NinjaOne has announced a new integration with ServiceNow, in a move the IT operations vendor said will give IT teams greater visibility across their environments while simplifying IT service desk workflows.

The move will enable organizations to share real-time endpoint data between the two platforms, helping IT teams automate incident management, improve asset visibility, and resolve issues faster without needing to switch between applications.

Texas-headquartered NinjaOne’s unified IT operations platform combines endpoint management, patch management, backup, and remote access through a single console.

According to the vendor, the offering supports more than 40,000 customers across 140 countries.

By integrating the offering with ServiceNow’s service management platform, NinjaOne said it is addressing the information gaps that can emerge when organizations rely on multiple IT management tools.

“NinjaOne’s integration with ServiceNow eliminates this problem by continuously updating IT data in ServiceNow as conditions change, providing real-time accuracy, and ensuring devices remain healthy,” explained Rahul Hirani, chief product officer at NinjaOne.

“As a result, our customers save time and resources, simplifying daily operations so they can deliver best-in-class IT support and services.”

Real-time visibility and proactive support

The new integration enables endpoint data from NinjaOne to flow directly into ServiceNow, allowing organizations to automatically update asset information, configuration management databases (CMDBs), patch status, endpoint records, and other configuration data.

According to the companies, alerts detected within NinjaOne can also automatically generate incidents in ServiceNow to help IT teams investigate and resolve issues before they affect end users.

Additionally, technicians can access and manage devices directly from within the ServiceNow platform, further reducing the need to move between multiple management tools.

NinjaOne said the move will provide customers with a single, real-time view of their IT environment that will help eliminate manual updates and improve data accuracy across service management and endpoint operations.

Commenting on the partnership, Alix Douglas, group vice president of global technology partnerships at ServiceNow, added that the integration will help organizations adopt a more proactive approach to IT support.

“The most resilient IT organisations are the ones that eliminate blind spots, and that starts with connecting endpoint intelligence to service management in real time,” he said.

“NinjaOne’s integration with ServiceNow gives IT teams a unified, current view of their environment, so they can move from reactive firefighting to proactive resolution.

“That’s the kind of seamless workflow intelligence that drives real productivity and delivers better experiences for employees.”

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Not everyone likes change, and this is especially the case with software where new operating system features and updates can frustrate users to no end – and Windows 10 is no different.

Although the design is largely reminiscent of Windows 7 (at least compared to the tiled interface of Windows 8), Windows 10 is the product of years of refinement and many of the menus and functions have been tweaked to streamline the experience as much as possible. Of course, streamlining is subjective, and you might find that a tool or option is in a different position to where it was before, buried under layers of menus, or tied to a shortcut that's not immediately obvious.

Whatever your level, if you need help understanding or finding something within the user interface, help is at hand. There is an extensive list of fixes and shortcuts to be found via the Windows community and also a slew of top tips from Microsoft.

Seeking Windows 10 help from IT Pro's bank of tips, guides and tutorials

There are a plethora wealth of tips, guides, and tutorials for Windows 10 that are contained in our In-depth section. These aim to help people find answers to the most common questions and mystifying problems that may arise while using Microsoft's flagship OS.

We'll keep adding more to this collection with time, but below you can find listed a handful of helpful guides and tutorials prepared and curated by the IT Pro team:

• How to download and carry out a clean install of Windows 10
• How to speed up Windows 10
• How to screenshot in Windows 10
• How to fix the Windows 10 Start menu if it's frozen
• Windows 10 and the tools for agile working
• 17 Windows 10 problems - and how to fix them
• How to install the Windows 10 Creators Update from USB
• How to start and exit Windows 10 in Safe Mode

You'll find up-to-date news about Windows 10 published on our front page, or in the News section, including announcements and features for the OS, any bugs that have been discovered, and fixes from Microsoft.

Seeking Windows 10 help from Microsoft

Hopefully, your Windows 10 fixes are simple and straightforward and can be found within IT Pro's resources. However, if it is a more complex problem that demands a more technical solution from a specialist, it's always best practice to get advice straight from the horse's mouth - Microsoft.

The tech giant has its own expert resources on its website and this includes guides and tutorials for Windows 10 that can solve most issues. Or, alternatively, you can also look up the answer to your issue with Windows 10's built-in support centre. This can be found in the 'Get Help' app which you can find by typing it in the search bar. The OS will connect you with a Microsoft chat bot that can answer any questions you might have.

