Government IT does not play favourites

It is clear from the comments on your article that people recognise that we [the government] favour no one (Government and outsourcing – a mixed bag of issues, markkobayashihillary.computing.co.uk).

We are passionate about keeping a level playing field just as we are about bringing new entrants into the market. As your article says, this can be tough. It is both expensive and time consuming to bid and whether we like it or not, this will put off some suppliers because they are short of resources and/or money.

What matters to me is getting suppliers that are exceptionally good at not just winning business, but executing the contract.

In relation to offshoring, it is not just a political issue. The reality of government work means I must provide a high level of safety and security of citizen data as well as ensure that any application we build and then connect to a secure government network remains safe.

John Suffolk, government chief information officer

Blame cuts both ways

I found last week’s letters of the week extremely interesting (IT recruitment agents don’t know enough…, …then again, perhaps it’s the candidates, letters.computing.co.uk). I agree with both sides, while also disagreeing.

Recruitment agents are salespeople. As with any salesperson, they know the buzz words for the industry in which they work. But when was the last time you believed the word of a salesman who knocked on your door? Answer: rarely.

Recruiters have a job, and that is to work for clients who are looking for staff. They are not there for the candidates, and in all honesty, like any good salesman, they are looking at the commission they can get.

Candidates think they can send off a CV and wait for recruiters – who apparently have nothing to do all day but look for a job just for one candidate – to give them a heap of jobs, all with a pay rise, fewer hours, and more interesting work.

Recruiters fall down because they do not give feedback. Responding to 250 applicants to say: “Sorry, you were not selected this time” costs nothing at all. If the recruiters’ IT systems work well, it’s a matter of hitting a single button.

Having said that, candidates let themselves down by not accepting that they must do 95 per cent of the work themselves. They need to customise every CV they send, with a personalised cover letter. And they need to keep chasing.

B Parker

Benefits of telehealth

I agree with Simon Perry’s comments on the virtuous circle benefits for telehealth (The opportunities and risks of telehealth in the NHS, quocirca.computing.co.uk).

As a university lecturer, I frequently teach the topic to student nurses. I emphasise that this equipment provides tools that enable us to deliver healthcare in much the same way as we use electronic equipment to provide healthcare in hospitals.

As healthcare professionals, we must not allow the technology to replace patient contact. Used correctly, the benefits should allow us to reduce unnecessary visits and hospitalisations, allowing us to use freed-up time to visit patients who require interventions and care. Human contact is an essential component of healthcare and we must not forget how important it is for both patients and care providers.

Ray McKinnie

Why piracy persists

These days, users are not fixed to a specific location or PC – so software should not be either (The unspoken software licensing debacle, jasonslater.computing.co.uk).

Although many people have laptops and can work anywhere, there is often a need to share licences, or for software to be floated between work and home.

Most software vendors do not consider the licensing of their software as a key component of the customer relationship. Increasingly, companies want to be able to share their software with vendors and/or outside consultants and this common demand is often only solved with piracy.

The demands for licensing flexibility do not align with the current business models in the software industry. Even software-as-a-service vendors have not figured it out – they still try to sell named-user access instead of a shared-access model. But offering a true service to customers should be independent of named users or machines. A more flexible approach to licensing would result in a competitive advantage, with more profit per unit/subscription sold.

Dave, submitted on the web

IT key to UK recovery

Coming just days after the bullish note struck by the Digital Britain report, this news shows just how far we have to go as a nation to increase the role played by technology (UK slips down global IT league table, www.computing.co.uk/2244252).

Despite the downturn, the UK’s largest technology companies continue to post positive results, and these show no signs of abating. Yet the size of Britain’s IT sector still pales in comparison with that of other nations. The results achieved by our top tech companies highlight the need and potential to have a larger and more influential UK IT industry, which could improve our GDP.

It is the responsibility of government and industry to ensure that technology’s recent success is used as a launchpad to make UK plc great again. While other industries have suffered in the downturn, given the right encouragement, the UK’s IT sector is well positioned to play a vital role in leading the UK out of recession.

Peter Anderton

Drawback of the cloud

While the article on the relative merits of Microsoft and Google (Microsoft vs Google: you choose, www.computing.co.uk/2244381) was good, it failed to mention information security as one of the main issues.

