27365978
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
2011 was a year of huge IT news. JP Morgan rolled out a game-changing real time risk analysis system, UK Chancellor George Osborne attempted to boost the economy with a raft of technology initiatives, and Jaguar recalled 18,000 cars after it found out a severe risk with its cruise control software.
We've hand picked these and the other best stories of the year.
27297500
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
The Chancellor's acceptance yesterday of the Vickers Report, which recommended banks separate their retail and investment units in the interests of stability, will require billions of pounds of IT and operational investment from banks.
The move will create thousands of IT jobs, as banks strive to bring about a complex technology separation. But financial IT experts warned that there will not be a jobs boom for at least the next four years.
"The interesting question is the timeline that banks will be willing to commit to. The legislation will not be fully drafted until 2015, with implementation by 2019. It would not be surprising to see an extended planning period of analysis and design before industrial strength implementation begins," said Laurie Boyall, chief executive at financial recruitment firm McGregor-Boyall.
"Much could happen politically, economically and financially during this period," he added. But if the work does happen, he said, the projects will be "gigantic" and require "extremely large amounts of resource".
Chris Skinner, chief executive at financial think-tank Balatro, agreed that the IT planning stage could be complex and drawn out before any changes are effected.
"In a number of banks it'll be a very fine line between what technology serves the investment bank and what serves retail," he said. "With Barclays, for example, it seems that Barclays Capital would be separated with a clearer line from Barclays retail bank, but with banks such as RBS – where the investment arm is more a complement to the main retail bank, with some crossover – it's especially tricky."
27294296
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
The rise of the "app internet" – in which users' PCs, smartphones and tablets run the business applications – will drive completely different demands from technology next year.
That is the verdict of technology industry experts, who predicted fast-shifting pressures on technology from the rise in mobile application development, cloud computing and new security threats.
According to Forrester analysts, having said that the web, as the dominant software architecture of the Internet, was dead, a new internet is evolving – dominated by applications and now placing a strain on the technology supporting it.
"The app internet ushers in the next generation of computing," Forrester said. The high "momentum" of personal devices growth was vastly changing mobile platform strategies.
In order to cope with the change, it said, "elastic application platforms" would emerge "to handle variable scale and portfolio balancing". Businesses would also increasingly push for private clouds, aided by "improved virtualisation", it said.
It added that "always on, always available" was "the new expectation" from business leaders, and networks needed to evolve to meet this.
Gartner said that "low cost cloud services" would begin a fast growth, forming "up to 15 per cent of top outsourcing players' revenue" within three years. These industrialised services would "alter the common perceptions of pricing and value of IT", it said.
Cloud services will top $36 billion (£23 billion) in 2012, IDC said, "growing at four times the industry rate".
"Eighty percent of new apps will target the cloud," it said, with Amazon "joining the $1 billion vendor club" and duelling with Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce.com and VMware.
In spite of frequent gloomy predictions by financial analysts for the world economy, IDC said there would be a 6.9 percent growth in IT spending in 2012, "turbo-charged" by mobile devices. But analysts warned of the Thailand floods' continued severe impact on the PC supply chain, and they said some production could shift to the Americas.
The battle to lead the IT marketplace will "start to be won and lost" next year, with Amazon's Kindle Fire taking 20 percent of media tablets, and growing Android momentum taking on the mobile OS field.
It would be a "make or break" year for Microsoft, RIM and HP in mobile devices, with the vendors respectively depending upon the success of Windows 8, BBX and tablets, IDC said.
Analyst firm CCS Insight predicted that RIM would restructure its business "into two divisions: a services unit and a hardware unit". The aim of this would be "to provide sharper focus on the two most important elements of RIM's business", it said....
26986120
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) failed to implement sufficiently capable risk management IT systems to keep pace with the rapid growth of its business, according to a damning Financial Services Authority investigation into the bank's near-collapse.
