News and analysis to 4th July 2007
Lone Granger
Richard Granger the controversial IT director of the UK’s
National Health Service has resigned. It is thought he was the highest paid
civil servant with a supposed salary of £280,000. His notoriety spiked when he
referred to the suppliers of the National Programme for IT as huskies pulling a
sled. "When one of the dogs goes lame, and begins to slow the others down,
they are shot," he said. "They are then chopped up and fed to the
other dogs. The survivors work harder, not only because they've had a meal, but
also because they have seen what will happen should they themselves go
lame." It is not known whether his departure relates to the huskies taking
a view that if they all got together and ate the ‘driver’ their lives would get
a lot easier.
Google takes privacy seriously
Search engine giant respects your privacy so much that it
wants to retain your personal data for as long as possible. Specifically we are
talking about details of your web surfing habits. To comply with European
regulations it has agreed to reduce the time it keeps your personal data to 18
months. Though it will make the data anonymous rather than destroy it. Google
maintains that building up an accurate picture of web habits will eventually
allow it to provide users with life-related advisory services. For example
suggesting furniture designers in your area if for example you spend a lot of
time surfing Swedish web sites. More sinisterly, Google may also use this data
as the basis for a service to third party organisations such as government
agencies.
Steve Jobs goes on Safari
Apple Founder Steve Jobs is exploring the great plains of MS
Windows. Apple has just launched a version of its iMac browser Safari for MS
Windows. The iPod creator already has a well-established route to MS Windows
users via iTunes and so should have no trouble getting to the wider market.
There is likely to be compatibility issues. Users will be faced with differing
user interfaces as they flit between Safari and other Windows applications.
However prospective iPhone users might take this opportunity to get familiar
with the forthcoming iPhone, which looks set to be the must have accessory for
the image-conscious digerati.
Microsoft loves open source
Microsoft doesn’t like open source because it undermines its
business model. But rather than clash with the enemy, Microsoft appears to have
adopted an ‘embrace and choke’ approach. To do this required Novell selling it
soul to the software giant. Today Microsoft licenses Novell’s Suse Linux and
uses this position to threaten non-Suse Linux users and distributors by
claiming that Linux infringes over 100 Microsoft patents. However Suse users
are exempt from potential prosecution, thus encouraging Linux users to adopt
Suse. Microsoft has stepped up its
commitment to embracing open source by appointing a Director of Linux
interoperability. Oddly this has taken over 6 months since the marriage with
Novell was announced, and so feels like an afterthought. This is a delicate responsibility,
as it requires the incumbent to represent the interests of the enemy. Tom
Hanrahan a previous director of engineering at the Linux Foundation has taken
up the position. This is either a major result for Microsoft or the Linux
community have decided that their counter offensive will be to blend and
destroy from within.
Here CiOmes the summer
According to Robert Half Technology, the hiring plans of
American CIOs for the third quarter are the highest since Q4 2001. This is of
course great news for the IT industry. Let’s hope that this is long-term trend.
My concern is that there appears to be an element of over exuberance in the web
start up investment arena, which could be an indicator of Dotcom 2.0 (the
sequel).
Dell 2.0
The rebirth of troubled PC maker Dell is not without its
complications. The move to slash 8,800 jobs is of course an attempt to bring
its costs into line with its intended profitability and so is necessary. But
moving away from the direct sales model that made it an MBA case study in
supply chain good practice doesn’t feel right. The fact that one of its most
high profile channels is Wal-Mart suggests that Dell is happy to trade
profitability for volume, which I would say is the wrong direction to take the
business. However profitability is on the upturn so perhaps Dell will
marginalize its consumer PC business and follow the likes of IBM into the
highly profitable enterprise services market.
The rise and rise of India
The Indian IT services and software sector will be worth
over $50bn by the end of fiscal 2008, according to trade body Nasscom. This is
in line with anticipated growth plans of $60bn by end of 2010. Employment in
the sector grew from 1.3m to 1.6m in the 12 months to March 2007. 690,000 staff
are specifically working on export-related services. Indirectly the IT industry
provides employment to over 7 million Indians through security, transportation,
hospitality and so on. Nasscom also points out that there is still a lot of
steam left in the industry, with an unaddressed market worth over $300bn.
