One factor dissuading people from joining the IT industry – and persuading many to leave – is the knowledge that in many jobs, costs are being cut ruthlessly and work is being exported to low-cost economies (Who killed the reputation of UK IT?, roriedevine.computing.co.uk).

This has a number of effects. Many of the roles being outsourced are entry-level, so it is harder to get into the industry; the supply of more experienced staff is reduced as the training posts disappear; salaries are depressed by competition with low-cost countries.

In addition, a lot of the interesting challenges – doing things with technology as opposed to telling someone on the other side of the world to do something – are no longer there.

So we end up as project managers, business analysts and pen pushers, as opposed to technology experts. Of the two competing trends – the drive to outsource versus the growth in the need for IT – I expect outsourcing to win and IT in this country to go into a slow decline, especially the 30-year-plus working life that a new graduate would be looking forward to.

Andrew H Wood

I do not know where Dave Walker gets this idea that all civil servants are on high wages and good pensions (Public image, letters.computing.co.uk). Only senior civil servants are on good wages and pensions, the average civil servant working in a Job Centre, for instance, is on less than £14,000 a year, and is often overworked.

And no, more people are not being employed. In fact they are being made redundant, outsourced or are not being replaced. Those left behind are having to pick up the additional workload.

When your wages are this low, the pension will be low, with most paying extra to top up their pensions. I suggest you have a look at the PCS union web site to get the real story on how civil servants are treated. Remember this if you ever find yourself unlucky enough to have to use a Job Centre.

A public service worker

As the network manager of a Norfolk high school, we have seen the building of eight new classrooms under the Building Schools for the Future programme (Education costs, letters.computing.co.uk).

We chose to manage and run the project ourselves, leaving our local authority to rubber stamp and pay for what the school designed and agreed. As part of that I took on the management of the IT provision and worked with the nominated contractor to agree products and implementation.

With that, plus a free reign for the hardware purchase, we have IT provision in every room, capable of 1Gbit/s to the desktop. We have top-level industrial-grade equipment at 20 to 50 per cent below commercial costs, and our design and implementation phases were careful, steady and efficient.

The ongoing cost is about £45,000 per year to keep this level of provision up-to-date. We outsource nothing. We buy into no maintenance.

It is not hard within the current market affluence of highly skilled persons to recruit and retain in-house skills to deal with all non-warranty and also some warranty issues.

These options are open to headteachers. They need to have sufficiently competent staff and the appropriate management skills to be confident to take this step. The soft options cost more in return for having someone else to blame.

Stuart Johnson

There are always dozens of reasons not to do something – go live with a project, stand up and say “The King is not wearing any clothes” and so on (Shared IT is set to support frontline services).

Shared services often require a mindset change to encourage the “experts” – the managers who deal with the everyday issues – to begin collaborating with peers in different organisations to look for similarities rather than differences.

A key question is to ask whether the senior management team of an institution will encourage and then actively support their middle managers to suggest that many sacred cows should be offloaded to the abattoir. Or perhaps I have mixed my metaphors too much.

Paul Hopkins

Mike Byrne said in his letter that he is concerned he might one day have to present his ID card when buying petrol (Who picks up the ID trail? letters.computing.co.uk).

He need not worry – this is not necessary. At Birchhanger Green services on the M11 I observed a notice that all registration numbers are checked against the Police National Computer before the pump is enabled – and that this information will be retained. I suspect the “Time to next junction” signs on the M25 and others are also recording your number plate as you pass – it is the easiest way to produce the estimate.

Andy Champ

I recently returned to a client for whom I had created a business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) plan two years ago (In recovery, letters.computing.co.uk).

Despite a number of prompts, they had never tested the plan subsequent to our initial test. The person responsible for updating the plan had left the company nine months after its creation – taking all his knowledge – and the task was given to the office junior.

Needless to say they had neither the understanding or the incentive to make sure it was kept up-to-date, but it really was not that person’s fault. Luckily, the company had not suffered any catastrophic problems – but came close to a couple. The new managing director now understands the worth of such preparation and has appointed a senior manager to be responsible for BC/DR.