If you need a direct response from Microsoft, the community forums are also a great way to seek a response. These forums are often monitored by Microsoft staff members who respond to queries whenever they can.

Another alternative, if your query isn't urgent, is to get in touch with Microsoft Helps via Twitter.

Seeking Windows 10 help from independent experts

Sometimes you might find that not even a support team from Microsoft will be able to answer your query. If this happens, it might be a good idea to ask an independent expert, or potentially a fellow Windows 10 user for help. Even though this is considered by some to be an unconventional problem-solving tactic, other people’s experience might provide you with the answers you need. It's more than probable that they have experienced similar technical issues in the past, and possess the treasured information on how to solve them.

For example, if you are having problems with installing some old or niche software onto your device, you could go and seek advice from a developer manufacturer. Other times, internet forums on a community platform for certain products might contain the answer you’re desperately looking for. For Window 10 specifically, we’ve put together a list of the forums we found to be particularly helpful:

• Official Microsoft Windows forums
• WindowsForum.com
• WindowsTenForums.com
• Windows10Forums.com

You should also bear in mind, however, that internet forums are probably not a great space to disclose personal information. There might not be any issues when it comes to sharing basic computer specifications and the type of OS you use, but you don’t want to disclose any of your passwords or user account information.

Don’t let this put you off, though, as you might come across plenty of people who actually care about helping you and solving your issue. Just remember that many community platforms attract cyber criminals who seek to exploit unsuspecting users. Make sure to exercise extra care when it comes to sharing any details which could put your data, or you, at risk.

Cisco has struck a deal with the global telecommunications and television company Liberty Global to transform its customer service platform for subscribers across Europe.

Liberty Global hopes to improve the experience for its 22 million subscribers across 12 countries in the region, with the project aiming to simplify contact centre operations and increase productivity, as well as improve the company's customer satisfaction ratings.

The TV and broadband company, which owns a number of consumer brands including Virgin Media and has holdings in companies such as ITV, wants to unify the separate platforms across its six brands in the region by migrating them onto a single system.

"With contact centre agents in 12 different countries, we felt that we had reached a point where transformation was necessary in order to continue delivering the superior customer experience that has become synonymous with our brand," said Mel Longdon, vice president customer experience operations.

"Cisco was the natural choice to help us transform our customer services. We have a fantastic relationship, and they have a clear understanding of our objectives, not least a great track record with previous large-scale contact centre migrations."

Cisco's Unified Contact Centre Enterprise system, Liberty Global hopes, will allow it to use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) features, as well as intelligent routing and sophisticated dialler capabilities to generally enhance the customer experience.

Both companies expect to see the project lead to a reduction in the handling time and the number of abandoned calls, as well as an improvement to first call resolution.

"We were delighted to have been chosen by Liberty Global to support them in such a significant transformation of their customer service operations," said Peter Karlstromer, global service provider, EMEAR at Cisco.

"With a customer base of over 22 million, Liberty Global needed to ensure that its agents had everything they needed, not only to resolve customer enquiries as efficiently as possible, but also to deliver a consistent customer experience across different regions.

"The technologies we are deploying will help make great strides in delivering these objectives, also crucially unifying communication between the different call centres to enable greater collaboration between teams in the future."

The large-scale migration will not only enable Liberty Global to reduce costs, but allow the seamless integration of Cisco and non-Cisco technologies, according to its vice president for transformation delivery Brian Matulin,

"The PE rollout is quite advanced with over 2,000 users already on the platform with a further 7,000 to be on-boarded by May," he said.

"We have taken the opportunity to exploit the technology and expand the platform to employees outside of the Contact Centre, covering both front and back of house activities, on and off-shore."

Apple is finally fixing its faulty 'butterfly' keyboards for free, following a lawsuit and years of users reporting problems with their MacBooks.

Acknowledging the issue, Apple admitted to a "small percentage" of MacBooks suffering from the design flaw, where letters or characters can repeat themselves or fail to appear at all, and keys can feel "sticky".

The butterfly mechanism was Apple's big keyboard redesign that it rolled out in 2015. The new design slimmed down the keyboard by 40% and - Apple claimed - made it four times more stable than the older 'scissor' mechanism.

