SAS Ligaen with Betsafe’s name and hopefully see the effect on the market that this will bring.

As I looked through the Danish eGaming license list I was surprisingly taken aback. I had to re-read several times to check that I hadn’t missed certain names on the list, especially the noticeable absence of PAF and Paddy Power.

Another interesting addition to Denmark’s license system was the additional ‘income-restricted license’. I hope this will give smaller start-up operators a chance to challenge on a smaller scale and create their own exciting USPs to offer to the Danish public.

There have been some massive pre-market regulation hires at the top of some of the biggest brands including Richard Funchs’ move back to Ladbrokes from the Betsson Group, Tony Brandenborg joining the Betsson Group from RoxyPalace and Henrik Greve Jensen taking his expertise from Sportingbet to Bet24.

We can expect further strengthening of the majority of the operators that are focused on Denmark across all levels of marketing, operations and technology in 2012 should the public react positively to the legalisation of our exciting industry.

Andrew Wiseman

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

iGaming Jobs

It is December, and traditionally this is the time of year where opportunities in the contract market are few and far between.

But not everything is doom and gloom! I believe that December is the perfect time to be thinking of your next contract opportunity.

It is a time for reflection. A time to look at that old CV and update it with new skills and experiences that you have developed that will help you secure that new role in the new year.

The market generally picks up the first week in January, and whilst others are busy feasting on that Christmas Turkey and over endulging, if you use this period wisely you can generally get ahead of the game.

We have had a fantastc year here in the I.T Contracts team, with ARM securing a variety of new clients, whilst sucessfully placing quality candidates with our already existing portfolio of clients. We hope that next year will be just as successful, and by our candidates providing us with quality, up to date CV's upon our return to work on the 3rd January, we can all hit the ground running and together have a sucessful 2012.

Have a very merry Christmas.

Jonathan Tranter

IT Contractor Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

Swedish iGaming specialists including Unibet, Betsson, Net Ent, Entraction, Redbet and Cherryforetagen have demonstrated significant growth, outperforming the Swedish stock market’s advance which has been halted by the economic downturn. While the general market has experienced flat growth, the Gaming sector has advanced some 15%, and despite the strong performance last year many professionals believe there is still plenty more to look forward to in 2012.

As a backdrop to working in Sweden, a country with the world’s lowest levels of poverty and one that consistently appears near the top of the Human Development Index (ranked according to life expectancy, education and standard of living) I have compiled the following information:

Area: 174,000 sq mi (450,000 km²), the third largest country in Western Europe

Capital: Stockholm

Population: 9.4 million inhabitants

Languages: Swedish. Recognized minority languages: Sami (Lapp), Finnish, Menkieli (Tornedalen Finnish), Yiddish, Romani Chib, English

Religion: In practice, Sweden is very secularized. The Church of Sweden is Evangelical

Life expectancy: Men 79 years, women 83 years

Therefore, if 2012 is the year for you to explore new challenges, now would be a great time to contact myself (or one of my colleagues on the ARM iGaming recruitment team) and discuss the exciting opportunities my clients are currently offering in Sweden and across the European continent.

Stephanie Gibbens

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

ARM

Knowing that all digital marketing pro's love the digital sphere, we thought it appropriate to make sure that we can get you the right information on a platform that suits you. The page is for all digital marketing professionals including; SEO, PPC, Web Analysts, Community Managers, Social Media, etc.

Find us on Facebook - Click the image above

We would like you to get involved by joining in the discussion surrounding relevant topics and articles. Please also write on our wall if you are looking for any recruitment related advice and we will be happy to speak to you.

Please the image above to get involved.

The four categories include:

Best Candidate Communications (low volume, Jobsite user)

Best Industry Knowledge (low volume, Jobsite user)

Best Recruiter (low volume, Jobsite user)

Best Understanding of Candidate Needs (low volume, Jobsite user)

About RecruitRank

Jobsite’s RecruitRank Awards recognises best practice and quality customer service in recruitment agencies, the RecruitRank Awards are the only accolades in the industry where finalists and winners are chosen by the feedback from candidates and not a panel of industry judges.

View ARM's awards & accreditations

A single negative review alone would stop a substantial 11% from booking a hotel despite initial interest, while 82% would need further investigations to convince them otherwise. The importance of businesses managing reviews on social media sites is therefore imperative to maintain brand reputation. Other social media content including photographs is used by a substantial 43% of all holiday bookers, with that figure rising for more specialised holidays.

The study, which took into account the views of 2100 adults in the UK, cited the most important influencers on holiday planning and booking as word-of-mouth (26%); a good easy to use website (24%); and holiday brochures (23%). Although social media wasn’t mentioned specifically, it can be a huge influencer, particularly as a communication medium to affect the word-of-mouth aspect of these results, as well as driving traffic to the website. TripAdvisor was mentioned by 37% of respondents as a key tool in booking a holiday.

In conclusion, social media can be a key influencer in the travel market if used in the correct way. Facebook and Twitter are less prominent in affecting decisions in the travel market at the moment, however, sites such as TripAdvisor are already established influencers. Social media must be appreciated as a key influencer but not one that can drive short-term sales, it must therefore be used as part of integrated marketing campaigns in order to generate positive results.

James Day

Specialist Social Media Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

jamesd@arm.co.uk

(01202) 924924

Victor Chandler is the latest company to join the mobile ring after signing a deal with QuickFire to supply online casino games via their mobile platform, giving players access to over 250 games on the move from their smart phones.

Furthermore International Mobile Sportsbook Company has announced this month that they have had over 1 million customers register over the last 24 months, with over 7.4 million bets having been placed within the last 3 months alone!

This has also become an essential skill for many looking for opportunities within the iGaming sector across all verticals including; operations, technology, marketing and business development.

The future for mobile gaming paints a positive picture as player adoption rates increase in parallel to the adoption levels of smart phone devices & new game applications hit the market. The mobile gaming market is well on its way to reaching the $54 billion dollar turnover predicted by 2015!

Kate Real

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Browse Online Gaming jobs.

The report reveals that since 2008, salaries for those with responsibility for such specialist areas as PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) initiatives, have risen from an average £45,000 per year to £75,000 per year; a rise of nearly 70%!

       

The reason for such a dramatic increase; companies are placing considerable financial investment in these tools and understand the importance that an experienced SEM Manager/Director has on ensuring maximum potential with regards to ROI.

Factors influencing salary increases

What was previously accepted as a relatively junior position has rapidly developed into one of significant seniority, a sudden and dramatic change mainly driven by organisations increasing budgets within online marketing efforts.

A second factor influencing increased salaries within these sectors is the competition between internet savvy companies wishing to employ experienced executives, and the digital marketing agencies hoping to engage with them as consultants.

Sam Taylor

PPC Marketing Search Consultant

Browse SEM Jobs

Advanced Resource Managers

First, football fans (and sports fans in general) are passionate about the players, yet there are few opportunities to bet directly on those players. Second, live data for every touch of the ball is available, yet the majority of live football betting opportunities are still focused on goals.

Why have most bookmakers not taken advantage of the available data? Are technical limitations preventing new markets from being offered? Are the pricing models too expensive? Are these markets too complex for consumers to grasp? Does the customer interface hold everyone back? All of these reasons play a role to some extent, but surely they can be overcome?

The unfortunate reality is that most operators have an existing project list stretching into 2012. How can you prove that the demand exists for new markets without building the pricing models, designing a different customer interface to handle these new markets, integrating the technology and pushing it out to the consumers? It is an expensive and risky investment.

Every technology industry is filled with examples where one company takes a risk and leap-frogs the competition. The followers take years to catch up and in our industry many operators are still struggling to offer the same live betting services that were available elsewhere three or four years ago.

Soon one operator will introduce a game-changing customer interface offering exciting new markets. The goal-based markets will still take the largest stakes, but operators who want to radically increase the number of bets placed will need to figure out how to engage and entertain the customer with products that pay out on events that happen more frequently than three times per game.

Comment below if you have an opinion on where the live sports betting industry may be heading.

Steve Karani

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

iGaming Jobs

Add me on LinkedIn

Why is Live Gaming so popular?

Live gaming gives players the experience of stepping into a real casino without having to leave the comfort of their own home. Live dealers pass cards, spin wheels and take bets on real casino equipment usually based in a casino environment.

The software also allows players to customise their experience to match their personalities. The best live casinos allow players to chat not only to the dealer, but also to any other players involved in the game.

The environment is also a hit with those players who struggle to believe that virtual casinos are fair and truly random using a RNG mechanic. By being able to watch a real live game of blackjack or roulette, there can be no doubt that the results are genuine, which has led to a variety of players being more willing to play additional games. Some of the most popular games are baccarat, craps, poker, roulette and blackjack.

Increased Competition - More Jobs

The success of live casinos has forced some of the industry's largest names to sit up and take notice. Big names such as Betfair and Bet365 have announced that they have launched a selection of live dealer games, which is expected to be expanded. The market is still arguably led by Smart Live Casino although the likes of DublinBet.com are also able to attract a huge audience.

With such a large market share already, it will certainly be interesting to see how their growth affects the gambling industry over the course of the next few years.

Mark Yates

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

iGaming Jobs

The F2P model demonstrates how billions of smaller transactions, coupled with lower costs and design, offer compelling game experiences which traditional gaming companies have ignored.

Facebook is the dominant platform of choice for large social game developers, and as a result developers are retuning their games with the opportunity to earn competitive salaries whilst working with new game engines and exploring new genres. Social gaming is now a desirable and profitable industry for any game developer to work in.

Critical real-time decisions are now a necessity, as social gaming provides a service that constantly needs tweaking, offering an improved user experience for both new and existing players. It also provides a new and exciting challenge for Developers, who must rapidly make sense of this data to successfully take advantage of opportunities arising from user behavior.

Many Developers I have spoken to are all fully aware of the possibilities inherent in social gaming, and particularly in their capacity to influence, in real time, the development and direction of their players experience, which is unlike anything the industry has ever seen before.

If you work in the social gaming space, let us know your thoughts on the industry and we would love to hear your opinions on what excites you about working in this exciting industry.

Stephanie Gibbens

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Add me on linkedIn

iGaming Jobs

The strategy to date has concentrated on player acquisition (not player retention) and gaming companies have developed marketing activities to increase player numbers within their player database or CRM system. As it gets harder and harder to onboard new revenue generating players, gaming organisations have to refocus their efforts on the new challenge of how to retain those customers and maximise all available revenues.

Due to the highly competitive nature of this saturated market place, global gaming companies are always on the look out for top marketing professionals who specialise in acquisition, retention and VIP marketing. It is an exciting time to be a professional in the iGaming Industry!

For an update on the best marketing roles in the top gaming companies, call Ben Phillips at Advanced Resource Managers on 02392 228 228. Or click through to see the latest iGaming jobs online .

Ben Phillips

Find me on LinkedIn

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

ARM

Below are statistics hilighting significant trends in the online/mobile gaming sector. As noted by Katie Daniells of Ditial Buzz Blog some key facts presented in the inforgraphic are as follows:

• The mobile gaming industry is predicted to reach $54 Billion by 2015
• 84% of tablet owners play games
• 70 – 80% of all mobile downloads are games
• Android is soon to overtake Apple in number of total available apps
• In-game purchases should overtake pay-per-downloads by 2013
• Angry Birds has been downloaded 140 million times
• Developers made $87 million in ad revenue in 2010 and will grow 10 fold by 2015

Please feel free to share this article and/or add your comments on these finidings below.

Advanced Resource Managers iGaming Recruitment division.

Answer: at some point on 6th September this year, they will all be hurtling towards the ground very, very quickly.

The three ARM employees will perform a 14,000-foot skydive on Tuesday 6th September to raise funds for two of our designated charities, Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion.

Setting off from Netheravon Airfield, Salisbury, our brave trio will experience a 45 second free-fall in their dizzying jump.

Simon, Soraya and Gary have set a target of raising at least £1,500. If you would like to help them to achieve this goal please offer your donation and track their progress via their group fund raising page.

Further information about the charities:

The Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion provides welfare to the whole Armed Forces family - serving, ex-Service and their dependants. We also campaign on a range of issues affecting Service people, are the custodian of Remembrance, run the annual Poppy Appeal and are one of the UK's largest membership organizations.

Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes was founded by Bryn and Emma Parry in October 2007 out of a desire to help the wounded Servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. The message of the charity is simple: We are strictly non-political and do not take a critical stance - we simply want to help. We believe that anyone who volunteers to serve in time of war, knowing that they may risk all, is a hero. These are ordinary people doing extraordinary things and some of them are living with the consequences of their service for life. We may not be able to prevent our soldiers from being wounded, but together we can help them get better.

Advanced Resource Managers.

Left to right: Robert Andrews, Tim Casey, Shaun Dunkan-Kerr, Jonathan Tranter

Tom Hicklin, Simon Frampton, David Powell

The money was raised by ARM's staff voting on the top goal scorer, a result that was eagerly awaited Monday morning - Sadly predominately due to fitness issues within the team and general lack of ability during 5 competitive games, no one from ARM United managed to muster a goal!

Call it coincidence but when Simon Frampton was taken off pitch and put in goal the brave players of ARM United managed to muster their one and only point thanks to a 0-0 draw, consequently 'Frampo' elevated himself to the top of the sweepstake!

So not the best display of ARM's footballing talent, putting pride aside we generated a fine contribution of £355 to the Macmillan Cancer charity. Thank you to all the staff at ARM who contributed, and thank you, I think? to those who played.

David Powell.

Telecommunications Recruitment Specialist

ARM.

The Cloud Explained

Although it may seem like a recent evolution in IT networking technology, the concept of the Cloud was coined back in the sixties by J.C.R. Licklider. Unfortunately for Licklider the infrastructure to support the concept has lagged far behind. You can find out more about the origins of Cloud computing on this informative slideshare presentation.

There are varying definitions, but cloud computing is essentially a form of distributed computing that gives users the ability to tap into a vast network of computing resources through the internet to complete their work. Sound confusing? In its simplest form the cloud can offer the ability to store, access and develop your photos, videos and work documents on any internet enabled device such as your smart phone, tablet, laptop, PC, or even TV. This technology meets the increasing demand to access files on one device that may have originally been stored separately, on different types of devices.

A slightly more complex definition of cloud computing is anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS); Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

According to research conducted by analyst firm IDC, the explosion of this technology will see spending on public IT cloud services reaching an incredible $72.9billion by 2015.

Organisations Using The Cloud?

Today, organisations such as Google & Amazon have invested not millions, but billions of dollars developing web based computer solutions for commercial use. Google have banked their hopes in offering web based computer applications via the cloud, rivalling the Microsoft Office package that has dominated the business market since its launch in 1990.

Organisations like Apple are also jumping on the cloud computing band wagon with their highly anticipated iCloud, which allows users to access all of their content from any of their Apple devices. Similarly, Citrix is also joining in with the acquisition of cloud.com.

Cloud Risks

Although the cloud offers promise for savvy organisations, the concept of the cloud is not without risk, as highlighted by ARM's IT security & communications recruitment manager Damian Hicklin in a recent blog on Cloud Security.

Cloud Computing Job Opportunities

We are keen to hear from candidates and companies that are engaging with the cloud computing trend . Please do not hesitate to contact our IT Sales team on (01202) 924924, or send an email to jessicab@arm.co.uk.

Perhaps we should have a competition for the paper’s final headline...

Business at any cost these days, it seems, comes at a cost - the risk of incurring the wrath of the very stakeholder community it serves.

Was the social media response to the NOTW's plight a catalyst for a speedy demise?

Was the (apparently) swift decision to close the paper a damage limitation exercise to avoid an uncontrollable, social media-mobilised backlash from affecting other titles or companies within the group?

Or, if we're really cynical, was NOTW a convenient scapegoat for a swift exit from print media to focus more on digital media? How much has been wiped off the parent company market value?

Would you work for News International?

Following the controversy that has surrounded the News of the World phone hacking scandal, we'd like to know if you would consider working for NOTW's parent group, News International? Tweet us your response using the hashtag #armuk or by commenting on the blog below.

Brand Impact on Attracting Talent

As for employer brand impact - well, behaviour breeds behaviour: you cannot attract key players when you have a tarnished reputation. When market economies dictate you hire your way to growth using only the best available talent, a tarnished reputation is a handicap.

Increasingly, new generations of workers put ethical business practice at the top of their agenda, and those businesses who break the emotional contracts of its employees through poor management practices will pay the price through attrition.