They have carried out two tests since January and now feel very “safe” and prepared for just about any eventuality. It is right to have a BC/DR plan, but someone has to take responsibility for it.

Mike McNamara

I agree with Nic Manfield’s reply to John McGhee’s letter saying anyone with home PC skills has a future in IT (Let experience speak for itself, letters.computing.co.uk).

This is like saying if you drive a car then you can fix it. It shouts so loud the fact that IT managers do not have a clue about real computing, and think using a few computer applications makes the user a competent technician. It does not.

Dave Walker

There have been several responses to my letter (Let experience speak for itself, letters.computing.co.uk).

There is confusion about the point I was trying to make. I said there is no lack of IT skills but there is a lack of the type of complex IT skills which the business world needs.

People with good PC skills should be encouraged to see them as a means of a getting their foot in the door, because having outstanding PC skills is an indication of their potential to learn the far more advanced skills used in business computing.

It used to take a long time for anyone to learn even the most basic computer skills because everything was done at machine-code level. Thanks to PCs, Microsoft and the web, the gap is smaller because there is no longer any mystery about computer technology, merely different levels of complexity.

I cannot defend the IT manager’s jibe but I like to think that if people such as yourselves became IT managers you could maybe redress the balance. I only became an IT manager myself after 20 years of being a techie in a variety of systems programming/technical infrastructure roles and another decade as an Oracle DBA before eventually being told that I should concentrate on management.

You will be pleased to know I no longer do that either, but I wish you the best of luck if you ever take up the challenge yourselves.

John McGhee

Mark Samuels is right to highlight the tendency for IT management to use insight services, such as Gartner, Forrester Research or the many other more specialised services, to justify spending which they have already decided on (Making best use of Gartner’s report).

But an IT organisation which is susceptible to the kind of problem he describes is barely at first base in its use of these services.

You must move towards a strategic relationship where you have a structured portfolio that meets needs you have discussed and defined.

Create continuing dialogue with the analysts through which IT strategy is shaped and directed. The “latest research” should already be in the hands of those who need to know, perhaps even before it was published. If your provider is not in favour of this kind of relationship, it is time to switch – but they will be, guaranteed.

Dr Tony Law

How demoralising to see yet another example of IT systems being blamed for failure in meeting business deadlines (Concerns over child welfare IT continue).

Several years ago, government directives called for councils across the country to invest in computer equipment and software.

Social Services were additionally required to buy in applications that would support electronic case recording for all service users - adults and children - with each local authority responsible for deciding the most suitable application and  supplier.

Since then, several high-profile social cases involving children have rightly highlighted the need to tighten up the process. As a result, more structured methods of assessments and controlling workflow have been introduced - including eCAF and ICS - which require substantial upgrades to the computer systems already in use.

Unfortunately, some of these hitherto reliable systems are not upgradeable to the extent required and need replacing, involving substantial investment in new software, networks, staff retraining and data migration from existing systems.

The authorities concerned have been doing this as best they can within their timescale and budget and the fact that two-thirds missed the 31 March deadline merely reflects the amount of work involved. Having been involved in the training programmes of several authorities, I have seen these efforts first hand.

One positive aspect is that the business actually knows what is needed and is asking for the IT tools to make it happen, but in such a sensitive area the process cannot be rushed as any errors could have a negative impact on the very same vulnerable children whom these  systems are being installed to protect.

John McGhee

Johan Rock is absolutely right that backups are still one of the least appreciated aspects of IT until, in many cases, it is too late (Back up or face the consequences, letters.computing.co.uk).

I still come across businesses that are so cavalier with their data it is a wonder that they stay in business - unfortunately, many fail after a serious event such as a fire or flood.

What I find even more amazing are the companies that spend large amounts of money on exotic backup architectures, but never find time to test a restore of their backups. Many home PC users are just as much in the dark, which is surprising when just about every PC has a read-write device and with free backup software available on the internet it could not be easier.