But users began reporting problems almost immediately, and a lawsuit filed in May this year alleges that dust and debris that filtered into MacBooks via the keyboards made them virtually useless, but that Apple's Genius bars wouldn't acknowledge the problem. It called for damages and replacements for defective MacBooks.

A second lawsuit filed later that month called for damages to be determined by the court.

Now Apple has got around to offering fixes, and doing so for free, replacing either a faulty key or the entire keyboard.

The free fix applies for the following devices:

• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)

Users of affected devices can bring their laptop into an authorised service provider, make an appointment at an Apple store, or mail the device to the Apple Repair Center.

Apple will hope this resolves the issue, with a petition calling for the tech giant to recall and replace all its butterfly keyboard-sporting MacBook Pros garnering 31,000 signatures at the time of writing.

It's true that when it comes to technology, you often get what you pay for. The Asus VC239H, however, is a shining example of a more affordable monitor that can go toe-to-toe with much more expensive competition.

The curvy, black plastic body and narrow 'infinity-edge' bezels look great, but unfortunately, there's little in the way of fancy features or design flourishes here. The stand is a basic affair, and only offers the option to tilt back and forth by a few degrees. There's no height adjustability, and you're restricted to landscape view. You also have to make do with an external power brick, which can be a cumbersome annoyance.

Thankfully, all of this is made up for by the quality of the actual display. Hook up a cable to the DVI, VGA or HDMI ports at the rear, and you're likely to be pleasantly surprised. The Asus's matte 23.6in 1080p panel uses IPS technology and plays its role with aplomb. Photos and movies look bright and natural right out of the box, and while the myriad picture modes often do more harm than good, the Standard and sRGB modes hit the spot.

With the sRGB mode active, the 681:1 contrast ratio is lower than some pricier models we've tried, but an average Delta E of 1.78 is superb for the money - colour accuracy is surprisingly good. Switch to standard mode and contrast leaps to 1,115:1 for a slight trade-off in overall accuracy.

It's not fancy, but if it's a good-quality budget monitor you're after, then the Asus VC239H is a great buy.

Verdict

It’s not fancy, but if it’s a good-quality budget monitor you’re after, a great price and good colour accuracy make the Asus VC239H a great buy.

23.6in IPS monitor

1,920 x 1,080 resolution

Matte anti-glare finish

2 x 1.5W speakers

HDMI

DVI

VGA

533 x 200 x 383mm

3.4kg

Smartphone sales around the world will remain weak in 2018 due to lower demand and fewer replacement purchases, according to a report by market analyst TrendForce.

Due to a continuous rise in the costs of upstream components, downstream mobile phone vendors have to reconsider the pricing or adjust the specification of end-products to cope with the cost pressures, the report said. This means the distribution of market share among the major players is expected to remain generally the same as last year.

TrendForce, therefore, estimates the global smartphone production for 2018 at around 1.5 billion units, a 2.8% annual growth only, down from previously expected 5%.

"Looking back to global smartphone market in 2017, the sales in [the first half] were weaker than expected since the demand was affected by the anticipated launch of new iPhones in [the second half of 2017]," the report stated.

"In the second half of the year, major smartphone brands put focus on all-screen models, hoping to boost the replacement purchases at the year end, but the sales turned out to be lower than expected. Therefore, since the mid [fourth quarter], smartphone vendors have lowered their quarterly production plans due to the huge cost pressures brought by excessive inventory."

According to TrendForce, the handset manufacturers with the biggest potential for the future are Apple and Nokia, and were quoted as "the only international brands with a clear future of growth in 2018".

As the industry leader, the analysts said Samsung will remain the top for smartphone production this year and is expected to continue the success of its budget smartphones, the Galaxy A and J series.

"The smartphone production volume of Samsung is estimated at 300 million units in 2018, a decrease of 5% year on year," said the report.

Despite IDC's latest report stating that Apple overtook Samsung in the smartphone sales for the last quarter of 2017, TrendForce believes Apple will "remain in second place in the ranking of smartphone production for 2017".

For this year, Apple is set to launch three new flagship models in the third quarter, expanding the adoption of Face ID and all-screen technology in these new iPhones, along with upgrading their existing functions and increasing the memory content as well.

As a result, TrendForce said iPhone's annual production volume will increase by 6% because of improved specifications of new iPhones and Apple's expansion in the Indian market.