Availability was rightly mentioned, but not confidentiality nor integrity of information. If a company entrusts its information to a public cloud, what standards will protect that data and who will indemnify the firm should their valuable information leak or be maliciously modified or deleted?

Cloud computing has a place for business, but how big a place will depend on how much trust it can generate and not how capable or cheap the solutions are.

Peter Wenham

IT recruitment agents don’t know enough...

As I read the letter from Bob Justice on the difficulties he has faced finding an IT job (Join the job club, letters.computing.co.uk), my first thought was: “I could have written that.”

I was made redundant in June 2008 but, unlike the letter writer, had a little bit of luck when my local university gave me a one-year, part-time contract. The people I work with have been great, but my year is almost at an end and the university does not have the budget to renew my contract. Being part time gave me a chance to secure the full-time job I was after – or so I thought. But here I am, two weeks from the end of my contract and how many interviews have I had in the year? Absolutely none. I have applied for more than 100 jobs, had plenty of phone calls from agencies, but after the initial call, I have heard nothing. The agent disappears off the face of the earth, they are never able to speak to me when I call about progress and no one ever answers my emails.

I have two theories about this problem. The first is that a recruitment agent submits my CV and the potential employer looks at my experience and guesses I am older than they are.

If they employed me, I would become a threat, undermine their authority and expect a salary larger than they want to pay. So they throw away my CV and employ someone younger and cheaper, who has less experience.

Theory two: the agent looks at my CV and it is not an exact match so it is thrown away. Because the agent only provides people and is not an IT expert (although some I have spoken to in the past year think they are), they work on the exact-match theory. If they knew what they were doing, they would know that an experienced programmer adapts to their circumstances and picks up new skills easily because their experience gives them the basic building blocks necessary to do so.

I am in this industry because I enjoy the work. I am not in it for the money. Provided I can pay my bills at the end of the month with a little to spare, I am happy. So give me a chance.

Patrick Hobb-Chambers

...then again, perhaps it’s the candidates

As a recruiter in the field of IT support and software development, I have found it difficult recently to source capable and accomplished staff. I was therefore surprised to read that skilled and experienced individuals were finding it equally difficult to secure employment (Join the job club, letters.computing.co.uk).

I have received many varied applications and the factor that sets the right candidate apart from the rest has rarely been skills and/or experience – the key decider when weighing up candidates has always been attitude. Qualifications tell me the candidate has ticked the right boxes in an exam or done enough to satisfy a board of examiners at an academic body. Experience, as displayed by CV or in interview, tells me that a candidate knows their industry well enough to carry out their past few job roles. If I find myself torn between a number of equally skilled and experienced candidates, I look to the candidate’s general attitude to sway my decision. Attitude can be identified readily during the interview process and through informal discussion with candidates.

Bob Justice may think himself hard done by with his unfortunate unemployment, but I disagree with his assessment of the situation. There are myriad options open to a skilled and experienced individual such as Bob. All it takes is the confidence and attitude to get out there and sell himself as the talented individual he is, rather than seeing himself as “a punching bag for when things go wrong”. There may be competition in some areas of IT at present, but we are far from being the hardest hit.

Ben Sugden

Collaborators welcome

The assertion that the chief information officer’s (CIO’s) influence in the business is increasing is undoubtedly a positive sign (CIOs and CFOs – working better together to beat the recession, www.computing.co.uk/2243762).

IT plays a vital role in every major organisation, yet for years its influence has been undervalued. This is partly due to the fact that many firms have struggled to sufficiently assess the financial value of their IT assets, as they would other assets such as brand, real estate or intellectual property. If CIOs can grasp this value, they will be able to show that IT spending is more effectively aligned with business needs, making them a useful ally for chief financial officers in a recession. IT can rapidly reduce costs and deliver huge competitive advantage, so it is fitting for the CIO to playing a greater role in business decisions.

David Stephenson

Licence to share

I hope we see more software vendors licensing software to a person instead of to a machine (The unspoken software licensing debacle, http://jasonslater.computing.co.uk).

Users demand flexibility in how they use their software. For example, if I wanted to share my licence for a particular piece of software for a day with a co-worker, I should be able to do that. Software vendors need to look at supporting floating licences around various PCs. Current licensing approaches are draconian and treat customers like criminals.

Andrew, submitted on the web