Welcome to the new Brand era - you no longer have control of your brand. It seems your customers, your suppliers and your shareholders do – and the way you do business dictates whether you survive in the marketplace, because upsetting them can shut down your business. Time for back to basics - good, honest business?

Debby Lloyd

Guest blogger from Hawker Chase Executive

You shouldn't be.

It’s the legislation that everybody’s talking about - the legislation that provides better rights and conditions for agency workers. On October 1st 2011, AWR will come into force.

Many people are treating AWR like it’s a nightmare. But it’s not as scary as you think.

Your best tool in the drive to accommodate AWR is a clear understanding of what the regulations are all about, and what they might mean for your business.

The really good news is that ARM is prepared to walk you through AWR, because we know that the better you understand it, the easier it is to work with.

Free AWR Seminars!

In ARM's FREE AWR seminars, we will provide an easy-to-follow guide to AWR and what it means for companies who engage contractors.

• Wednesday 21st September: 15:00 - 17:00
  Langstone Technology Park, Hants PO9 1SA

AWR might not be the most mouthwatering subject, so tea, coffee and pastries will be provided!

Register to attend

If you would like to attend one of these seminars, please email awr@arm.co.uk or

contact Keith Sammons on 023 92 228 274.

FREE to companies whether you are an ARM client or not.

AWR updates

Please head over to our AWR information page for further information on the Agency Workers Regulations 2011 including our latest updates .

Advanced Resource Managers.

- Best Medium Company to work for

- Best Business Support Team - Marketing and Proposals Department (M&P)

The winners will be announced at a lavish awards ceremony on 29th September in London. We're crossing our fingers.

In any case, we're proud to have got this far and the recognition that this means for the infrastructure, career development and atmosphere that we have within the business. I'm also delighted that my very hard working colleagues in M&P are getting some much-deserved recognition for their superb work ethic, willingness to help one another and of course for their achievements to date.

Simon Withers

Divisional Manager, Marketing & Proposals

Advanced Resource Managers

It’s Wimbledon time: we’re over halfway through the tournament and Federer has been toppled by a jubilant Tsonga. What other upsets lie in store? This year’s a bit special as it’s the 125th anniversary of the tournament. Can Andy Murray make history and win the tournament of tournaments this year? Vote now on Facebook!

There’s such a fine balance between the greatest players as they slog it out for the ultimate prize in tennis that it sometimes seems the outcome of a match can pivot on the tiniest moment.

How can a player respond to the unique challenge – never the same twice – that awaits him or her on the other side of the net? Often the great player is distinguished by their ability to improvise, to respond to adversity.

How Wimbledon relates to recruitment

What is for sure is that without excellent preparation and excellent support, no candidate for the title of champion has a chance. We feel pretty much the same way about the job seeking process. ARM can help you with the preparation, the representation, and the opportunities. We can even help you to make sure that on the day of your interview, you avoid common mistakes and give the best possible impression of yourself.

As you progress through rounds of interviews, you’ll want the best support. So why not give us a call and let ARM help you to ace those interviews?

To discuss you next job opportunity, or if are looking for CV advice, please call through to our main reception for a confidential chat and ask to speak with a recruiter in your sector: 02392 228 228

If you register with ARM and upload your CV you also have added benefits of job alerts, saving jobs, and our specialist recruiters matching jobs to your CV for you.

By the way. My money’s on Nadal.

Dil Bhakar

Marketing Executive

Advanced Resource Managers

Most social media games give aggregated scoreboards, achievements, user rankings and tools to improve status, giving the individual the opportunity to boast to their social networks (such as Facebook or Twitter) about their achievements.

So how does a ‘free’ social game become monetised?

Firstly, the game has to appeal to a wide enough audience, it must also have simple game mechanics as well as the ability to play for short periods and at varying intervals. Unlike traditional games, many rely on sharing with friends and using the players’ existing social network to drive game play.

Game makers rely on a number of ways to drive income into the business. In addition to subscriptions they also heavily rely on traditional marketing, such as in-game advertising. Game makers are also coming up with new and interesting ways to monetise, such as giving players the opportunity to buy additional game modes to enhance their gaming experience, and the ability to buy virtual goods. This revenue channel is believed to generate up to 90% profit, with no excess stock or expiration of goods to worry about.

Big players join the online gaming phenomenon

A number of large corporations have been getting in on the action and entering the market including Google, Disney and Electronic Arts (who acquired Playfish in November last year). With the likes of Zynga purportedly earning $500k a day it’s no wonder the big fish have entered the pond.

With various voices in the industry believing that we’re not far from seeing the first $1billion grossing social media game, only time will tell whether this exponentially growing market will show any signs of slowing.

Mark Yates

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Browse iGaming jobs

Add me on LinkedIn

ARM

iGaming employers looking to other industries for talent

Now, more than ever, the opportunity to join the burgeoning iGaming industry is at an all time high. With a large number of vacancies available and competition steadily increasing, our clients are looking to more established, traditional industries, such as the Finance sector, for applicants with transferrable skills.

In fact, this is great for candidates with industry experience who have become sought-after commodities, with companies being more open to people who want to branch into the gaming industry.

Our service to you

As experts in our domain we tailor our service specifically for our customers. With our ever-expanding networks, databases and solid understanding of the different markets, we are highly skilled in helping you to achieve your career aspirations.

We're always interested to hear from people who are seeking new appointments and would be delighted to tell you why there has never been a better time to join an International industry. So, why not visit our ARM iGaming careers page and see for yourself? Who knows, your next exciting career opportunity could be closer than you think.

Explore Opportunities

If you interested in viewing opportunities available within the iGaming industry you can view all live vacancies on our iGaming job board. Alternatively I would happy to take your call on +44 (0) 1202 924 924 to discuss available opportunities.

Stephanie Gibbens

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

1. Cloud Computing

What is Cloud Computing? In its most stripped-down format it is the delivery of hardware, software and application services over the internet, on demand. And why would companies embrace it? It means businesses only pay for what they use - gone will be the days of under-utilised servers. Is it therefore green as well? I won't try to handle that hot potato just yet!

There are a number of different models for delivering the cloud such as SaaS, Utility Computing and Web & Platform Services. Each has its own set of USPs and will suit different businesses with different needs and different budgets.

2. Software Programming

It is STILL one of the most sought after skill sets; companies must be able to adapt quickly to new conditions placed upon them and to this end, rapid programming and agile programming are making a comeback: Flash, HTML5, Silverlight, Touchscreen etc.

3. Virtualisation

To the uneducated (including myself some might say!), virtualisation is essentially having multiple physical servers moved into a virtual machine environment. The major players are Citrix, VMWare and Microsoft, and while the USPs for business are strong (lower hardware and cooling costs), do companies have the skills to implement and maintain it?

4. Voice

Which one do you go for? Cisco, Avaya, Polycom? There is plenty of choice but all require highly skilled people. Throw the integration of Conferencing or Unified Messaging into the network and you have a whole new ball game. VoIP is growing in popularity and momentum but the issue for skills is that not everyone has knowledge of more than one platform. If you are a Cisco Voice guru AND have become a SME of Office Communications Server 2007 Unified Messaging and conferencing, then stand by: if you aren't already busy and making good money, your world will change.

5. Project Management

Yes there are a lot of PMs around but there is a reason for that, they are always in demand! These are the people who will be managing the change and transformation of the IT stack over the coming year. Good PMs that can articulate what they delivered for a salary, or a day rate, will always do well.

6. Business Intelligence / Data Analytics

I wish I hadn't opened up this can of worms. Want to understand how the big supermarkets know what you're spending? Ever wondered why certain promotions are pushed your way? Companies like SAS certainly know why, and Agencies such as Dunnhumby will help them do just that.

7. IT & Information Security

Not this is perhaps THE in-demand niche. I can think of at least two companies within the past few weeks to have fallen foul of not looking after their own ship - Epsilon and Sony. Defending your own shores is one thing but perhaps the biggest risk to businesses are their own users, who must be trained to be cognizant of, and aware of the importance of preventing, leaks, breaches and 'mishaps'.

8. Web 2.0

This allows users (or customers) to choose their interaction experience (Social Media, Networking Sites, Blogs, Wikis etc). Lots of companies, including ARM, now have Facebook, Twitter etc, and it is these companies, and those behind the curve, that will need IT professionals with Adobe Flex, JavaScript, Adobe Flash, AJAX and JavaScript Object over the next year.

9. Unified Communications

Some might say the world we live in is too connected at times, but it is connected nevertheless - and there are a host of technologies competing for a slice of this pie. But who wants different accounts for Conferencing, Email, Instant Messaging, voicemail etc? Bring it all together please....oh, and good luck network managers and administrators!

10. Networking & Social Networking

Don't underestimate the power of social networking - it has freed people incarcerated overseas, been used to organise huge social events, found lost or missing people – on short, it has incomparable power and influence. Our 'traditional' workplace is changing and as more work remotely, these tools are invaluable. So, technology like Microsoft Office Communicator will allow an individual or employee to have both business and personal contacts on one IM interface.

The ARM way

This is the bit where I get all clucky, proud and mother-hen like...I'm fortunate to say that this is pretty much how ARM has set up its ITC Recruitment team.

For Cloud Computing I have 3 individuals from both a networking and security angle who can support our clients.

When it comes to programming, my two lead consultants focus on Java, .net and Silverlight.

If you ask me about Virtualisation, well, we are constantly supplying both VMWare and Citrix professionals - both as permanent employees, and as interim contractors.

Voice – pah, easy-peasey: I have a Communications team that support Voice demands each and every day.

Project Management - one of my team talks all day every day to Project & Programme Managers (as well as Business Analysts and Change Managers), in fact this person has just come back from ARM's Platinum Club trip to Barcelona for our highest achievers.

IT & Information Security, well this is a no-brainer as I've worked in this market since 1998 and I have a team who do nothing else but talk CLAS, PCI, Malware and Worms all day every day.

Web 2.0 - I didn't have much of a choice in this one, as ARM formulated its Web 2.0 strategy so the market demanded we service this shift and today we love this technology framework.

Unified Communications: not a problem. One of my Consultants within my Communications Team networks in this space all day.

Networking and Social Networking, we couldn't really have a Web 2.0 strategy and a Communications team and not cover this growing demand.

All in all, ARM's ITC Recruitment team is perfectly placed to meet the demand IT will place upon businesses over the next calendar year. If you are looking for a new challenge, we are here to try and help you.

Thank you for reading!

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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ARM

I can see our Learning and Development suite from my new desk. It's a piece of work: I'd guess it's about ten metres by four, fully ARM branded, with a state of the art smart screen - and it's where a lot of our award-winning L and D programme and people development is carried out.

At the risk of waxing lyrical, for me it is sort of the heart of ARM, certainly in terms of our internal culture: it's a place where new staff are inducted and given the training and investment they need to be able to do their jobs to the best of their ability, to give them the best possible chance of succeeding in a competitive market, and a place where our leaders of tomorrow are challenged to become the best they can be.

So, we've now got about 15,000 square feet of space at our Havant HQ, and we're looking to fill the new desks with people who can help to take ARM into the next phase of our development and expansion into new markets and new territories. Exciting times are ahead. If your interested in careers at ARM please visit our internal recruitment website.

ARM's new Advanced Learning suite

ARM's new Advanced Learning suite

Simon Withers

Section Manager - Marketing & Proposals

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ARM

They are travelling to Aylesford (near Maidstone in Kent) on Saturday 21st may, to participate in the play-off game for the third promotion place to London 1 South (level 6). This is only 5 leagues below the Premiership (clubs like Leicester, Wasps, Saracens, Northampton etc).

This has been the highest-ever league position for the club and we're delighted that they happen to have achieved this success in the first year of our association with them.

Any club fans interested in a coach ride to the game, (with some fun and possibly a beer or two) can contact Trojans chairman Shaun McGill on 07753429204.

Advanced Resource Managers.

We've already had several "Elite Club" events, (all-expenses-paid afternoon and evening frolics including cocktail-making lessons, dancing, and various other opportunities to make fools of ourselves); but today sees the inaugural fixture of our "Platinum Club" - our top prize, awarded twice a year, for the very highest achievers across the business.

Our prize-winners arrived at work dressed down and for a late start this morning, clutching luggage and passports. An hour or so of getting their inboxes in order and they were whisked away to the airport, thence to Barcelona for an all expenses-paid, three-day trip of fun and culture.

This is what one of our winners, Claire Proudlove, has to say about the trip:

Well done all, enjoy.

                                                                                         ... My Personal LinkedIn Profile.

One of my clients recently invited a candidate for interview based on their CV and a conversation I had with her (the client) on the phone. However, in the interim, the client decided to check out my candidate’s LinkedIn profile and was concerned that the two didn't match up.

In this instance it was just a case of the candidate not updating the current position on his LinkedIn profile. A minor thing, you might feel, but it does show that social media creates another level of administration that needs to be kept up to date, even as it saves time and hassle in other areas. Today, LinkedIn can greatly enhance an application, for example if your profile includes numerous recommendations about your previous work, but any platform can work against you if you don’t manage it carefully.

This leads me to Twitter. A great social media tool that even I get involved with (@AlexMarriner for any of you in Twitterland) for keeping updated on my market, Search Marketing (SEO / PPC / Analytics) and my favourite football team QPR. Again however, it’s important to remember who your audience is and who can see the information you are tweeting.

I don't want this blog to sound like I'm telling you to be a big bore online; far from it, as a lot of my clients like to see that many of my SEO & PPC candidates are real humans with real lives and a personality. Just remember you never know who could be your next Twitter follower!

If you have any stories to share about your experience of using social media to look for a new job, I would love to hear them. Feel free to post below.

Alex Marriner

Search Marketing & Analytics Recruitment Specialist

iGaming Division

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At work I am known as a “blog champion”, although I have never entered a competition.

Every month I am asked to write a piece which I believe should be up to the exceptional literary standard set by our Marketing Manager, and every month I sit for hours trying to come up with something that will capture my audience and add value to people who are trudging through the recruitment journey. I often think my blog handiwork leaves people wanting - but not wanting more!

These are the same emotions I felt when I wrote my first CV when I left university. I was wracked with doubts and questions about it: What should I tell people about me? What do they want to hear? How should it look? What font should I use - Times New Roman, Arial, or something else?

How long should my CV be?

Having now been in recruitment for 10 years and seen more CVs then I’ve had hot dinners (I mean really, not proverbially), I would recommend the following:

Contact Details

Give your most up to date contact details including home and mobile number, as well as email address.

Profile

This should be about a paragraph long and gives the reader a synopsis of who you are and why they should meet you. Be imaginative (If you come to work on the dot and leave on the dot, let the reader know you are efficient!)

Technical Skills Summary

Always a useful tool to clearly show your skills and level of competence.

Order

Put your most recent experience first, I.e. at the top of your CV. Your most recent experience should also be the most detailed: provide less detail for each previous position. Make sure that dates on your CV match up!

Demonstrable ability and work or study experience

Your CV should clearly and accurately demonstrate your suitability for the role. Also outline achievements: employers are looking to see why they should hire you. Tell them if you have made huge profits for your current or previous employers, saved money by improving processes, or relevant achievements in academia or training.

Tailor your CV

This is something many people don’t bother to do. Why wouldn’t you tailor your CV for each role to which you are applying? Hint – you should! At least include a cover letter highlighting relevant skills.

Check out our Jobseeker tips page for more hints and tips.

I hope that helps. Now where’s my typewriter?

Sultan Mahmud

Technology Recruitment Team Leader

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www.arm.co.uk

This Interviewing Skills workshop focuses on all the important areas of interviewing, enhancing managers performance as interviewers, and looking in depth at the understanding, skills, approaches and techniques necessary to ensure effective, positive and successful interviewing.

Competency Based Interview Skills

A 1-Day Public Scheduled Course

Location: Langstone Technology Park, Havant, Hampshire (click here to view directions)

Date: Thursday 5th May 2011

Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm.

Price: £220.00 + VAT (per delegate)

Courseware, certificate, lunch and refreshments are included in the cost.

** For more information about the course click here.

To register your interest in this workshop please contact me on:

T: 02392 228 216

E: Jessica.martin@armconsult.co.uk

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jessicamartin1

ARM Training Divsion

The changes within the European iGaming market, i.e. the shift towards licensing within online gaming in many jurisdictions, has resulted in payments playing an instrumental role in player protection.

As online poker, bingo, sportsbooks and betting sites increase the number of members and players, cyber criminals are developing more sophisticated ways to take advantage of legitimate players and the gambling sites themselves.

