Mytob virus spreads in hospitals

There is something ironic about three hospitals in London being severely hit by a virus which has nothing to do with the human immune system.

And yet the Mytob virus, which has brought down networks and systems at Barts and The London NHS Trust, has everything to do with patients.
The virus, with the official name of W32/mytob.gen@mm, plants a Trojan horse which could put confidential personal data at risk, said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at IT security supplier Sophos.
Hackers could exploit the virus to gain control over infected networks and computers, and potentially access confidential information on patients without the knowledge of the trust's security and IT specialists.

The virus was first detected at Barts and The London on Monday 17 November in what Barts described as a "major incident". By Thursday some parts of the network were still down. Ambulances were diverted to neighbouring hospitals and doctors reverted to using paper records and making requests for x-rays on paper. The incident has caused backlogs of work and delays in care and treatment.
And once the systems have been disinfected, staff will need to key in information from paper to update the electronic records. The hospital declined to comment on the backlogs of work, the effects of the virus on patients or on the running of the hospitals. And it is unknown how much it will cost to cleanse IT equipment.

"There are two real pains here," said Cluley, "One is that doctors and nurses will not be able to access electronic patient records which could interrupt treatment. Also hackers could potentially be able to access confidential records. When the hospital took down networks that was a very sensible thing to do - hackers would not be able to access records." This could explain why the networks were down for days.

Barts said it is disinfecting desktop systems one by one.

"If they have just one computer still infected, even if they have cleaned up 99% of the other computers, that one computer could re-infect the rest of the network. It is like a biological virus. One individual with a virus could give it everyone else," said Cluley.
Barts is an "early adopter" of LC0, a London-specific version of Cerner Millennium Care Records Service which has been installed by BT as part of the NHS's £12.7bn National Programme for IT. Barts' networks and systems have to be of a high standard to connect to the Care Records Service.

Experts say the three most likely causes of the attack are that anti-virus software was not installed on one or more devices on the network, anti-virus software failed to detect all of the hundreds versions of Mytob, or not all systems were running the latest version of anti-virus software. It was perhaps unfortunate for IT security staff at Barts that anti-virus software suppliers have categorised Mytob as a "low-risk" for corporate users.
For hospital IT staff the threat of viral attack - and the possible loss of confidential patient data - is increasing, in part because of centralisation and regionalisation of IT. The National Programme for IT is intended to replace fragmented networks and systems with central databases and large, complex networks. Yet fragmented systems, if infected, have caused only isolated or localised disruption.

Labyrinthine networks that allow patient data to be widely shared could make the difference between life and death. But viruses are such powerful opponents to central databases, and large complex networks, that they may never be wholly beaten or overcome.
What is Mytob?

Anti-virus software suppliers McAfee and Symantec describe the risk of infection by Mytob as "low". Symantec describes it as a "mass-mailing worm that uses it own SMTP engine to send an email to addresses that it gathers from the Windows Address Book on the compromised computer". The worm also has the ability to "open a back door and spread through the network by exploiting vulnerabilities".

It may send repeated network messages to trace other computers to infect, which will generate masses of irrelevant network traffic, bringing systems to their knees. A Barts spokesman has conceded that its networks have been overloaded with viral messages. The virus may also send information to hackers about the configuration of each infected computer and what data is accessible.

The presence of the virus poses a risk that hackers could control the network and devices on it, and possibly access confidential patient information.

Computer Weekly asked McAfee why it (and other suppliers) had categorised Mytob as low risk when it had caused a major incident at three London hospitals. A McAfee spokeswoman said,"McAfee classes threats based onthe speed of attack, the damage caused and its prevalence. A rating as 'low' is not to say that a threat is not damaging but ratings are comparative and based on all criteria.

"When rating the generic variation of this particular threat, the fact that it does not damage the hard drive or delete files, as some other threats have been seen to do, is taken into account. With updated anti-virus protection in place, organisations should not find themselves impacted."
Whitelisting - a solution for viruses?

Is it possible for IT security staff to block all viruses when anti-virus software suppliers are faced with understanding and tackling 20,000 new pieces of malicious code every day, one piece every four seconds?

Some suggest whitelisting -allowing on the network only approved applications and devices. But even then approved systems could be hit by viruses. Experts say that organisations need to block from the network any devices that are not running the latest version of anti-virus software, and that software must defend against all known threats.

* - Article from Computer Weekly

Looking for IT Work

In the present climate of job uncertainty are you looking for a new job in the IT or Information Management sector?

If you are then a move into the Public or Not-For-Profit sector might be the right move for you! Often renowned by candidates as being a bit behind the times, not paying enough and moving a bit slowly for their liking, the Public and Not-For-Profit sector must surely now be seen as the way forward.

It has always been the friendlier sector and now with e-Government projects, NHS IT Projects, Government Data Security Projects, Education sector E-Learning projects and various general IT upgrade projects in abundance and the whole sector to embracing technology this is definitely the time to move into the Public and Not-For-Profit sector.

This innovation, targets, projects and drive to move the whole sector forward means there are great opportunities out there for IT and Information professionals. Add to this the current economic climate and the fact that the Public and Not-For-Profit sector will escape relatively unscathed compared to the Private sector and you almost have that dream move you wanted sorted.

The final icing on the cake is the reduced gulf in salaries between the Public and Private sectors.

So if you want to move into the better sector and you are an IT and Information Professional or if you are already in the sector but are looking for your next challenge then please do send your details through to info@ggrecruitment.co.uk as soon as it is convenient.

If you have any questions regarding the sector or our current roles do contact us.

G & G Recruitment - loving the Public and Not-For-Profit Sector.

Application Support Analyst - Current Vacancy

Application Systems Officer with SQL Server Database Administration experience, data warehouse support and development and experience of managing and developing databases in MS SQL is urgently required.

You will support, manage and optimise the use of all software applications used by the group and contribute to the Group s drive to improve data management and integrity. You will be responsible for Application Support (2nd & 3rd Line), Systems Administration, Project Support and Database Administration.

Any experience within a Housing Association would be highly desirable.

This is an excellent permanent position, so please do send through a technically detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Agency.

The 10 projects at the heart of NHS IT

It's the world's largest health IT project, its projected cost has doubled in its lifetime to £12.7bn, and parts of it are running four years late: welcome to the National Programme for IT (NPfIT).
While the NHS's NPfIT has already outlasted several heads of IT, its chequered track record is not surprising given the ambitious scale of the project: replacing an ageing patchwork of 5,000 different computer systems with a nationwide infrastructure connecting more than 100,000 doctors, 380,000 nurses and 50,000 other health professionals.

Find out more about the 10 key NHS IT projects

♦ NHS Care Records Service
♦ Choose and Book
♦ The Electronic Prescription Service
♦ N3 national broadband network
♦ Picture Archiving and Communications System (Pacs)
♦ The Spine
♦ The Quality Management and Analysis System
♦ GP2GP record transfer
♦ NHSmail- a central email and directory service for the NHS
♦ Secondary Uses Service

The NPfIT faced considerable scrutiny since its inception. A National Audit Office report in May this year highlighted serious delays in introducing the electronic care records system at the heart of the scheme due to technical challenges, while suppliers Accenture and Fujitsu pulled out of delivering the system and one trust halted implementation of the care records service.

Meanwhile, technical issues in implementing the Cerner and Lorenzo patient administration systems (PAS), which will be the basis of the future rollout of the care records service, have resulted in only 130 PAS being deployed in 380 health trusts.

Richard Bacon, a member of the parliamentary spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee, said of the project's missed deadlines and immature systems: "The programme is a reflection of the poor project management as a whole when it comes to government IT. A lot of public money has been squandered on the National Programme for IT."