It is even more incredible when you think that 8GB memory sticks are now available for less than £50 - less than it costs to fill the average family car with petrol.

Mike McNamara

Ron Bumstead's letter advising people not to work for the public sector makes him sound as if he is overworked (Public image, letters.computing.co.uk).

The team numbers he quotes seem about right, if not extravagant - especially in the real world of the
private sector.

There are many reasons why Ron and others in the public sector are on low pay:The public sector works fewer hours; needs to employ more people to screw  in the proverbial light bulb because of more absenteeism and less work completed per person; and workers receive grossly over-subsidised pensions.

Count your blessings - after 35 years you will receive a good pension. If you were in the real world and contracting - yes, contractors get good pay, more than double your salary - you would need to invest a good deal of your income and pray it provides good returns for a pension.

Mine has not, and I am sure many more contractors have seen their investments dwindle while watching public pensions thrive.

Dave Walker

Politicians are adept at destroying an opposing argument, usually by not engaging with it. However, there are fundamental differences between a biometric passport and the proposed ID card (Does David Davis know what an ID card does? newsdesk.computing.co.uk).

The required biometric on the passport is a digitised copy of the photograph. Fingerprints, or some derivative of them, may be added, but are not a legal requirement. A passport is not strictly an identity document, although it is often used as such. Either way, its use is primarily for crossing national borders and establishing one's credentials in a foreign country.

The ID card is primarily a document for internal control and has a far wider and more worrying range of possible uses. The card itself, as proposed, will carry very limited data, but will link  to the National Identity Register, which in turn is  intended to link to personal data held across a range of databases.

The scope of this goes far beyond anything historically achieved by or intended for passports. David Davis can rightly be accused of oversimplifying the argument and the technicalities - something politicians are prone to do as they tend to assume the population is basically thick and/or of
very limited attention span. However, I think you are too harsh in writing off his position as a result.

The appropriation by a government of the control and ownership of the personal identity of citizens is a fundamentally dangerous, inhumane, anti-democratic act. There is no historical precedent that says the state can be trusted with such a degree of control over the private lives of the people.

If wickedness does not wreak havoc, incompetence surely will - and knowing what we know about human nature and large institutions, we will probably be faced with both.

Adair, submitted on the web

I must take issue with Philip Lewis's views on staff attitudes to working hours (Give and ye shall receive, letters.computing.co.uk).

Everyone accepts that on occasions all staff, regardless of grade, have to work beyond their contracted hours to meet deadlines and deliver projects. But the key is in his sentence, "I often have to ask my staff...". If staff are often being asked to work beyond their contracted hours, it suggests to me that the projects are being under-resourced and the employer is relying on, and abusing, the goodwill of the staff to deliver projects.

Under these circumstances, I have to agree with Keith Woollacott's original letter, and say that employees should refuse.

Keith Lyall

I read with interest Paul Vine's letter about his difficulty finding a job in IT (Killing IT softly, letters.computing.co.uk). Sadly, it will always be difficult to break into IT because of the nature of the business. A lot of IT is about translating industry knowledge into a technological implementation.

Most of my colleagues did not enter IT directly. They invariably started by playing with spreadsheets or being forced to learn a piece of software and discovering that they had a knack for tinkering with the code behind it.

Some even entered IT because they had specialist skills in logistics, finance or even medicine and were bored with their old professions. Very few entered  with a degree in computer science.

The best path if you lack knowledge is to contact one of the large system integrators, such as Capgemini,  Accenture, Logica or IBM, and ask if they have any junior positions. They will not
demand commercial experience for a junior role, but they might ask that you undertake a psychometric
assessment and normally  insist on a good degree.

I am another one of these accidental entrance people.   I wanted to move to the Netherlands nine years ago.  I had very little IT experience, and was a youth worker with a degree in geography. I tried the agencies with no success.

Then I started cold calling human resource departments and insisting on sending my CV via fax. This proved to be the most successful strategy and within days I was given an interview. A month later I started working for a global electronics company.