The FSA concluded in its long-awaited report that RBS had made "seriously flawed" decisions prior to the 2008 disaster. But it also conceded that as a regulator it too needed a tougher framework to bring those responsible to court.
RBS, rescued by the taxpayer in 2008, continues to be 84-percent state-owned and has cut nearly 28,000 staff since the crisis.
The regulator said the bank's "governance, systems and controls and decision-making" appeared to fall short of "best practice", and were "below the practices of a number of peer firms".
RBS had recognised in 2007 to 2008 that its rapid expansion –accelerated by its disastrous takeover over ABN Amro – was not being matched by spending on its risk systems. But in spite of its own recognition of the impending problem, it had not identified specific areas for change or taken the appropriate steps, the FSA said.
The regulator also noted that RBS' chief risk officer, in charge of those systems, was not allowed into the daily morning meeting of the CEO, who preferred to see his financial director – considered higher in the management hierarchy.
RBS board planning meetings and related documents in early 2008, around its capital position, failed to assess a number of key risks. The "failure to reflect any concerns that RBS might fall below its group ICG [appropriate capital level] was caused by weaknesses in RBS's systems and controls", the FSA said.
Nevertheless, the FSA acknowledged that RBS had improved stress testing on its in-house CELT system, producing monthly impact assessments. And it concluded that the some of the more basic reports sent to the RBS board demonstrated "that many of the key features that the FSA would have expected to see in an appropriate management information system were in place at RBS".
However, its risk IT systems in the troubled Global Banking & Markets (GBM) division failed in the most important areas.
Key management information on the division was in general deficient, particularly around collateralised debt obligations – a complex finance product often cited as playing a part in the general economic crisis – the regulator noted.
There was no proper monthly reporting on the exposure to the more risky CDOs, the FSA said. This significantly impaired the board's understanding of the risks.
Additionally, RBS' monthly risk report produced by the systems only analysed past and current risks, "rather than being forward-looking". An RBS internal report in 2008 concluded that data reporting was "relatively light on predictive or leading indicators" and was presented in a complicated way.
"People want to know why RBS failed and why no-one has been punished," said FSA chairman Lord Turner as the report was published today.
RBS as a company would not be sanctioned, he said, because its failure was direct punishment enough. And individuals responsible would not be dragged to court because there was "not sufficient evidence" to bring a case with "a reasonable chance of success".
26834132
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
CSC, which was this year roundly branded by government committees as a failure for its dismal performance on the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), is set to be paid £2 billion more and given an extended contract.
As each income tax payer in the UK faces a £77 bill for CSC, the IT services firm delivered what sources described as a 'veiled threat' to the government over the costs of any potential cancellation. In a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission it said there was "no existing right" for the NHS to terminate the contract, and added that it could seek to recover hundreds of millions of pounds in court.
After delivering patient record systems to only three health trusts in a decade, CSC is expected to receive the £2 billion cash payment, whilst giving a £7 million golden handshake to its retiring chief executive who managed the performance. An agreement is on the table but has not been signed.
In an indication that the government is unwilling or unable to follow the parliamentary committee advice that cancelling CSC's contract may still be the cheaper option, ministers seem set to make the payments and extend the contract. This is after announcing with great fanfare in September that the project was over.
The Department for Health declined to give any explanation for the expenditure. The Cabinet Office also failed to answer the question, saying only that "major government projects have not always delivered what they set out to achieve", and adding that the Major Projects Authority — which recommended the end of the project — was created to deal with the problems. It did not respond to questions on why a project it officially cancelled will cost £2 billion more.
CSC, which is embroiled in several high profile fraud investigations and investor lawsuits, declined to explain the costs. It said it had a "strong and continuing commitment" to the NHS.
In papers filed with the SEC – which is investigating alleged fraudulent accounting by CSC in the Nordics – the company continued to assert it intended to sign a new agreement with the government, even though the conclusion of talks may not be successful.