As for LG, who previously announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market, TrendForce's report stated that the Korean tech giant is an example of how international brands are finding it harder to survive in the Chinese market, where there is growing support for domestic brands.

"More importantly, international brands have difficulty to stay profitable in China because the offerings of the domestic brands have higher performance-price ratios," the analysts added.

No one needs to tell a business how important their customers are. Current customers keep the lights on, so keeping them happy should be a top priority; every interaction should be a positive experience for them.

A help desk can make it much easier to provide a consistently high level of service for your customers. Even if they're calling about an issue that has upset them, it can be handled in a way that makes them confident that you care and are prioritising their needs.

There are a number of opportunities to resolve problems quickly and efficiently with a help desk, and if it is consistently providing quality service, it will improve your customer relationships and customer retention in the future.

Improve customer satisfaction

With so many companies viewing the help desk as a cost they must minimise, the majority of customers are receiving poor support. Nearly 70% of US consumers reported an unsatisfactory service interaction in the past 12 months, according to a survey by Forrester.

Businesses have the opportunity to delight their customers every time they call, increasing their satisfaction and as a result, their retention. The whole team needs to understand the value of the help desk, and be empowered to go above and beyond in delivering a good customer experience.

Exceed expectations in response times

After signing the Service Level Agreement (SLA), many customers will forget the specifics of response times. To them, every major issue impacting their business should be your top priority. When you have more than one major issue going on, sometimes you have to prioritise, but it is critical that your help desk responds to each customer to let them know that they are working to resolve the situation.

If you have been consistently delivering great support, many customers will understand if an issue occasionally takes longer to be resolved.

Recycle expertise

If you're experiencing a large volume of calls on any particular issue, you should spend time creating a knowledge base article for that particular issue. Research by Amdocs found that 91% of customers would use an online knowledge base if it were available, so if your customers can find the answer quickly and efficiently online, they will resolve the issue themselves rather than pick up the phone.

Spot trends

A help desk can act as an early warning system for major business issues. If some customers are complaining about the same issue, then it is likely that more are experiencing it but not saying anything, and therefore becoming dissatisfied with your service.

If these trends are spotted and proactively solved, though, then there is a chance to delight your customers by fixing a problem that the majority of them had but never told you about.

Working on a helpdesk isn't easy, and I should know. Before I entered the world of journalism, one of my first jobs was taking IT support calls for a major American bank's London office.

The main issue is that whatever the problem, the caller automatically treats you as if it is entirely your fault and and holds you personally responsible, even if it is the first call of the day and you have barely had time to park yourself behind your computer.

But aside from the psychological problems caused by working on a helpdesk, there are financial ones in as far as common helpdesk problems cost money. We've compiled a list of these issues and how you can make sure they bother the service desk team no more.

I need to reset my password

Possibly the most common complaint the helpdesk operator gets is when a user can't remember their password to access the network. The problem isn't so much resetting the password but getting the user to reset it themselves.

Nowadays, password resets are increasingly handled by automated systems, but a lack of user education can mean that some will still see a helpdesk call as the easiest and quickest way to sort out their problem.

If you can ensure users know about automated password reset systems, this can go a long way to cutting out a sizable number of calls to the helpdesk. Of course, if the user phones up to reset their Facebook password that's another matter...

I can't get on the Wi-Fi network/why is the Wi-Fi not working?

The increasing popularity of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) has meant that lots of people now want to connect to the corporate network via the wireless network. Of course, this means having to provide details on what network to connect to and its password. Having a self-service portal accessed through another computer connected to the network can help users make sure they connect securely to the router and onwards to the organisation's infrastructure.

It is also handy to have this in place to help users that complain the wireless network is not working or keeps kicking them off. It could pinpoint problems such as overloaded routers in areas where a lot of users connect to them.

My PC is too slow/I need an upgrade

The cri de coeur of many a user is a computer that is slow. Sometimes this is because the user no longer has the latest and greatest machine, and they see their colleague's flashy new PC and envy sets in. A call to the helpdesk is made in the hope that they can automatically replace the machine instead of going through their line manager to request a new PC (which they are unlikely to get).

Of course, a slow PC may be down to a user running too many programmes at the same time, or a scheduled update or scan running in the background that eats up a lot of resources.

Another possiblity is that the user has picked up some malware. Whatever the reason, a lengthy investigation into the root cause could be necessary.