Financial fraud such as chargebacks and money laundering are major issues for gambling operators, not to mention player collusion and bonus abuse. Additionally, operators have the responsibility of keeping problem gamblers from re-entering their sites.

Gambling sites are forced to deal with a wide spectrum of Internet crimes and other in-game abuses that cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud losses each year.

Many gambling sites have increased efforts to detect suspicious players, as evidenced by the creation and expansion of fraud analysis and investigation teams.

This increase in the creation of new departments has resulted in demand across the board for fraud professionals, but also an increase in the number of clients looking for bilingual and trilingual risk and fraud professionals to cater for the new licensed counties and the already existing large market place.

Kate Real

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Advanced Resource Managers

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Trojans have been a real fighting force in the league this season, and will be carrying the momentum of an astonishing 11 consecutive wins into their final game against top of the table Guernsey.

We wish the Trojans team the best of luck for their game tomorrow which kicks off at 3pm and is away to Guernsey.

The QFabric range!

The QFabric is the world’s first “True Data Centre Fabric” and is the outcome of a multi million pound research and development programme to address the issues of a fully integrated security solution which gives the product notable improvements in terms of data centre speed, efficiency and scale; this is achieved by removing legacy barriers and improving business agility.

The Stats from Juniper make impressive reading:

· 10 times faster

· Requires 27 less network devices

· Takes up 90% less data centre space

· Delivers 9% reduction in operating costs than its closest competitor products

Juniper are clearly showing their determination to develop products which will transform the network and Data Centre market place.

This product is seen as a further step towards the virtualised Data Centre, with the first product in the line already out and making huge waves in the industry – the QFX switch.

This is an exciting time to be involved with Juniper Networks, with the company achieving their best ever year turning over $4 billion and with expectations they will have an even better year this year.

Tim Casey

Networking Recruitment Consultant

Communications Division

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Advanced Resource Managers

With 2011 in full swing we have seen a number of exciting developments within the Online Gaming arena. With iGaming reaching new heights within the Online and Mobile space there has never been a better time to start searching for new opportunities.

2011 is set to be the year that mobile gaming truly makes its mark, with a record number of Smart phones on the market. Operators including iPhone, Android and Blackberry are investing heavily in this arena and I am confident we will continue to see new mobile operators become involved in this exciting venture.

We have also seen online marketing and Social Media reach new heights during 2010 – 2011. The power of the internet combined with the power of Social Media means that online marketing has never had such a robust and pervasive channel in which to operate, nor one nearly so wide-reaching.

iGaming is an Industry that is continuing to grow at record pace and operators are always in search of Gaming talent in a great variety of skill domains: with such growth comes great opportunity.

I specialise in Online/Offline Marketing for the iGaming Industry and I have seen a record number of marketing roles including Affiliate & Acquisition, CRM, SEO, PPC, Email Marketing, Direct Marketing, Community management, Product & Project Management, Customer Loyalty, PR and Marketing Analysis. During 2011 I have already seen a 137% increase in the level of opportunities within iGaming.

A full list of all our current open opportunities please visit our iGaming Jobs page.

Please feel free to comment and add your thoughts as I am interested to hear your views on this topic.

Oliver Gillett

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

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ARM iGaming

Things are moving apace....at a really great pace actually. From the pictures below you can see just how far the development has moved on since my blog post last week. Today we begin moving all our marketing collateral into our new storage cupboards, the ARM branding is going up, and the whole place is starting to look like home: an unfurnished home but...woah..no...I've just checked again and yes, it's now half-furnished. These contractors are quick. It's going to be great in there, with room for sixty more people. We're expecting to fill that space, too.

We're all particularly looking forward to the new Learning and Development suite that will act as our new venue for the delivery of our (ahem, award-winning) in-house training.It's going to be good; I can't help feeling it will be a bit of a locus when we show off our offices to guests; it'll certainly be something of which we can be proud, and in which the next generation of ARM top performers will be born.

Simon Withers

Marketing Acting Section Manager

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ARM

We are also delighted to welcome Scot Newing of Taylor Made to the ARM Consulting Team!

With ARM Consulting's excellent reputation for IT Training and wide range of training solutions, this is a great opportunity for us to expand our work with local businesses in their learning and development activities. Training courses available also include Prince2 and ITIL, amongst many other IT technical and IT user training solutions.

For clients coming over from Taylor Made, they will gain access to our massive pool of high quality, competitively-priced training subject areas. These include:

ARM’s Training department is a dedicated team of professionals providing a high level of customer service and a 'one stop shop' for training courses, tailored in-house training, training needs analysis, consultancy, training books, CD's, e-learning, and also support and forum events for Learning and Development Managers.

Click the following link to read the full story from ARM's Training division.

Heather Slade

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ARM Consulting

Bee a Hero was founded in 2007 by a group of friends fearing for the future of the humble much-loved British bee Apis mellifera. The campaign is now supported by celebrities including Ruby BeesWax, Bee-linda Carlisle and Tim Allen-Pollen (voice of Buzz Lightyear in the renowned Torture-Horror, “Toys”).

The scheme requires volunteers to adopt and rear a bee from egg to full adulthood.

“We intend to print bee-sized ARM t-shirts for the useful pollinators,”

says Marketing Manager Lomax Stilton Sandwich.

Participants in the scheme are sent a single bee’s egg, a bee nest made out of a sock, some special bee food, a leg tag for monitoring future movements and a “Bringing Up Bee” helpful guide.

The bee will take around 10 days to hatch in an airing cupboard or spare room wardrobe. Once hatched the bee will require feeding via a pipette for 3 days before it will be able to fly.

Adult bees can “bee” released somewhere appropriate such as a field, garden, reservoir or animal sanctuary.

Go on – Bee a Hero!

P.S. Happy April. And bees really are important, so go ahead and Google them to learn more, or speak to ARM’s real marketing manager, Simon Withers, who is an entomologist when he has any spare time.

The main topic for this first event was 'Measuring the Impact of Training in the Workplace', with a presentation from Paul Harraway, management development trainer, and guest presentations from Peter Darke, Managing Director of local company Hampshire Cosmetics, and Derek Goff , ARM's resident L&D Manager.

It was interesting to discuss the difficulties L&D professionals share in accurately measuring in £'s the ROI on training investment, particularly with 'softskills' training. For example, take a line manager attending a management development programme - how in £'s can you measure ROI? It's not that simple. It can take up to three years to see a manager fully develop from training.

Paul and Derek introduced ROE as an alternative - Return on Expectation - focussing on what change in behaviour is expected as an outcome of an individual taking training. Going back to our line manager, that measure could be how the manager puts what they have learned into practice with their team - communications, delegation, motivation, leadership skills, and so on. Resulting in a more productive team, improved performance, enhanced customer service levels ... all of which are ultimately measureable in £'s.

Peter Darke gave an inspiring talk on the learning and development investment he has made at Hampshire Cosmetics, and the impact those activities have had on the workforce, culminating in a huge increase in productivity, teamwork, and more than anything else - a desire by each employee to be involved in the success of the business.

The L&D Forum will run on a quarterly basis, each one focussing on a topical subject. Suggestions for future subjects are welcomed. Please contact Heather Slade at ARM Consulting's Training Services on 02392 228 218 or email heather.slade@armconsult.co.uk for more info.

Heather Slade

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ARM Consulting

With expectations for new talent seemingly increasing, here's our advice for today’s hiring managers:

If you’re in the position of hiring someone new, don’t get caught up with the idea that because it’s a tight market you can always find someone better or for less money. Remember that you have work that someone needs to do, and it’s not getting done as long as the position is vacant. (Or it is getting done by your already overworked staff who are now feeling like looking for new jobs, themselves.) Hire someone who can do the job. Don’t wait for perfection. It’s not out there.

If you are a jobseeker, do you agree with the statements above? What are your experiences relating to this article? Let your opinions be heard by submitting an article below.

Advanced Resource Managers

ARM will be running client seminars as soon as the guidance notes have been released. In the meantime, you can talk to our legal and compliance division about this in more detail by contacting us at awr@arm.co.uk. Further updates and details of the seminars will also be posted on this recruitment news blog.

For more information, read ARM's full "take" on the status of AWR article from our legislation section of the website.

This year, the conversation is is the same, If you’d reviewed the mobile market over the past three years looking for hope that it’s going to be the next big platform for interactive gaming, you’d have found scant grounds for optimism: underperformance, little growth due to insufficient hardware, software and infrastructure…so why are tongues wagging in the industry?

Developments over the past few months mean that many of the barriers preventing a successful marriage of the mobile and iGaming industry are being removed, such as legal obstacles and technological limitations. Statistics now show a huge move towards mobile-based interaction with content being delivered in a more robust way. Last month’s ICE Exhibition positively hummed with new releases. For my money, 2011 looks set to be the year that mobile gaming makes its mark, generates significant revenue for both operators and suppliers and creates new opportunities for the marketplace, becoming a key channel for the online gaming marketing mix.

With an interest in mobile gaming increasing from clients and candidates I would be happy to hear from you should you want to know more about the exciting opportunities that are developing in mobile gaming. If you would like the advice of our tailored recruitment service, please feel free to contact me at stephanieg@arm.co.uk.

Stephanie Gibbens

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

You can’t blame the Gaming industry for hoping the Smartphone market is the next big frontier.

Smartphones are now being built with over 1GHz of processing ability allowing much more complex and realistic games to be developed.

With Flash fast becoming the chosen way to design games, the consumer now has the freedom to play games at will rather than downloading each and every one.

With Android and Apple having the largest market shares of Mobile Operating Systems, it has been the accessibility and usability of their App stores that has been the driving force in the mobile revolution. This has made it an incredible area for possible growth in the online gaming industry.

Demographics that were previously a distant reach are now embracing online gaming. It’s easy enough to imagine why some people who shied away from betting shops can now gamble inconspicuously and happily, and how gamblers have more freedom to indulge their hobby as they choose whilst on the go in today’s hectic life.

It is not a question of how gaming operators are going to produce games for Smartphones, but a question of when.

Mark Yates

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

This has come about partly due to countries such as Latvia and Lithuania responding to pressures from the European Commission and introducing a local licensing systems for certain products, including online Sportsbetting and Poker.

In addition to this, the green light has been given to the Italian market for cash poker and casino games, with France close behind. (EGR)

This has led to an increase of players from all over the EU, which in turn increases the demand in services required.

EGR has stated that 2011 should be an even bigger year in new regulation, with the likes of Germany, Spain, Greece and Denmark all being regulated. As a result this is set to increase the demand for good quality games and therefore good customer service across the board.

With new regulatory markets emerging, new features of gaming and related services are now expected, including live chatrooms. Multilingual fraud, payments and customer service advisors are needed to provide an immediate first class service to its players around the world 24/7. The marketing is buzzing.

Please feel free to comment and add your thoughts as I am interested to hear your views on this topic.

Kate Real

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

1. Using the Boolean search

Our keyword search is a full Boolean search, meaning you can combine words using AND, OR and NOT e.g.

• software AND engineer
• sap OR oracle
• manager NOT project
• web AND development NOT design

and group terms using brackets, e.g. (oil OR gas) AND (engineer OR consultant)

If you wish to return results that match an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in quotes, e.g. “project manager”.

To search on variations of a word, use an asterisk after the stem of the word, e.g. manage* will return results for manage, manager, managed, management, etc.

2. Start wide, narrow it down

Begin your search with a wide search criteria which will hopefully return a lot of jobs. Then, depending on the number of jobs you are presented with, begin narrowing the search further until you are left with only the most relevant results. For instance, say I was looking for a job as a Web Designer. I’d perhaps first do a search for web and design in the keywords box. I got 57 results, too many to look through. So now I’ll add some location criteria and specify the job must be in Hampshire or “West Sussex”. I got 7 results. But I also will only consider a permanent role, so I change the Job Type dropdown list to permanent and now get 5 results. A nice number to read through and hopefully apply for.

The Location, Job Type and Industry Sector fields are perfect for narrowing your search. Don’t be afraid to tweak the search to get exactly the results you want – if you get no results with your current criteria, widen the search.

3. Check back regularly

The ARM job search updates in real time. So as soon as a new job is taken on by one of our consultants, or another job is filled, ARM.co.uk is updated immediately to reflect this. We add, on average, 95 jobs to our website every week. Therefore it’s important you come back regularly to check for the latest jobs, or use one the facilities described below to be informed of our latest opportunities. Also you can limit your keyword search to only show recently posted jobs, so you know you won’t be looking at the same jobs you’ve seen before.

4. Use the right search terms

This might sound a little patronising – it’s not meant to. You’d be surprised by some of the terms people search for in looking for a job and wonder why they get little to no results. I recently noticed someone had searched on our website for Keyword: Live bands, Location: Japan!

Using the right words is key to finding the right job. If you are looking for a very specific job title, bear in mind the company with the perfect role for you may have a slightly different name for it, so be more general or wide-ranging in your search terms. For instance, if you’re a VB.net developer, roles that interest you might be advertised as VB Developer, .Net Developer, Software Developer, Software Engineer etc. So a search for (VB or .net) and (developer or engineer) should ensure all bases are covered.

5. Let the jobs come to you

All the jobs you see on ARM.co.uk are available through a number of social media channels and via various notification methods. As a registered member of arm.co.uk, you can sign up for our jobs-by-email service, where jobs matching your search criteria (which you have perfected, following the above) are emailed to you either daily or weekly.

If that’s not your thing, why not join the ARM Social Network and follow our job channels on Twitter, search our vacancies on our Facebook page or consume our job RSS feeds, which are available by sector and job type.

Christian Staunton

Senior Design & Web Development Executive

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ARM

CV Consultancy

Here at ARM’s Sales Recruitment section, we regularly provide what some would refer to as “CV Consultancy” to help our candidates facilitate their career progression. Anyone out there who has ever wanted to find a new job will know that CV writing is a bit like plumbing or car maintenance: you take a CV - and the skill of writing one well - for granted, until it’s your turn to sort it out. Then suddenly you realise that, heck, this needs to be right or it’ll be a disaster. And besides, quite often (though by no means always), you will only get one shot at presenting your CV to a prospective employer.

In a candidate-heavy market a merely “good” CV will not always gain the attention of a Sales Manager or Sales Director hiring for an excellent opportunity. Even the strongest sales professionals must look as good on paper as they are in person, in order to get the chance to prove how good they are in person!

Although at ARM Sales we don’t adopt a CV-based approach to Sales Recruitment, our methodology to candidate introductions is only completely effective if your credentials on paper support the précis we communicate to clients.

A good CV should be written in the format of a Sales Document to captivate the attention of the reader so that they are able to ascertain your suitability for a role based on your background and your achievements. So far, so obvious.

What my experience suggests is less widely known is that currently, too many CVs cover roles and responsibilities and in essence are written in the format of a job description. Although elements of this are acceptable to a point, the Sales Managers/Directors that could potentially hire you are less interested in the description of your role and more interested in how well you've performed alongside specific key information.

Unfortunately recruiting managers won’t be receiving small quantities of CVs at present. Bear in mind that they will look at your CV alongside 5-10 others and ask yourself, “What will make me stand out on paper and what is the most effective way to format my CV?”

Don’t expect companies to make assumptions about your CV. What’s obvious to you isn’t to others. Stick to factual, sales-related information. Avoid death by paragraphing: acres of text are not attractive to someone who has a pile of CVs in front of them. Much as you might feel the situation ought really to be reversed, put yourself in their shoes, and think like them! Help them to discover quickly and easily how great you are: use bullet points to reduce text and highlight key information that sells you as a sales person.

Subtle changes to your CV can sometimes make a really positive impact to your application. If you’re a sales professional and you have any questions about this, you can contact me on paulf@arm.co.uk

Finally, please bear in mind that CVs need to be written for their intended audience. Not everything I’ve written here is true of CVs in other markets, though much of it certainly is.

Paul Fairclough

IT Sales Recruitment Senior Consultant

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paulf@arm.co.uk

ARM

Sorry to disillusion you: the team goes bare-headed (or hair-headed) like the rest of us. But for these photos, our O&G team is showing its support for a fantastic cause.

The Sailors Society is currently championing an international campaign to raise awareness and donations towards providing welfare support to merchant seafarers. The Campaign, appropriately called Woolly Hat Week, is from Sunday 6th - 12th February, 2011.

As noted on an article from The K Factor, "Organisers are hoping people will take part in ‘Wear your Woolly Hat to Work Week’ and send in a small donation. The money raised will help the Sailors’ Society provide assistance to seafarers in ports across the world, as well as going towards the transportation and distribution of woolly hats to seafarers ill-prepared for colder climates."

