01/10/100 – IT Pro

A F R E S H T A K E O N T E C H N O L O G Y

I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H

THE GENDER DIVIDEWHY IT NEEDS TO CHAMPION

DIVERSITY NOW

IS THE CIO SAFE?THE RISE AND RISE OF THE NEW

TECH LEADER IN BUSINESS

THE FUTURE OF GDSIT’S COST £450M SO FAR – BUT IS IT

CORE TO WHITEHALL’S PLANS?

P R E S E N T E D B Y

Welcome

T he world of IT has changed massively since IT Pro was launched back in 2006.

I’ve been with the title since the beginning and I’m incredibly proud that the brand has stood the test

of time. Despite being launched in a crowded B2B market, it’s outlived many of its initial competitors.

So much has happened in the ten years since our launch, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed covering every big event, writing breaking news stories and reviewing the latest kit. Our passion and enthusiasm for deciphering the latest tech jargon and reading between the lines of press releases to find out how a particular merger or big product announcement will affect business and IT decision-makers is matched only by that of our readers.

The way in which businesses consume and benefit from technology has changed radically since 2006 and, together with our sister titles including Alphr, we look forward to continuing to report on those changing needs and trends.

Who would have thought just how popular the iPhone would become when it was first launched back in 2007? Or just how monumentally successful Windows 10, which launched in 2015, would be for Microsoft?

We’ve teamed up with Alphr to bring you this very special, one-of-a-kind magazine that rightly celebrates our respective milestones (Alphr has just turned one). Issue zero of 01/10/100 is the physical embodiment of our best content produced so far.

We’re rightly proud of the quality content we publish online and we’re equally proud of this fabulous magazine, which showcases exactly why we’ve been around so long and plan to stick around for some time to come yet.

We hope you love it as much as we do.

MAGGIE HOLLAND,EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, B2B

A DECADE IS A LONG TIME, PARTICULARLY IN THE FAST-MOVING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY

EMAIL [email protected]

TWITTER @MAGACIOUS

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

Contents10 14

22

12

26

18

24 27

16

UK INNOVATIONSHOWCASING BRIT

BRILLIANCE

DESK TOP & PUBLIC SECTOR

BIOMETRICS & GDS INVESTMENT

SECURIT Y & SKILLSJANIS SHARP Q&A &

CREATIVE CODING

DIVERSIT YTHE GENDER DIVIDE

REMAINS

INFRASTRUCTURE & MOBILIT Y

TALKING TECH IN BUSINESS

GREEN IT & LEADERSHIP

ECO TECH TALK & CIO INSIGHT

REVIEWSA ROUNDUP OF OUR HERO

PRODUCTS

STRATEGY & CLOUDIS CONSUMER TECH INVADING

BUSINESS?

BUSINESS TRAVELSHOULD HACKERS BE REWARDED

WITH AIR MILES?

I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H4 01 I 10 I100

C O N T E N T S

CreditsEDITORIAL

EDITORIAL DIRECTORMAGGIE HOLLAND [email protected]

NEWS EDITORJOE CURTIS [email protected]

REVIEWS EDITORALAN LU [email protected]

SENIOR WRITERJANE MCCALLION [email protected]

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER /STAFF WRITERCAROLINE PREECE [email protected]

STAFF WRITERADAM SHEPHERD [email protected]

STAFF WRITERAARON LEE [email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSANDY WEBB, DAVE MITCHELL, NICOLE KOBIE, KAT ORPHANIDES, STEPHEN

PRITCHARD, TOM BREWSTER

01/10/100 DESIGNSARAH RATCLIFFE SARAHRATCLIFFE.CO.UK

01/10/100 SUB-EDITINGSTEVE HAINES

COMMERCIALSTRATEGIC AD DIRECTOR

JULIE PRICE [email protected]

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR, DIGITALHANNAH DICKINSON [email protected]

PUBLISHERPAUL FRANKLIN [email protected]

HEAD OF DIGITAL, DENNIS TECHNOLOGYPAUL HOOD [email protected]

CHIEF EXECUTIVE, DENNIS PUBLISHINGJAMES TYE

CONTACT USIT PRO, 30 CLEVELAND STREET, LONDON W1T 4JD

+44 (0)20 7907 6000TWITTER: @IT PRO

I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H01 I 10 I100

C R E D I T S

6

Be part of an incredible vision

We are the charity committed to helping reverse centuries of woodland decline by creating

a 30,000 acre unbroken woodland in the heart of England. In time, more than 14 million

trees will make up this refuge from the modern world where people and nature can flourish.

Planting tomorrow’s great native woodlandEst 2003 | Registered charity no. 1097110

Company no. 04309564

Get in touch to find out more:

01789 778 541

[email protected]

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PARTNER. SUPPORT. DONATE. VOLUNTEER.

It’s more than just planting trees today, it’s planting tomorrow’s great native woodland.

A green legacy. A national asset. An amazing, thirty thousand acre positive difference.

And your company can help make it happen.

12-20041_HOEF Corporate House Ad 2016_half_KW.indd 1 07/06/2016 14:17

COPYRIGHT© DENNIS PUBLISHING LIMITED. ALPHR IS A TRADEMARK OF FELIX DENNIS. THIS PUBLICATION MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OR

TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHERS.

T E N Y E A R S O F N E W S

NEWS TIMELINE | 2006 - 2016

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2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

IT Pro makes its debut and is met with a very positive response from the tech and business decision-maker community.

“The UK’s privacy watchdog concluded its investigation into the Google Street View scandal, when the search giant collected personal details during its mapping operation. Where did it all start? And where did it all go wrong?”

IT PRO LAUNCHES | 25.07.06

GOOGLE STREET VIEW SCANDAL | 04.11.10

“The Deskstar 7K1000 started shipping in the first quarter of the year with a suggested retail price of $399 (£203 ), which works out at around 20p per gigabyte (GB).”

HITACHI UNVEILS 1TB DISK DRIVE | 05.01.07

“The number of students applying to study computing at university has fallen by 48% since 2001, according to a new report - and the issue is only going to get worse.”

NUMBER OF COMPUTING STUDENTS CONTINUES TO FALL | 06.06.08

“Intel and Nokia announce technology partnership to create what the two companies describe as a ‘new class of mobile computing device’.”

INTEL AND NOKIA TEAM UP | 23.06.09

We look back on the big tech news stories of the past decade

There’s been a lot of change and flux in the tech industry in the past decade, and IT Pro has seen it all. From day one,

we’ve eagerly kept an eye on the key industry players to see what move they make next and then turned marketese into digestible, insight-driven news for business and IT decision makers.

So let’s take a look back on ten years of news in the tech industry...

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T E N Y E A R S O F N E W S

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2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

“The firm revealed its website had been attacked when it emailed its customers and later posted a notice online. But details of the hack itself have remained few and far between.”

“The tension has been building and the wait is finally over: Windows 10 has been launched. But is it everything people hoped it would be?”