The printer is not working/I can't print

The number of times users have expected a printer to print despite it not being turned on is probably a figure not far short of a Googol. In the heat of the moment, a user will call up the helpdesk without checking first that the printer is on and whether it has enough toner and paper in the correct tray.

Another problem can be of the organisation's own making. Policy may be that access to a network printer has to be granted by the helpdesk. IT will then have to install drivers and make sure the user does indeed have access.

When everyone complains about the same thing

This is most likely to happen when there is a network outage. The helpdesk gets bombarded with calls from users and sometimes (actually a lot more than you would want) the user hasn't asked around to see if anyone else is experiencing the same problem. The reason people still call is probably down to a sense of responsibility to do so - which is admirable but actually quite annoying.

The old school way of dealing with this is to acknowledge the problem in the call and tell the user that IT is dealing with it, but this can be time-consuming. An automated message to warn of problems is a better way and will cut down the number of calls the helpdesk gets.

Users complain of a slow internet/Is the internet down?

The best way of getting a feigned response of "we're dealing with it" is for a user to call in asking why the internet is slow or even down (because apparently the WHOLE of the internet can go down according to some users).

A more simple explanation could be down to spyware and viruses on a user's computer. You'll have to check through with the user what sites they have visited previously and promise to clear up the mess they've made. You can then laugh at them when the phone call is over.

Keeping a small business network running is a demanding job. Unless you remember to check all the event logs regularly, it's easy to let something important slip. What's required is one place where you can see everything you need to know about your network, and make any necessary changes to its configuration.

Spiceworks is a free browser-based network management and administration program. It provides the user with a single dashboard from which he or she can inventory, monitor and troubleshoot the network.

When you first install it, Spiceworks scans your network. It checks Active Directory, does a NetBIOS scan and pings the addresses in your specified IP range. It took us a fair bit of fiddling with the firewall to get all the devices on our network inventoried, and even then our locally attached printer wasn't found. This was a bit odd, given that it was attached to the PC Spiceworks was installed on.

Once it has its inventory, though, Spiceworks is refreshingly intelligent in the way it uses your information. For instance, wherever it can it will identify a client PC's make and model. It will then automatically link that PC's entry to the driver download page on its manufacturer's website. It will also show you the machine's spec, the programs that are installed on it, the amount of disk space free and so on.

Building and updating an inventory, though, is really only the beginning. Spiceworks monitors the network and warns you when alerts come in. So when there's a security alert, a PC is behind on its updates or even when a printer runs low on toner, you'll know about it. And when a problem does arise, you can troubleshoot it from within Spiceworks too.

The software has a built-in, and fairly sophisticated, help desk feature. With this you can create a helpdesk portal and then link that portal to your IT support email address. Each time someone sends support an email, Spiceworks automatically creates a support ticket. The ticket tells you who submitted the request (Spiceworks scans Active Directory on setup, so it knows who your users are), the text of their mail, and when the request was submitted. You can then assign the ticket to a tech support worker, attach it to the relevant device in your inventory, track its progress and close it when it's resolved.

Spiceworks installs locally and doesn't share your information with the eponymous developers. However, the reason it's free is that it's ad-supported. So, when you install you have to register for an account at spiceworks.com. The company will then push targeted ads to appear in relevant places in the Spiceworks interface. For instance, if no Exchange server is detected you'll be shown an ad for hosted email.

The adverts really aren't obtrusive. What's more, your Spiceworks account also gets you access to user forums, training videos and useful repositories of white papers and other tech resources on lots of interesting topics.

Spiceworks has an enormous amount of useful features for absolutely nothing. Having your inventory in one place and being able to easily see network events in real time was incredibly useful. And the free helpdesk and ticketing system will greatly simplify support for small businesses who couldn't otherwise afford such a thing.

Verdict

As long as you don’t mind the occasional advert and are prepared to put some effort into setup, Spiceworks is a great program that makes life a lot easier for small business IT support teams.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Operating system: Windows XP (SP2), Vista, 7, Server 2003 or Server 2008 Processor: 1.5GHz or faster RAM: 1GB

A survey released today on the attitudes of over 500 UK call centre workers has revealed that IT is perceived as the biggest drain on productivity.

Despite this, Siemens Enterprise Communications' "Listeners Report" found their staff enjoying the challenge of handling more complex problems and systems.