Fundraising director Jan Webber said:

“It is a fun but fitting way to do your bit for those braving the high seas on your behalf”.

ARM is proud to support this campaign and has pledged a financial donation, along with a few pictures of our team to help raise awareness of the cause. You can see the pictures below.

Don’t they all look cool?

ARM's Oil & Gas Recruitment team in full woolly hat fashion

(L - R: John Dunaway, Tom Earp, David James, Emma Hudson, Tom James)

ARMs Oil & Gas recruitment manager David James, braving

the cold indoor conditions to support woolly hat week

You can see pictures from other organisations by following this campaign on Twitter with the hashtag #woollyhatweek

Advanced Resource Managers.

www.arm.co.uk

According to a Cisco report Apple's iOS and Google's Android platform are the targets.

I'm not surprised. On a recent holiday to Egypt I switched on my iPhone 4 (yes, I'm “one of those”), and picked up a Saudi 4G network. I hadn't meant to, I was going to use the hotel's WiFi to check email, but unable to resist the lure of 4G and genuinely mobile broadband, I started surfing. I'm telling you now, it is impressive.

It got me thinking. When I'm at home, I rarely switch on my laptop; I either browse on my phone, or use my iPad. Furthermore, with PC security now so good, I use McAfee Total Protection and can't remember the last time I had an issue. No wonder these cyber criminals are looking to smartphones - and tablets!

The report suggested that we are at a tipping point for mobile malware, whereas Sophos claim that mobile malware is still extremely rare - Sophos comment that mobile malware is like "a raindrop in a thunderstorm" when compared to Windows PC risks.

Me, I wouldn’t bet against mobile malware - all someone has to do is deploy a piece of malware that dials a premium rate phone number and bingo, the returns are there to be seen for all. It's just that at this juncture, with so many PC users still using Windows 10-year-old operating system XP, this is kind of keeping the bad guys busy.

The first smartphone worm emerged in 2004. It wasn't really a great threat, and the first iPhone worm burrowed its way to the surface in 2009. What did it do? It changed the phone's wallpaper to a picture of 1980's hit parade legend, Rick Astley (I know a few ladies of my vintage who would love that malware to hit their iPhone!).

I think it’s safe to say that there is no cause for wailing and gnashing of teeth right now, but sadly, in time, your beloved smartphone will become a victim. Whether that will manifest itself as the “Love Bug” from 10 years ago, or '”Anna Kournikova”, remains to be seen.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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ARM

Recruitment firms should apply best practice and ought to agree that we share responsibility to uphold the reputation of recruitment – generally, and within our niche sectors. Aside from the obvious imperative of actually looking after candidates, a poor market reputation within a niche discipline will reduce referrals and result in unproductive time working with candidates to resolve needless frustrations.

ARM’s teams endeavour to deliver best practice as far as we possibly can and we welcome feedback if you think we have not done so. Over the following weeks, our IT Sales Recruitment team will provide a 10-step guide to how we aim to maintain the contact we have with our candidates throughout the recruitment process to ensure candidates receive the right “candidate experience”. We really do welcome feedback and want to hear from you if you think we’re getting it wrong – or right!

Step 1. Confirming receipt of CV submissions

If you have missed step one you can view it by checking out my first blog post.

Step 2. Managing Referrals

ARM’s IT Sales Recruitment Team values candidate referrals over and above any other technique of candidate attraction.

Most IT Sales Professionals are happy to provide referrals, content in the knowledge that they have added value to the career progression of friends, colleagues or associates. However, as testament to the fact that we take referrals very seriously, we also extend our gratitude to the referrer in the shape of a nice fee!

We offer a £250 referral fee for successful recommendations (for a candidate that we can help into employment / career change). The fee is payable upon ARM placing that candidate,  (once probation periods are successfully completed – small print applies of course, but there’s not that much of it). If you know a friend or a colleague who is looking for an improved recruiter service and or is looking to for new career options, £250 could be yours!

In terms of managing referrals, ARM will always try to acknowledge & communicate with candidates that have been referred and provide an explanation as to whether their backgrounds and skill sets are suitable for the opportunity in question.

Best practice should always be to thank the referrer even if it is just by a quick e-mail. If this has not been your experience, I would like to know about it, you can email me via my contact details or comment on the blog below.

Please check back next week for Step 3: CV Feedback.

Paul Fairclough

IT Sales Recruitment Senior Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

paulf@arm.co.uk

ARM

The aim of this ambitious project is for services to be accessible via a common platform known as the Public Sector Network (PSN). Since the £80 billion worth of cuts were announced earlier in the year the government has been looking for ways to cut costs and waste from the public sector and a planned overhaul of ICT spending is part of this.

Obviously these plans will benefit companies within the private sector, with names like Global Crossing and Virgin Media having consulted on the matter.

But what effect will these plans have on smaller providers who many include public sector organisations as clients?

And what effect with this then have on the recruitment market? Especially the contract market, where many candidates in my sector (networking recruitment) undertake contracts with councils and NHS trusts? Will these opportunities still be available or will all network management be centralised?

I’d welcome your thoughts on this below.

Tim Casey

Networking Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

Was it the £600-odd million allocated to fight online cyber attacks in the UK?

Was it these very same threats that led to Ministers having a blanket ban on using Apple iPhones?

In tandem with this the RIM vs. iPhone war continued to be waged - odd given most organisations feel the iPhone isn't secure enough for them.

Then we had the delivery of services via the Cloud and how this was causing thought-clusters in the heads of IT leaders the nation over.

And with the advent of Cloud Computing arriving, what exactly are the risks - I keep hearing concerns about the risks, but can someone actually articulate them to me please?

Going back to the iPhone (are these devices ever far from our thoughts?), will 2011 bring a wave of consumer devices into the workplace? Over 700 tablets were shown at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month - how will businesses secure them?

The Information Commissioners Office finally started dishing out data loss fines - one was £500k alone.

They are just a few headlines that sprang to my mind - do you have any others to add to the mix? perhaps stories that have real security implications for 2011?

On the positive side, the increasing exposure placed on IT security risk can only mean on thing for IT security job seekers, more investement in IT security!

IT Security & Communications Manager

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ARM

Attend one of our three imminent open days to find out how you could work for a world-renowned systems integrator, based on the UK’s beautiful South Coast.

Lockheed Martin UK is recruiting for Software, Systems and integration and Test Engineers for our Havant, Hampshire site. Most of these roles will be working within a £750M programme to update the Royal Navy’s Merlin anti-submarine and anti-surface helicopter system, as well as other projects in the defence and civil sectors.

Open Day Dates & Times:

As one of the world's major integrated systems providers, Lockheed Martin UK are looking for high quality candidates for roles from graduate to skilled engineers. You are welcome to join Lockheed Martin UK and find out more at the following open days:

28th January 2011

Dean Water Hotel

Woodford

SK7 1QR

1000 - 1800

11th February 2011

Best Western Shrubbery Hotel

Illminster

TA19 9AR

1000 – 1800

18th February 2011

Holiday Inn Lynchford Road

Farnborough

GU14 6AZ

1000 – 1800

Lockheed Martin UK offer a competitive remuneration and benefits package, an exciting, cutting-edge working environment with a challenging role from day one, and the opportunity to progress and develop a distinguished career with an internationally-renowned company.

Register Online:

Register now to secure an interview slot at one of the Recruitment Open Days. Please email Lockheed Martin UK at: open.day@lmco.com

Twitter: Follow these events @ARMopendays

LinkedIn: Ask the organisers questions on LinkedIn

Facebook: Find out more on the recruitment open day Facebook Page

Competition:

Win a bottle of champers donated by Advanced Resource Managers by ‘Checking in’ to this event on Foursquare.

Smartphone users can check into this event on the popular location based check-in App Foursquare. To qualify for entry you must ‘check In’ to the venue you are located at on the day. Entrants will be entered into our draw following all three recruitment days and a winner will be announced via our Twitter/Facebook and LinkedIn pages (links above).

The current trend has been set by the huge range of devices currently available including e-book readers, sat-navs and tablets. CE devices are not yet the largest driver for mobile broadband: that’s still home devices using wifi and other similar technology. The further introduction of new network technology such as LTE can only serve to fuel the growth of CE devices.

If you are interested in wireless technology we have a number of available jobs in the area please visit www.arm.co.uk

IT Communications Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

Recruitment firms should apply best practice and ought to agree that we share responsibility to uphold the reputation of recruitment – generally, and within our niche sectors. Aside from the obvious imperative of actually looking after candidates, a poor market reputation within a niche discipline will reduce referrals and result in unproductive time working with candidates to resolve needless frustrations.

ARM’s teams endeavour to deliver best practice as far as we possibly can and we welcome feedback if you think we have not done so. Over the following weeks, our IT Sales Recruitment team will provide a 10-step guide to how we aim to maintain the contact we have with our candidates throughout the recruitment process to ensure candidates receive the right “candidate experience”. We really do welcome feedback and want to hear from you if you think we’re getting it wrong – or right!

Step 1. Confirming receipt of CV submissions

In a candidate-heavy economic period, we are receiving an increased volume of advert response and new CV submissions for every opportunity we are assigned to and advertise.

We try to respond to all CV submissions, whether they are via online or direct applications, confirming receipt, thanking candidates for their application and managing expectations that if their application is a match for our client's requirements they will be contacted by one of our consultants shortly. However, should this not be the case then we will aim to contact them should an appropriate vacancy arise in the future.

Candidates should know that their CV has been received and have access to direct contact details for the relevant ARM Consultant if they have any further questions in relation to the status of their application or require any further information.

If this has not been your experience, I would like to know about it.

Step 2 is now online, you can view it here.

Paul Fairclough

IT Sales Recruitment Senior Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

paulf@arm.co.uk

ARM

The growth in sales could be put largely down to there increase in smart phone sales in the post pay segment. Industry experts largely anticipated penetration of smart phones into the pre pay market would remain modest and CPW have shown a growth of 2.3 percent on this sector. Overall they have reported new connections dropped 7.1 percent.

The CPW Group now has 73 “Wireless World” stores and is remaining on target for 100 by March 2011.

Further IT Comms industry results are due over the coming weeks, with some fantastic results expected.

Excellent news for IT Communications Job seekers

With excellent results expected in the IT Comms industry as a whole, there will be an increase in requirement for IT Comms jobs within the wireless sectors. As organisations push to expand and meet expected growth the requirement for talent within the IT Comms industry shall increase, and competition between the leading organisations may become fierce to bring in the best people.

Great results from organisations within the sector ultimately equal great prospects for job seekers and employees. Adding encouragement to employees working within the communication industry!

Trend supported by current market growth at ARM

At ARM we have experienced an increasing trend of requirements for IT Comms job seekers, and an increase in applicants. It is an exciting period where the technology industry as a whole is witnessing continued growth and exposure in national press. If you’re interested in looking at some of the fantastic opportunities we have check out our IT Comms job vacancies, selecting telecommunications jobs from the industry sector list.

Alternatively you can speak to us about IT communications recruitment via telephone, contact ARM on +44 (0)2392 228 282 or email us at communications@arm.co.uk

David Powell

IT Communications Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

ARM

Recruiter magazine published the results of a survey by eSkills UK this week stating that the number of IT jobs is set to grow nearly five times faster than the UK average. Their report, entitled 'Technology Insights 2011', comments that over half a million new IT telecoms professionals will be required over the next 5 years just to satisfy demand.

On a personal note my division has core representation in Telecommunications, IT & Information Security, Networking & Infrastructure and IT. All of these sub divisions have been proving consistently successful over the past 4 quarters – my point is that we have witnessed a steady rise in demand over those 4 quarters and any New Year spike in demand won't be a solitary spike, but a continuation of the demand for skills we have been experiencing.

To back up my experience of the past year, and expectations of the coming calendar year, eSkills UK is anticipating that the rise in demand will be in 'high value roles, which require sophisticated business and management skills alongside deep technical competence'.

Both my division and I have seen an increase in the skill and track record demands from our clients when looking for new employees - certainly within IT & Information Security, but also Telecommunications, the shift has been back to hiring permanent full time employees and relying less on contractors or associates as was increasingly the norm during the downturn.

So, if you are someone that has come back to work in the new year to the same old issues, the same lack of motivation, and are feeling blue, do give my team a call.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

Follow me on Twitter

ARM

With the first month of 2011 nearly over and the Christmas period all but a distant memory, January turns its attentions to finding that perfect new role, but how do you go about it?

As you will know all too well, actively seeking new iGaming jobs (or jobs in any industry for that matter) can be very time consuming. Many candidates who look for a new role will trawl countless job boards, making numerous applications and following up with lots and lots of telephone calls. We have listened to your concerns, and developed a service that takes the job hunt strain away from you. We’re calling it the Advanced Resource Managers ‘Career Management Service’.

ARM Career Management Service

The ARM Career Management Service is designed to allow you to carry on with your day job and utilise our professional consultants to hunt for the right role for you.

Here in the Marketing team we will gather information about your previous roles, responsibilities, career highlights, and determine what you are looking for in a new job and what company you would work best in. We will then use this information to plan which clients in the iGaming industry are best suited to your skills, experience and needs and use our extensive contacts network to open new doors.

Many candidates have found this a great alternative to dealing with numerous recruiters and you could too. If you are thinking about making a move in 2011, like 46% of all current employees are, have a confidential chat with one of our specialist consultants today.

For more information and contact details please visit our iGaming jobs page.

Alex Mariner

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

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ARM

the results annouce The USA at No.1. Congratulations America - although I'm not sure this is a number one slot they are particularly proud to have in their trophy cabinet!

The “Dirty Dozen” report found that the USA upped its percentage of global spam from the third quarter and now accounts for 18.83% of all junk emails, THREE times higher than second-placed India.

And so, to the “Dirty Dozen” themselves:

1. USA - 18.83%

2. India - 6.88%

3. Brazil - 5.04%

4. Russia - 6.64%

5. UK - 4.54%

6. France - 3.45%

7. Italy - 3.17%

8. S.Korea - 3.01%

9. Germany - 2.99%

10. Vietnam - 2.79%

11. Romania - 2.25%

12. Spain - 2.24%

Others - 40.17%.

Naughty, naughty America!

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

Follow me on Twitter

ARM

From what I’ve read in recent blogs, it seems a lot of businesses are turning their backs on cloud computing because of one overriding fear - how secure will their corporate information be?

Forrester Research asked IT bigwigs how they felt. Only twenty one per cent said they had plans to exploit cloud services in 2011. For those who don't “get” The Cloud, one can invoke the image once used to explain the public telephone network. It is essentially the provision of services on demand - businesses can access infrastructure, applications, services etc, without hosting them themselves, and the data is stored remotely. And therein lies the problem: you do not have control over your critical data.

Worries about cloud security are driving some companies to shift their own datacentres into 'private clouds'. It’s a practice that delivers the same on-demand computing model, but without the security risks.

Having said that, analyst house TechMarketView predicted that the UK cloud computing market would grow from £5.8bn in 2010 to £10.4bn in 2014, so not everyone agrees on the status of The Cloud!

What do you think? have your say by commenting on the blog below.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

Follow me on Twitter

ARM

The event provides an opportunity to hear what the IET and BCS offer to local businesses that are consumers or vendors of IT. In particular the value of ICTTech and CITP professional registration to those businesses will be addressed. There will also be speakers from local businesses who are fully engaged with the BCS and IET and from a leading training supplier.

This is an informal event with morning coffees and a buffet lunch and there is an opportunity to network with other IT users and representatives of the institutions. It will end with a Q&A panel comprising the speakers and other representatives of the institutions.

The intended audience is IT managers and HR professionals with an interest in IT staffing.

Agenda

10:00 Coffee

10:30 Welcome – Fran Jones – ARM IT Recruitment Director

10:35 Sarah Greasley FIET FBCS CITP – Open Group Distinguished Certified IT Architect

Sarah will give an IBM point of view on the value of professional affiliation in the IT industry and give some insights into where the IT Industry is moving in terms of national and global professional standards.

Sarah is leader of the IBM UK IT Architect Profession and applies her profession on the Financial Services Industry. Sarah also serves on two joint membership working groups: one with the BCS and the other with IET. These are used to promote professional affiliation and registration within IBM.

11:00 Paul Stephens – South East Regional Development Manager, IET

Paul will give an overview of the IET, their 21st Century Strategy, the benefits of providing staff with A Professional Home for Life and the value of Developing and Recognising Staff Through Professional Registration.