LUSH CUSTOMER DETAILS STOLEN BY HACKERS | 21.01.11

WINDOWS 10: REACTIONS ON THE FIRST DAY OF RELEASE | 29.07.15

“Apple did the expected this evening by launching the ‘new iPad’, featuring a range of fresh features to titillate fans of the world’s top-selling tablet.”

“123-reg customers were hit by a coding error that erased numerous businesses and websites. The UK’s largest web-hosting provider suffered a catastrophic failure that saw 67 of its servers wiped.”

APPLE UNVEILS “NEW” IPAD | 07.03.12

123-REG SUFFERS SERIOUS SECURITY LAPSE | 21.04.16

“The National Security Agency (NSA) has the technology in place to monitor up to 75% of US internet traffic, current and former security officials have revealed.”

NSA CAN MONITOR 75% OF US INTERNET TRAFFIC, SOURCES CLAIM | 21.08.13

“BlackBerry’s share price crashes after IBM and Apple announce plans to develop business-focused apps for iPad users.”

APPLE & IBM ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP HITS BLACKBERRY HARD |17.07.14


I N N O V A T I O N

The UK has always stood high in the rankings for tech innovation within Europe and beyond, with education,

funding and startups all thriving both in London and further afield. But where does the country stand right now?

The number of UK tech enterprises grew by 11% between 2008 and 2013, compared to just 0.3% of all enterprises, according to Elizabeth Kanter, director of government relations and public policy, global corporate affairs at SAP.

“This has been driven by the convergence of the internet, mobile technology, and the proliferation of data, which has levelled the playing field by breaking down entry barriers to new markets and disrupted traditional business models,” she tells us.

“The consequence is a landscape of opportunity for entrepreneurs, and an environment conducive to accelerating time to market and scaling up easily. By 2025, ‘micro-entrepreneurs’ will have unlocked an estimated £9 billion a year in the UK alone.”

An environment associated with invention and creativity, the UK has gained a reputation for fostering new talent both in Europe and globally.

“The UK in general terms (but London, specifically) has

become Europe’s tech hub. It’s a gateway to Europe – capital flows into the UK and onwards to Europe,” says Richard Goold, corporate partner and co-chair of Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co’s tech sector team.

“This is incredibly important when you look at the importance of the US to European tech; US VCs are the ones writing the big cheques to invest in the most successful European tech

startups. And at the other end of the spectrum, it’s generally the big US tech companies that are buying those hot European tech companies.”

Beyond LondonBut recent times have seen tech startup schemes spread across the rest of the UK in a much more noticeable way, to cities such as Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester.

One such scheme was TechNorth, launched in October 2014 in the hope of creating a new hub in northern cities such as Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool, as well as the North East.

The following month, new startup centres were launched in London, Brighton, Sunderland and

IS THE UK STILL A LEADING SOURCE?

Britain has burgeoning startup scenes, but what challenges do they face?

Tech innovation

10 01 I 10 I100

“The UK has become Europe’s tech hub. It’s a gateway to Europe – capital flows into the UK and onwards to Europe”

By Caroline Preece

23.04.15


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Bradford, aiming to help create 10,000 tech startups.

In fact, according to government startup quango Tech City UK’s Tech Nation report, released in February 2015, 74% of digital tech companies now reside outside the capital. Furthermore, with more than 47,000 digital tech businesses in the UK, 15% of those created since the economic recession are focused on digital tech.

Skills and trainingOne huge barrier for the UK’s technology sector is the tech skills gap.

A total of 300,000 tech-savvy workers will be needed by 2023, according to a 2013 report, Technology and Skills in the Digital Industries, commissioned by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

“The rate of change means that if you take a four-year technical degree, after three years most of what you’ve learnt is obsolete,” says Anthony Lamoureux, strategy and development director at Velocity.

The skills gap in the UK has been a topic of much discussion within the industry, and various schemes - such as Samsung’s Code Club or Birmingham City University’s push for STEM students - have been set up to attempt to tackle the problem for future generations.

“This country has some of the world’s best talent but, in such a fast-paced industry, no-one can afford to stand still,” Marcus Jewell, EMEA president of Brocade, tells us.

“It is therefore vital that both businesses and government work

together to broaden and deepen the UK’s talent pool by investing in technical training and development.”

Sarah Wood, CEO of social video advertising startup Unruly, says: “Innovation and growth go hand in hand, and nowhere is this [truer] than in tech companies. If we want to maintain the rate of successful tech

innovation, we need to make sure the young people joining the workplace are equipped with the skills they need to turn their bright ideas into reality.”

The impact of IoTThe UK has slowly become a leader in producing and implementing IoT technology, with this year seeing Ofcom and the UK government developing regulation across all industry verticals in the UK.

“More than ever before, data is the entrepreneur’s currency and an essential building block of the IoT,” says Kanter. “Yes, there remains an obvious need to update data protection and cybersecurity, but more and more projects are delivering benefits to users and citizens around the work right now under current regimes and the UK should aim to be at the forefront of such work.

“The £40 million for IoT projects announced in March 2015 is welcome news, but investment in incubators

and test beds should be matched with a drive to take advantage of what is already available and proven to work.

“To ensure current conversations around IoT become a reality in the UK, the government must embrace the IoT working across the silos, removing barriers to deployment and investment especially in areas where public and

private sectors work together to take steps to realise the benefits today.”

A recent report from Gartner highlighted the potential for IoT technology to overhaul the data-centre market, technology providers and sales and marketing models.

It also estimated that 26 billion IoT units will be installed by 2020, with incremental revenue of more than $300 billion generated.

There is also, however, a general sense that the nation remains at the forefront in Europe and around the world, with the expansion of Tech City to other regions helping to foster talent in different places, capitalising on innovation outside of the capital.

The UK is very much still a leading source of tech innovation, then, even if that innovation is coming from some unexpected places.

“More than ever before, data is the entrepreneur’s currency and an essential building block of the IoT”

Caroline Preece is our social media manager and covers key topics such as innovation and diversity in tech.


D I V E R S I T Y

With big-name technology companies employing few women and educators struggling to

increase the number of girls studying STEM subjects, the future for women in technology appears uncertain.

However, plenty of women in tech are making the headlines: after the resignation of Reddit’s first female CEO, Ellen Pao, a board member highlighted the “sickening” abuse she faced from users of the social forum. Positive news stories, such as firms establishing support programmes for women, are also on the rise.

But is media coverage an indicator of change? Probably not on its own, and stories from women in the industry range from inspiring to demoralising, and cover everything in between.

“There has definitely been a shift in terms of the media trying to highlight the great work that women are doing and giving them more of a voice and platform to talk about their achievements,” Anastasia Emmanuel, head of UK tech for Indiegogo, told us.

“Whilst there is still clearly a gender imbalance in most industries in terms of equal pay, the glass ceiling, etc, I think now more than ever there is a spotlight on companies and

organisations to recognise their female workforce and empower them.”

She added: “We need men to be part of the conversation as they are half the population and their voice is needed.”

