Stories by Siobhan Chapman

Telemetry upgrade is watertight

Melbourne Water recently faced the challenge of replacing its 20-year-old, in-house developed IT system that controls the city's water supply, sewerage and drainage network with a new system without any possibility of disruption.

It's the best of times - for storage buyers

In a tougher-than-usual climate for enterprise storage vendors it may never be a better time for IT managers to open their purse strings.

Cutting resumes to bits

It's winter for IT job prospects out there. So commiserate with the unfortunate HR manager charged with the task of sorting through a towering pile of paper-based resumes. This is where resume sorters, tools for electronically sifting through resumes, can help stem the flood of candidates.

Army gets a $98m communications upgrade

The Australian Army is embarking on three projects worth almost $309 million to upgrade its capabilities, including a $98 million project to upgrade the communications network.

ATO speeds up tax agents' portal debut

After accountant bodies issued the Australian Taxation Office an ultimatum to dramatically improve its poor online and telephony services, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) sped up the launch of a new tax portal.

CBA silent on EDS profit warning

EDS' profit warning last month caused analysts to warn clients to keep an eye on the service provider. However, local major customer Commonwealth Bank remains quiet on the issue.

ACS pushes for ethics-based recruiting in Government

The Australian Computer Society wants the Federal Government to acknowledge and strive to improve the level of professionalism within its IT staff.

Web site damage a growing concern

Web site defacement is on the rise and IT departments are finding their resources stretched in dealing with the issue, according to security experts.

Use negotiating nous to win licence deals

User power looks like it's making an impact. In recent months large software vendors, such as Oracle and Microsoft, have tried revising licensing models that could see a dramatic rise in costs for their customers. However, it's been a month of progress for the customer resistance movement.

Statistics show IT income rose while profits slumped

The Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed the IT&T industry activity was significantly depressed for 2000 to 2001 with profits falling compared to figures recorded for the sector between 1998 to 1999, according to figures released Thursday.

Lack of IP hampers IT

Australia's low, and slipping, levels of intellectual property and technology production has increased the ICT balance of payment deficit.

How to manage propeller heads and code monkeys

For IT managers who have risen from the ranks of the technical professional, leading other technical gurus can be a daunting task.

Beware of 'free' vendor offerings

Beware of vendors that offer entire product suites for "next to nothing". It is a trap that snares IT managers into paying high maintenance costs that spiral each year.

Defence chief says conceptual mistakes to blame for overruns

In the face of harsh criticism from the Federal Opposition, Department of Defence CIO Patrick Hannan admits there have been mistakes at conception of IT projects that have lead to them running late and over budget.

Child protection agency signs $5m deal

Whilst facing an Upper House Inquiry into child protection systems, the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS) has appointed consultancy firm Accenture to replace a 15-year old "outdated" system.