The NHS IT body Connecting for Health (CfH) counters that the programme is more focused on making sure systems work properly rather than rushing them in to meet deadlines.
CfH says the programme is already starting to pay for itself, citing the £1.1bn savings expected by 2014 highlighted in the NAO report.

A spokesman for CfH said: "Collectively, the early adopter trusts, strategic health authorities, NHS CfH and CSC recognise the need to achieve the necessary quality criteria for go-live and view this as more important than a particular date."

Paul Cundy, former chairman of the British Medical Association's IT Committee, believes the project has overall been a mixed blessing for UK healthcare.

"It is a real mixed bag - those projects that worked very well have been clearly defined as delivering the best benefits to users, where the users have had input and where there has been political support for them.

"The ones where there is bad political interference, where there is no user input into design or are doing things that users do not want, those are the ones that predictably fail," Cundy told silicon.com. "The key is to ask people what they want."

silicon.com first put the core NHS IT projects under the microscope in early 2006.
Much has changed since then, however, and silicon.com has decided the time is ripe to revisit each of the major projects in the programme to get the latest on their highs and lows, and find out just how far away the NHS is from its interconnected dream.

Clink on the links below for more details of each of the main NHS IT projects - and their progress so far.

The projects:

NHS Care Records Service

Choose and Book

The Electronic Prescription Service

N3 national broadband network

Picture Archiving and Communications System (Pacs)

The Spine

The Quality Management and Analysis System

GP2GP record transfer

NHSmail- a central email and directory service for the NHS

Secondary Uses Service

* - Article from Silicon.com

IT Infrastructure / Network Manager - Current Vacancy

IT Network / Systems Manager technically skilled with Windows 2003 server, Active Directory, Exchange, LAN/WAN, Windows O/S, VOIP and Cisco is urgently required.

You will be responsible for managing a team of two IT Technicians but will also be required to be technically "hands-on." You will be responsible for maintaining and support the servers, monitoring network performance, researching new technologies and producing KPI reports.Any qualifications (MCSE, MCP, CCNA, CCA, HND, Degree etc) would be beneficial.

This is an excellent position within a friendly forward thinking organisation so please do send through a technically detailed CV asap. G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Agency.

Technical Communications / Specialist - Current Vacancy

Telecommunications Specialist skilled with Cisco & ASA Firewalls, HP 5300, 5400 & 2800 series switching, NMM & ProCurve Manager is being urgently sought.

You will have at least one years project management experience (knowledge of PRINCE2), be Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA) or equivalent and be Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation qualified. The Telecommunications Specialist will be responsible for the management and provision of technical support in accordance with Service Level Agreements (SLA), primarily on communications based problems, to existing and new computer users. This includes the installation, configuration and operational management of a large number of diverse, complex, integrated communications systems dispersed geographically throughout the county (Berkshire). You will also participate in major projects and the management of changes to these services to ensure that our client base of approx 4500 users have the most modern, efficient, protected and reliable communications systems as necessary to carry out their duties effectively. You will ensure the management system is fully updated.

This is an excellent permanent opportunity, so please do send through a technically detailed CV asap. G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Business.

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officer - Current Vacancy

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officer required for 1 or 2 days a week. You must be fully competent in both Acts with extensive Local Authority experience. This is a fast moving role, so please do send through a detailed CV as soon as possible.

G & G Recruitment are working as an employment Business.

IT / Systems Support Officer - Current Vacancy

Systems Support Officer skilled with Windows 2003, Exchange, Orchard Housing Management System, SQL Server and Citrix is urgently required.

You will be responsible for the support of ArcHouse users, ArcHouse upgrades and maintenance, attending regular user group meetings as well as administering, creating and maintaining reports using Business Objects. You will also be responsible for supporting the IT Manager in providing support and administration of the network and all applications. You will deal with day-to-day enquiries and support calls.

Finally you will also be responsible for assisting in the development and expansion of the organisation’s network and IT services. This is an excellent opportunity to gain employment within a friendly environment, so please do send through a technically detailed CV.

G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Agency.

Defence Cryptosecurity Authority selects two bidders for UK's government IT security solution

Two bidders have been selected by the Defence Cryptosecurity Authority (DCA) for the Assessment Phase of the CIPHER programme. The purpose of CIPHER as specified in the Single Statement of User Need is to “provide the capability for a security management infrastructure for all grades of devices necessary to meet the needs of UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and wider government.”

It covers the provision of all high grade cryptographic devices for UK MoD to meet the communications confidentiality, availability, interoperability and data integrity needs of the UK MoD for Defence Business and Operations, and will enable the provision of a pan-Government security management infrastructure.

Logica is leading a consortium comprising QinetiQ, Serco and Ultra Electronics, all of whom bring extensive experience of security within the Defence, Public Sector and Commercial markets.

During the initial 26 month phase, the Logica consortium will carry out a comprehensive assessment of the technologies, processes and methodologies to establish how best to deliver the CIPHER programme in the future, while maintaining a vibrant UK market for the manufacture and supply of cryptographic equipment. It will also have the opportunity to bid for the subsequent delivery phase of CIPHER.

Sean Mallon, the CIPHER Programme Manager for the DCA, said: “CIPHER is an ambitious programme that seeks to exploit the skills and experience of the UK sovereign industrial base to deliver Information Assurance Components and their management over the next decade and beyond. I am looking forward to a compelling competition over the next two years that will yield the best solution for defence and wider HMG as a whole.”

The Defence Cryptosecurity Authority is the part of the Ministry of Defence responsible for the development and in-service support of high-grade cryptographic equipment and electronic key management systems and the provision of key material and crypto policy.

It provides a single focus within the MoD for the acquisition and support of all cryptographic equipment, along with the provision of key material, policy advice and assurance of all projects that require a crypto solution through the Project Cryptographic Plans.

* - Article from publictechnology.net

Lets hope that this plan has a bit better luck at ensuring data security than some other organisations within the Public Sector have had recently.

More people and firms going bust

There has been a sharp rise in the number of people and companies being declared insolvent in England and Wales, government figures show.

Individual insolvencies went up by 8.8% in the third quarter of the year to reach 27,087.
Corporate liquidations also went up by 10.5% in the same period, to 4,001.
The increases have been widely predicted because of this year's sudden economic downturn and the consequent rise in unemployment.
The rising trend started this year as the economy stated to slowdown under the impact of the credit crunch.

Corporate

The number of firms being liquidated is now up by 26.3% on a year ago.

"The dramatic increase in corporate insolvencies in Q3 2008 continues a trend that we believe will accelerate well into 2009 as companies are hit by the dual blows of a continuing credit squeeze and depressed demand," warned the accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

Many more corporate liquidations appear to be in the pipeline.

The number of receiverships, administrations and company voluntary arrangements, which are normally an attempt to rescue an insolvent business rather than shut it down, rose to 1,444.
That was 65% higher than a year ago, the government's Insolvency Service said.

"The increase over the year is fairly evenly spread among the different types of procedure," said Catherine Matthews, a partner at the insolvency firm Tomlinsons.

"But there is a definite trend towards procedures instigated by directors as they try to deal with their problems themselves," she said.

Personal

Among the individuals going insolvent, there were 17,341 bankruptcies and 9,746 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) in the last quarter - 4.6% more than there were twelve months ago.

Individual insolvencies had in fact fallen in the second quarter of this year, but are now rising again.

"For bankruptcy orders there has been a pronounced shift towards debtor's petition bankruptcies [people declaring themselves bankrupt] and away from creditor's petitions in recent years," said the Insolvency Service."

Catherine Matthews explained that this might be linked to the reduced length of time that people stay bankrupt.