Paul works with the engineering, IT and communications sectors to help increase professional standards within the industry. One of Paul's primary roles is to provide engineers and technicians with a clear route to achieving professional registration qualifications.

11:25 First SMB speaker to give point of view.

11:50 Adam Thilthorpe – BCS Director for Professionalism

Adam is responsible for the Chartered IT Professional registration conferred by the BCS. This has recently been revised to provide some guarantee of competence in current practice by its holders. Adam will talk about the new CITP and give the BCS's point of view on drivers to industry standards within the IT Profession.

12:15 Buffet lunch

13:00 Fran Jones – ARM IT Recruitment Director

Fran will give an overview of the industry as he sees it.

13:25 Second SMB speaker to give point of view.

13:50 Simon Vallance – Learning Solutions Manager, Global Knowledge

Professional accreditation is a marathon not a sprint.

Much of the growth of professional certifications has developed because they provide evidence of professional knowledge and expertise. But have we become too reliant on obtaining qualifications at the expense of developing skills and work competencies? Are we focusing too much on what is easy to measure rather than what the organisation actually needs from its people? Simon discusses how training providers can provide the fuel, but how organisations must assume responsibility for keeping the fire alight by harnessing technology to create communities of best practice.

Simon has over 16 years' experience of providing consultancy in learning strategy and instructional design to a wide range of blue chip organisations and UK government departments. These engagements have involved activity throughout the training and learning development cycle from the identification of training needs, to the design, development, delivery and evaluation of learning programmes and training materials. In his role at Global Knowledge, Simon provides guidance on the implementation of learning strategies, solutions and developmental issues in support of major change programmes. He has a particular interest in how technology can support and enhance learning as well as assist business change.

14:15 Coffee

14:20 Question and Answer Session (with coffee)

Panellists: Sarah Greasley, Paul Stephens, Adam Thilthorpe, Fran Jones, Simon Vallance, two SMB speakers and also:

Keith Richardson – Area Manager (North), IET

Keith manages a team of IET Regional Development Managers who work with the engineering, IT and Communications sectors to help increase professional standards within the industry. Keith is also the IET product champion for ICT Tech qualification.

Richard Moore – Vice Chairman, IET Solent Network and Member of the IBM Academy of Technology

15:00 Close

To register for this event
please click above.

Despite bleak statistics for many industries in 2010, the iGaming sector has witnessed continued growth, bucking wider recessionary conditions to grow by, wait for it, 12.5% in 2010, according to figures released to iGaming Review by gambling data business H2 Gambling Capital.

Gross revenue generated by the iGaming sector reached a monumental US$29.95bn in 2010, up 12.5% on the figure recorded in 2009. Even with the contribution of the football World Cup removed, the sector still achieved 11.4% growth, representing the resilient performance of the sector amid tough prevailing economic conditions.

The continued growth of the iGaming sector is highlighting the significant opportunities available to organisations operating within it. Substantial growth in this arena is bringing new job opportunities for candidates, as we are currently witnessing at ARM with some fantastic iGaming job opportunities.

Bingo and casino were the star performers among the seven product verticals. Furthermore, the successes of the World Cup underpinned the continued growth of iGaming’s largest sector, sports betting, which recorded year-on-year growth of 10.8% to US$12.06bn. Many land-based companies are now diversifying into the online gaming world and many are identifying the Mobile sphere as a key driver for growth.

With the future continuing to look bright and with increasing regulatory reviews and continued new product development, iGaming is unquestionably going to be a hot industry this year.

Do you have any predictions or opinions on the iGaming sector outlook for 2011? Are you considering opening your options to work in this exciting industry? If so please share your comments below.

Amy Huey

iGaming Recruitment Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

ARM

We at ARM's iGaming division provide specialist tailored recruitment solutions for the burgeoning iGaming industry. My team is skilled in sourcing the best professionals for permanent and interim roles across the UK, Gibraltar, Ireland, Malta & the Isle of Man.

ARM offers a complete recruitment solution for iGaming clients & candidates, including permanent and contract recruitment and Managed Services. With a strong brand established in 1996, ARM distinguishes itself by ensuring our consultants take the time to understand your requirements.

If you are looking for your next career step, to hire an experienced industry professional or simply want some friendly advice, please do not hesitate to contact me on +44 (0) 1202 924 924 or email stuartr@arm.co.uk to book a free, no obligation, meeting with one of our experienced consultants.

Please visit www.arm.co.uk/igaming - For information and online jobs

Stuart Roe

Head of iGaming Recruitment

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ARM

The thought process behind the advertisement was simple: highlight ARM's ability to network and communicate with current and new candidates & clients across some of the world's most popular social networking websites. As we move into 2011 Social Networking websites are providing a very popular method of communication between active and passive jobseekers and recruiters. ARM has developed a strategy to ensure that we are there to listen, and to continually improve our social interaction online.

You can view the advert and its content below:

Advert text from top to bottom:

A great recruiter at your fingertips…

There’s a thought.

Join the ARM social network and you'll be able to review some fantastic Engineering, IT, and other job opportunities through Twitter and Facebook, read some honest (sometimes amusing) views on our industries in our Blog, and join in the discussion with our recruitment specialists through LinkedIn.

It's like talking to us. Virtually.

arm.co.uk/socialmedia

eMarketing Executive

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Connect with me on LinkedIn

ARM

Back to basics: setting up your profile & best practice

Setting up your profile correctly is one of the most important aspects of the process. Your LinkedIn profile can be publically viewed and will represent you as a professional. There are even suggestions that LinkedIn profiles may be considered an acceptable form of résumé in the future. More importantly, your future recruiter will be researching your profile prior to interview to gauge your experience and fit within the company. If you wish to promote a professional image of yourself you must ensure your profile has a professional look and feel.

When editing your profile you must aim to achieve 100% completion, ensuring every section has relevant information relating to your current situation, and that you have secured at least 3 recommendations from current or former colleagues or clients. Your profile completeness can be found on the right hand column of your LinkedIn profile when in edit mode. LinkedIn will suggest what else needs to be completed to reach 100% completion.

Content is key: an inside scoop on what a recruiter is looking for!

• Ensure you have a professional profile picture

You only get one chance to make a first impression. You wouldn’t turn up to an interview in your casual wear, with a drink in your hand, would you? Your profile picture, rightly or wrongly, will be one of the first things that any other human being will look at! Therefore, it goes without saying that a smart photo will pay great dividends in promoting you as a professional.

• Detail your current and previous work experience

An employer will want to know your experience, if you have worked a company X Y and Z and gained vital skills in A B and C then make sure you state it here. This is your opportunity to boast about your previous experience if you have any.

• Sum yourself up in the summary!

Your summary allows you to round up who you are, what you’re doing, where you want to go, and any other bits of information as you see relevant. Consider this a section to sum you up in a few quick and engaging paragraphs to sell yourself to a recruiter.

• State that you are looking for job enquiries in your contact settings

Our consultants will regularly check whether you have stated that you want to be contacted by recruiters for job enquiries. If you have this section ticked then that is a great indicator for us to contact you with job opportunities that match your profile.

• Make sure you input your current contact details in the contact settings

If a recruiter thinks you’re perfect for a role they will want to contact you pretty quickly. Make sure your contact details are clearly displayed or you may miss out on an opportunity. And though it will sound obvious, don’t forget to update your details, as soon as you can, if they change.

• Finally, join the ARM Network for jobs, advice, discussions and more!

Now that you have a profile completed and ready for use you can join and be part of ARM’s LinkedIn network. Why? To network with thousands of like-minded professionals in your industry, share news and information relevant to your sector, and, above all else, browse some fantastic contract and perm job opportunities.

If you are looking for job hunting advice or would like one of our sector recruitment specialists to help you to consider your future career options, please feel free to leave questions on the groups and one of our recruiters will be in contact with you.

Join the discussion, click me to learn more

If you have any further questions or feedback relating to our LinkedIn network please comment on the blog below and I will respond as soon as possible, alternatively you can contact me directly on twitter, @ARM_SamHill.

Sam Hill

eMarketing Executive

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ARM

Date:

Thursday February 17th, 2011

Venue:

Langstone Technology Park, Hampshire, PO9 1SA

Organisers:

Co-hosted by ARM and The IET

Speakers from IBM, BCS, IET, Global Knowledge and ARM

Register here!

About the event:

Professional affiliations standards, qualifications, regulation and certifications now play a regular part of the currency for many professions. Though the IT industry has been one of the last to go down this route professional bodies that oversee standards and grant certifications are now well established. Serving the UK in particular are the British Computer Society (BCS) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Both of these organisations administer the granting of professional qualifications as well as a host of other professional services on a local, regional and national level.

Many businesses perceive real value in supporting professional affiliation to the BCS and IET.

This event provides an opportunity to hear what the IET and BCS offer to local businesses that are consumers or vendors of IT. In addition, renowned training supplier Global Knowledge will speak on the importance of supplementing accreditations with real-life workplace skills and competencies, through harnessing the latest technology to create communities of best practice, and ARM IT Recruitment Director Fran Jones will give an overview of the industry as he sees it.

This is an informal event with morning coffees and buffet lunch, and an opportunity to network with other IT users and representatives of the institutions. It will end with a Q&A panel comprising the speakers and other representatives of the institutions.

Register for this event:

Register for this free event here!

Discuss this event on Twitter #armIET and follow @ARMevents

Network with attendees and ask questions on the LinkedIn event group.

A recent poll by the IT Job Board has found that 80% of techies are planning to look for a new job next year. In relation to this, 85% plan to actively seek new career opportunities once the recession ends.

The study which surveyed more than 100 IT professionals stated 53% of those who plan to leave their current job said they are considering a career change as the don’t feel valued, whilst just under half (48%), blame a poor salary and seek higher pay incentives.

Only 41% of the survey sample said they are loyal to their current employer, with reasons for lack of loyalty including employers cutting corners, and statements of management not listening. 45% of those who do feel committed state it's because they are working on exciting projects. Another 45% said their loyalty is down to working with teams they like.

So what does this mean for employers?

The study would suggest that better corporate Comms would improve the loyalty of IT workers, according to 58% of the respondents. However, 52% said they believe that techies as a group are always a fickle bunch when it comes to job loyalty.

Are you seeking change in the New Year?

Do you agree with the information stated in the report? Do you have any other reasons for wanting to look at new career opportunities in the New Year?

Whatever the case, if you are looking for information and advice on the next years IT job market, and/or would like to hear about some of the excellent contract or permanent job opportunities in the IT sector, then you can easily get in touch with one of our specialist IT consultants, alternatively drop me a message via Twitter. We would love to hear from you.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

Follow me on Twitter

ARM

How to enter:

1. Follow @ARMofficial on Twitter   

You must be a follower of ARMofficial to enter, to do this simply click the button below:

2. Tweet your Xmas message before midnight on the 31st December

You must remember to include @ARMofficial to the tweet and #ARMxmas so we can monitor the entrants.

example: Bring me the music this xmas @ARMofficial #ARMxmas

Click the button to submit your tweet:

Entries must be tweeted before midnight on the 31st December and the winner will be announced via our @ARMoffical twitter account on the 4th January 2011, multiple entries are allowed. Submit an entry and make us laugh this Xmas :).

To learn more about ARM's presence on Twitter and other social media channels, view our social media page.

This led me think about what happens to serial interviewees. Although having been through the recruitment process a few times before, candidates still get nervous about another interview request. The conclusion I came to is that it is perfectly healthy to be nervous at interview, in fact it’s encouraged, because the last thing that you want to happen is complacency setting in. Here are my interview tips:

- Make sure you know what job you are being interviewed for. (Candidates MUST read the job specs)

- Who you are interviewed by? Research the company, and if you are a member of LinkedIn, see if you can look up the interviewer’s history

- Make sure you have examples ready to demonstrate your competencies

- Logistics & make sure you know where you are going, the date and time of the interview, and know who to ask for.

- Have a list of questions, to get a clear understanding of the expectations.

Remember the interview is a 2 way process.

Anyway, the baby is now 3 weeks old, and all is good at home. I took lots of precautions and the planning has now paid off.

Sultan Mahmud

Engineering & Technology Recruitment Team Leader

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Meanwhiile, Sheffield-based A4e was fined £60,000 for losing an unencrypted laptop containing the personal details of thousands of people.

The Commissioner said that these fines, the first of their kind, would "send a strong message" to those with data-handling responsibilities.

Hertfordshire County Council's breaches occurred when staff in their childcare litigation department sent two faxes to the wrong people on two different occasions. The Council reported both breaches to the Information Commissioner's Office.

The second fax, sent two weeks after the first, contained information relating to the care proceedings of three children, the previous convictions of the two individuals, domestic violence records and staff's opinions on the cases.

A recent survey found that four out of five people want to see the introduction of a law which would force companies to publicly declare any data breaches. This kind of legislation currently exists in the United States but in the UK, declaring is currently voluntary. The survey was conducted for data management company Logrhythm by Onepoll. Five thousand people were asked the question.

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Research last week shows how the worm was designed to target the industrial equipment used in power plants and other large scale utility installations; additional analysis suggests that it was specifically aimed at the centrifuges that are used to enrich uranium.

Security firm Secruicon specialise in picking out the digital fingerprints hackers leave behind in malware - when they looked at Stuxnet and broke it down it's intended path became clear. One part targets industrial control systems, another manages the worm's method of infection and lastly there is the piece that allows it's creators to communicate with and control it.

One specific block of the worm was focused on the Programmable Logic Controllers used in industrial plants to automate motors and pumps.

The research suggests that a team of between 6 and 10 people were behind Stuxnet and someone within this group would have had information about how to access industrial plants in, for example, Iran - if that was indeed the actual target.

Where the worm failed was that IT security firms were able to take over the communication and control block of the malware. Orla Cox, Security Operations Manager at Symantec said,

"Someone has serious egg on their face because they are never going to be able to use this investment ever again".

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Automated toolkits have contributed to the rise of Phishing attacks, while bogus sites trick users into giving away their usernames and passwords, along with financial information, on occasion.

With Christmas around the corner Symantec is already seeing the annual splurge via websites offering products for sale, masquerading as legitimate websites from well known brands.

The most basic phishing attacks come in the form of a counterfeit email purporting to be from a legitimate source. The Washington Mutual Bank attack involved fraudulent emails, from a malicious source rather than the bank itself, asking customers for their ATM card details. The plausible (and false) motive customers were given was that the "bank" needed to update its own security measures. Doubtless the irony was not lost on some.

Urgency is a valuable weapon for fraudsters who need to capture as much data as they can before their attack is exposed. Sometimes extra urgency is applied to these attacks through a suggestion that failure to provide the required confidential details will result in account suspension - for example, the SunTrust scam, which included the company's logo.

eBay is often a target. Indeed I have received such an email, stating that a billing error has been made and asking me to log in to verify the changes.

eBay's sister company PayPal is also targeted frequently, indeed eBay and PayPal were two of the earliest targets of Phishing attacks. PayPal account holders have been contacted via a fraudulent email (such as the one below) purporting to be from PayPal. The email informs the victim that somebody from a 'foreign IP address' attempted to login to their account. They are prompted to login via a link provided. Hopefully it goes without saying that clicking on the link takes you to the attacker's website. The perniciousness of these attacks is that they trade on the good name of reputable and robust brands, in these cases eBay and PayPal - and that, of course, is the crux of the Phishing methodology - it exploits trust.

So, if you want a very merry Christmas, buy a loved one a decent bit of software that will protect them from such attacks - there are plenty of options out there from Norton to Kaspersky and Trend Micro. Client-based anti-phishing programs also exist, for example Safari, Firefox, Windows Explorer.

Whatever you decide to do, do something and have a happy Phish-free Christmas!

IT Security & Communications Manager

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"Well at the moment I like science and working on computers, Miss," I offer.

"OK, have you considered medicine? Your computerised profile also suggests an IT career or a solicitor..."

Growing up on the south coast of England, nobody I knew had heard of the offshore or subsea oil industry, and as youngsters all we knew of Aberdeen was that its football team was the first Scottish side in our sticker albums!

So why aren't the amazing opportunities within the oil and subsea industries a strong consideration for school-leavers when they are planning what to do with their lives?

From hands-on roles working offshore to the designers and engineers who build the infrastructure, there is such an abundance of jobs from which to choose.

According to the Oil and Gas UK website, "You could find yourself working on multi-billion pound projects which incorporate new, cutting-edge technologies to produce a commodity required by people the world over". Some recent reports suggest that investments made in the oil and gas industry could make up for about 20% of all investments made in the UK. Quite a decent-sized sector to enter into, then.

