Stories by Michael Crawford

Resources boom fuelling IT recruitment in Australia

In Australia, both the private and public sectors have begun increasing permanent ICT staff, spurred by the resources boom in Western Australia and Australia’s stable economy. According to Candle Australia’s 2007 market analysis report, demand for permanent staff in New South Wales has increased 25% compared to the same period last year, and an ongoing resources boom in Western Australia has led to a stable hiring field for ICT employers.

Queensland puts shine on ICT with CTO role

Recognising the growing importance of ICT to the state’s economy, the government of Queensland has joined other Australian states by appointing a chief technology officer in addition to a CIO.

Storage nightmare if data is not handled with care

Very few organisations manage information content well, says Gartner vice president Phil Sargeant. Generally, it is still an ad hoc activity, and one that is creating a “storage nightmare of the future”.

IT managers support keylog monitoring

Australian IT managers have come out in support of the use of keylogging software to monitor staff access to customer records after the Australian Department of Human Services’ Centrelink agency admitted it has been undertaking employee surveillance for the past year.

Real-world ITIL skills lacking: conference-goers

When John Talbot, general manager of operational management at Australia’s Commonwealth Bank, said identifying the real experts from those who make hollow claims can be a real stalling point in an IT service management project, his comments hit home with a number of IT execs.

Weakest link in app security is customisation

The customisation of off-the-shelf software is the weakest link in application security. This is particularly true for widely used enterprise products such as SAP and Oracle, according to Gartner research director Rich Mogull.

Symantec prepares for plunge into SaaS

Symantec Asia Pacific vice president David Sykes has confirmed his company will move to offering software as a subscription-based service, with new enterprise “buying” plans expected to be ironed out within the next 12 months.

Australia budgets A$1.1B for smart-card development

The Australian federal government has laid out nearly A$300 million (NZ$371 million) to reduce social security fraud and lessen the amount of incorrect payments before introducing the "access card system using smartcard technology".

CA to expand Melbourne R&D centres

CA plans to boost its Melbourne-based research and development staff, with up to 50 new positions to be offered over the next five years.

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