"This is possibly due to the cut in the bankruptcy term to 12 months, and the general downturn in the property market which has undermined the only asset some people might have had."
A leading economic consultancy predicted that bankruptcies would continue to rise.

"With the full effects of the credit crunch and rising unemployment yet to be felt, bankruptcies are set to soar over the coming two or three years," said Capital Economics.

"We expect the number of personal insolvencies to rise from around 110,000 this year to around 140,000 in 2009 and even further thereafter."

FORMS OF INSOLVENCY

Bankruptcy: The traditional way of escaping overwhelming debt. Ends after one year, but you are likely to lose all your assets including your house to pay something to the creditors
Individual voluntary arrangement (IVA): A deal between you and your creditors, overseen by an insolvency practitioner. Less stigma, less chance of losing your home, but involves paying some of your debts in one go or over a number of years

* - Article from the bbc

Tips to succeed in recruitment during the Credit Crisis

It's quite simple really. A lot of recruitment agencies are going to go under in the next year. Why? Because there will not be enough jobs to keep them all going.

Its unfortunate as there will be some agencies (generally the smaller ones) who will go under, not because they are bad at their business but because their cash flow cannot handle the bad times. However, more often than not it will be the agencies that don't offer their client that little bit something special.

During these tight times it is essential that you keep your current clients and the new clients you get come back to you. In essence you must create client loyalty. The way to do this?

• Excellent service
• Excellent customer service
• Honesty
• Ensure you do what you say

Ive said it many times before that in recruitment the services that are offered by different agencies is about the same. Therefore it is the people within these agencies who are going to make the difference. Who is going to work harder for their client?, who is going to offer the better service to the client? (this isn't just getting the right candidate, its the whole process, listening to what they want giving them the Service they deserve) Who has the flexibility to keep the client happy? Who knows the market / Industry better? It may even come down to small points like who has the better telephone manner!

So ensure your staff know this, are trained up and raring to go. It isn't going to be easy!

Research reveals public sector leading the way in eLearning

Public sector organisations are leading their private sector counterparts in the uptake of eLearning tools and instruments, according to a new study commissioned by IMC (UK) Learning.

The study, ‘Staff training during an economic downturn – opportunities and threats’, was designed to establish the views of HR professionals, in both the public (35%) and private (63%) sectors, regarding the importance of training and learning in uncertain economic times. It also sought to discover what eLearning tools and instruments organisations are already using and what they are planning to use in the future.

The research found that four in five (80%) respondents from the public sector state their organisation is using bespoke eLearning content, with 67% using eLearning authoring tools and 65% using learning management systems. These results are significantly higher than those from respondents in the private sector, which were 58%, 44% and 46% respectively.

When asked which training instruments respondents’ organisations already use, again the public sector leads the way. Whereas there was little significant difference between the public and private sectors for the use of online communities (28%; 26%) and virtual classrooms (24%; 20%), the same cannot be said for audio/visual content (59%; 44%), web based training (59%; 43%) and podcasts (20%; 8%).

Dr Dirk Thissen, managing director at IMC (UK) Learning Ltd comments: “Training in the public sector seems to be bounding ahead of the private sector when it comes to eLearning. The use of bespoke eLearning content and rapid authoring tools within the public sector is encouraging. It allows organisations in the sector to develop and adapt content quickly and efficiently to meet its changing needs. Perhaps most importantly in the current economic climate, these tools provide a cost effective way to train staff, despite budget cuts.”

* - Article from PublicTechnology.net

Northgate completes its acquisition of Anite Public Sector

Northgate Information Solutions, a provider of services to the public sector and utilities markets, yesterday completed its £54.3m purchase of Anite Public Sector Holdings Ltd as part of its long term strategic expansion programme in supporting public service transformation.

The deal comes seven months after the acquisition of Northgate Information Solutions plc by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR).

The acquisition is part of a long term strategy to broaden and strengthen Northgate’s capacity to meet its clients’ changing needs for citizen-centred services. It builds on the Northgate Public Service strong track record of successfully integrating seven acquisitions in the last five years. The acquisition strategy has generated profitable growth through promoting a performance culture, driving through innovation and putting quality at the heart of everything the company does.

The new organisation will have an expanded capability to deliver business-focused change programmes and integrated services to the local government, social housing and police and criminal justice public services markets. Northgate will add to its position in revenues and benefits and housing by providing a comprehensive range of services including social care and enhanced document management services.

David Meaden, Chief Executive of Northgate Public Services, said: “I am delighted that we have completed the deal which will bring real benefits to our clients, our employees and to our company as a whole. It marks an exciting new stage in our development and we look forward to the opportunities that will come as a result.

“Our ambition for our company is matched by our ambition for public services. We are fully committed to supporting public service transformation through innovation and the development of new forms of performance partnerships.

“This acquisition broadens and strengthens our capacity and our capability to successfully respond to large scale, strategic and complex procurements and deliver realisable outcomes. Successful transformation requires services which place citizens’ needs at their heart. This deal enhances and extends our ability to support our clients in achieving this crucial change.”

The deal was completed for a total cash consideration of £54.3 million, subject to the settlement of a £3.8 million receivable owed by Anite to Anite Public Sector and a working capital adjustment following completion. The Board of Anite announced that the resolution to approve the disposal of Anite Public Sector Holdings Limited, as detailed in the circular sent to shareholders dated 1 August 2008, was passed at a General Meeting on 29 August 2008. The OFT cleared the acquisition on 27th October 2008.

* - Article from Publictechnology.net

Women in IT believe they are paid less than men

More than half of women in IT believe they get paid less than their male colleagues, according to a survey by the IT trade association Intellect.

The 21% pay gap in IT is larger than the 17% national average, and a survey of women in the industry found 53% of them either believe their pay is not comparable to their male colleagues, or do not know.

Intellect's Perceptions of Equal Pay survey questioned 330 women on pay. Of the group, 57% do not think their company has a transparent pay structure.

There was a slight increase in the number of companies carrying out equal pay audits. Eight per cent of respondents said their company had carried out an audit - this was double the figure in the last two years.

Gillian Arnold, technical manager at IBM and chair of Intellect's Women in IT group, said, "We still have a pay gap of 17% for full-time women [in all industries], and that gap is wider, at 21%, for women working in the IT Industry.

"Whilst many women still believe that they are paid less than their male colleagues, they are aware that their companies are starting to do something about it."

* - Article from Computerweekly

Kent Schools Outsource IT

* - Article from Silicon.com

Kent County Council has signed off a £29m outsourcing contract for Northgate Information Solutions to provide IT managed services to 11 schools in the area.

The contract will run for seven years and may be extended to a further 25 schools.

The move is part of a £600m project to refurbish, rebuild and transform the 11 schools into modern education institutions and a significant part of the contract with Northgate will be to deliver an online managed learning environment. This application will serve as a hub for students to deliver coursework to teachers from home or school, ready for marking.
The hub will also serve as a school management and administration tool, keeping track of student attendance and exam results. This information will also be made available to parents.
In addition to this, Northgate will also manage the schools' desktops, laptops, networked projectors, interactive whiteboards and handheld devices as well as a full wireless network for each site.

In a statement, Kent Building Schools for the Future programme director Grahame Ward said: "By equipping our schools with state-of-the-art ICT facilities, we will not only improve the business of education through more efficient school management process, greater collaboration and the sharing of resources, but also raise attainment and transform the educational opportunities available to young people."

A spokesman for Northgate said the project will start in a couple of months.

Social networking can offer business benefit, says study

The debate on whether social networking sites are good or bad, useful or distracting seems like it will never cease. I personally believe that you cut your employees off from any contact with the outside world and this will harm their performance. At the end of the day you trust your employees to make a success of your businesses, they are adults and if their performance drops you can then look into the reasons why. But always remember, most people "work to live" not "live to work." So the happier you keep them at work, the better their performance.