Jonathan Eaton

Do not hold your breath for government action on the future of broadband, Mike McNamara (Broadband of old, letters.computing.co.uk). In November I wrote to Stephen Timms MP suggesting that investment in broadband could help traffic and pollution concerns by promoting teleconferencing rather than driving to meetings.

Unfortunately, this government "does not believe, however, that rollout should be financed through public investment".

While our manufacturing capability ebbs away, surely our only future as a country lies in leading in other areas - apparently IT investment is not one of them.

Duncan Reynolds

Does it really matter how carbon emission reductions are achieved? Just because a scheme saves lots of money does not make it any less green, it just makes the IT department look stupid for
not doing it earlier (Is green technology losing its colour?).

In any case, as some recently quoted contracts and savings have indicated, it is unlikely that we will be able to reduce IT energy use in line with national emissions targets. IT can contribute most to non-IT energy reduction.

The real test will be when the impact of the Climate Change Bill starts to loom in a year's time, and companies start panicking when they realise what is required. Does it really matter if there is best practice or benchmarking yet? It needs to be done and you have to start somewhere.

The enemy at the moment is lack of knowledge and awareness, but as someone once wisely said: "Plans are nothing, but planning is everything."

Pete Foster

What planet is Robert Chapman on? (The lure of the public sector).

Is it planet BSF (Building Schools for the Future), or BSP as we call it in our school Ð Building Schools For Profit?

Has he even had a sniff of working in IT support in a school? Come to work in education IT, he says. Well I did, in 1998 when innovation, dynamism and thinking on your feet were key to driving forward IT provision in schools.

Now it will be a very different proposition - as other people quite rightly point out - when schools' technical staff are downgraded to time-constrained monitor monkeys who may not even work in one place but could be shifted around.

I know plenty of people who have jumped ship in the past three years as they see what is unfolding and would prefer to swim rather than sink with the BSF project.

I am employed in a BSF school and have had to  put up with the stress, heartache, uncertainty and mushroom management of the IT provision. Just the thought of rereading a proposal for one of our almost-built BSF schools sends a shiver down my spine.

I can see it now: wireless everywhere, hundreds of laptops in students' hands, computer-controlled door access all flooded throughout the school and all requiring expert on-the-spot support. It will be a nightmare, especially when the private company renegotiates our contracts after the two protected years, which it will do, and downgrades all the IT staff or even makes some   redundant in the relentless pursuit of profit.

Am I jumping ship? You bet I am, as soon as possible. Get out of IT in education before BSF gets in.

Saul Hudson

Mike Byrne raises some interesting questions in his letter (Who picks up the ID trail? letters.computing.co.uk).

If this government's track record on protecting our personal data is an example of the future, Mike will be in for a shock. His scenario of being tracked when buying petrol and using cash machines is already a reality.

From 2009 anyone leaving the UK will need to supply 53 pieces of personal information - see www.tinyurl.com/2ww86f - this could and probably will be linked to the  national identity register database. The government already allows commercial companies to access the  driver and vehicle licensing database.

Bringing all these together worries me a great deal. Mike is right that no real  debate has taken place as
to who controls all this data, and who allows whom to  access it.

Mike McNamara

The best way for government to make ID cards widespread is to do the following (New approach to ID card scheme).

Make it a criminal offence for anyone, government or commercial, to ask for further proof of identity when an ID card has been presented and an identity confirmation received.

Take responsibility for losses incurred when a properly executed identity check using an ID card returns a false result, whether the losses are the commercial organisation's for a false positive or the individual's for a false negative.

Make it a criminal offence to refuse other identity verification offerings, but leave the organisation freedom to set reasonable rules.

This would still allow the paranoid and the refuseniks to stay out of the system and possibly to stay out of it for only some activities.

Jim Blair

One of the major South African banks has a system in place for certain types of internet banking transactions, where a system-defined password that is continually changed is sent in real time to the client's registered mobile number. This number must then be inputted for the transaction to be authorised (Abbey wary of two-factor authentication).