Government data reveals there are actually fewer women working in tech than there were ten years ago - in 2012, 26% of workers in the sector were female, which is lower than the national average of 47%.

And women IT professionals believe that the idea of the tech industry being a “boys’ club” is holding women back

WILL THE INDUSTRY EVER GET OVER IT?We speak to women working in tech about how to narrow the gender gap

Tech’s gender problem

12 01 I 10 I100

“Now more than ever there is a spotlight on companies and organisations to recognise their female workforce and empower them”

By Caroline Preece

04.08.15


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D I V E R S I T Y

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from even considering a career in the industry, with stereotypes and preconceptions as damaging to gender diversity as the barriers themselves.

“By constantly thinking of the challenges women face in a male-dominated industry, it’s possible to spend more time being held back mentally, rather than exerting that extra energy to achieve far beyond what you imagined possible,” said Vidhya Ranganathan, senior vice president of mobile security at Accellion.

“Hopefully, the less women allow stereotypes to hold them back, the closer we’ll get to eliminating gender labels. A woman in IT is an outlier, but it shouldn’t be that way.”

What can we do to improve things?One oft-cited solution is for schools and universities to encourage girls to pursue STEM subjects as much as males do, but this might be easier said than done.

Claire Vyvyan, vice president of enterprise solutions at Dell, said: “It’s not enough to encourage more women to join the IT industry, nor to support them once they are involved. We need to focus on getting girls to study STEM subjects at school in the first place.

“UK classes focusing on the sciences or mathematics easily see an 80/20 split in the numbers of male and female students respectively. This is far lower than other countries across the

world, with the likes of the US seeing higher participation rates for girls.”

Dell itself runs the “IT is not just for geeks” programme, encouraging pupils to change their view of technology and IT careers while still in school.

A study by e-skills UK in 2014 showed that just 12% of applicants to IT-related courses were female, down from 14% in 2007. In the same year, BCS reported that only 16% of the UK IT workforce and 13% of GCSE computer science entrants were female.

“Unfortunately, some of these challenges are cultural, and young girls are often ‘turned off’ by STEM careers due to their preconceptions of what defines a career in STEM,” Sian John, Symantec’s chief EMEA security strategist, told us.

“It’s clear that more needs to be done to educate young women about the variety of STEM careers available now that technology (and science) are becoming increasingly mainstream.”

Studies have shown that mixed-gender teams produce better results,

but this simply can’t happen if half of the talent isn’t even part of the game. Availability of on-site childcare can’t be underestimated as an incentive, but women can also be tempted by the simple promise of professional development and equal opportunity.

There’s a role for the government to play in this, though what that is exactly remains unclear. Government-backed campaigns such as Your Life could encourage more school-age girls to pursue STEM subjects but, until this

translates into greater equality in the workplace, its impact could be limited.

Another solution is for women in tech to set up social networks in order to inspire the next generation. In addition, mentors in the industry are an indispensable resource, and the more women break through the glass ceiling, the more there are to encourage those in education and entering the workplace.

It’s not all bad, though. Despite reports of a still-significant gender pay gap and evidence that fewer women are entering the industry, increased awareness of the issues may have improved conditions for the industry’s existing female employees.

One thing is for sure: action must be taken for change to occur, as things won’t improve on their own. Perhaps organisations are waiting for the culture to change, and not enough are taking steps to kickstart that change.

The answer may lie in startups, SMBs and the refreshing attitude smaller businesses are generally able to sport, or by increasing focus on young girls in education.

But as the accounts from those women living in the thick of the problem attest, though there may have been improvements made in recent years, the battle is far from over.

“More needs to be done to educate young women about the variety of STEM careers available”


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P U B L I C S E C T O R

Joe Curtis is news editor of IT Pro and has a particular penchant for the public sector.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) will receive £450 million in funding over the next four years, equal to £112.5 million

each year and almost a 100% increase on its £58 million budget in 2014.

The increase was outlined in chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement and came after widespread predictions that the GDS would be sidelined by Whitehall.

Instead, the spending review said GDS would continue to play a key role in the government’s IT strategy.

“The GDS will continue to act as the digital, data and technology centre for government, supporting departments as they transform their business operations, setting best practice and ensuring quality of services,” it read.

Where will the money go? The investment will underpin key GDS strategies designed to digitise more public services and increase Whitehall’s digital capabilities.

The GDS will focus on delivering Government-as-a-Platform (GaaP) projects such as Gov.uk Pay, despite such schemes being cited as a source of disagreement between leading civil servants.

With the funding, the GDS will be able to create common platforms that can be shared by government departments, rather than each one procuring their own. The Cabinet Office estimates this will save £1.3 billion over the next four years.

Another area of focus is the Common Technology Services programme, aimed at allowing the civil service to purchase flexible and modern IT. This could save £1.1 billion over the next four years.

Gov.uk Verify, the government’s ID assurance

programme, will be a key priority. The Verify scheme has been beset

by problems, including claims it could be used to spy on users, which were swiftly denied by the Cabinet Office.

The bolstered GDS funding comes alongside £1.8 billion in new funding to be spent on digital transformation, including replacing tax returns with digital tax accounts, simplified UK trade support online and more, to be published in a Digital Transformation Plan early next year.“The GDS will continue to act as the

digital, data and technology centre for government”

GETS £450m MEGA-BUDGET

Government Digital Service

But will it remain a core part of Whitehall’s IT strategy?

By Joe Curtis

25.11.15


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D E S K T O P

An EU-funded project to identify students cheating in exams and coursework will use new identity-validation

software that can tell the difference between users based on their typing.

Watchful Software is providing its TypeWatch keystroke dynamics technology to the Adaptive Trust-based e-assessment System for Learning (TeSLA) project.

“We’ve developed a way to do keystroke dynamics as a way to understand who the user interacting with the computer is, just by the way that user types. It’s kind of like biometrics, but without the hardware, or a need to have an analysis of the face or even a fingerprint,” says Rui Melo Biscaia, Watchful Software’s founder and director.

Watchful’s software uses an algorithm to discern who a user is based on behavioural biometrics, and

requires less than Twitter’s 140-character limit to verify the user.

The technology isn’t dependent on language, so can be used by cultures that use non-English characters. And it doesn’t store data inputted by users.

A recent investigation by The Times of 129 UK

universities found that more than 50,000 students had been caught cheating in the past three years.

The aim of the project is to develop a free-of-charge e-assessment system

for schools, higher-education institutions and vocational-training centres across Europe.

The €7 million project, led by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, will be tested on over 14,000 students and

teachers from ten universities, including the UK’s Open University.

The advanced identity-validation systems it uses will include Watchful’s TypeWatch, as well as a mix of voice- and facial-recognition biometrics.

Biscaia admitted that the software, which is still in the early stage of development, is not 100% foolproof.

“TypeWatch, or the keystroke dynamics that we’ve developed, is not a replacement for multifactor authentication. It is an identity-validation mechanism that works on top, and after, multifactor authentication,” Biscaia added.