* the following article is from Computerweekly

Staff who use social networking sites during work hours should not be dismissed as time-wasters, according to think-tank Demos.

According to the think-tank's Network Citizens study, such sites provide useful platforms for discussion and collaboration. Limiting their use could have a negative impact on the way employees communicate with each other and customers, it said.

The study's author, Peter Bradwell, said that online social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace could help with productivity, innovation and democratic working. However, he said there should be practical guidelines to limit non-work usage.
"Bans on Facebook or YouTube are, in any case, almost impossible to enforce firms may as well try to put a time limit on the number of minutes allowed each day for gossiping," he wrote.

"The answer is not to close down staff access to social networking platforms, nor is it to invest blindly in collaborative platforms.

"Rather, we argue that we need to understand how, once we accept the implications of social networks, we can manage the new challenges and trade-offs."

"Smart" businesses recognise that social networking cannot easily be separated from "professional" networking, he argued.

"In today's difficult business environment, the instinctive reaction can be to batten down the hatches and return to the traditional 'command and control' techniques that enable managers to closely monitor and measure productivity," he said.

"Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counter-intuitive, but it appears to create businesses more capable of maintaining stability."

Orange took part in the study. Robert Ainger, corporate director of Orange Business, said, "The report points out that the value of networking within an economic downturn is perhaps more important than ever, and I believe it could mean the difference between a business collapsing or capitalising on the tricky conditions."

Meanwhile, a survey from FaceTime Communications describes the apparent risks from the increasing use of social networking sites from within the corporate network.

IT Recruitment

IT recruiters are being hit by a continual, unexpected decline in contracting vacancies.
According to JobsAdWatch.co.uk, the number of positions advertised for IT contractors has fallen by 30% since the beginning of the year, with a 13.3% decrease from the previous quarter.
Alwyn Welch, chief executive of IT recruiter Parity, told Recruiter that the company’s contractor placements had been holding up quite well until Q3, when it had “dropped quite severely”.

According to Welch this went against clients’ initial reaction to the downturn, which was to use contractors to keep headcounts down.

However, Welch added advertised contractor rates appear to have remained static.

* - Article from the recruiter

Here at G & G Recruitment we have noticed a drop in the number of roles on both the permanent and contract front. However, the market is still not what we would consider quiet. We are hoping that this slight fall in roles may just be an earlier start than usual to the Christmas lull.

Boss uses Facebook to catch skiving worker

Facebook and other social sites have often been mentioned as potential hot beds of uncovered potential candidates. However, just as often it has been mentioned how candidates should be wary of what they put on these social sites as potential employers or even current employers may well use the site as a way to check up on employees.

Just as Kyle Doyle appears to be finding out: -


A call centre employee has been caught malingering after his boss checked his Facebook status.
Kyle Doyle, 21, is currently facing an internal investigation after he called in sick for work then updated his Facebook status bar to read: 'Kyle Doyle is not going to work ... I'm still trashed. SICKIE WOO!'.

Unfortunately for Doyle his boss was also a friend on Facebook and saw the incriminating status report.

He emailed Doyle and requested a doctor's note to prove that a sick day was required, without mentioning the Facebook entry but saying that his line manager was under the impression that the day off was not for medical reasons.

"My leave was due to medical reasons, so you cannot deny leave based on a line manager's discretion, with no proof, please process leave as requested," Doyle replied.

The manager then revealed that he had seen the Facebook message and said the day off would not be granted. "HAHAHA LMAO epic fail. No worries man," was Doyle’s response.

However, the emails between the two soon started to be circulated around corporate email systems and then worldwide. Doyle now faces an investigation by his employer AAPT, Australia's third largest telecoms operator.

"It's unfortunate because it was in the public domain,'' an AAPT spokeswoman told the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

"It involves one of our employees and we're doing an internal investigation, but I can't comment any further because of the nature of what it's about.

The case highlights the increasing use of social networking sites by management. Interviewers and head hunters are checking out user profiles of applicants, and managers are using them to keep updated on employees.

* - Article taken from www.vnunet.com

IT Auditor / Administrator - Current Vacancy

IT Auditor / Administrator skill with PC Hardware and IT Operating systems is urgently required.

You will be responsible for moving IT equipment, installing hardware, providing support, IT Auditing and ensuring IT Assets are tagged correctly. This is an excellent opportunity to gain some experience within an IT environment. Please do send through a technically detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Business.

City of Birmingham establishes virtual island in Second Life

Birmingham has taken on a whole new identity with the establishment of 'Birmingham Island' in Second Life, the 3D virtual world environment.

'Virtual Birmingham' will be launched by Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby at this week's Hello Digital festival at Millennium Point, Birmingham (23rd-26th October). Developed by Digital Birmingham, it demonstrates the potential of digital and virtual technologies in delivering public services and interacting with citizens, and aims to incorporate virtual worlds and web 2.0+ activity within Birmingham under one co-ordinated banner. In the long term, this will provide city planners amongst others, with a powerful tool for online consultation and marketing, as well as huge scope for inward investment. Although several other cities have a presence in Second Life, Birmingham Island's showpiece attraction, b-scape, is the first to integrate other online applications such as Google Maps, video and RSS feeds to provide a whole new layer of collaboration.b-scape is effectively a 3-D information area centred around an interactive screen, which focuses on a map of Birmingham's physical city centre. It allows visitors to experience the city via an avatar (a virtual self), which are then able to interact and collaborate with other avatars in Second Life and control b-scape. Through the avatar, the user can navigate around Birmingham using Google Maps technology and discover information about key buildings in the city centre, play videos and access RSS data. Importantly, b-scape can be experienced collectively by many individuals at the same time, making it an ideal virtual environment for meetings and training sessions. It could allow architects and developers to plan the development of the city and see schemes in relation to their surroundings, as well as enabling visitors to plan their trips in advance. Birmingham Island offers great potential for local organisations and companies wishing to have a presence in Second Life and to explore the opportunities presented by virtual world. The new Library of Birmingham, due to open in 2013, is already planning an interactive site on the Island, and Digital Birmingham believes the island will prove invaluable as a resource for other local organisations."For organisations to be able to see the city as it looks now and plan how it could look in the future is an extremely powerful tool," said Birmingham City Council's deputy leader Paul Tilsley, who heads up the Digital Birmingham partnership.

"The potential is enormous: visitors could browse the city's attractions and amenities to see for themselves what it's like before they visit, residents could access local services, event organisers could use it to showcase exhibitions and displays, and could even host events in the virtual world with performances accessible online."

London, Liverpool and Manchester have all used Second Life but it is believed that Birmingham is the first council in the UK to utilise a range of virtual world technologies to interact collaboratively with the public and local businesses. Birmingham Island goes live on October 23rd.

* - Article from Publictechnology.net

IT Network Security Manager - Current Vacancy

An experienced Network Manager skilled with Windows 2003 server, Active Directory, Exchange 2003, DHCP, TCP/IP, DNS, ISA, VPN, Firewalls and Cisco switches / routers is urgently required.

You would be responsible for the management of the Network Services staff (2 members), management of the Network Infrastructure, analyse and troubleshoot network performance issues, maintain and document IT system controls and ensure privacy and security.

You will be MCSE or CCNA / CCNP qualified. This is an excellent permanent position which requires a technically 'hands on' manager, so please do send through a technically detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Agency.

The IT Professional's Survival Guide

Michael Pincher advises on how to keep your job while all about you are losing theirs...
If you’re worried about your job then stay away from Mount Olympus. It’s where the Gods live and different rules apply.