Conversation with my clients over the past few years suggests that graduates are just not entering into the oil industry and instead are looking at “sexier” industries such as IT and aerospace.

It’s a shame because the oil industry workforce needs to be nourished by new blood yet the necessary volume of graduates doesn’t seem to be coming through. From my experience the opportunities to work in the oil industry are fantastic, with the chance to work all over the world on real cutting-edge engineering projects – and the chance to earn a really good income.

So if I was that 15 year-old waiting outside the recruitment office again, I would seriously be considering the oil industry and the different opportunities it can offer.

David James

Oil & Gas Section Manager

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Yes I am! The recent Biomethane project at Didcot Sewage Treatment Works, a joint venture between Thames Water, British Gas, and Scotia Gas Networks, is a landmark carbon reduction project that is due to revolutionise the utilisation of waste products.

The project is the latest step in an ongoing initiative by Thames to reduce it's carbon footprint and add to the £15mil a year of energy they already produce. Most of that currently goes into running the assets within Thames' region and this is the first time they will sell the energy produced back to the National Grid.

With an increase in workload and jobs becoming more abundant the future of the UK's water and wastewater industry looks very bright indeed. Many of the clients we speak to on a daily basis have confirmed that the back end of 2010 and onwards should see a very significant rise in this type of groundbreaking project, and as a result job opportunities!

At ARM we are entrenched in the industry and have contacts throughout the various Utility Companies, Consultants, Contractors, and Design and Build companies. We have a wealth of experience of helping both contract and permanent candidates find work and have wide scope of roles available.

So now is a great time to polish that CV, iron a shirt or two, shine your shoes and give us a call whether you are looking to get back into work or looking to progress your career within the sector.

Head of Energy & Environment

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About LinkedIn

If you find yourself asking the question “what is LinkedIn?” you may also need to ask yourself where you have been for the past few months, or even years. No offence.

LinkedIn boasts a base of over 80 million users. It’s the largest professional social network in the world, differentiating itself from the powerhouse that is Facebook (500+ million users).

LinkedIn and the organisation

LinkedIn’s ability to affiliate a user to their place of work has made its adoption by organisations very attractive, and indeed increasingly essential, as employees increasingly must represent their place of work in an online universe. Unfortunately there is a flaw in LinkedIn’s setup that must strike fear into the hearts and minds of marketers and business owners alike.

Here’s the issue...

We received a notification on Wednesday from a client who received an abusive message (via LinkedIn) from a person supposedly employed at Advanced Resource Managers (ARM). Upon immediate investigation it was apparent that a user had set up a fake profile on LinkedIn pretending to represent an ARM employee. The only way to resolve this issue was to log the issue via LinkedIn’s customer service email response service (getting a number for LinkedIn seems impossible). The reply took overnight to come in, during which time the damage could have escalated out of control. Fortunately, the user was removed from affiliation with ARM and apologies were sent to the client involved. Thanks to quick communication and response the client understood the situation. The ease of this kind of attack is particularly worrying.

The solution?

Surely a validation process must be put in place requiring approval for any user to become affiliated with an organisation, perhaps via an official company email account, or an email and telephone validation process (as used with Googles Places). I’m surprised to find little information on the matter when browsing online. Has anyone else received examples of this type of threat to their organisation? I’d be interested to learn more and share best practice.

eMarketing executive

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I was skim-reading the report and it got me thinking. We all know that people are our greatest asset (a well-worn phrase for most businesses). This is true at every level, but by failing to get the most out of your employees you are holding your business back. Because what is your business if it’s not a collection of people working towards shared goals?

If they don't invest in developing our employees’ skills and capabilities, businesses will, at best, tread water.

And so to training - history tells us that training is one of the first things to go when budgets are squeezed. IT training isn't just about working on technical skills - it can encompass project management, compliance and security training as well.

But is any of this actually critical? What is training, really, and what is the point of training if people don't understand the connection between training they have undergone and new expectations arising from it?

Of course, training is about equipping people with new skills. But it’s also about informing people about the rules: how the collective 'we', go about doing things. If we all do things in the right manner it will negate the increasing risks that can appear when transacting.

What about technical training? Let me use a discipline close to my background - IT Security and Compliance. If we all acted responsibly and did things in the correct manner there would be no risks and businesses would be fully compliant. Risks exist, and compliance is sought not because people are stupid, but because the problems are becoming more and more complex. IT Heads, Chief Security Officers and FDs responsible for IT Security and Compliance dream of being able to assume that a lost mobile device or memory stick would not contain confidential information, but who would bet their job on it?

The downturn is hopefully behind us now, but Freeform Dynamics still find IT training to be low on the priority list. ARM has first-hand experience of this. For six years now we’ve been a major Training supplier, and we’re noticing an upturn in the demand for IT training specifically.

Note that it is IT training that is experiencing a comparative surge in popularity. Even during the downturn, we still saw a demand for soft skills training courses: from Project Management, Ethical, ISO and a host of other hot topics.

It seems that firms are waking up once again to the realisation that investing in IT training is a way of ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and that putting staff first is essential to making the most from the recovery's green shoots.

IT Security & Communications Manager

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You’ve worked your socks off, consistently made the boss tea and even laughed at his remedial level of humour. But still that illustrious next step up the ladder is out of reach. What can you do other than plot some Machiavellian scheme to rise up the hierarchy, with the grace and dignity of a mountain goat, leaping from rock to rock?

But before you gorge yourself on sour grapes, bear in mind that luck may have played a bigger part in the process than its beneficiaries would like to concede.

According to a recent study by Italian researchers Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda and Cesare Garofalo, a company may become more capable and competent if it promotes its staff at random. (The study was published in the journal “Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications”).

So, just some food for thought - the next time you are shampooing your boss's poodle at the weekend, or massaging their feet, have a quick think and ask, is this really going to help?

Justin Chambers

IT Service Delivery Account Manager

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Yes, it's my job to look for what's happening as opposed to what's not happening, so maybe I’m predisposed to be positive, but is all the moaning necessary?

My team works with a majority of the top 20 consultants and contractors in the built environment. We have an extensive network and are on all the best news feeds - and you know what? There's a conveyor belt of planning, design and build going on out there.

Generally there is, and has always been, varying opinion about what's busy in build and what's dead. It's dictated by sector and region.

But it's a nomadic industry - people move around to chase work and win work - and it’s an agile industry, so we need to look at the positives, talk the industry up, and go out there and get it!

John Dunaway

Director Engineering

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Far from damaging the progress of Tidal Generation many people actually feel this move will allow smaller technological advances in tidal power by redirecting the funding to the R&D process where it is greatly needed. Tidal Generation is in its infancy when compared with other alternative energy markets such as Wind and Solar power generation. It seems that the best course of action at this stage would be to concentrate the money on developing the most commercially efficient product to present to the market.

If this process is perfected then in the long run projects like the Severn Barrage could well come in at a fraction of the current estimate.

Once all the brainy chaps have had their chance to develop this technology I’m sure the cost of the R&D will be a drop in the ocean (pardon the pun) compared to the cost of getting it wrong.

So every cloud has a silver lining, slow and steady wins the race, look after the pennies etc, etc, and before too long we will have another viable, commercially sound, and very clever way of generating the power this country needs.

Tom Earp

Head of Energy & Environment

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The thrust of the speech will be that a rogue laptop could be as deadly as a cruise missile. Ministers view cyber warfare as the UK's biggest emerging threat, a 'Tier One' threat. The government will spend A £650mio over the next four years on a programme that will seek to protect both individuals and the national infrastructure.

Defence Minister Nick Harvey spoke to the BBC and said:

"it is imperative that in the future the nation must win the battle in cyberspace as well as the battle on the ground."

I recently blogged on GCHQ's report that 1,000 malicious emails a month were hitting government networks and that the threat to the nations critical infrastructure, power grids, emergency services, utilities, were a 'real and credible' target.

We shouldn't treat this news as a dark shadow over our lives, in reality it has little or no impact on us mere mortals, but I'm sure anyone who is remotely IT literate can scale up the malware that hits your home PC in order to understand the threat that would exist at national level.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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NFC wouldn't just be used for contactless payments, or providing a mobile wallet (an odd term, aren't all wallets mobile!?), they could also be used to allow transfer data between Mac computers and their iPhones.

So, does this sound the death knell for laptops? No, come on, the iPad hasn't done that yet so how can NFC on Smart Phones do it? All this does is make your iPhone 5 a (hopefully) secure mobile storage device with your passwords, bookmarks, payment channels on it.

I've recently got my iPhone 4, loving it; all this noise about poor signal and call-dropouts I can honestly say I have no experience of. My old 3GS used to lose signal for about 2 miles of my 16 mile commute home, the iPhone 4 retains the signal in that black spot like a good 'un! I know there are probably better devices out there, but I like the continuity and I love the fact all my music, photos, contacts and emails are on one device.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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So why do they think this is such a big number? The increase in mobile devices and home working has been the primary driver as organisations get a little bit too lax over password security.

GetSafeOnline, a joint initiative between government, enterprise and law enforcement agencies, agree and provided an example to back this up. An unnamed individual had his usernames and passwords saved into the contact list on his iPhone, Eeek!

I blogged recently about the danger of WifWif zones and this is where the link between that blog and this, comes into play.

A phantom WiFi zone was then set up via a wireless router and a 3G mobile card connected to it, naming it BTOpenzone (iPhones automatically connect to these by default). Once he was hooked up to the phony WiFi network, he pillaged the contacts list on the phone and had all the passwords. As we all know, once you have usernames and passwords you are invisible!

So what is the solution or fix? Well there’s Two-factor authentication - in other words a username, password AND a one-time code generated form a secure token.

Lessons to be learned? Well, for my Mum I shall tell her to take off the passwords and usernames for various things off of her phone - I'm joking! Don't take on Mrs Hicklin, she is formidable!

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Accurate comparisons between Windows Server 2008 with (free!) Hyper-V, and VMware are difficult to make, but the benefits of being able to integrate Exchange, as well as remote desktop services, has meant that Citrix has arguably been suffering as well.

The market is in no doubt that it is because of VMware's added functionality that it is more expensive, so you do get more for your buck. However the SME's looking into this space may not necessarily value these advanced features in relation to cost. Microsoft has been quick to jump on this and recognise price as an ever increasing factor.

So the battle continues… VMware gives you more, Citrix is not a million miles behind, but Microsoft is beginning to cash in on their low cost position within the market. ARM is certainly seeing demand for Citrix Support and Deployment professionals, and are working with the vendor itself, with the majority of demand around the Xen suite.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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The class-action was bought against Google due to a breach of privacy law when Google automatically signed up it's Gmail users to the service.

The class-action represented some 31 million users, and while Google claimed the aim was not to generate revenue, the action has forced Google to change it's practices and handling of user data.

Google is currently fighting a number of legal challenges predominately relating to it's collection and handling of user data. In Europe governments have been especially critical of Goggle's data handling, particularly with Street View.

To give you a personal example of this… a good friend, whilst visiting family noticed Goggle's Street View camera rolling by and he assembled his whole family outside. When the images were published on Google's StreetView platform online they had neglected to smudge out everyone's faces. When he wrote to Google to request that this was actioned, he started receiving invites to a variety of Google's services - another complaint is currently a work in progress!

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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It would probably surprise some to learn that Nokia is still the world’s number one Smart Phone manufacturer; however, Apple has recently reported that it has 17% of world wide sales compared to RIM's 15%.

There are some fundamental differences between the key technologies, and it may not be a level playing field. The Apple iPhone is just a single product whereas there are hundreds of Smart Phones using the Android platform. Sure to have an impact is the Microsoft offering recently released as Windows 7 with an HTC device. Currently Microsoft holds just 3% of the smart phone market.

As things stand it would appear Android has the upper edge, the same Canalys report putting them at 43.6% of all devices sold.

Who knows what will happen next in this changeable market? Right now, the battle lines seem to be drawn around brand preference. Apple is the brand of choice for many, but the Android platform offers compelling flexibility.

So which do you prefer - Apple or Android? please comment below.

David Powell

IT Communications Consultant

ARM

Upon unwrapping my shiny new toy I was immediately impressed with the simplicity of the OS despite some initial teething problems with the touch screen, a feature that must have been designed by a child with very small fingers! Once I got to grips with the basics I got straight down to the important business of downloading various essentials apps such as angry birds and a light sabre!

By that evening I was sold. I had synced three e-mail accounts, plus my various networking sites such as Linked In, Facebook, Twitter etc. But by the time I sorted out the phonebook and set my alarm for bed I realised I had no battery left. Initially I put it down to excessive usage of a new toy, but a couple of weeks on I realise that smart phones simply place a big strain on batteries.

I now have a charger in the office, in the car and at home, plus an emergency charger when out of the office in meetings. One way or another my phone is nearly always plugged into the wall/car/laptop. No question about it - smart phones are wonderful toys, with real business applications. But are they truly mobile?

You can follow ARM's IT news on Facebook, Twitter and Linked in by visiting arm.co.uk.

David Powell

IT Communications Consultant

ARM

Vodafone's 'Critical Response Time Index 2010' surmises that the average cost of not responding quick enough to a new business enquiry is as much as £30,000 for an average company. This is a £10,000 rise of the 2009 figure and calculated up equates to the £70bn in this blog's headline.

Over the past year 39% of businesses cancelled a supplier contract because of poor communication. A slow response to an urgent call was cited as a deciding factor in terminating a contract.

Long term relationships don't offer businesses any protection as 71% of companies polled said there is now less room for goodwill, personal relationships and giving suppliers any kind of benefit of doubt.

So what is the solution? Unified Communications is my solution, and indeed arguably THE solution. I have recently established a sub-division focusing solely on this and while this is going well for a relatively new start-up, it appears that the end-user demand for UC is still relatively stagnant. 'Why' I hear you ask? Complexity and Cost are often the biggest barriers to entry, something that the UC vendors we know of are looking into.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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ARM

Nepalese telecoms firm Ncell has installed eight 3G stations along the route to Everest Base Camp. To date nutters, sorry 'climbers', have had to rely on expensive satellite phones, allowing voice-only communications. It is claimed that the 3G coverage could reach the summit.

The most practical implication of this coverage would be the access to weather reports and safety information, although I'm sure that keeping in touch with family and loved ones will be appreciated almost as much.

Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera, own Ncell and have pledged to invest more than £60m in the next year to improve mobile coverage in a country where less than one third of the population have access to telecommunication services.

I can't help feeling that a variety of technical and philosophical questions arise from this intriguing story. But the biggest must be: Who will be the first to update their twitter status with, "Believe it or not, at the summit of Mount Everest. Nice view.”?

Damian Hicklin

IT Security & Communications Manager

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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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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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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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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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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."

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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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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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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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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ARM

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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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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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

IT & Communications Manager

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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

IT & Communications Manager

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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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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

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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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

IT & Communications Divisional Manager

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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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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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ARM

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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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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From left to right, the ARM runners were:

James Spurling, Andrew Mealey, Derek Goff, Dil Bhakar, Justin Chambers, Luke South, Andrew Vaughan, Simon Withers, David Powell, Martin Grady, John Dunaway, Fran Jones, Christian Staunton and Nick Payen.

The track, based around picturesque New Milton, took in 13.1 miles of undulating hills and pretty hamlets, and proffered a few surprises including some challenging climbs, jelly bean-dispensing locals and at least one new forest pony stampede. If any of us had hoped that the Run Profile in our runners packs was an exaggeration, alas, we were wrong: this uniquely hilly half marathon is apparently the UK's most topographically variable (phew - didn't repeat "hilly") - which is really just another way of saying it wasn't particularly easy on the legs!

In terms of ability our runners varied from distance-running veterans and gym-heads to those who had done little more than walk to the shops in years. All the ARM runners completed the race admirably, with our fastest few clocking in at around 1 hour 45 or thereabouts. Equally impressive were those who had doubted they could even run 13+ miles, and did.

Some of team ARM after the race, pictured with mascot Clyde.

To date, with a final push of fundraising to come, ARM has raised £3,300. At the last count the funds were split with £1,800 going to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Southampton Hospital and £1,300 for Naomi House Children's hospice. On behalf of all of the ARM runners, I'd like to thank all our sponsors - you really made all the difference, and I know from talking to the ARM gang on the day that a few of us sought inspiration in the harder miles by thinking of the good causes we espoused.

Thank you.