CALLS ON ADVANCED AUTHENTICATION TECH TO STAMP OUT STUDENT CHEATS

Behavioural biometrics software is capable of identifying users from keyboard strokes

EU-funded project

Aaron Lee is IT Pro’s staff writer, covering all things cloud, developer and gaming.

“It’s kind of like biometrics, but without the hardware, or a need to have an analysis of the face or even a fingerprint”

By Aaron Lee

12.04.16


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C L O U D

Stephen Pritchard is a freelance editor, contributing to titles including the FT and Economist Intelligence Unit.

The local branch of John Lewis has set up its Christmas displays, so it’s clearly not too early to indulge

in some end-of-year predictions.The economic outlook will affect IT,

and it’s highly likely companies will continue to look at reducing their tech costs. A more interesting exercise is to look beyond what will happen in 2011, and focus instead on some of the broader trends in technology.

At a recent Gartner Symposium in the US, almost everyone was using a mobile device. A completely unscientific survey, carried out by scanning the front rows at each session, suggested the audience of mid- and senior-level IT managers and CIOs had overwhelmingly bought iPads (another interesting trend was the ThinkPad as an iPad rest, for attendees lucky enough to have both).

Vendor sessions focusing on the cloud were either full or standing room only, evidence that that technology, too, is taking off. The IT professionals were there to expand their knowledge of the subject, and some I spoke to had

not attended sessions on anything else.If the notion of running

complex business processes, hosted in the cloud, on a consumer-grade device seems far-fetched, it’s worth

taking a look around your business to see what people are already doing with technology.

There are plenty of people – not just early adopters – using Google Docs and Gmail to manage their days, and the

ease with which these technologies integrate with devices such as the iPad, or other tablets, is opening up completely new ways of working.

These are not trends the CIO can fight against, and it will pay to take some time out to explore them. Try taking a simple, everyday task that annoys people in the business, and see if it can be done better on a consumer device, or in the cloud, or both.

After all, a Google account is free, and if you don’t already have a tablet device, now is the time to add one to your Christmas list.

“The ease with which cloud technologies integrate with tablets is opening up completely new ways of working”

FROM CONSUMER TO BUSINESS

Enterprise culture

In the latest instalment of Stephen Pritchard’s Inside the Enterprise column, he looks at the spread of tablets, the cloud and other consumer technologies in business

By Stephen

Pritchard28.10.10


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S T R A T E G Y

Traditionally, marketers have considered there to be a strong dividing line between technology for business and

for consumers. And, to a certain extent, that’s still the case. However, on closer inspection, there are many technologies – successful technologies – that started life as pure-play consumer products before making their way into the hearts and minds of business users.

The best example here is the iPhone. Like so many other devices before it, it made its way into the enterprise

through the “back door”. Employees fell in love with the shiny handset and demanded to know why their IT departments weren’t equally keen to support it across the corporate network.

That story has changed slightly now. Business email and the like can work on such handsets, and they can be legitimate inhabitants of the company, rather than seen-but-not-spoken-of items.

Other mobile makers have cottoned onto the huge following the iPhone has

amassed and have started releasing so-called iPhone killers in droves. While success

has been varied, one thing remains constant: business

users want a mix of style and substance on a device they can use for their day jobs as well as their lives outside of the office.

Work and playA recent IDC white paper highlighted the increasing consumerisation of technology in the workplace. It found that more than two-thirds of respondents use their mobiles for both work and play, while 64% have the same usage pattern for their laptops.

Another headline figure from the research was the fact that 34% of people use text and instant messaging for both business and pleasure.

The way of the futureMany believe the mobile industry is leading the charge in the consumer/corporate crossover revolution.

Joe Baguley, global product director at Quest Software, commented: “[Facebook, IM and mobile phones] have usually been driven by the young entering the corporate world and bringing their technology with them.

“I would be looking at how the current university students are organising their lives, as this will be a good guide as to what is coming next.”

INVADING BUSINESSIs it possible to cross the business/consumer tech chasm successfully?

Consumer tech

Maggie Holland became editor of IT Pro in 2009 and is now editorial director of our B2B titles.

“Business users want a device they can use for their day jobs as well as their lives outside of the office”

By Maggie Holland13.10.08


M O B I L I T Y

While it may have consumer appeal, the enterprise community should wait and

see before trying to use or deploy Apple’s new iPhone as a business device, according to a report by analyst firm Gartner.

The device features push-email support and full web browsing alongside music and video capabilities, but it’s not yet supported for email, security and device management in a traditional enterprise environment.

“If you think of Apple and the iPhone, it’s a consumer company and the entertainment and media sides have been highlighted,” said Carolina Milanesi, one of the report’s authors. “It’s not been created as an enterprise device.”

Gartner predicted that widespread adoption will pressurise software and IT services firms to provide structured support, but many will not do so for at least a year.

“Wait and see what level of support Apple will offer,” Milanesi advised, and wait to see how the device will evolve. The report noted that Apple has never before made an enterprise-specific device and that the iPhone is a clear step in the consumer direction.

However, consumer devices still show up in the enterprise world in growing numbers. Employees increasingly tend to buy their own mobile devices, using them for personal and work use, but still expect IT to support them and integrate them with work-based address books,

calendars and other resources, which takes time away from other projects.

“There will be people who try to use it

for enterprise applications,” said Milanesi. “If people try to bring it into enterprise, IT people should be ready.”

The Gartner report advised IT departments not to fulfil requests to support the iPhone because the device can’t be secured and managed in a centralised way that is appropriate for business.

If mobile email and other business-application providers develop a solution for the iPhone, IT departments should still be wary, and constrain usage to personal information management, email, telephony and browsing.

Should the device be deployed in an organisation, the IT department should tell

mobile operators to remove the requirement to obtain an iTunes account, because the agreement is with the enterprise, not the individual.

SAYS GARTNERNevertheless, IT departments should be ready, as consumer appeal is likely

to drive it into the enterprise environment in significant numbers

iPhone not a business device

18 01 I 10 I100

By Nicole Kobie

29.06.07

Nicole Kobie is a former IT Pro staffer and now contributes to the site on a freelance basis.


I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

The Royal Opera House (ROH) has revamped its technology systems after bringing in Dell to perform its biggest

IT upgrade for 16 years.The London institution completed a

year-long overhaul of its infrastructure, signing a deal with Dell to upgrade its data centre, replace its network, introduce tablets and update security.

Under the deal, Dell introduced a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to allow staff to work remotely using its SonicWall NSA 5600 firewall.

Implementation partner Circle IT worked with the Royal Opera House’s IT team to upgrade its network to support the new technology, including both the core and wireless networks.

Jason Oliver, head of technology operations at the Royal Opera House, said: “The core network had been in place for 16 years and was a piecemeal environment.

“The equipment we had just wasn’t giving us what we needed and was costing a huge amount to upgrade.”

Dell’s network came with a three-year warranty and a 50% discount to upgrade legacy switches.

The Wi-Fi solution provided by the tech giant has been used by journalists to publish news stories.

