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All firms should aim for PCI compliance
The implication that PCI is asking too much is ill-conceived (Is PCI asking too much?, 7 July). Retailers both off- and online have gained huge advantage over the years through the increased use of plastic rather than cash, and retailers have actively encouraged the use of cards as it reduces their own cash-handling charges and cuts the risk of old-style "stick 'em up" robberies.
The PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) is designed to improve the protection and safety of a customer's financial details and alleviate the overall public fear of ID theft.
Customers are still willing to hand over their plastic either online or at the till, however they are clear in their belief that the company they give their details to has a duty to protect that information.
The reason companies are hurting is that they are being asked to go from low levels of security and relaxed corporate governance to basic levels of corporate governance and known security best practice.
Far from being too onerous, retailers should be securing all types of personal information to the levels prescribed by the latest PCI standard.
Matthew Tyler, Evolution Security Systems
Users must do their bit to combat e-fraud
We have all experienced phishing attacks (Calls for a change in data law grow, 14 July). Ah yes, one thinks as one opens the mail, I bank with you therefore I will gladly share my personal details, PIN number, date of birth and mother's maiden name with you.
How many times have banks stated that they would never seek anything as personal as a PIN number? Why should the banks always be made culpable when sometimes the actual issue may be the consumers themselves.
I understand that this is not necessarily always the case, but on some occasions, the naivety of the individual customer should come into the equation.
Mark Elkins, SAS UK
Give IT graduates time to blossom
When it comes to graduate recruitment, the public sector has a head start on private enterprise (IT graduate demand defies slump, 14 July).
The Cabinet Office's graduate recruitment programme has long attracted talented candidates with an interest in business and technical issues, a drive that doesn't need to be based on specific academic achievement.
However, it seems private business lags behind, believing that graduates offer the wrong mix of IT and consulting skills. How do they expect candidates to develop these attributes when they've spent the past three years studying for a degree?
Businesses need to realise that graduates can be developed into well-rounded consultants. Treated as blank canvases, with strong commitment and academic dedication, graduates should turn into the most capable employees.
Even in the economic downturn the war for graduate talent is alive and well. Sensible recruitment at graduate level followed by careful training and management is essential to prevent future IT skills shortages.
Alwyn Welch, Parity Group
Microsoft will bring HPC to the masses
Your recent article put forward a very narrow view of high-performance computing (HPC) (Can Microsoft make it in the super league?, 7 July). The time it takes to make decisions in business is connected to a lot more than just the raw compute time.
The important distinction is between high-end science HPC, and business and daily engineering HPC. Both are needed, but Linux cannot seamlessly extend and integrate with the core of the business tools that are 90-per cent based on Microsoft technology. Just remember that most of the world's business runs on Excel, and that is where the vast majority of daily computation and related decisions are done.
Many organisations do not use HPC every day exactly because it has been difficult to use and manage. Microsoft will finally help bring HPC to everybody in a cost-effective and easy-to-use way.
Michele
Not all firms are fast and loose with data
I agree with some of the points made in the data sharing report from the Wellcome Trust and the Information Commissioner's Office, including heavy fines for businesses that break privacy laws, and companies sharing data being required to openly publicise what the data will be used for (Government urged to review data sharing rules, 11 July).
However, the heavy criticism of the industry as a whole is unfair. First, let's not forget there is an opt-out on the Electoral Roll, and there are databases that consumers can register with to be excluded from receiving direct mail and telemarketing calls.
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas should acknowledge that the vast majority of firms in the direct marketing (DM) industry adhere and comply with the law and consumer privacy policies.
It is shortsighted and unfair to lump together issues of security of sensitive data with that of legitimate marketing information. Much DM data is opted-in by the consumer in the full knowledge that it will be used for marketing purposes. Is the government going to override their right to make up their own minds?
Richard Webster
How to stop WEEE rules going to waste
The major issue with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive is that IT professionals simply do not know about it (One year on - are the WEEE rules working?, 7 July).
Research we undertook showed that 73 per cent of those working in the IT industry are not aware of the legislation. Many are also not clear on the difference between business and manufacturer responsibility. Without greater awareness, we won't stand a chance of stemming the fastest-growing waste stream in Europe.
A major education process is required - not only on the ways in which machines can be recycled, but also the importance of permanently erasing all sensitive data first, for peace of mind and to prevent it falling into the wrong hands.
This problem needs to be addressed to prevent the directive being consigned to the "too difficult" basket or being regarded as irrelevant.
Phil Bridge, Kroll Ontrack UK
Staff IT purchasing is pie-in-the-sky
Expecting staff to use their own computers and save company money will never happen (Firms urged to pay staff to use their own IT kit, 23 June). While it might cut IT bills, it will also cut productivity and therefore reduce profits. It will also increase security risks and annoy staff.
If firms wanted to go down this route, they would first need to have every bit of software web-based, so that users are effectively working on a server.
I manage the desktop support for about 3,000 users, and can say from real-world experience that this will not work on just about every level. The report must have been written by a desk-bound geek who has never had to support users or secure company data and protect their IT environment.
Michael Devlin
Asus has forgotten the ordinary user
It is so sad to see a major innovator in the market become just another part of it (The Eee PC has lost its magic, 23 June).
Asus was one of the fastest rising companies, and it got the attention of the major players when it introduced the Eee PC 700 series. It is also noteworthy that they did this not with any new technology or discovery, but with existing technology that had been overlooked by the other players.
This opened up a new sector in the computer sales market, and it was one that was not thought possible - cheap, reliable, simple laptops for ordinary users who outnumber tech-heads and heavy users by a very conservative figure of about 100 to one.
This represents a huge portion of the market long disregarded by the major players, and could possibly have toppled them from their perch, had Asus not changed the formula with the launch of the Eee PC 901.
It is now a sad situation because it was not only Asus that was gaining, benefiting and improving - so was the ordinary user market.
Jngoi
Now's the time for remote working
Inevitably, businesses are feeling the squeeze of the credit crunch. But employee panic regarding presenteeism - being seen to be in the office in order to avoid redundancy - is counter-productive to the sensitive navigation of any economic downturn (Is remote working just an idle fantasy? 16 June).
Remote working should be encouraged to keep costs to a minimum and maximise morale, and it is the job of the employer to reassure staff that this is the case.
The absence of the daily commute alone is benefiting the environment, saving money and improving staff satisfaction. To remove these benefits now of all times is ludicrous.
If there is any investment to be made this year, it should be in wise IT procurement facilitating remote working. Employers should be reassuring their staff that results are what matter in this climate - not panicked appearances in the office, which could actually fuel an already stressful environment.
Joanna Sedley-Burke, Sovereign Business Integration
Women want a healthy balance
It is unfair for Rob Chapman to say that women are put off careers in IT because of the misconception that the work is highly complex and only suitable for geeks (Why firms must combat female aversion to IT, 16 June).
Although the number of women opting to study IT at university has fallen over the years, this is by no means an indication that they are put off by highly complex jobs. In fact, girls academically outperform their male peers, year on year.
To attract more women into IT, we need to focus on the positives: there is actually the potential for tremendous career progression within IT. Women are more inclined to focus on getting the job done, rather than on talking about what they have done, and there are few places where delivery - or lack of delivery - is brought so sharply into focus as IT.
Also, the female brain-drain will only continue unless the industry works harder to implement a practical work-life balance. Employers have to break out of the traditional employment model and recognise that they are truly better off having a committed and effective employee who works 25 hours a week rather than a passenger who does 40.
Sandra Smith, head of information systems, Toshiba UK
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