Simon Withers

Acting Section Manager

Marketing and Proposals Department

Friends of PICU Charity Registration No. 1116880

Naomi House (Wessex Children’s Hospice Trust Charity) Registration No.1002832

Left to right:

Matt Paine, Account Manager, ARM

Paul Huntingdon, Chairman, ARM

Lisa Hawkins, Corporate Fundraiser, Naomi House

Fiona Hansford, Corporate Fundraiser, Naomi House

Neil Phillips, Director, CMA Recruitment Group

Michelle Pena Stapleton, Divisional Manager, CMA Recruitment Group

For starters, the turnout was great, which shows there is a real interest in social media amongst the local business community, meaning that social media adoption is finally pushing through to the mainstream commercial audience. This can only mean one thing: social media is here to stay!

I was invited to Wednesday evening’s seminar to give a case study example of how we have started to roll out a social media marketing strategy at Advanced Resource Managers. It was a great opportunity for me to highlight our intentions to utilise social media to further improve ARM's transparency and customer service. In short, we hope to embrace the social media architecture to enhance feedback with our customers : it's an opportunity that many organisations have never previously been able to enjoy.

ARM's Sam Hill takes an audience of about 100 local business

people on a trip through the world of Social Media.

One of my main ambitions is to ensure that our social media strategy remains social, and has real good will behind it. As we progress, and the adoption of social media for business use becomes widespread in companies generally, we must remember that the whole concept of social media revolves around networking, relationship building, and sharing our knowledge and expertise with customers - not purely as a channel for pushing sales.

If I can offer one bit of advice it would be to really think hard about what your organisation wants to gain from using social media as a marketing channel. Although some of the success stories are fantastic, there are also many cases of disasters for organisations. As the subject is still at such an early stage of development, much of the information online can be misleading. Do your research before you decide how you would like to go about entering the social media sphere.

Sam Hill

eMarketing executive, ARM

Vanjoki has over 20 years at Nokia under his belt. After his appointment, he blogged:

“I am committed, perhaps even obsessed, with getting Nokia back to being number one in high-end devices. Achieving this will require performance and efforts over and above the norm."

Shortly afterwards, Nokia reported a 63 per cent drop in Q2 profits, with its problems in the smartphone sector chief among the culprits for the poor performance.

Now, less than two and a half months after taking on his new role, it appears it is coming to an end for Vanjoki:

“I felt the time has come to seek new opportunities in my life,”

he said in a statement released by Nokia.

“At the same time, I am one hundred per cent committed to doing my best for Nokia until my very last working day. I am also really looking forward to this year’s Nokia World and sharing news about exciting new devices and solutions.”

Vanjoki has a six-month notice period.

Damian Hicklin

IT & Communications Manager

ARM

More advertisers are now getting plugged into this location-based technology: with the rise of social gaming services where users tag where they are at any one time, a captive audience of mobile users, who are increasingly sharing their location, is being created. Facebook has added a location feature to its service, Twitter allows you to tag a location and a map to where you are tweeting from.

While it is early days the options for advertisers are becoming increasingly defined with three sets of locations in operation - GPS, Wi-Fi and cell-ID (the latter approximates your location by using the identity of the nearest base station you are connected to).

For retailers the process now involves analysing their customers' mobile and location habits, before choosing which location based service partner to be used.

Will the mobile community be put off by the Big Brother approach? It might start to feel like we're living in a real-life version of the Tom Cruise flick "Minority Report"...but perhaps, in time, users will warm to the availability of discounts and shopping rewards brought about by these adverts.

Author: Damian Hicklin

IT Security Manager

ARM

The internal engineering is pretty much done and Windows Phone 7 is available to OEMs and Service Providers: now they can weave their magic and start customising and preparing the hardware in preparation for a Christmas worldwide release. Microsoft claims that Windows Phone 7 is the company's most tested mobile platform. Microsoft are taking this very seriously and have run automated tests every day, on c.10,000 devices, with over 3.5 million hours of stress testing, and 8.5 million hours of fully automated test passes.

Watch out Apple, Android and Windows Phone 7 are aiming to bite chunks out of you!

Author - Damian Hicklin

IT Security Manager

ARM

Build more security into chips. By doing this Intel increases its reach as security threats move from PCs onto devices including mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices. On the face of this strategy, Intel has opened up a top dollar future revenue stream. If the firm can bring McAfee's functionality down to 'silicon level' then the opportunities are mind-boggling.

A Virtualised World. We are moving to an increasingly virtualised world and the key question now is: how to build security into the whole virtual platform stack? If you can do this, you don't need to be concerned about different types of security because the platform will look after everything for you.

Mobile devices, tablets and clouds. Embedding security and the mobile market could be joined up very effectively - if mobile security can be embedded without impacting on device performance...well, it's a smart move. At present software is loaded onto a device but there will be increased demand for software intelligence embedded at hardware level. Let us not forget that McAfee has a SaaS business so will we see new integrated products released soon?

Intel - A software sales business? On the face of it the market-incumbent chip manufacturer has little or no synergy with McAfee's SME software sales business and its associated channel model. Essentially we have a huge and dominant engineering company joining up with a sales driven US west coast machine. Perhaps it will be McAfee lending advice to Intel on this score.

It is certainly one of the more fascinating acquisitions of late, but I am certain that despite Intel's premium price acquisition of McAfee this is a smart and long term strategic move as mobile, automobile devices and consumer electronic devices currently face little security threats, but will increasingly do so in the near future.

Author - Damian Hicklin

IT Security Manager

ARM

The IDC observes that this growth has been fuelled by growth from the big vendors (EMC up 13.3% year on year, IBM up 10.6% and NetApp up 6%). Interestingly Software Storage and Security firm Symantec dropped further behind leaders EMS, seeing a second quarter fall of £23m year on year to £317m. Symantec's market shares dropped to 16.5% compared with EMC's dominant 24.4% according to the IDC report.

Damian Hicklin

IT Security Manager

ARM

Why is this relevant to my business relationship with ARM?

Where a change in legislation affects the Candidate’s minimum remuneration, this necessary influences our charge rates. We refer in this respect to Cls. 10.1 of our Terms of Business, which are available here.

[i] "Accredited training" is (a) training attained through a course of a description mentioned in the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (England and Wales), or (b) by means of a course leading to a qualification approved under the Learning and Skills Act 2000 (NVQ or GNVQ in England Wales or Northern Ireland) and in Scotland an SVQ or GSVQ or other vocational qualification awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. In addition it includes in-house training towards an NVQ or SVQ including at least 50% of the requirements of the relevant level and arrangements known as the "New Deal".

[ii] This rate applies to workers who aged 21 and over who are engaged in a new role with a new hirer and who have entered into an agreement to take part in accredited training on at least 26 days during the first six months. During their first six months they must be paid at least the "development rate" and thereafter the full adult rate.

It is expected the penetration rate of GPS to double between 2010 and 2015, but Wi-Fi chips would deliver the highest revenue of the three connectivity means over the next five years.

But there is an issue for operators. If we all have Wi-Fi on our mobile phones, users may switch to using free Voice Over Internet (VoIP) calls rather than 3G services. Will this result in the operators raising prices for data calls in the short to medium term, and penalising 3G calls in the longer term as they increase their network capacity with Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology?

This was the best quarterly growth since 2006 and a big leap from the first quarter of 2010/11 when the economy grew 0.3%.

The majority of this growth was fuelled by the services sector. Services account for around three quarters of the UK Economy and within this sector business and finance recorded a rise of 1.3%, its best performance for three years.

There was a big contribution from the construction industry, which grew at its fastest rate since 1963.

Below are excerpts from ARM’s contribution to eGaming Review magazine’s recent recruitment round table on the subject of trends within egaming recruitment. Stuart Roe of ARM speaks to the publication about current growth sectors and which candidates are most in demand.

Stuart is the section manager of ARM’s iGaming division. He began his recruitment career as a specialist technology recruitment consultant in 1996. Since then, Stuart has gained experience recruiting professionals at all levels including senior management and directorship across a broad range of industries including technology, investment banking and, most recently, egaming.

“IN THE AFTERMATH of the global recession, the egaming industry is in an excellent position to lead a recruitment drive among young and talented professionals.

eGaming Review (eGR): How has the egaming jobs market been hit by the downturn, and how is it bouncing back compared to other sectors?

Stuart Roe (SR): The online gaming jobs market has fared remarkably well during the recent global economic downturn. While it hasn’t been without casualties, the few redundancies we have seen have generally been limited to companies with notable land-based interests or wise financial directors’ rationalising, reorganising and trimming some of the excesses that went unnoticed in a more buoyant market. On the whole, the majority of online gaming companies have continued to recruit, albeit with a little more care and a lot less speed. Candidates have faced stiff competition, but this is changing quickly. Over the last four weeks we have seen a sharp increase in candidates receiving multiple offers and counter offers, as well as a notable increase in competition for the best candidates as the market rises out of the downturn. If you are looking to recruit in the next few months, now may be your last opportunity to capitalise on a less competitive fight for the best talent.

eGR: Which areas of expertise are particularly in demand or growing? How easy are these positions to fill?

SR: Demand for strong online marketers has been growing for a long time, specifically candidates with real commercial experience of Web 2.0 technologies, social media, advanced SEO and PPC. Skilled retention specialists have been in demand as companies do their best to maximise profits from existing products and customers.

As always, the hunt for the very best technical developers has remained fierce. Those with front-end creative skills such as Flash, ActionScript and Flex, as well as strong server-side J2EE developers, are proving to be increasingly difficult and more expensive to recruit. Just this week I witnessed one developer achieve a £20,000 pay rise in a single job move. Not many of us have seen movements like that in the last two years.

eGR: How successful is the industry in drawing in talent from other industries?

SR: The online gaming industry has come a long way to improve its perception within the market and on the whole, most candidates now see a move to an online gaming company as a seriously attractive option. With salaries generally 15% to 20% higher than comparable industries, gaming is becoming both a lucrative and exciting career option for many candidates.

However, a significant proportion of the industry seems to feel that candidates should be falling over backwards to work within the gaming sector. Employers may have been spoilt for choice during the last two years, but this is changing fast. Moving forward, employers are going to have to speed up their recruitment process, take time to understand what the best candidates are looking for and, of course, form strategic partnerships with experienced recruitment professionals.

eGR: Which egaming territories are growing fast for you at the moment? How are you planning to respond to this?

SR: As worldwide gambling legislation relaxes and new markets open we are certainly seeing increased recruitment activity across Europe, the US and Asia. We are all waiting with bated breath for the US markets to open up and you can be sure the major players are already hiring local talent to ensure they are placed at the front of the queue when the North American market finally opens its doors.

Our current network of offices in the UK serves our clients well, but with 160% growth in our egaming division seen already this year I wouldn’t be surprised to see ARM egaming venture to far away shores in the foreseeable future.

eGR: Do you think the industry finds it more difficult to attract young talent compared to more established industries? Do you think this could have anything to do with gambling’s so-called image problem?

SR: In reality, I think the image problem is now little more than an old wives’ tale. The majority of young talent coming into the working world is open-minded and sees the benefits of joining such a fast-moving, fun and dynamic industry. Most serious players in the market now offer the kind of benefits and bonuses once seen only in the banking world, and given the turbulent past of our dear banking industry I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of our brightest and finest talent heading to an online gaming company near you."

WWW.EGRMAGAZINE.COM AUGUST 2010

CM will be trialling solutions based on its own LTE end user devices to connect so-called "not spot" rural area consumers that either have no broadband or poor broadband service currently.

CM has been working for over 12 months to attain a license to operate in the 800MHz band in Cornwall. Harpal Mann CEO and Founder of Clear Mobitel commented,

"This trial is one of the most important projects in the company at present. This is not just a trial of rural broadband solutions based on LTE for Cornwall, it is a trial which has global ramifications for rural economies that have been shattered by the effects of the global recession." The company’s Regulatory Affairs Director Andrew Elston said, "This trial marks an important step forward in assessing how LTE can make a valuable contribution in delivering solutions to meet the rural high speed broadband challenge. Cornwall is an excellent area to conduct such a trial given it is deeply rural in nature and also the fact that the 800MHz band is largely dormant due to the completion of the switch from analogue to digital terrestrial TV transmission. We are looking to gather vitally important data about such a deployment scenario using LTE technology during this trial and how it can assist in providing the benefits of high speed broadband to all rural consumers."

This announcement adds to the achievements of Clear Mobitel in this technology. It has already achieved a recommendation of allocation in the 2600MHz band in Jersey to operate a 4G LTE network from the Jersey Competition and Regulatory Authority (JCRA). JCRA Chief Executive Chuck Webb commented on Clear Mobitel’s announcement,

As part of Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) strategy to expand further into Japan and North America, it is spending $1.2bn on Motorola's telecom network equipment business. This will give the organisation a competitive edge in its battle against its fellow telecommunications giants.

Companies such as NSN and Motorola have struggled to compete with larger companies in an aggressively competitive mobile kit market. After the merger Motorola will split its concerns into two; one focusing on mobile phone and set-top business, the other, which will include the telecoms network unit, will focus solely on selling wireless technology to enterprise and public safety organisations.

ARM's Communications Division has been active in both the wireless niche and the telecoms kit business for some time. Telecommunications Consultant David Powell of ARM said,

"It's a smart move by both companies, despite market analysts expecting this to be a declining market in the longer term, as separate entities Motorola and NSN were too small to have any meaningful impact in this space, and both have a lot to gain in the short to medium term".

The UK is set to recruit cyber security gurus via a number of public competitions.

The 'Cyber Security Challenge' will be backed by a number of commercial, academic and public sector organisations, and is similar to those run in the US in 2009. The challenge is being designed by industry experts using bleeding edge technology in order to test cyber IT security skills and identify the best talent.

Judy Baker, Director of the Cyber Security Challenge UK, said that an Infosecurity Europe 2010 survey highlighted a skills gap within the IT security profession. Meanwhile SANS* Institute research discovered that 90% of polled organisations found it difficult to hire IT Security professionals, particularly within strategy, policy guidance, risk management, incident response and threat management.

The preliminary rounds of the Cyber Security Challenge competition will be online and test network defence, forensics and coding weakness skills. The next round will involve face-to-face challenges to test an applicant's interpersonal skills.

ARM is keenly aware of the skills gap. Our IT Security recruitment team has over a decade of experience in this market and is continually networking to pool skilled resources.

*SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security

Being for the most part an organisation of keen sportspeople, we couldn't wait to host our very own, rather more modest, World Cup competition on the ARM website. We hid a picture of the coveted World Cup trophy on the site, and asked you to find it. We received a strong response but as with the celebrated tournament itself, there can, alas, be only one winner.

Congratulations, then, to Faye Denyan of CAE (UK) Plc.

Faye was picked in our prize draw and wins a

Ticket Master Voucher to the value of £100.

Thank you to all who entered. We run competitions on our website regularly so keep your eyes peeled for more.

Cyber-Ark have undertaken a comprehensive annual survey of Trust, Security & Passwords, canvassing the opinion of more than 400 senior IT professionals from medium to large enterprises.

37% believe ex-employees are accessing IP information, while 28% blame human error. 10% point the finger at hackers or the loss of mobile devices.

As for the issue of the specific targets of hackers, a quarter of those surveyed suggested databases of customer information are the main reward. Just over a tenth cited their R&D efforts as the draw for those intent on mischief.

The survey indicated a perception that the number of internal “moles” is on the rise.

Over 40% of those surveyed admitted they rely on just a password to protect sensitive data; an increase from one third the previous year.

It’s difficult not to conclude that companies have an increasing responsibility to their employees and shareholders to protect their IP.

By Damian Hicklin, ARM.

BUSINESS MANAGER, ARM iGaming

What a year it has been. The worst global recession in 30 years has com­bined with changes in international online gaming and employment legis­lation to create a uniquely challenging business environment.

Now we also have a new government coalition, though it remains to be seen how much of a state of flux the market will be thrown into by this latest development.

I have been working in senior level technology and iGaming recruitment for more than 15 years, so I feel qualified to say the last couple have been ‘character building’. When I was writing this viewpoint article for EGR Magazine, my chairman kindly joked that the only reason I had chosen a black-and-white photo was to hide the extra grey hair I have developed these last two years!

But maybe it’s just what we all needed: a wake-up call to remind us what hard work really is, an oppor­tunity to sharpen our tools and tune in to what our clients and customers really need. You can be sure that the best in our business will rise from the ashes and capitalise on a new and very different marketplace in the coming months and years.