Following the initial deal, the ROH contracted Dell to provide tablets to members of its chief executive’s office.

The Dell Venue 11 Pro tablets have now replaced those workers’ desktops,

using a tablet dock, keyboard and monitor when working

behind their desks.

“The flexibility and portability of the devices have been popular with our executives and the IT team, who can manage the devices with the same freedom as the desktops and laptops,” Oliver said.

Dell’s Richard Rawcliffe said the tech firm had worked closely with partners NEC and Circle IT to achieve the transition.

“[We have built] a new IT infrastructure that will support the Royal Opera House now and in the future, as it looks to expand its offerings and build upon the service that it provides to visitors and staff alike,” he added.

REPLACES “PIECEMEAL” NETWORK IN DELL UPGRADE

Tech giant provides staff with tablets and updates ageing data centre

Royal Opera House

By Joe Curtis22.04.15

“The flexibility and portability of the devices have been popular with our executives and the IT team”

01 I 10 I100 19

T E N Y E A R S O F I N D U S T R Y

VENDOR TIMELINE | 2006 - 2016

20 01 I 10 I100

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

“Steve Jobs has slammed Adobe in a rare public letter, claiming the company should stop criticising Apple ‘for leaving the past behind’.”

BLACKBERRY RIVALS LINE UP FOR A PIECE OF THE PIE | 12.09.06

JOBS BLOG CLAIMS ADOBE’S FLASH “FALLS SHORT” | 29.04.10

“Apple’s success in innovation is down to hiring the right people and giving them a challenging work environment, according to Tim Cook, the company’s chief operating officer (COO).”

APPLE’S COO COOKS UP RECIPE FOR IPHONE SUCCESS | 01.03.07

“CES isn’t just about gadgets and devices – stepping off the beaten track of the CES conference floor can lead to some interesting sessions, including details of how companies such as HP have been innovating with RFID tags.”

“BlackBerry’s market share is being eyed up by many vendors who want to take over the hardware market, with more details emerging about a forthcoming rival from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.”

MAKING MONEY WITH RFID | 10.01.08

“Business intelligence is pushed into focus as IBM makes a big bid for the analytics firm.”

IBM TO BUY SPSS FOR $1.2BN | 28.07.09

A decade is a long time in the tech industry – and a lot has changed for some of the biggest vendors

There’s nothing like a bit of industry in-fighting as vendors rush to outdo one another when it comes to

innovation. That’s because, in their rush to be the best, they’re actually giving IT professionals the best they have to offer. And that can’t be a bad thing, right? So what have the key vendors been up to this past decade? Take a look at our timeline to find out...


T E N Y E A R S O F I N D U S T R Y

21

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

“Cisco has released its visual networking index report, claiming worldwide traffic from mobile devices will grow 26-fold by 2015 – an annual growth rate of 92%.”

“Google’s flagship Nexus 5 smartphone is set to make a comeback. Originally launched in 2013, the Nexus 5 was pitched as a slightly cheaper rival to iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, but the new version - Nexus 5 ( 2015 ) - is set for a fresh look and a fancy upgrade.”

CISCO: MOBILE DATA TO GROW 26-FOLD BY 2015 | 02.02.11

GOOGLE NEXUS 5 SET FOR A COMEBACK | 10.09.15

“Apple has brought two new lawsuits against Samsung in Germany, as they continue to battle patents in Europe.”

“Google researchers have developed a ‘big red button’ in an attempt to stop any AI from becoming intelligent enough to rule over the human race.”

APPLE LODGES MORE LAWSUITS AGAINST SAMSUNG IN GERMANY | 18.01.12

GOOGLE’S BIG RED BUTTON SHOULD STOP AI BECOMING TOO POWERFUL | 06.06.16

“Microsoft said it will buy Nokia’s phone business and license its patents for €5.44 billion (£4.6 bilion), making its boldest foray yet into mobile devices and bringing executive Stephen Elop back into the fold.”

MICROSOFT TO ACQUIRE NOKIA HANDSET BUSINESS IN £4.6BN DEAL | 03.09.13

“Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s vice president of cloud and enterprise, is to take over the top job from Steve Ballmer.”

NEW MICROSOFT CEO NAMED AS SATYA NADELLA | 04.02.14


S K I L L S

Learning to code is as much a creative pursuit as a technical one, with a correlation existing between software developers

and musicians, according to GitHub.The open coding platform believes

schools should teach programming as a problem-solving tool, and has released its own software called Classroom for GitHub to help teachers send pupils coding assignments.

GitHub’s John Britton said: “It’s because software development is a creative pursuit. You need to be able to figure out solutions to problems. There are the technical aspects of it – for example, you need to know how to read music, your notes, how to compose, the ins and outs of the rules and the foundations – and the same would be true of computer science.”

Classroom for GitHub will be used mainly in universities, but children as young as 13 can also use it as part of their IT education.

The tool lets tutors send programming assignments with unique invitation URLs, and students can then work on their own or in groups.

It builds on the company’s Student Developer Pack already available to

students studying software development, and Britton

believes that by providing GitHub kit to the classroom, students and pupils can learn practical skills they can apply to the workplace.

The tool’s release comes amid a renewed focus on encouraging pupils and students at school and university to take up STEM subjects, with the ICT curriculum being overhauled to include programming. The new

GCSE in Computer Science will also put more emphasis on coding.

Asked whether coding should become a compulsory subject in schools, Britton said: “Anyone who’s trying to solve a problem that can be solved with software will benefit from knowing how to write code, think analytically about the problems and – even if they’re not programmers themselves – at least have an understanding of what’s possible.”

However, a recent study from Go ON UK revealed that more than 12 million UK adults lack basic digital skills, and the growing skills gap within the technology industry has been frequently blamed for a lack of innovation.

IS AS CREATIVE AS LEARNING MUSIC

Software development is similar to writing a song, says GitHub’s education expert

Learning code

22 01 I 10 I100

“It’s because software development is a creative pursuit. You need to be able to figure out solutions to problems”

By Caroline Preece

20.10.15


01 I 10 I100

S E C U R I T Y

Shortly after the general election in 2010, we spoke to the mother of British hacker Gary McKinnon, who was fighting

against his extradition to the US.

The coalition government has halted the latest judicial review, but given mixed signals on the eventual outcome. How does it feel that Gary’s ordeal – and yours – might finally be over?I’m still very nervous, probably more than ever. Until we have a definite decision that Gary is to be kept in the UK, I can’t relax.

Even if Gary is kept in the UK, he might face a UK trial. Do you think that’s likely to happen, and how would he hold up?I do think it’s likely to happen. The relief of [him] being kept in his own country cannot be overstated. Gary would have to cope and would have the support of his family and friends around him, which is vital to his wellbeing.

How much of the – hopefully – eventual success of avoiding extradition has been down to luck (with Labour losing the election) and how much

of it has been down to your campaign?