I made the mistake of going there once and was pole-axed by a thunderbolt. Of course it wasn’t Greece I went to, merely the headquarters of a project where I worked - the place where executives plan their bonuses - and others' demise.

“Remember,” said the Chairman’s bagman. “Projects like this are divided between those of us above the cloud line supping on ambrosia and the rest of you below, who do what you’re told.” It was a piece of brutal realism.

So if you’re not part of the upper echelons and you're worried about your job, let me proffer some advice.


1) Understand the culture: Most industries are dominated by people and firms with a mixture of clans and hierarchies. For example masons are big in construction, technology is populated by Americans, etc.

2) Know where you fit in: Within hierarchies there are well-ordered relationships you need to understand. In construction, for example, the client instructs the architect, who tells the quantity surveyor, who orders the civil engineer, who gets paid by the accountant, or sues through the lawyer.

It’s a system that goes back to the pyramids. Unfortunately for IT people (the Johnny-come-latelies in most businesses) there’s no easy way to slot into the pecking order. While you know how important technology is – others just don’t care.

3) Learn how to flatter: Many of us IT geeks are pretty egotistical and/or asocial. It’s time to learn how to flatter. While praise may at times be excessive, untrue, or insincere, people love it all the same and the more senior they are, the more used to - and addicted - they are to adulation . It’s not a difficult skill to acquire. Programming in XML requires understanding of syntax; flattery is merely a context language - and best applied with a large trowel.

4) Dress like your peers: All too often IT people dress like circus folk in pony-tails and comic tee-shirts. It’s the nature of our business to appear modern but in some organisations ‘casual’ gets up people’s noses. I asked a managing director once what "dress-down Friday" meant to him. “A grey suit slightly lighter than your normal one,” was the curt reply.

5) Keep your head down: The first rule of paintballing is to shoot the person who’s waving their arms about – they’re usually the leader. So don’t draw attention to yourself. From sending round too many emails, to asking questions in a meeting, your chances of corporate survival are best if no one knows you’re there.

Getting on in an organisation is less about talent, commitment and creativity and more about the laying on of hands. Unless it's certain you’re going to be invited above the cloud line, keep well away from the powerful. While everyone deserves to work in a climate of dignity and respect, few of us do - not least in a time when the temple of the gods is being overturned.

* - Article from computerweekly.com

Cambridgeshire County Council has UK's top public sector call centre

Cambridgeshire County Council is the UK’s best performing public sector call centre in new research from the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service.

Cambridgeshire County Council achieved 87%, placing it in the Top Ten Call Centres for Customer Services, in the UK’s biggest ever call centre benchmarking exercise, conducted by independent market research company GfK NOP. The study was commissioned by the UK’s Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service, a programme organised by Call Centre Focus magazine, to raise customer service standards in the call centre industry. The research consisted of 20,000 mystery shopper calls to 50 of the UK’s leading call centres, across five sectors – retail, financial services & insurance, telecoms & utilities, public sector and entertainment, leisure & travel. Each call centre was rated using over 50 criteria across five key areas of service - timeliness, ease of use, reliability, staff knowledge and personalised service – and awarded a Customer Service rating in percentage terms. Cambridgeshire County Council demonstrated that public sector call centres can deliver a world-class customer service, scoring an impressive 87%, nine points above the average score for the public sector. The council joins some of the UK’s leading financial institutions in the Top Ten Call Centres for Customer Service, including First Direct, Specsavers and ING Direct. Public sector organisations who took part in the Top 50 Call Centre initiative include: Cambridgeshire County Council, Driving Standards Agency, DVLA, HMRC, Kent County Council, Liverpool Direct Limited, London Borough of Lambeth, Slough Borough Council and Surrey County Council.

THE UK’S TOP TEN CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

1 First Direct 91.73%
2 Denplan 91.32%
3 F&C investments 91.26%
4 Lloyds TSB Insurance 91.02%
5 Laithwaites 90.36%
6 Prudential 89.33%
7 Charles Tyrwhitt 89.29%
8 ING Direct 87.89%
9 Specsavers 87.57%
10 Cambridgeshire County Council 87.13%

Call centres in the public sector performed particularly well for ease of use and reliability, achieving scores of 91% and 86% in these areas. The public sector also demonstrated a strong performance in first-time resolution of calls with 93% of enquiries were resolved on the initial call.

OVERALL TOP 50 CALL CENTRE SCORES BY SECTOR

Overall 83%
1. Retail 87%
2. Financial services & insurance 86%
3. Entertainment, leisure & travel 82%
4. Telecoms & utilities 82%
5. Public sector 78%

Overall, retail and financial services & insurance were the best performing sectors. The public sector achieved a score of 78%, compared to the overall average score of 83% (see Table 1).

Claudia Hathway, Editor of Call Centre Focus, commented:

“This benchmarking survey represents a landmark for the call centre industry, with 50 of the UK’s top call centres prepared to put their reputations on the line in order to raise service standards for their customers. We would like to congratulate Cambridgeshire County Council for their excellent performance, and indeed all of the Top 50, for such high achievements. We hope this initiative will inspire other call centres to improve their levels of customer service to reach the standards set by our Top 50 members and we are grateful to Siemens for their enthusiastic sponsorship and support of the programme and its aims.”

“The results show that many organisations are already delivering a world-class service to their customers. However, there is still room for improvement, particularly in the area of personalised service. By investing in the frontline employees who provide call centre service, organisations have an opportunity to differentiate their performance and increase customer long-term loyalty.”

* - Article from Publictechnology.net

Information Analyst - NHS, Access, Excel, Public Health

Information Analyst with experience in the NHS and skilled with Access and Excel is urgently required. Any Public Health experience would be highly desirable. You will support an epidemiologist who would provide supervision. You would be responsible for collating and manipulating data to produce ad hoc and routine management reports. You would have worked with KPIs before. This is an excellent opportunity, so please do send through a detailed CV asap. G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Business.

MIS / Data Analyst - Current Vacancy

Data Analyst skilled with SQL and with experience in the Education sector is urgently required. You will also have experience with Access and Excel. You will be responsible for: -

• report writing

• producing and resolving issues with ILR

• supervision of data input and quality

• resolution of issues and troubleshooting.

Any experience with Unit-e would be highly desirable.

This is an excellent contract which is moving fast, so please do send through a detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Business.

Is temporary recruitment the latest government scandal?

According to trade union GMB, between 2006 and 2007, UK councils spent just shy of £2 billion on temporary and agency staff. That’s a sizeable chunk of annual budget by anyone’s standards. That local authorities are major employers of temporary staff is not news. But the amount of money spent, and the extent to which councils are dependent on non-permanent staff is but one of a number of challenges that councils face when recruiting temp workers.

Temporary recruitment has always been a thorn in the side of embattled HR departments across the country. They need staff quickly, if not immediately. They need staff to be reliable and to turn up when they are supposed to. And they need to get staff at the right price. Unfortunately, most HR departments do not have the necessary internal processes or resources to deliver a consistent supply of quality, cost-effective temporary staff.

There is no shortage of advice about aligning the recruitment function to the overall business strategy and demonstrating the value that HR can bring. But while talent management, succession planning, and diversity strategies have jumped to the top of the agenda, temporary recruitment and the management of preferred recruitment suppliers lingers neglected at the bottom of the pile. And because HR departments are not necessarily equipped to respond to immediate tactical problems, the hiring of temporary staff has become fragmented. Rather than going through the established channels, middle managers at social services, education or buildings management take matters into their own hands and establish relationships with a small number of recruitment agencies. This is a dangerous situation to be in. Immediately the economies of scale that centralised recruitment offers are gone. But more importantly, recruitment agencies with a local fiefdom of specialisation and a captive audience can get away with charging a premium for their services. The incentive to keep delivering reliable, effective workers has gone; and with a limited choice of recruits on offer, standards are not necessarily maintained.