The system has a number of safeguards in that the user requires the banking account user name and password, along with the mobile phone registered on the client's bank profile.

Trevor Grantham

Businesses are quick to blame government, but the UK is just like the US in that businesses do not want to do what is necessary to protect themselves if they are key to the economy and the critical infrastructure (Cyber attack threat is ignored).

Yet they would protest if government set standards for securing their information assets. This is a classic case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't".

Name withheld on request

I found the letter suggesting that anyone with home PC skills has a future in IT to be naive and dangerous in its assumptions (Let experience speak for itself, letters.computing.co.uk).

There is a huge difference between being a competent user of Microsoft products and integrating complex systems. The biggest challenge to IT is to integrate software packages in a seamless and reliable way to meet business needs.

You might be able to perform low-level software functions by dragging and dropping a utility instead of writing low-level code, but if you do not understand the implications of what you are doing, you will not meet the business need or achieve technical efficiency.

If you do not adopt the mindset required to test the function, you will not meet the need for reliability.

Nic Manfield

Having a disaster recovery (DR) plan is a great idea for any business, but many take it too far or do not look at all the options (Join the business continuity debate).

For example, does the business need to provide off-site working facilities for all its staff, or just a subset? Could sufficient infrastructure be put in place to allow users to work remotely during a disaster? It is about balancing the need to keep the business running with the cost of implementing DR.

Without a well-documented and tested DR plan, forget it. A DR plan can become obsolete remarkably quickly if documentation is not updated and IT staff are not made responsible for keeping the plan current.

George Mason

I read with interest your recent article: Child welfare IT hit by delays.

The March deadline was reviewed some months ago and a new target deadline of 31 May was approved by the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) for Phase 1B of the Integrated Children's System (ICS) project. Barking & Dagenham Council has been working closely with Anite to meet this target and everything is proceeding as agreed between ourselves, Anite and the DCSF.

We have an obligation to our community to deliver the best services in the most cost-effective manner. These projects are complex and take a great deal of time, resources and money, and we want to get it right first time.

We have successfully partnered with Anite on a number of projects in our social care department.
The mobile social care solution implemented in 2006 is one of the most successful projects undertaken by the borough.

Implementing ICS is tough. It involves substantial changes to children's practice, short deadlines and a complex change programme.

Anite has worked alongside us throughout the project and the end is in sight. ICS will result in significant service improvements and a reduction in risks for our service users and ourselves.

Sarah Bryant, head of ICT and e-government
London  Borough of Barking & Dagenham

Large suppliers hate innovation because it disturbs the status quo and it could threaten their dominance and profits (Innovation gets risk assessment).

Accordingly, at their behest, UK government has been forced - by dint of threatened withdrawal of consultancies, directorships, lecture tours and so on for MPs and senior civil servants in their dotage - to go to a great deal of trouble to eliminate small, innovative companies from public sector contracts.

For example, all NHS IT contracts are solely with the big five. Look at any public contract IT pre-qualification questionnaire and you will see that it is impossible for a small UK company to meet the criteria, thus they are eliminated. The contract goes to the big suppliers for up to 10 times the cost and they outsource the work to the third world to maximise their megaprofits.

In the US, public bodies are compelled to use a proportion of their expenditure on small companies, and until similar legislation is applied in the UK, innovation will continue to be stifled and the new industry leaders of the future will never be UK companies.

Name withheld on request

I have been looking for a job in IT for four months since leaving the Royal Navy (Masters to plug the skills gap).

I am just about to graduate with the Open University and have considerable experience in hardware, software, project management and security. But I cannot get a job even in the few junior positions advertised because they all demand at least two years' commercial experience.

The engineering industry stopped providing apprenticeships many years ago, and there is now a desperate skills shortage. If IT employers do not become more realistic about the skills and
experience they require for entry-level jobs, in a few years' time nobody in this country will have acquired the skills necessary for more senior posts.

Paul Vine

Your story states: "The EU should also reinforce bridges between education in schools and universities and private training colleges that provide certifications" (Security certification needs to be strengthened).