Although other recent research found contact centre service and response levels had deteriorated in the last ten years in consumer's eyes, the survey found 45 per cent of calls were resolved in the first instance and that staff were also increasingly handling email, SMS and other customer interactions.

In doing so, only a quarter of call time was found to be spent talking. But the report found a trend towards carrying out complex data entry and administrative tasks over speaking to customers led to IT's non-productive image.

Over two-thirds (68 per cent) of respondents reported a significant IT upgrade in the last year, which rose to 85 per cent in the last two years. And on average, contact centre workers used five separate applications when dealing with a call and only spend 29 per cent of each call actually talking with the customer.

A slowdown in IT resource spending was considered the biggest drain on productivity by 63 per cent of those questioned. And nearly 1 in 4 calls (22 per cent) were affected because of IT issues.

But technology was not seen as all bad, as the survey reported that increased use of complex IT systems had led to a more professional workforce.

Staff felt that call centre technologies allowed for more flexible business operations and working practices, like home workers or back-up staff to manage service demand during peak periods for example.

Perhaps this is why contact centre staff appeared to be surprisingly loyal at odds with the job's popular image as transient and low skilled.

The survey respondents typically stayed in their jobs for over two years, had over four year' experience, actively sought further training and were keen to progress professionally.

"Contact centre workers are experienced, dedicated and satisfied workers. Unfortunately, whilst the working environment is fulfilling its potential, technology hasn't lived up to its promise," stated the report.

The latest research into the work patterns of IT managers has revealed they have more to dread than the usual Monday blues.

The hours between 8 to 10am on a Monday were found to be their busiest time of the week for dealing with end user IT issues.

The research, based on the responses of 130 IT managers questioned by UK IT service management firm Sunrise Software, found most enquiries from employees are received early in the morning and in the beginning of the week, with demand for help slowing as the day and week go on.

Mondays were the most manic, receiving 84.5 per cent of IT enquiries, while Thursday and Friday were the quietest days of the week. Additionally, 62.1 per cent of enquiries were received between 8 and 10 in the morning, with the volume decreasing as the working day continued.

Tom Weston, Sunrise Software chairman commented that employees don't really care about IT issues on a Friday, which is why problems occurring at the end of the previous week end up on IT's doorstep Monday morning, first thing.

Weston added: "Employees also tend to use their computers during the weekend, for professional or personal reasons, returning to the office on Monday with more IT issues."

The survey also discovered the post-weekend rush of IT user requests often also involved personal' issues from employees that also come to light during employees' free time spent in front of their home PCs.

"IT managers are already busy enough and the last thing they want is enquiries irrelevant to work IT," added Weston.

He also said the survey showed "IT managers need to have the right systems in place in order to deal effectively with the high volume of requests, prioritise effectively and avoid experiencing manic Mondays".

The UK economy loses an estimated 6 billion to e-prime

Delegates from across Wales will meet for the annual e-crime Wales Summit to uncover the full extent of the threat of e-crime that faces Welsh businesses.

According to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), e-crime cost the UK economy an estimated 6 billion each year, with 4.9 per cent of UK businesses based in Wales.

In response to these findings e-Crime Wales has appointed a national e-crime sergeant and intends to appoint a further police professional in each of the four Welsh police force areas by September 2008.

Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Corcoran, Chair of the e-Crime Wales Steering Group, said that action is what's needed to combat e-crime.

"Businesses in Wales face global e-crime challenges, as e-crime threats become more aggressive, intelligent and complex. The best response is to equip Wales's business community with the understanding and support they need to remain safe.

"We are taking action, and continue to demonstrate leadership in how to combat e-Crime with a strategy that remains unique from both UK and international perspectives."

Hull University rolls out BridgeHead's software

As part of its data management strategy, the University of Hull is coping with its rapid data growth by introducing data archiving.

BridgeHead Software has been enlisted to assist the university to manage its stored data.

It's hoped that this move will help reduce the institution's carbon footprint as it will cut backup windows and reduce the environmental impact of its storage infrastructure.

Working with systems integrator NexStor, Hull University will roll out BridgeHead's BH FileStore software to automatically archive data from its network appliance fibre channel storage system onto secondary media, including SATA disk.