I think the campaign has helped a lot, as it has highlighted the injustice of the one-sided extradition treaty. I also think that having the coalition government is the only chance that Gary has of not being extradited. We’re incredibly pleased that in the coalition agreement on page 14, section 6, they have said they intend to change the

extradition treaty with the US to make it even-handed/equal.

When this is all over, what do you and he hope to do next? We’ll probably cry for a year and will try and remember what it’s like to have a normal life and not to have to live with this fear during every waking moment.

Before all of this I wrote a children’s book called Lester Square and made a film called Lunar Girl. We’re musicians; I write songs and would love to write a musical one day and include Gary’s songs. But my only hope right now is for Gary to be free and to have his life back again. Nothing else matters.

SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HER SON GARY McKINNON

In an exclusive interview, the mother of hacker Gary McKinnon talked about the efforts to prevent her son from being extradited to the US

Janis Sharp

23

Q&A

“My only hope right now is for Gary to be free and to have his life back again. Nothing else matters.”

ByNicole Kobie

27.05.10


L E A D E R S H I P

An IT leader mentioned to me recently that IT directors are more obsessed with the future of their role than any

other business leader.It’s a good point. Chief executives

lose little sleep worrying about the relevance of their position to the organisation. Likewise finance directors, who – similar to their CEO counterparts – are as much a part of the boardroom furniture as the office fixtures and fittings.

Compared to the CEO and CFO roles, the position of CIO still feels new and unfamiliar. In its short lifespan, the requirements of the role have transformed in line with the increased role of computing in modern business.

Long-term IT directors will regale you with tales of the early days of business computing, when Big Data amounted to a few kilobytes and the cloud was something in the sky. Today, technology is the foundation for modern operations.

Such firm footing should mean the CIO’s role is safe and secure. However, the dark art of business IT now feels less unsettling to outsiders. In an age of consumer tech, the wide-scale democratisation of IT

knowledge has worked to undermine the technology chief’s position.

Pity the CIO, whose public-facing work on enterprise IT is unfairly compared to the user-friendly behemoths of Apple and Google. Other executives sit safe in their ivory towers, knowing the lack of democratisation in their specialist areas means their position is unlikely to be undermined.

But here’s the rub: smart CIOs have already become stronger by the

process. Being challenged to prove their relevance has helped CIOs recognise that great leadership is about

avoiding the day-to-day details of operational IT.

If your users want to experiment with new IT services, find a way to let them. If they want to use their own devices, find a way to let them.

Just as the CEO and CFO understand the mechanics of successful business, the CIO understands the governance and risk processes associated with successful IT management. By becoming a risk manager, truly aligned with the demands of the modern business, the CIO is more important than ever before.

IS SAFE AND SOUNDCIOs get stronger by continually having to prove

themselves, as Mark Samuels discovers

The CIO role

24 01 I 10 I100

Mark Samuels is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to IT Pro.

“By becoming a risk manager, truly aligned with the demands of the modern business, the CIO is more important than ever before”

By Mark

Samuels17.07.14


01 I 10 I100

G R E E N T E C H

Environmental issues are now at the forefront of worldwide affairs, more than ever before. Even during the recession,

when economic anxieties were more pressing, green technology remained surprisingly pertinent for businesses.

A Gartner survey carried out in the midst of the downturn (December 2008 ) showed that being green was still a priority. At the time, almost half of European respondents anticipated spending more than 15% of their IT capital budgets on green projects.

What this research hinted at was a synergy between green technology and efficient business operations. Darren Strange, Microsoft’s UK head of environmental sustainability, explained to IT Pro that in the past, companies typically implemented green initiatives

as part of their sense of corporate social responsibility.

“Then we realised we could save money as well. Most practices that reduce your carbon... reduce your energy costs,” Strange said.

Richard Roberts, Cisco’s UK and Ireland director for sustainability and the environment, agreed about the impact of the recession on green technology: “If you look at the way that sustainability and efficiency have come together in the past six months, it is fairly dramatic,” he said.

Work to be doneEven though companies are recognising the benefits of green technology, many still need to take action.

And more action may well be on the way in 2010. According to Gartner, predictions point to a rebound in global venture capital and private equity investment in the clean-tech sector, which dropped back to $5.6 billion in 2009 from $8.5 billion in 2008.

IT can have a monumental part to play in helping our planet. Back in 2008, a report from the

Climate Group and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative

claimed smarter technology use could cut global emissions by 15%. In addition, such

measures could save global industry €500 billion in annual

energy costs by 2020 – there’s that synergy again.

The IT community is in a great position. Not only can it help the

environment on a huge scale, but it can also help itself in the process. Wide-scale recognition of this could prove vastly beneficial for all involved.

CAN EASE RECESSION BLUESGreen technology is not just good for the environment – the recession

has shown it makes business sense as well

How green IT

25

Tom Brewster left the IT Pro family a wee while ago and now writes about security for Forbes.

“The IT community is in a great position. It can help the environment on a massive scale, and it can help itself in the process”

By Tom

Brewster27.04.10


01 I 10 I100

United Airlines has set up a bug-bounty programme that rewards hackers with air miles, in a bid to

beef up its cybersecurity standing. With traditional bug-bounty

programmes, when hackers or researchers find a flaw, they receive a monetary reward for reporting it rather than exploiting it.

United Airlines has opted for a different route. Instead of money, the firm is paying out air miles for bug reports. It’s believed to be the first ever airline in the US to do so.

So far two awards have been paid out, the company confirmed, each totalling one million miles. At the time of writing, that equates to 16 round-trip economy tickets from Europe to the US, with change left over.

The US airline has been hit by a series of high-profile cyber-gaffes over recent months, including a security expert who claimed to have hacked into a plane’s avionics through the in-flight entertainment, and two separate occasions when technical faults grounded United Airlines planes.

The programme comes with restrictions. Onboard

Wi-Fi, entertainment systems and avionics, for example, are all

off-limits. This is due to safety concerns, as unauthorised access to critical flight systems could prove hugely dangerous.

The terms of the agreement also prevent disclosure of the bug, as well as exploiting it at any point.

Bug bounties are common among tech-savvy startups, but have yet to see widespread adoption outside the world of IT. If United Airlines proves successful with its programme, this could signal the start of a new wave of bounty-hunting.

WITH AIR MILES

United Airlines will reward hackers

Adam Shepherd looks after our IT Pro newsletters and covers a wide range of subjects in addition to writing reviews.

Bug-bounty programme is first of its kind for US airline industry

“Bug bounties are common among tech-savvy startups, but have yet to see widespread adoption outside the world of IT”

By Adam

Shepherd16.07.15

B U S I N E S S T R A V E L

01 I 10 I10026 I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H

2701 I 10 I100

R E V I E W S

THE IPHONE SE is an excellent smartphone for those of us who find phablets far too awkward and unwieldy. Phablet fanboys will undoubtedly look down on the SE, which is just as silly as Apple’s previous insistence on selling only one size of smartphone. After all, no-one blinks an eye at different-sized laptops, and that should be the case when it comes to smartphones too.