And given how other sectors have fared in comparison, I consider myself fortunate to manage the iGaming division for a big recruiter like ARM, which also avoided the straightforward option of cutting costs and headcount during the past two years, instead investing heavily in training.

This deci­sion was recognised when we won the inaugural Institute of Recruitment Professionals People Development in Business Award for 2009/10. Furthermore, as we rise out of this recession, we have a seasoned and well-devel­oped management team ready to venture into new markets and prepare for growth.

A downturn acts like the process of natural selection greatly speeded up: it is an opportunity to adapt and grow and to make the most of an interest­ing new playing field.

This article was originally published in the June 2010 issue of EGR Magazine and we are grateful for permission to reproduce it. www.egrmagazine.com

The former employee used his position to steal the personal information from staff, most of whom worked in the IT department. Over an eight-year span, he used the information to set up dummy bank accounts in the employees' names and then transfer stolen funds from at least 11 charities throughout the world.

He used publicly available routing numbers for the charities to initiate wire transfers through financial sites, and deposit them into the dummy accounts. To cover his tracks, he then transferred the funds to a second layer of dummy accounts.

The stolen data was also used to steal directly from his co-workers by changing the contact information with their banks and taking control of their online accounts. In all, his scheme netted $1.1m, prosecutors said. To prevent his scheme from being detected, he structured transfers to be just below the $10,000 threshold that requires financial institutions to report the transactions to authorities.

The former employee pleaded guilty to grand larceny, money laundering, and computer tampering. He will be sentenced on 21st July.

“Over-qualified”…that’s something I haven’t been called in a long while!

But this double-edged compliment is alive and kicking. With job bandings a commonplace (and very useful) recruitment practice, and gut-feel assumptions playing a larger part in the recruitment process (for some) than they would care to admit, it’s a hindrance that is costing some candidates dearly.

So what does it really mean? It’s all about being above the benchmark, so much so that your potential contribution would be too advanced for what is needed, or that you would get bored doing a job below your level (which is generally assumed to be a stop gap until you get something more advanced), or indeed are too developed for an employer to mould you.

Doubtless, occasionally some of these assumptions are vindicated. But equally, “over-qualified” candidates often exceed expectations, perform to higher standards, are more productive and progress quickly.

Overall, employers would be wise to resist making assumptions about over-decorated applicants, because so long as their motivations are clear, they could be star, a real catch.

The participation of businesses will be a crucial element in the development of strategy and its implementation, she told the Homeland and Border Security 2010 conference in London.

According to Neville-Jones, there is a wealth of private sector ‘property’ that needs protecting, including critical national infrastructure (power stations and internet exchanges), and high-value intellectual property held within sectors like finance.

Small and medium-sized enterprises will also be able to contribute towards drawing up the UK's cyber security strategy. "We want a relationship with the private sector where we can help in that protective role," Neville-Jones said.

"People are not conscious of the way in which their intellectual property can be raided. A lot of companies do not know how their IT systems work and do not know when something has happened - it is quite serious,” she said, emphasizing that the Government can offer guidance and training, if not protection of every enterprise’s system.

It has been proposed that government could provide a Kitemark for organisations that implement policies and training to protect their systems and information. In the future, suppliers may have to meet certain cyber security standards before they will be eligible to serve the public sector.

Apple Inc. said it has sold more than 1.7 million i-Phone 4s within the first three days of the phone's launch, reaffirming its dominance in the Smartphone business despite more and more smart phones coming to market.

The strong start underlined the continued dominance of Apple's products. The company said the sales over the first three days made it Apple’s most successful launch in the company history.

"It's amazing how the fourth iteration of a product could generate the longest lines and the strongest sales yet," said Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG Research.

He noted sales were "clearly stronger" since the iPhone 3GS sold 1 million units in its first three days.

Apple shares were up 0.1% in recent trading at $267.

The latest incarnation of the device which was launched three years ago to throngs of enthusiasts and has become the company's biggest seller went on sale across the globe in stores on Thursday. Apple said it took advance orders for more than 600,000 new iPhones worldwide on the first day it was available, the most ever taken by the company in a single day.

Analysts have been expecting the new model to help Apple sell about 36 million iPhones in the fiscal year ending in September, up 73% from the prior fiscal year.

Instant Messaging (IM) is increasingly popular as a tool for communicating over the Internet. It is a real-time addition to, and a replacement for, e-mailing. It allows two-way instant communication in real-time, and because of this the majority of its users feel it is a more effective and efficient way of communicating. But does it pose a threat to the security of a company's IT infrastructure?

IM consists of clients and servers; the providing vendor could be AOL, ICQ, Yahoo or MSN (different protocols dictate the chosen vendors' interoperability with other IMs). IM allows not only the transfer of text, but also documents and files - this is potentially a backdoor for Trojan Horses. Hackers can use IM to gain backdoor access to PCs without opening a port; this circumnavigates desktop and perimeter firewalls. A hacker won't need to scan unknown IP-addresses but simply trawl through a book full of trusted 'buddy lists'. The implication of this is that all the files on a PC can be shared using the IM client, which in turn could lead to the spread of files that are infected with a virus or other malware.

The threat from IM worms is increasing, and vendors are reacting to the threat from Trojan Horses, Denial of Service attacks and Information Disclosure. There are vendors out there who have reacted, but the threat remains that the IM network as a whole is at risk.

IM is unlikely to exceed email as the primary cause of infection, but companies should not disregard the threat.

The demand for smart phones is on the up. Electronics giant Samsung is set to sharply increase sales targets for its smart phones, while Apple announces the launch dates for its fourth generation I-Phone. Advanced sales are already looking promising as consumers race to get their hands on the next must-have apple product.

Mobile Data Charges

As the functionality of smart phones begin to improve, the devices demand more and more data on their networks. Operators look are beginning to clamp down on data usage, and its seems likely that the days of unlimited data usage are at an end.

O2 has announced a new policy following a similar announcement from American company AT+T. Subscribers are used to receiving real time data for calls and text messages, and they understand how this works. It will be crucial for operators to get the correct balance when rolling out new data plans.

The following extract taken from the Written Ministerial Statement reads:

I am announcing today that the commencement of voluntary registration with the new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which was due to begin on 26 July, will be brought to a halt as of today.

The Government has made clear its intention to bring the criminal records and Vetting and Barring regimes back to common sense levels. Until this remodelling has taken place, we have decided to maintain those aspects of the new Scheme which are already in place, but not to introduce further elements.

The safety of children and vulnerable adults is of paramount importance to the new government. We will therefore maintain the current arrangements under which the Independent Safeguarding Authority is able to bar from "regulated activities" those considered unsuitable to work with children or vulnerable adults, and appropriate cases must be referred to them. Criminal records checks will also remain available for those eligible to receive them, and will continue to be required for certain posts where regulations are already in place.

However it is vital that we take a measured approach in these matters. Vulnerable groups must be properly protected in a way that is proportionate and sensible. The remodelling of the VBS will ensure this happens.

The terms of reference for the remodelling of the VBS and of the criminal records regime are currently being considered and a further announcement will be made in due course.

Commenting on the decision, the Home Secretary, Theresa May said:

Whilst the scheme is halted for the time being ARM will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates on developments as and when they happen.

The number of permanent staff appointments made by UK recruitment consultancies increased again in March, with growth picking up to the strongest since October 1997. Higher placements were underpinned by a further expansion of permanent staff vacancies, albeit the slowest in three months.

Growth of short-term staff appointments quickened to the strongest for 34 months in March. Billings were driven higher by the fastest increase in demand for temp staff since January 2008.

Recruitment consultants signalled another improvement in the availability of staff during March. The supply of both permanent and temporary/contract candidates increased at slightly faster rates compared with one month previously.

Permanent staff salaries rose again in March. The rate of inflation was solid, despite easing slightly from February’s 20 month high. Temp pay increased at a pace that, although modest, was the sharpest since June 2008.

Kevin Green, the REC's Chief Executive said:

Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG commented:

“The UK jobs market seems to be going from strength to strength with permanent job placements growing at the fastest rate for over 12 years. These figures show that private sector confidence is returning and that the UK is exiting recession at a pace. However, a lot of the current hiring activity is going on in the public sector. The public sector recession which clearly is on the cards hasn't hit the jobs market yet but when it does, the upwards trend we have seen over the last couple of months may come to a halt.”

Reprinted with kind permission of the REC.

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has developed a new checklist detailing twelve key points for a client to double check when embarking on a project using a freelance or contract resource. This easy reference tool acts as a convenient reminder of the steps required to ensure the smooth running of a project.

The checklist is one of a series of educational resources designed to help organisations maximise the benefit of the flexible working model. It has been produced as part of PCG’s ‘Britain’s Brain Gain’ campaign, spotlighting the rich talent pool amongst the UK’s 1.4 million freelance workers and highlighting their £82 billion contribution to the UK’s economic output.

The checklist is available online, free of charge. PCG encourages the community to circulate it to anyone who may find it useful and also invites feedback via the comments facility on the website.

Help your freelance resource get off to a flying start – download the client checklist at http://www.pcg.org.uk/britainsbraingain/freelancers-and-your-business

Reprinted with kind permission of The PCG.

As anticipated, ARM's IT Sales and Technical Sales Recruitment Teams have recorded an increasingly positive outlook to Sales Recruitment in the first two quarters of 2010. The volume of positions and requirements has considerably increased alongside commitment from organisations to move purposely forward with the recruitment process.

Last year’s caution about increasing numbers within sales teams has been replaced with a higher level of confidence, on the part of recruiting organizations and sales professionals themselves.

There’s a new challenge though. Fewer organisations are now recruiting for just "a very good software sales professional".

More and more often, organizations are seeking a very good software sales professional with direct exposure or affiliation to their sector or industry and, more often than not, experience of selling directly for a market competitor.

Competitor exposure can be valuable to organisations, but we believe that it shouldn't form the exclusive basis of sales recruitment criteria. By continuing to do so, organisations are limiting themselves to a lesser shortlist of available applicants and restricting quality. Quality and calibre should be deemed more valuable than competitor experience in itself.

Discover more about ARM's IT Sales Recruitment and Technical Sales Recruitment divisions.

If the media is to be believed, things are looking bleak for the Rail Industry, with companies going into liquidation, Network Rail strikes and projects being put on hold.

We cannot, of course, expect the market to return to the conditions of two years ago overnight, but despite the negativity that seems prevalent in the media we have noticed a slow recovery taking place.

Candidates within the rail industry are starting to look at new opportunities again. This is aiding the job market recovery: when industry professionals begin to move, new opportunities are created for others.

Our rail clients are diversifying and new business drivers are impacting on their activity. Many are now considering ways to cut harmful emissions, and a number of rail companies are developing solutions for this.

The Manchester Metrolink is another exciting project. Walk the streets of Manchester and you can’t miss the work that is being carried out. Two further extensions to Manchester Metrolink have been authorised by the DfT and discussions are taking place about the construction of another line which would bring trams to Manchester Airport.

So what’s the key focus within the Rail Industry at the moment?

Electrification - A £1.1 billion rolling programme of rail electrification. This is creating new job opportunities for people with expertise in this field. The benefits of electrification are many: lower CO2 emissions, higher levels of train reliability and availability and lower leasing costs.

Crossrail - This project is gaining momentum. We expect to see a high demand for Civil, Tunnel and Geotechnical Engineers and related professionals.

Signalling - There is a real skill shortage in this area still. Clients are crying out for Signalling Design Engineers who have the IRSE licenses to back their experience.

Rolling Stock has probably been the worst hit area within the Industry. With fewer commuters into the city, the industry saw a downturn in revenue from rail ticket sales. This led to the TOCs tightening their purse strings. However, despite this there was still enough work within the Rolling Stock industry to keep these companies busy. As the UK economy picks up, so will the Rolling Stock Industry. It is something of a sleeping giant at the moment.

Let’s not forget that rail is estimated to be three times more fuel efficient than road freight transport. In a climate of high fuel prices and increased awareness of environmental sustainability, we see no reason not to be optimistic about the distant future of rail.

Discover more about ARM's Rail Recruitment division.

We all remember the doom and gloom surrounding this volatile industry a year ago. The Automotive recruitment team at ARM felt the pinch as its sector became one of the first to feel the impact of the recession.

Being one of the first markets to crash, could it be one of the first to recover? Perhaps wishful thinking, but we now have reason to believe that there is reason for cautious optimism.

For the past 6 months we have witnessed a surge in recruitment across the industry within both contract and permanent recruitment markets.

Significant, substantial and serious investment in time, energy and effort is being invested back into the recruitment and retention of niche automotive development engineering expertise.

Why? For starters, the race is on to produce green or hybrid-energy driven vehicles.

Government-backed initiatives are in full flow and contributing to a buoyant and flamboyant attitude towards new product development in this area.

Furthermore, businesses that lost talent during the early-to-mid recession period now need it back, and fast. Competition is hotting up as key programmes are being awarded and are up for grabs for the next generation of vehicles. Old programmes, once on hold, are being revisited. Confidence from buyers is slowing being restored. The industry needs more engineers again.

We are not close to the market’s potential, not close at all; but there has been a marked improvement over the last six months. At ARM we are busy recruiting heavily across a spectrum of skills over the whole of the UK.

OEMs are taking back contractors, meaning increased workloads for first tier suppliers.

Consultancies are picking up more robust packages of development work. We are hearing people “talking up” the market, as if trying to talk it out of its recent desperate state.

This is not to say that everyone will be back, happily at work, tomorrow or next week. But the market is busy, we are busy, our clients and candidates are busy: supplying candidates, tendering for work, searching for it.

Whisper it, but the automotive industry just might be beginning to revive after its long, hard winter.

Discover more about ARM's Automotive Recruitment division.

After 14 years of our cherished old Advanced Resource Managers brand, it’s time for a change.

As with any true re-brand, this is more than a case of mere cosmetics. It is our way of ensuring that our corporate identity is aligned with our business strategy to reflect the size of ARM as it is today and will be in the future, as well as the increased breadth and sophistication of our portfolio, developed over the years in response to challenges from our customers.

You will get the same great ARM service with an increasing drive towards efficiency, flexibility and professionalism. You’ll get the same passion for what we do, and the same preference for working collaboratively, in true partnership with our customers, so that we really understand their needs.

Our new corporate identity is simply our way of representing what we feel ARM stands for now. It coincides with an ambitious, consolidated business strategy and some exciting new additions to our portfolio that we hope will allow us to continue to delight our clients and candidates in a world that demands more flexible and creative talent management solutions.

How we arrived at our new brand image

Firstly, we were responding to a pretty widespread recognition that our old brand wasn’t reflecting the size and success of ARM any more. We heard it from clients and candidates alike, so we had to listen. That was the first step.

We didn’t want our brand to be a reflection of the prejudices of a few people shut away in a room. We are, after all, a people business. Yes, we did work with a brand consultancy (thank you, LCM) but our Marketing Department got the whole company involved in the process from the outset.

Recognising that it is our staff that deliver - indeed are - our brand, we selected 40 people from across the business to be “brand reps”. That group included recruitment consultants, resourcers, managers, receptionists, team leaders, directors, accountants and IT staff. Then we went through a process with them to determine what it is that we really deliver, day in day out, that makes us what we are, mindful always of the truism:

“Brand is what you are, not what you think you are”.

We asked them to canvass the opinions of their team mates too, and represent them in a creative session, so that the whole company had a voice in this.

We spent a full day distilling the various qualities of ARM down into three (deceptively) simple words that encapsulate what we deliver as a business. Not what we want to deliver, like the sound of delivering, or hope to deliver, but what we can put our hands on our hearts and say we give to our customers:

• Passion
• Partnership
• Professionalism

These are three “three Ps” of ARM. But each of those has an effect on, and is borne out through, our communication. If there’s one thing we particularly pride ourselves on, it’s that we try our very best to keep our clients and candidates in the communication loop.

The fancy stuff: our logo design.

So those three ARM Ps are set in a loop, each of the Ps also representing a speech mark, one for candidates, one for clients, and one for us.

We wanted our new brand to reflect the importance to us of excellent, three-way communication between our clients, our candidates and us. It also reflects the key qualities that we believe make ARM what we are: our passion, professionalism and our partnership-based approach to business. Our continuing commitment to you, our client, is simply to provide an exceptional service.

We hope our new brand not only does a better job of reflecting the size and scope of ARM now, and importance to us of our “brand promises”. But also that it will help us to increase our market exposure. We hope you like it.

Video!

Watch LCM’s Carl Lamerton presenting the ARM brand to the company in March 2010.