Desktop and Data Services Manager for the University's Computing Services department Dr David Jarvis said that data archiving was helping the university plan for the future. "We've seen a big increase in storage demand and want to plan for the future so that we're managing costs as well as cutting the energy and resources we're devoting to storage and backup as part of our commitment to the environment. "Many of our users were storing large amounts of important information on their own hard drives and other devices. Moving this to central storage - coupled with a general increase in demand - meant we had to plan ahead before our data management got out of control."

Customer services at Dyfed Powys Police gets overhaul

ICCM will supply Dyfed Powys Police with its e-Service Desk with the aim of establishing a service management solution within the constabulary's IT department.

It's hoped the deal will help improve the force's helpdesk services and deliver a broad range of customer care to its users.

The e-Service Desk will also enable Dyfed Powys Police to align with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework, which is the UK government's best practice approach to IT service management.

Chris Dumpleton, IS&T Service Desk Supervisor for Dyfed Powys Police, said the move towards e-Service Desk was a logical one given the ITIL's guidelines.

"Our existing customer service and helpdesk system was unsuited to the new ITIL approach that the IT department is undertaking. The department's objective of achieving ITIL alignment presented the perfect opportunity to enhance the service desk.

"e-Service Desk ticks all the boxes and more, in terms of the superior functionality it offers. In fact, it appeared to be one of the most technically advanced products available on the market and was competitively priced."

£2.8 billion funding package for Manchester's transport system

Greater Manchester is to go ahead with its proposals for a local congestion charging scheme.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly announced that the area will benefit from a 2.8 billion funding package that will deliver public transport improvements and tackle congestion.

The proposed congestion charge is designed around a "twin cordon" system which will operate at peak times only. Vehicles will be charged according to their crossing of cordons. The scheme will use tag and beacon technology supported by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).

The package includes plans for up to 22 miles of extension to the Metrolink tram, transformed bus services across Manchester and 120 extra yellow school buses.

Kelly insisted that congestion plans were essential to Manchester's economy.

"This is about creating a world class transport system for a world class city."

"Manchester's economic renaissance is a major British success story. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the UK, but congestion has become an increasing brake on its future prosperity, with the potential to cost the city as many as one in seven of future jobs."

The £2.8bn package consists of 1.5bn from the Department for Transport, 1.2bn from local contributions, 0.1bn local third party contribution.

The work of IT support staff is never done, especially while on holiday it would seem, according to a survey by Sunrise Software.

The provider of IT Service Management solutions questioned 121 IT support staff across the UK, and found that 47 per cent of respondents were expected to answer work-related calls while on holiday.

A further 23 per cent of respondents said they do not turn off their BlackBerry or mobile phones during holidays.

Sunrise are now calling on employers to implement 'R.E.A.L' (rewarded with extra annual leave) holidays for IT staff, which will amount to one week of every year on top of their standard holiday leave.

Executive chairman at Sunrise Tom Weston said that it was essential for IT support staff to be treated fairly.

"We believe that the IT service desk is getting a raw deal when it comes to holiday allocation," he said.

"It's imperative that employees can switch off and completely relax on annual leave - and remaining at the beck and call of senior executives doesn't constitute relaxation," he added. "IT service desks should be organised enough to continue operating effectively when key members of staff are on holiday. That's why we're calling on employers to recognise there is a problem and award 'R.E.A.L.' in recognition of this."

Warburtons will consolidate its helpdesk and SAP support with the help of international IT services company Atos Origin.

It's hoped that the five-year contract with Atos Origin, which will implement an online self-service tool to report and monitor IT enquiries, will serve to reduce costs, improve services, lead to greater efficiency and above all assist the 2,000 Warburton employees who use their IT systems.

Atos Origin will also provide strategic advice to further enhance Warburtons' SAP infrastructure through the former's UK-based SAP Centre of Excellence for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). It's hoped that such a move will help better manage the baker's critical business issues such as regulatory demands and bringing new products to the market faster.

IT and programme director at Warburtons Damien Ghee said that Warburtons would benefit from Atos' expertise.

"Atos Origin's ability to provide a coordinated service management across all of our IT services, together with their vast experience of offering SAP support and integrated Helpdesk solutions for a number of UK FMCG companies mirrored our requirements."

"We were also very impressed with its UK-based 'Centre of Expertise for the Food and Beverage Sector' as well as their innovative approach to investigating new systems and functionality...and believe that we can potentially benefit from the innovative solutions developed by the team of experts based there," said Ghee.