The iPhone SE uses the same casing as the 4in iPhone 5s, albeit with a few modest changes. It may seem old-fashioned to use a casing that originated with the 2012 iPhone 5, but it helps keep the cost relatively low (for an iPhone), and the metal and glass construction still looks sleek and modern four years later.

The iPhone SE may look like a 5s on the outside, but on the inside it has almost exactly the same components as the 6s, from the superb, high-quality camera to Apple’s latest, blisteringly fast A9 processor.

One significant difference from the 6s is the lack of 3D Touch. We missed the useful pressure-sensitive screen of the 6s, although its absence isn’t surprising. The SE also tops out at

64GB of storage, with no 128GB option, which is very disappointing.

The battery lasted just over 14 hours browsing the web while connected to a 802.11n router, only a

couple of hours behind phones with much bigger batteries. It was also surprisingly long-lived in everyday use. Connected to O2’s 3G network in

London, it lasted a staggering 40hrs 15mins for browsing the web, making calls, GPS and taking photos.

While the iPhone SE is competitively priced, it’s still nowhere near as cheap as budget Android phones such as the Motorola Moto G or OnePlus X. That doesn’t mean the iPhone SE is poor value, as it justifies

its price in every way, but this isn’t the smartphone for tight budgets or for price-conscious emerging markets.

The iPhone SE is great, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. Here’s hoping this resurrection of the sensibly sized iPhone isn’t a one-off - we’re already looking forward to the iPhone SE 2.

By Joe Curtis

22.4.15

“On the inside, it has almost exactly the same components as the 6s, from the camera to the blisteringly fast A9 processor”

Apple iPhone SEThe small phone bursting with big features

PRICE: £366 exc VAT ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬

ProsSensible size; lengthy battery life; good-quality camera; fast

ConsNo 128GB option; no 3D Touch

VerdictA mini-phone packed with the latest technology – if you can’t get on with phablets, then this is the phone for you.

By Alan Lu18.04.16

Alan Lu is our reviews editor and go-to tech expert. If he doesn’t know it, it’s not worth knowing.


28

R E V I E W S

01 I 10 I100

DATA CENTRES, HPC and big cloud builders – they all have a voracious appetite for network bandwidth that will soon make the move to 100-Gigabit ( 100GbE) a necessity. Dell’s Z9100-ON is the first 1U multi-rate 100GbE switch to market and it aims to tempt big businesses with a low price per 100GbE.

The Z9100-ON uses Broadcom’s Tomahawk ASIC and crams 32 100GbE QSFP28 ports into its 1U chassis. These can be used at their maximum speed for switch-to-switch or server links, and Dell also offers a big choice of breakout cables.

The cables allow the switch to support up to 64 50GbE, 128 25GbE or 128 10GbE links. Dell also has a range of QSFP+ transceivers for converting ports to 40GbE speeds.

The Z9100-ON targets core data-centre and top-of-rack (ToR) applications and has a backplane capacity of 6.4Tbits/sec.

Along with the 32 100GbE ports, it also has a couple of 10GbE SFP+ ports to one side. Dell has thoughtfully provided these to allow you

to connect legacy servers or switches without wasting a 100GbE port.

Hardware redundancy is good: the Z9100-ON has dual hotplug PSUs and five hotplug fan modules. All are offered with forward or reverse flows allowing the switch to support data centres with hot-aisle or cold-aisle cooling.

Dell’s DNOS software provides all traditional switching and routing capabilities, and there are no hidden costs. Even advanced routing features such as BGP routing and OSPF are included as standard and not as expensive optional extras.

The Z9100-ON is available now, along with the full range of breakout cables and optics. We expect most early adopters will keep 100GbE within the data centre, since long-reach QSFP28 transceivers are expensive.

The SR4 850nm optical transceiver has a 100-metre reach and costs a shade more than £2,000. The LR4-Lite 1310nm optic supports up to 2km and

costs £10,706, while the full LR4 optic increases the reach to

10km but drains your wallet to the tune of £14,609.

Performance was excellent. In one test, we saw network throughput peak at 36.5Gbits/sec, with DNOS reporting switch-to-switch LAG utilisation of only 6%. In another of our tests, we recorded a stonking cumulative network throughput of over 44Gbits/sec.

As the industry’s first multi-rate 100GbE 1U switch, Dell’s Z9100-ON sets a high standard for the competition to follow. Support for a wide range of port speeds allows early adopters to move to 25GbE now and upgrade to 40GbE, 50GbE or 100GbE when the price is right.

“As the industry’s first multi-rate 100GbE 1U switch, Dell’s Z9100-ON sets a high standard for the competition to follow”

Dell Networking Z9100-ONDell will help you get ready for 100-Gigabit Ethernet

PRICE: £30,658 exc VAT ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬

ProsBig port density; low price per 100GbE switch port; DNOS includes all L2/L3 features as standard; superb performance

Cons100GbE optical transceivers are expensive

VerdictA high 100GbE port density, 1U form factor, multi-rate support, competitive costs per port and a choice of operating systems – Dell’s Z9100-ON is the most versatile switch on the market.

By Dave

Mitchell03.03.16

Dave Mitchell is founder of Binary Testing Ltd and is our chief reviewer for enterprise-level kit.


2901 I 10 I100

R E V I E W S

WINDOWS 10 HAS a lot riding on its shoulders. Microsoft has to persuade Windows 7 holdouts to upgrade, while retaining and improving the highly uneven tablet and hybrid experience of Windows 8 enough to tempt would-be iPad buyers.

The Windows 10 interface is noticeably different, whether you’re used to Windows 7 or 8. Microsoft has brought back the Start menu, refined and reworked some of the touchscreen elements from Windows 8, and introduced several new features, some of which have clearly been inspired by Windows Phone and desktop rival OS X.

The Start menu is very different from before: it now has Start screen-style Live Tiles on the right-hand side. The Start screen first introduced

in Windows 8 is still present, too, albeit in an altered form. If you only ever use a keyboard and mouse/touchpad, you’ll never see it. If you use a hybrid, however, then switching between laptop and tablet modes will automatically cause the Start menu to expand to full-screen – effectively becoming the touch-friendly Start screen.

Virtual desktops are a great new addition – especially for laptop users on the road, juggling lots of windows and tasks with only one physical screen available.

Microsoft’s re-embracing of the desktop and traditional keyboard- and-mouse control extends to the

refinement of existing features as well as the

introduction of new ones. Snap, one of our favourite Windows 7 features, is more versatile than ever.

Cortana has made its way from Windows Phone to Windows 10. The cloud-based voice recognition of this voice-activated personal assistant was excellent in our experience.

As with its mobile counterpart, however, Cortana on Windows 10 is slow on the uptake and at suggesting new information – even after several weeks’ use. You’ll have to stick with Cortana for a while before it becomes truly useful.

As with Windows 8, Windows 10 is available in Home and Pro versions and bulk-licensed Enterprise and Education editions. If you want features such as BitLocker, Hyper-V, group policy management, domain support, and the ability to act as either an RDC server or client, you’ll need the Pro version or above.