While the contract scope was set to be reduced and there could be "no assurance" of a deal being agreed, CSC told investors that the agreement on the table "anticipates that the contract term will be extended one year to June 2017 and the company estimates revenue of £1.5 to £2.0 billion over that remaining term".
26829328
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
"Trading at BATS Chi-X, the largest Europe-wide electronic stock exchange, was yesterday unavailable for an entire day after a serious hardware component failure knocked out operations on its Linux-based matching engine.
The problem hit the BATS exchange in Europe, but Chi-X traders escaped the issue as that exchange's systems have not yet not been integrated — BATS only closed its takeover of the company last week. BATS' US market was also unaffected.
Chi-X is likely to be migrated to the BATS platform in the next year, and IT planning is currently underway. The platform runs on a Linux-based datacentre and is hosted by Equinix – with servers in Slough for European traders.
The problem began at 9.36 am yesterday and the company decided to halt trading for the rest of the day.
BATS traders who were affected work for a range of high profile financial institutions, including Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Nomura, the Royal Bank of Scotland and smaller finance houses.
BATS Chi-X declined to name the specific hardware in question, but said the "responsible" option of stopping trades was taken until the issue was resolved. Similar problems at other exchanges have often come down to network switches or data interface devices, though it has not been confirmed in this instance.
Trading on the exchange has operated normally today.
Chief executive Mark Hemsley said the faulty component was quickly replaced, but that when trade data was checked a number of errors were identified. This prompted the continued stoppage.
"We believe this was the most responsible course of action in order to ensure trade data integrity and an orderly market," he said."
26829300
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
Trading at BATS Chi-X, the largest Europe-wide electronic stock exchange, was yesterday unavailable for an entire day after a serious hardware component failure knocked out operations on its Linux-based matching engine.
The problem hit the BATS exchange in Europe, but Chi-X traders escaped the issue as that exchange's systems have not yet not been integrated — BATS only closed its takeover of the company last week. BATS' US market was also unaffected.
Chi-X is likely to be migrated to the BATS platform in the next year, and IT planning is currently underway. The platform runs on a Linux-based datacentre and is hosted by Equinix – with servers in Slough for European traders.
The problem began at 9.36 am yesterday and the company decided to halt trading for the rest of the day.
BATS traders who were affected work for a range of high profile financial institutions, including Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Nomura, the Royal Bank of Scotland and smaller finance houses.
BATS Chi-X declined to name the specific hardware in question, but said the "responsible" option of stopping trades was taken until the issue was resolved. Similar problems at other exchanges have often come down to network switches or data interface devices, though it has not been confirmed in this instance.
Trading on the exchange has operated normally today.
Chief executive Mark Hemsley said the faulty component was quickly replaced, but that when trade data was checked a number of errors were identified. This prompted the continued stoppage.
"We believe this was the most responsible course of action in order to ensure trade data integrity and an orderly market," he said.
26791226
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
Infinium Capital Management, one of the world’s largest automated trading firms, has been hit with an $850,000 fine after its algorithmic systems wrought havoc on the markets, in some instances following a rapid testing cycle.
US futures exchange operator CME Group imposed the fine on the Chicago-based firm for a series of problems in 2009 and 2010.
Executives at the regulator expressed anger that Infinium had only tested one algorithm for less than two hours before running it live in the markets – when the company’s own standard was for six to eight weeks’ testing.
Madoff judge slams ‘sloppy’ US regulator's failure to use case management system SEC facing damaging data destruction allegations
Infinium, which was criticised for serious management-level failures, said it had improved processes and no longer employed the testing staff who played a part in the errors.
In October 2009, Infinium identified a problem in its algo trading system and instructed staff to disable elements of the software. But the changes were not made, and weeks later the systems bought a raft of NASDAQ futures contracts.
Infinium had failed to “diligently supervise its systems, employees or agents”, the CME said. By “allowing a malfunctioning [system] to operate in a live trading environment, Infinium committed an act detrimental to the welfare of the exchange”, it stated.