This is where it becomes critical. Quite aside from the money spent on temporary recruitment, there is a real concern about quality of service. Local authorities have become much closer to commercial organisations in terms of transparency around service delivery, value for money and accountability. They are endlessly measured and monitored. They are required to produce reams of data. Strict standards for performance must be met. But constituents don’t need annual reports to tell them when their local authority is delivering quality and when it’s not.

People don’t notice the productivity levels of a head of department, the transformational skills of a change manager, or the impact of a new geographical information system. They notice when their hospitals and schools are clean. They notice the catering dropping at elderly relatives’ care homes. They notice when their bins have not been emptied, and streets not swept. Yet these day to day interactions with the public are where the vast majority of the temporary workforce is to be found. So if someone does not turn up as promised, has a bad attitude, or is simply not qualified to do the job properly, it inhibits the council’s ability to fulfil its remit. It wastes money. And it damages the council’s relationship with its major stakeholders – the local citizens and taxpayers.

The problems associated with temporary recruitment have long been recognised and have given rise to the provision of recruitment process outsourcing. Handing over the problem to a qualified third party and putting a series of SLAs in place is certainly an attractive proposition. But while it may eradicate some of the more pressing issues, it doesn’t miraculously solve all the problems associated with temporary recruitment. Where RPO is deployed, fragmentation invariably disappears. But the master vendor relationship that replaces it brings its own particular perils – not least cost, complacency and favouritism. Instead, what local authorities need is a solution that ensures that recruitment agencies’ incentives are in line with those of the final recruiter. A system that provides a competitive environment in which recruitment agencies continuously strive for preferred supplier status and the contracts that come with it, has proved to be the answer.

Automation is the key here, and although it may run counter to the prevailing orthodoxy in many HR departments, it can help select the right employee, with the right skills at the right price. This form of recruitment process management cuts out the master vendor and replaces it with a network of approved and audited suppliers managed through an automated software platform. Because it offers access to thousands of recruitment consultancies across the country, users can select from both specialist and non-specialist suppliers whenever they need to – without extensive red tape and bureaucracy. They also benefit from significant economies of scale and the improved commission rates that have been negotiated. But what really distinguishes this model is that it is a dynamic and truly interactive operation. Rather than simply accessing a static database of potential recruits, the system is able to measure agencies’ performance against a balanced scorecard, a series of pre-established benchmarks that take into account both quality and cost of staff, and tier them accordingly. It will always go to agencies that have proved themselves to be reliable and effective first. If the top tier agencies do not have someone on their books with the requisite skill-set and attributes, or if their costs are too high, the system moves on to agencies on the next rung down and so on. However, if an agency fails to deliver, or if the worker they send doesn’t meet expectations, then it swiftly loses its tier one supplier status and with it first shout at the most lucrative contracts. In an over-saturated market, that’s a risk that an agency can ill-afford to take. For local authorities it’s a win-win situation. Agencies are immediately motivated to provide quality, cost-effective staffing options. The middle man is cut out completely. And HR departments can continue to focus on adding value in more strategic areas of their operations.

* - Article from publictechnology.net and written by Mike Trevor CEO of Comensura

I have written on RPO and more particularly Master Vendor agreements before, so agree with Mike regarding the Master Vendor failings. But to basically say that middle managers cannot handle recruitment unless they have an automated system does not wash with me. A network of approved and audited suppliers is not a bad idea but generally, in my experience, works against small agencies. These same small agencies often offer the customer service and personalised processes that really benefit recruiting managers. They are more willing to offer reduced fees and go that extra mile to satisfy the client requirements. The main point of this article started on the cost of temporary recruitment for Local Authorities - £2 billion. My suggestion would be: -

a. Find out what of this cost are actually recruitment / agency fees
b. Work out what is a reasonable market rate to pay for recruitment in different sectors
c. Get HR or Procurement, or even a central Government body to send a guideline to all recruiting managers on cost and what level local authorities are allowed to pay

This would mean managers can still select agencies that work well with them but all agencies are working to the same costs. This would inevitable cut down on costs and keep competition and service quality alive and well. Its also a lot simpler than using an automated approach. My experience of this automated software is that it slows the whole process down as it adds an extra person / system into the process. You also have to pay for the use and maintenance of the software.

Labour address

Labour MP Andrew Miller on Monday urged IT/telecoms and engineering/technical recruiters to “keep your nerve” in the face of a deepening global financial crisis.

Speaking to Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo) members at a House of Commons reception, Miller said, “There is a determination across the parties to make sure Britain comes out as strongly as possible” from the the economic turmoil. “It has been an extraordinary period,” Miller said of the last three weeks, which have seen investment banks fail and dramatic ups and downs for share prices.

Miller also reiterated his commitment to ensuring that any upcoming directive and legislative on equal treatment for agency workers does not have a negative impact on professional contractors who work through agencies or umbrella companies but instead penalises employers and others who exploit ‘vulnerable workers’. “I’m absolutely convinced it would be wrong to use the legislation to battle these organisations,” he said of the high-end professional services providers. “You have my assurance that is not what is intended.”
* - Article from www.recruiter.co.uk

Not what is intended and what happens can sometimes differ wildly. I hope, seriously hope, that Mr Andrew Miller and the rest of the labour government ensure that professional contractors are not penalised. Due to the HMRC they are already penalised enough.

Counterfeit vodka seizure cued up by Food Standards Agency's Intelligence IT systems

Intelligence gathered by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) through its national food fraud database, provided by intelligence software experts Memex, has led police, customs and trading standards and environmental health officers to raid four premises in London, resulting in the seizure of hundreds of bottles of counterfeit vodka.

The intelligence was received by the FSA after it published an alert to local authorities across the UK about counterfeit SPAR Imperial Vodka which contained potentially harmful levels of methanol. The levels recorded could have serious health effects, including blindness, if consumed in large quantities. Documents seized at the premises led officers to three further locations where more counterfeit vodka was seized. The FSA’s national food fraud database was first established in 2006 to allow the Agency to share information with local authorities and law enforcement agencies. The centralised Memex system stores and analyses intelligence on food fraud and helps the Agency to identify links between fraudulent activities and co-ordinate multi-agency investigations.

Sarah Appleby, Head of Enforcement at the Food Standards Agency, said: “The Agency plays an important role in gathering intelligence on food fraud from across the country and sharing it with local authorities to allow them to carry out their vital enforcement role effectively. Using Memex’s technology we can analyse the information from all sources and remove potentially dangerous goods from the market, reducing the risk to consumers.”

David Carrick, CEO of Memex, said: “The database we provide to the FSA allows for an increase in the flow of intelligence across all the relevant agencies, both domestically and internationally. The technology is capable of linking even the most tenuous of information so the Agency can identify emerging patterns. This case is a great example of how our technology can be used to help identify and track fraudulent activity and organised crime.”

* - Article from Publictechnology.net

The lure of the public sector

Often when sourcing staff for our clients we encounter some resistance from candidates who have only worked in the Private Sector. They usually point to the unorganised, unstructured approach of the Public Sector, the length of time it takes to get anything done and the bureaucracy involved. While this may be true in some organisations within the Public and Not-for-Profit sector, I am sure that it is true within some Private organisations as well.

The article below (from http://www.whatpc.co.uk/) explains nicely why working in the Public Sector can be better than working in the Private sector: -


It is a common misconception that work in the public sector lacks the dynamism, innovation and pace of its private sector counterpart ­ – and in the area of IT, nothing could be further from the truth.

The challenges of moving from private to public sector, particularly where education is concerned, are much greater than people think.