Windows 10 introduces a critically important new difference between

enterprise-licensed copies and all other versions. Windows updates are now mandatory – you can’t skip or postpone their installation, only choose when your computer is restarted to complete installation. The only exception is if you’re using the Enterprise version.

Windows 10 is the best version of Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating system in a very long time. It’s easy to forget that Windows 7 was a modest update that mostly corrected Vista’s failings, while Windows 8 was of little use to anyone not using a touchscreen.

Most desktop operating systems are now very mature, making meaningful new features and changes harder and harder, but Microsoft has managed it here. Sooner or later your PCs will be running Windows 10 – and that’s a future to be embraced, not feared.

“Windows 10 is the best version of Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating system in a very long time”

Microsoft Windows 10Wiping away the stain of Windows 8 with great new features

PRICE: FREE UPGRADE ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬

ProsUseful new features; improved tablet mode; free for consumers

ConsSearch is broken; some features are dependent on hardware drivers; some enterprise features are of little immediate practical use

VerdictThere’s still room for improvement, but it’s better than Windows 8. For now, that’s more than enough.

By Alan Lu27.07.15


30 01 I 10 I100

R E V I E W S

THE POLYCOM REALPRESENCE Trio 8800 Collaboration Kit is a combined conference-room phone and telepresence system. At its heart is Polycom’s Trio 8800 phone.

It has a 5in colour LCD touchscreen interface, and the ability to pair with a laptop or tablet for easy control. It also has screen-sharing and full video-conferencing capabilities, using either a point-to-point link to other video-capable Polycom telephony devices and software, or SIP Video via your business’s VoIP system.

Annoyingly, the Skype for Business and SIP versions of the Trio 8800 have different SKUs and run different firmware, so make sure you buy the appropriate system to go with your existing VoIP infrastructure.

The full video-ready collaboration kit includes the main Trio phone unit, the RealPresence Trio Visual+ unit – which connects to any HDMI-compatible display, such as your conference-room projector or TV – and a Logitech C930e USB webcam, which is currently the only camera officially supported by the system.

It was simple to connect and configure the phone and the Visual+

module. Being able to route video calls via your company’s PBX simplifies the setup of video conferencing between remote offices, and means the audio can be recorded for minuting purposes, just like any other call, as can video if your PBX has that capability.

By necessity, conference-room hardware must be easy to use once configured, and the Trio 8800 performs admirably in that regard. The 5in touchscreen interface on the main unit provides all the features your users are likely to need via a very stripped-down version of Android.

The 8800 can also be connected to a laptop or tablet via Bluetooth, either to control dialling or, more usefully, to share presentations. Video quality at both ends of our test system easily rivalled other industry-standard web and teleconferencing systems.

The high-quality built-in speaker is easily one of the best you’ll find on a conference room phone, and the similarly top-notch microphone picked up voices clearly from all around it. Even without connecting external audio devices, it’s an excellent tele- and video-conferencing speaker for all but the largest rooms.

The Polycom Trio 8800 system combines a fully functional video-conferencing system with the kind of easy-to-use conference-room phone required by many medium to large businesses. It’s not cheap, but the RealPresence Trio 8800 Collaboration Kit is an ideal conference-room device.

l Additional reviewing by Andy Webb

“By necessity, conference-room hardware must be easy to use, and the Trio 8800 performs admirably in that regard”

By Kat

Orphanides 08.04.15

Polycom RealPresence Trio 8800 Collaboration KitThe only meeting-room phone and video-conferencing system you’ll ever need

PRICE: £1,380 exc VAT ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬

ProsClear configuration process; easy to use, even for non-technical staff once configured; flexible telephony, video conferencing and screen sharing in a single system

ConsSeparate versions for Skype for Business and SIP

VerdictPolycom’s latest conference-room phone integrates with your display and telephony systems to become a full video-conferencing system.

Kat Orphanides is a freelance journalist and editor and previously worked for sister site Expert Reviews.


3359_AlphrITPros_Advert_190x265_FINAL.indd 1 06/06/2016 15:01:01

T E N Y E A R S O F R E V I E W S

REVIEWS TIMELINE | 2006 - 2016

32 01 I 10 I100

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

“The AIT-2 Turbo format delivers some very stiff competition to the DAT72 format and the SATA interface makes more sense for entry-level servers.”

“The iPad is a great tool if you only need the capabilities of an iPhone with a large screen. Sure, email and the browser excel here, but to make it perfect for everything else, it needs much better security. You’ll also have to purchase an extra dock and keyboard.”

SONY STORSTATION AITI200STS | 24.05.06

IPAD | 12.04.10

“Ahead of getting our hands on a genuine UK iPhone running on O2, we went stateside to have a brief look at a US model running on AT&T. On first impressions, Apple has struck gold, offering something that can’t be matched by anything currently on the market.”

IPHONE | 12.11.07

“A very well-specified blade server that will give HP’s BladeSystem c3000 a good run for its money. Remote-management and monitoring capabilities come second to HP, but for storage features and expansion the BladeCenter S offers some unique options.”

IBM BLADECENTER S | 21.05.08

“The Xserve gets all the benefits of Apple’s unique design and build quality, so you know this server will last the course. It looks much better value than previous Xserve models, but is power-hungry.”

APPLE XSERVE | 27.04.09

We look back at some of the biggest products we’ve reviewed

We’ve seen some amazing products launched since IT Pro came into being. All of them

have been rigorously put through their paces by our team of experts so that business and IT decision-makers can be confident they’re making the right investments. If we don’t think a product is up to scratch, we’re not afraid to say it. Conversely, if we think something is above and beyond the rest, we acknowledge that fact.


T E N Y E A R S O F R E V I E W S

33

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

“For businesses that already use Cisco services, the Cius is a very compelling tablet. For businesses that don’t, it’s more difficult to justify at its high price of $750 (bulk orders will bring this down to around $700, but UK pricing has yet to be confirmed).”

“Cleanly designed, easy-to-use touchscreen office apps that don’t compromise critical features.”

CISCO CIUS | 01.07.11

MICROSOFT OFFICE MOBILE FOR WINDOWS 10 | 14.08.15

“Is upgrading to Windows 8 a no-brainer for those running Windows 7 on PCs and laptops? We’ve all upgraded here, but it isn’t the must-have advance we were hoping for.”

“Samsung’s virtual-reality headset is a fun entry point for VR novices, but its technological flaws and lack of compelling content limit its long-term appeal.”

WINDOWS 8 | 23.08.12SAMSUNG GEAR VR | 20.04.16

“Is Office 365 still the best productivity suite on the planet? We tested it out as Microsoft finally embraced the benefits of the cloud. Our verdict? It’s still the best productivity suite on the market, and the ability to access your documents on any PC directly through the cloud is going to be a necessity for most users.”

OFFICE 365 | 01.03.13

“The best version of Android to date - Lollipop is superb on newer hardware but not suited to older devices.”

ANDROID 5.0 LOLLIPOP | 20.11.14


01/10/100 – IT Pro

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