Four months later, another problem in the system led Infinium to automatically make nearly 7,000 orders for crude oil futures on the Nymex market. In only 24 seconds, the automated systems had bought 4,600 of the contracts before the order was cancelled.
Infinium had bypassed automatic systems, intended to block questionable trades, by placing large numbers of individual contracts rather than one large order. It was also criticised after an instance where one employee used another’s login in order to correct a trading error.
Following the problems, Infinium has taken “significant” measures to improve quality control and avoid risk, and now meets the standards set by the Futures Industry Association, the regulator noted.
26790658
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
The chief executive at IT outsourcer Atos has insisted his company will stick with controversial plans to "ban" email between staff by 2014, a move intended to improve productivity.
A recent interview given by Atos chief executive Thierry Breton, which included his plans to get rid of internal email, resulted in worldwide headlines from an astounded media and cries of disbelief among other commentators.
Breton wants to do away with internal email within three years and encourage staff to instead use social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter to communicate, in addition to internal unified messaging systems that include instant messaging.
He said Atos had discovered staff received over 100 emails a day, and that reading and replying took up to 20 hours of their work week.
In an interview with the BBC this week, he said he was "surprised by the interest — or let's say intrigued" by the excitement caused by his comments.
Breton said that young Atos staff joining the company are unfamilar with established internal email systems like Outlook, having been weaned on Facebook and Twitter, and external email systems like Hotmail and Yahoo.
The Atos boss is not banning the use of external email systems, and adds that he uses those himself, but feels that internal email systems fuel data overloads and "information pollution". He said corporate email systems generated messages that were not useful and wasted the time of those receiving and managing them.
In February, at an innovation conference, Breton said: "Businesses need to do more of this — email is on the way out as the best way to run a company and do business."
Atos said it had set up collaboration tools and social community platforms to share and keep track of ideas on subjects like innovation, lean management, and sales as part of its attempt to reduce needless data exchange and searching.
26582286
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
Deutsche Bank is set to complete the first phase of a major cloud computing overhaul aimed at improving internal application development.
The German investment bank, which has a substantial presence in the City of London, has developed an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) development platform, due to go live this month.
The aim of the new platform is to enable developers to rapidly create and deploy virtual environments, running up to 2,000 VMs at any one time. These are supported by a variety of collaboration and knowledge management systems.
The VMs are available for development in Microsoft Windows, Unix, Solaris and Linux environments.
Deutsche Bank was awarded the 'conquering the cloud' prize by the Open Data Centre Alliance, after being judged as showcasing a particularly effective approach to cloud computing that could be used elsewhere.
Alistair McLaurin, at Deutsche Bank global technology engineering, said the bank had "wanted to create something radically different" and to "challenge assumptions around what centrally provided IT services could be and how much they must cost".
Using the new system, end-user costs are cheaper for each developer than running a dedicated PC for development, partly through what McLaurin called "aggressive standardisation" as well as automation. Additionally, storage costs were cut by not providing automated backup, and instead having "flexible" data repositories to protect and manage applications.
Deutsche Bank, which has also developed new modular data centre designs and elastic computing platforms, said access to the IaaS platform is underpinned by its core identity management platforms, including a Microsoft Active Directory system and an SAP-linked Global LDAP directory
26541540
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
"Infinium Capital Management, one of the world’s largest automated trading firms, has been hit with an $850,000 (£542,000) fine after its algorithmic systems wrought havoc on the markets, in some instances following a rapid testing cycle.
US futures exchange operator CME Group imposed the fine on the Chicago-based firm for a series of problems in 2009 and 2010.
Executives at the regulator expressed anger that Infinium had only tested one algorithm for less than two hours before running it live in the markets – when the company’s own standard was for six to eight weeks’ testing.
Infinium, which was criticised for serious management-level failures, said it had improved processes and no longer employed the testing staff who played a part in the errors.