But if you are ambitious, keen to innovate and eager to work on some of the largest IT projects in the country, then the education sector could be right up your street.
The detailed procurement processes that schools and universities go through when reviewing an IT implementation can help to fuel innovation, by opening the door to new firms that might be seen as too bleeding-edge for private business. As a result, IT managers and directors are often ahead of their private sector colleagues when it comes to the latest technological advances.

With the drive into electronic government, for example, public sector organisations of all shapes and sizes have developed some of the most proactive and responsive web sites in the UK.

The response mechanisms to online information provide citizens with a channel of communication that many private sector companies struggle to achieve. Such processes are mirrored in the education sector, with even the smallest village schools having their own web sites for prospective parents to access information.

The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is providing many opportunities for innovation in the education sector. The project is receiving major investment, which will have a considerable effect on the technology available in secondary schools across the country.
While innovation is not a word commonly associated with the public sector, the government can lead the way in IT skills and standards.

Some of the world-class standards, such as Prince2 for project management and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) ­ – see Key skills for public sector IT workers, below ­ – have become core to not-for-profit working.

Prince2 was developed in 1989 by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency as a government standard for IT project management. Undertaking large-scale projects enabled the public sector to spot a gap in the market, and to propose standards of project management that could help implementations run smoothly and to budget.

As personnel transferred out of government into business, they took these skills with them into the private sector.

Prince2 is now used in more than 50 countries worldwide for all types of projects, not just those in the IT sector. The approach will prove invaluable to schools going through BSF projects to ensure they are properly managed and cause as little disruption to pupils as possible.
But if you are looking for a smooth and an unchallenging role, do not assume the education sector is for you. Just because there are no financial shareholders reviewing performance on a daily basis does not mean there is a lack of accountability.

In fact, you could argue that the education sector has a much tougher audience ­ – the general public. When mistakes happen they will reach the public domain ­ – something that may not always happen in the private sector. But if you want to get involved in some of the largest IT implementations in the UK, then the public sector offers a wealth of opportunities. The scale of projects in the major government departments such as the Department for Children, Schools and Families, or the Department for Work and Pensions, provides an ideal career opportunity for IT professionals looking to build their skills set.

There are few such opportunities in the private sector where you can expect to be involved with so many users or as many customer records. Add the joined-up government initiative and you can see why any IT professional should be getting excited about public sector projects that will look to push the boundaries of technology in the future.

The public sector offers an innovative environment, without the financial pressures of shareholders, and the added incentive to educate children and young adults to help make a difference.

Robert Chapman is chief executive of IT training specialist Firebrand Training

Key skills for public sector IT workers

Prince2

Prince2 – Projects in Controlled Environments – is a project management method covering the organisation, management and control of projects. Since its introduction, Prince2 has become widely used in both the public and private sectors and is now the UK’s de facto standard for project management. Although Prince2 was originally developed for the needs of IT projects, the method has also been used on many non-IT projects. The latest version is designed to incorporate the requirements of existing users and to enhance the method towards a generic, best-practice approach for the management of all types of projects.

ITIL

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and techniques for managing IT infrastructure, development and operations. ITIL is the only consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT service management. Used by many organisations around the world, an entire ITIL philosophy has grown up around the guidance.

Why do 70 per cent of Public Sector Partnerships fail to deliver?

Research suggests that up to 70 per cent of partnerships fail to deliver their intended outcomes. CPCR, a consultancy specialising in developing organisations, leaders and partnerships, concludes that the key drivers of this failure are issues of trust and deteriorating relationships.

90 per cent of respondents surveyed by CPCR at a recent exhibition for the North East public sector reported that in many cases partners place insufficient significance on the building of relationships within the partnership and often revert to adverse behaviours which result in the partnerships’ objectives not being met. CPCR believes that these partnerships often under estimate the time it takes to establish and develop strong relationships.

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are at the heart of the government's efforts to gain best value service for the public sector and it believes that the delivery of key public services through partnerships can bring many benefits which have the potential to result in successful and cost effective outcomes. However, due to the high failure rate of partnerships this comes with risks that can be a potential threat to the tax payers pocket.

Anne Cuthbertson, director at CPCR explains, “When entering a partnership, you often start with ‘good will’ but without careful commitment from both sets of partners, things can start to slide off track and you then find the trust has broken. Both partners need clear and mutual objectives and need to invest in developing and strengthening relationships, without this good will can be tested and the partnership performance can quickly start to deteriorate. “Partnerships that have a pre-agreed method to identify and tackle issues before they arise are the ones that are in a much stronger position to survive and thrive and often having some outside guidance can enable partners to focus on learning to trust each other whilst not loosing site of the objectives. “Increasingly partnerships are looking to use an objective measure to assess the performance and maturity of relationships. The online Partnering Maturity Model we have developed helps partnerships to focus on specific improvements appropriate for their context and needs”, concludes Cuthbertson. For the continued success of future partnerships it’s vital that challenges are worked through at all levels and across all partner organisations. It’s the give-and-take that makes partners confident to keep moving forwards even when the going gets tough.

* - Article from Publictechnology.net

Redundancy - What are your rights?

Redundancy is complicated. There are so many questions you ask yourself when you first start hearing the dreaded 'R' word being bounded about: -


Can they do this to me?

What notice must i be given?

What are my rights?

What pay am i entitled to?


Well, rather than go into the subject on this one blog, i have included a link below which can talk you through all the above points and more. It also has more links to organisations which can help you.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/DG_10026616

Should you unfortunately be one of the thousands of people facing redundancy, or are just looking for a new role within the IT and Information Management sector, well then please do visit our website or contact us to see how we can help.

Remember, every cloud has a silver lining. By the end of the last recession there were more millionaires than before.

HSBC cuts hundreds of IT contractors

A cost-cutting plan by HSBC to layoff 1,100 staff in its global investment banking operation will put hundreds of UK IT contractors out of work.

Europe’s biggest bank by market value says 650 employees and 450 temporary workers, including contractors, face redundancy from the division’s business and IT support roles. About 500 jobs will go in the UK where HSBC said it had briefed affected parties of the cuts, which were necessary due to today’s tough “business and economic environments.” A spokesman for HSBC denied claims that certain IT workers, including contractors, in front, middle or back-office roles had been singled out for not adding enough value. “Within the IT contractor redundancies, HSBC has worked closely with the agencies and contractors to manage this as sensitively as possible,” the spokesman told CUK. “Some contractors who were very close to the end of their contract were a starting point and absorbed the focus, rather than those with a long period still ahead of them.” The cuts, which represent 4% of the unit, were described as “sensible steps” to take in response to today’s economic pressures and formed part of HSBC’s “cautious outlook for 2009.”

In August, HSBC global banking and markets reported pre-tax profits down 35% in the first half-year to $2.1bn, a 37% improvement from the second half of 2007. Overall, the bank posted a 28% fall in first-half pre-tax profits to $10.2bn, thanks to a $14bn hit from asset writedowns and bad debts in the US home loan market. For IT contractors, the bank said it would “continually review market rates and practices” to ensure HSBC was “competitive”, without saying if cuts had hit the departing contractors. Some banks, like HSBC rival HBOS, initially cut contractors’ pay at the first sign of financial woes, but evidently failed to yield enough savings and followed up by trimming their numbers. From now until Christmas, financers are expected to shed 12,000 jobs directly as a result of the credit crunch, swelling the number of staff they made jobless on last year by one third. The prediction, from the CBI, adds to the more than 80,000 job cuts across the banking sector in the past 18 months, which continue unabated as the borrowing and lending droughts intensify. This week, Britain’s biggest employers’ group said the ongoing drive to cut costs and a “readjust for lower demand” would see most financers drop their levels of IT investment. Its member survey found trading volumes were at their weakest since 1989 and profitability in financial services fell at a record rate, which was set to last for the next three months. Job losses were set to rise sharply over the next quarter, the group also warned, and 99 per cent of firms said it would take more than six months for “normal” market conditions to return.

