Small businesses reluctant to outsource

Small firms are slow to outsource their IT functions, a new survey has revealed. According to research by the Irish Computer Society (ICS), IT outsourcing has become common practice among Irish organisations, with some 72 percent taking advantage of these services. However, smaller IT departments appear to be holding on to their services in-house, despite the traditional assumption that these firms would be more likely to farm out IT applications. "The fact that small organisations in Ireland are outsourcing IT services less than their larger counterparts perhaps suggests that outsourcing service providers do not focus their sales efforts on smaller firms," said Brian Kennedy of Lake Communications, author of the study. Kennedy also suggested a more worrying possibility: that smaller organisations do not yet fully appreciate the relevance of IT in achieving their strategic goals. Among firms that do outsource certain IT functions, the services most commonly outsourced are hardware maintenance, application development and application support. For more on this story read ENN.ie.

Business bloggers plan podcasts

Ice Cream Ireland.com scooped the award for best business blog at the second annual Irish Blog Awards ceremony, held on 3 March at the Alexander Hotel in Dublin. The blog site also picked up the award for best specialist blog at the event, which attracted 350 bloggers and podcasters from around the country. There were five other finalists in the best business blog category: Allagi Blog, Argolon, Ask Direct, Biz Growth News and Security Watch. Prior to the awards, all of the finalists took part in a podcast that outlined their reasons for setting up a blog. The group is planning a regular series of podcasts and has asked interested parties for ideas or topics they would like to see covered. The first podcast is available to download from BH Consulting's Security Watch blog. For more information on using blogs as business tools, see Issue 141 of eBusiness Live.

CIOs wary about investing in new technology

Sixty-one percent of chief information officers (CIOs) in the UK say they are nervous about buying new technology because of concerns about cost and potential disruption. The biggest obstacle, according to almost a quarter (23 percent) of respondents, was convincing their boards that cutting-edge technologies are a risk-free investment. A further 33 percent said they were concerned that new technology may cause disruption to business users. A mere 2 percent of respondents said they are "eager" to buy new technology that could make a difference to their business. "Corporate IT departments have come such a long way over the past 20 years... now, as the IT systems they've built up over the years begin to creak, it will take people with the necessary ambition and nerve to address the task of replacing them with cutting-edge alternatives," said Steve Kendall-Smith, MD of Fujitsu Siemens Computers UK, which sponsored the survey. For more on this story visit Silicon.com.

Security attacks cost SMEs dear

Small and medium-sized firms in the US are losing half a percent of annual revenue as a result of security attacks, according to analyst firm Infonetics Research. The "Costs of Network Security Attacks: North America 2007" report reveals that more than half of downtime costs are due to service degradation (i.e. issues with the network). The report adds that much of this is "hidden downtime", since degradations often go unreported. Jeff Wilson, principal analyst at Infonetics, suggests that if SMEs had the right processes, staff and tools to track these operational difficulties, that half a percent of revenue may in fact be a good deal higher. Breaking it down, the research found that medium-sized organisations are mostly troubled by client malware, while small firms are plagued by denial of service attacks, server malware and client malware. As a group, SMEs said they have "major problems" with spyware, which represents a significant 40 percent of all security downtime costs. For more on this survey read Vnunet.com.

Complying with the new ODCE regulations

Cybercrime: dealing with the aftermath

Botnet

A botnet is a collection of computers that, unknown to their users, are being used to send messages - typically viruses or spam - to other PCs over the internet. A user's machine may be compromised if it is infiltrated by a Trojan, which can then command the computer to serve the wishes of another. A computer that has been infected in this way is known as a zombie. Zombie PCs can be used by spammers to distribute their unwanted messages, or by other cyber criminals to flood targeted websites with traffic.

21 March, Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin 2
This seminar, presented by the Irish Internet Association and PR firm Fleishman-Hillard, is dedicated to blogging and its implications for the media, Irish business and the law. The growth of blogging as a news source is changing the media landscape. Readers and listeners are no longer passive audiences but can now comment on stories, write their own editorial or columns and, in some case, sway public opinion. This event promises to be relevant to all those who would like to understand how they can maximise this new medium, to those who follow online media, and to bloggers who would like to influence the media.

This site is a good place to start for those interested in downloading, uploading or simply finding out more information about podcasts. Along with the latest news from the world of audio downloads, the site boasts a comprehensive directory of podcasts on all sorts of subjects, from business and techie topics to education, health and government. Also featured is an informative series of articles providing a practical guide to podcasting, including how to get started with downloads and how to produce a podcast.