In October 2009, Infinium identified a problem in its algo trading system and instructed staff to disable elements of the software. But the changes were not made, and weeks later the systems bought a raft of NASDAQ futures contracts.
Infinium had failed to “diligently supervise its systems, employees or agents”, the CME said. By “allowing a malfunctioning [system] to operate in a live trading environment, Infinium committed an act detrimental to the welfare of the exchange”, it stated.
Four months later, another problem in the system led Infinium to automatically make nearly 7,000 orders for crude oil futures on the Nymex market. In only 24 seconds, the automated systems had bought 4,600 of the contracts before the order was cancelled.
Infinium had bypassed automatic systems, intended to block questionable trades, by placing large numbers of individual contracts rather than one large order. It was also criticised after an instance where one employee used another’s login in order to correct a trading error."
26506662
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
Patsystems, the London-based derivatives software firm, has warned that bankrupt MF Global owes it nearly a million pounds.
As the vendor faced heightening financial troubles, it received a takeover approach from its largest shareholder, ION Trading, valuing it at £29 million.
Patsystems provides electronic trading software to broker-dealer MF Global, its largest client, and initially calculated that the collapsed company owed it approximately £300,000.
But since conducting further analysis as the MF Global situation unravelled, Patsystems calculated it was owed at least £900,000.
Administrators at MF Global in the UK, meanwhile, have abandoned its automated accounting record systems — because unwinding the finances has become so complicated that records will no longer fit the software's formatting. Around 300 processing and client reconciliation staff remain.
Patsystems, hit hard by the collapse of MF Global, responded positively to the ION Trading approach, highlighting in a statement the "strong commercial fit with ION, their greater financial stability, as well as the potential benefits to staff, customers and product development".
26257994
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
NASDAQ’s ageing software and out of date security patches played a key part in the stock exchange being hacked last year, according to the reported preliminary results of an FBI investigation.
Forensic investigators found some PCs and servers with out-of-date software and uninstalled security patches, Reuters reported, including Microsoft Windows Server 2003. The stock exchange had also incorrectly configured some of its firewalls.
NASDAQ, which prides itself on running some of the fastest client-facing systems in the financial world, does have a generally sound PC and network architecture, the FBI reportedly found.
But sources close to the investigation told Reuters that NASDAQ had been an “easy target” because of the specific security problems found. Investigators had apparently expressed surprise that the stock exchange had not been more vigilant.
25454358
submission
DMandPenfold writes:
"The automated undercarriage systems on a Boeing Dreamliner, a new high-tech jumbo jet, entirely failed to work during the landing approach of a domestic Japanese flight carrying 250 passengers this morning.
The news follows a similar incident last week on a more conventional Boeing jet, in which a plane on a flight to Warsaw was forced to land on its belly.
In today’s problem, the automated landing gear did not operate, but the pilot was able to lower the landing gear manually – using gravity – and landed on the plane's second approach to the runway.
It was the first serious operational problem for the new Dreamliner aircraft, which has been in commercial use for only one week. The planes were sold to airlines partly on the basis of their advanced automated systems.
The Dreamliners have an all-electronic cockpit, and an aircraft-wide computer network that links the flight deck to all of the control systems as well as providing real time data to air control staff on the ground. Many of the safety systems, including the brakes, are electronically controlled, with some traditional hydraulic systems taken out.
The pilot of today’s All Nippon Airways flight 651 was warned by on-board monitoring systems, on his approach to Okayama airport, that the landing gear had failed to engage. It is understood that the monitoring screens may have identified a problem with the systems controlling undercarriage hydraulic valves.
Boeing deferred comment to All Nippon Airways, which had not provided more detail at the time of writing on why the automated systems failed to work or how the problem will be prevented in the future.
In 2008, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned that the Dreamliner could be vulnerable to hacking, because of the way critical flight systems are linked with those used by passengers. They said the problems were "critical to the safety and maintenance" of the aircraft."