Last night, the administrators for Lehman Brothers said a restructuring of the 105-year-old business would see 750 staff, mainly in London, made redundant from today. Tony Lomas, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said it was “extremely disappointing” that the jobs at the bank’s European operation could not be saved “despite exhausting all avenues”.

* - Article from www.contractoruk.com

Lack of IT students puts future at risk

Some things, unfortunately, never seem to change.

Yet again, the number of UK schoolchildren studying IT or for computing exams fell this year, even though we have undoubtedly the most technology-friendly teenage generation ever.
But we are not alone ­ Intel chairman Craig Barrett last week bemoaned the state of technology education in the US. Barrett pointed out that in fast-emerging economies such as China and India, there is a premium on engineering and technology teaching, and a student enthusiasm unmatched in the West.

Many in the IT industry say the problem comes from a lack of computing teachers, rather than the attitudes of children. For any subject, the enthusiasm and motivation of the teacher is key to students’ success ­- and there is a widely held perception that there are simply not enough IT teachers with the ability to enthuse their class.

In how many schools is the computing teacher an expert in another subject, such as maths, corralled into taking the IT class?

The difficulty is that this is a tomorrow problem for a today-obsessed government. The knock-on effect of a lack of technology education now will not hit home for another decade at least. In the short term, there is little chance that the target of 140,000 new entrants into the IT profession every year for the next five years will be met ­- and the UK’s technological capability will suffer.

There are, unfortunately, no immediate solutions ­ but we need a concerted effort from government and the IT profession to reverse the continuing decline in student numbers.

* - Article from www.computing.co.uk

It seems a strange that in an Industry where there are above average salaries on offer we cannot attract enough students. Maybe the image of IT being boring and IT professionals being social stunted needs to be addressed (May i point out that i don't conform to these views). Yes, there aren't many jobs in the world that people actually get up and do a little jig of delight because they are off to work. However, IT does offer variety and with its large amount of project work it has aims, acheivements and therefore satisfaction on offer in abundance.

IT Support Technician - Current Vacancy

IT Support Technician Skilled with Windows, MS Office, TCP/IP and Ethernet is urgently being sought. You will be familiar with using, installing and maintaining hardware and software and providing support within a network environment. You will assist the Network Manager in the maintenance and installation of hardware and software systems and the development and security of the network and Server systems. You will provide support to users as well as maintaining Router and Firewall configuration and user accounts and performing backups of software. You will be self-motivated and flexible in approach to working hours. Please do send a technically detailed CV ASAP to be considered. G & G Recruitment is working as an Employment Business.

Located in barry, South Wales

Oracle Programmer - Current Vacancy

Oracle Programmer, skilled in developing Oracle Forms and with an excellent understanding of SQL, PL/SQL and Database design is urgently required. An exposure to other visual programming languages (VB /Foxpro /C# /C++) would be advantageous. A good understanding of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook and Access) is required, along with the ability to problem solve quickly and work to strict deadlines. This is an excellent and fast moving permanent role, so please do send through a technically detailed CV asap. G & G Recruitment is working as an Employment Agency.

City Salaries

The average advertised salary in London is now £10,000 more than the rest of the UK, according to new figures.

The figures, from search engine AllTheTopBananas.com, show that the average advertised salary around the UK is £31,128, compared with London’s average advertised salary of £41,500.
The highest average advertised salary outside London is to be found in East Anglia, at £34,487, while the North West has the lowest at £29,676.

Dave Martin, managing director at AllTheTopBananas.com, said: “Advertised salaries are rising faster in London than the rest of the UK and the gap is getting bigger. This is a trend that is likely to continue throughout the next 12 months. We are also seeing advertised salaries continue to rise overall, putting added pressure on inflation. There’s a chance this could add to the UK’s economic woes in the next 12 months.”

* - Article from the recruiter

IT Support Technician - Windows 2003, Exchange, Office

You will have 3 years of Helpdesk Support experience as well as 2 years experience assisting users with MS Windows XP desktop, administering Windows 2003 Servers and supporting MS Office applications. You will have been education to degree level and preferably have an MCSE qualification. Your Role will be varied, responsible and stable involving other technologies such as: PC repairs, Windows Vista desktops, Virtual Servers, Veritas backup Exec, LANDesk as well as MS Exchange 2003/2007 & SQL Server 2000/2003. Please do apply to Mark by sending a technically detailed CV to the address below. If you have any questions at all please do contact us on the number below - this is a genuine and fast moving opportunity.

Insight Manager - Raisers Edge, Charity, Fundraising

Insights Manager/Database Analyst skilled with Raisers Edge, Access, Excel and preferably Cognos would be highly desirable. You will develop a strong strategic understanding of each business unit's goals and targets and use this to inform and direct database analysis activities that will provide strategic targeting advice. You will develop models to improve communication-targeting efficiency, and provide database selections, mailing lists, and advice about maximising the reporting potential to all Raisers Edge user teams in an accessible manner and an understandable format. This is an excellent opportunity to put analysis skills to good use in a marketing format. The role is moving fast, so please do send through a detailed CV ASAP.

Data / Reporting Analyst - SQL Server, T-SQL, Business Objects

Reporting Analyst skilled with SQL Server, Business Objects (or equivalent), T-SQL, MS Office and preferably SPSS is urgently required. You will be an experienced Data Analyst who has worked with large volume databases, with strong marketing, financial or fundraising data manipulation and analysis skills. To have a Business Intelligence administration background, maintaining data universes and supporting system users. You will excellent attention to detail, and appreciation of data quality/integrity issues relating to relational databases. This is an excellent and challenging position, so please do send through a technically detailed CV ASAP.

Agency Workers Directive - Pointless EU Directive?

With the Agency Workers Directive (AWD) hanging over our heads and the inevitable collapse of our government's opposition to it by agreeing to a "compromise" I thought it was a good time to have my say.

The AWD for the skilled sectors is pointless. It's that simple. Why would clients bring in Temporary workers with skills they need for projects which could take 6 months in the knowledge that they can only have them as temporary workers for 12 weeks. Projects often have agreed timescales that change, difficulties that can arise, budget changes, whatever it may be, a temporary worker is often needed for over 12 weeks. They don't want the same rights of a permanent employee, they like working as a temporary worker and they like the benefits that come with that. In the skilled sectors the usual draw is the higher hourly and daily rates that they can earn.

Why don't they just take a permanent employee on you ask? Well, the project is just that. A project. There is no permanent need for this skill set. In fact it would be a flagrant waste of money to bring this skill set in house on a permanent basis.

There are other examples. Covering long term sick leave. Why would you want two members of staff doing the same job on a permanent basis?

The temporary workers market is key to the UK's economy. The ability to bring in people on a short term basis is beneficial to both the worker and the business. To force companies to basically make them permanent after 12 weeks is wrong. Admittedly I am focussing on the skilled sector (IT, Finance, Professional Services) but surely even in other sectors the AWD will just lead to less temporary worker demand, more unemployment and then gloomier economic predicitions.

Why change something that isn't broken? From all the reports I have seen generally 80% of temporary workers are happy with their lot. So why change the whole system and rules?

Temporary work isn't just a good way to earn money but also to try and select a career. It gives you that opportunity to sample different working environments, industries, people and locations. The AWD would cut down on this.

The UK does not have the same economy as the rest of the EU, it simply does not need or want this directive. For that reason I hope someone sees sense and gets it thrown out.