As a recent graduate, I feel there is a need to link work skills to the theoretical knowledge taught at universities. While some universities encourage students to take up industry-recognised certifications, others are too arrogant to acknowledge the real-world experience that certifications teach.

Having gone to one of the top universities in the UK I know that emphasis is placed more on the theoretical aspect of learning, which means graduates leave without truly knowing what it means to work in industry.

I decided to pursue Cisco certification as this teaches the fundamentals of networking and linking it to real-world skills, though this benefits Cisco because it stands to sell more routers.

Security and other IT-related certifications should be encouraged by universities to ensure that people have a good idea about what the real world of business involves. I hope industry and education can work this out.

Tom, submitted on the web

So, another report to deliver in the autumn (Government to review broadband). What is going on with broadband in the UK?

It seems that the Broadband Stakeholder Group report released in April 2007 has not had any influence on government thinking about broadband in the UK and now there is another report due in another six months.

When will we see some real action from the government on real investment in the broadband infrastructure of the UK?

Mike McNamara

The computers for pupils scheme that offers free PCs to low-income families is bundled either with a 3G modem and a data limit such as 4GB per month, or recipients take out ADSL contracts, so there is no issue of them running up a large phone bill (PC gone mad, letters.computing.co.uk).

As for them being able to afford an Xbox but not a computer, this might be true - but it is a sad fact of life that kids would rather have an Xbox than have a PC.

Providing a family with a PC not only encourages kids but the whole family to use IT. I believe the notebook is school property, so any loss is treated as losing school property in the same way as any other equipment.

I agree that giving away laptops in this way is not the best use of funds - especially as notebooks become useless piles of junk after about two years and often do not even last that long in the hands
of juveniles.

I would rather they were given PCs than notebooks, or the money was used to hire  a good teacher or provide teacher training. Giving away equipment is not  education; give a student a pen and you have a scribbler, but fire his or her imagination and you could have a Shakespeare.

Steve, submitted on the web

I am a "boss". I often have to ask my staff to work beyond their contracted hours. Unlike Keith Woollacott, however, it is very unusual for them to refuse (Working 9 to 5, letters.computing.co.uk).
The reason? They know that I would not ask unless necessary and that it is required for the project.
In turn, I take this into account in their appraisals.

Keith Woollacott should not be at all surprised to find that his "work to rule" approach will end up costing him far more than £5,000 per year as he is awarded minimal pay rises and is overlooked, yet again, in favour of one of his harder-working colleagues.

Philip Lewis

You published a letter from me last month in which I pointed out the dangers of linkage between ID cards and various government databases (The thin end of a scary wedge, letters.computing.co.uk).

In that issue you also published an interview with James Hall, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service (New approach to ID card scheme), in which he states: "We want to make it cheaper for the bank to secure identity and cheaper for the young person to set up that account."

So either the bank will have a device to check the ID card against an individual's biometrics or it will be able to access the national ID database to verify the ID card. It could be the case that both are required.
It is likely that the cards will be susceptible to fraud a short time after they are issued, so checking cards against physical persons will be unlikely to be accepted. That means banks will be allowed access to the ID database, if IDs are to be used in the way Hall suggests.

Will the government be allowed instant access to bank records? Where will it stop? Will they get supermarkets to check buying habits recorded by store cards? Will you be refused NHS treatment because you bought too many packets of butter?

Several of the original IT suppliers are now shying away from the project. I hope more will follow and that staff will have more regard to infringement of their rights than their employer's profits by refusing to work on this disastrous scheme.

Philip Kellingley

I am disappointed that your story reports that the High Court decision over Symbian's patent application "may benefit UK software makers" (High Court rewrites UK software patent rules).

For each software maker that gets a monopoly over an idea - a patent - there will be many more that are  presented with a barrier to entry to a market. Do you think more protectionism would be a good thing for UK software makers?

We need to remove the algorithm patents from other markets, not introduce them to the UK for the benefit of Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Ericsson and Ericsson - Symbian's owners - which are not struggling UK firms, are they?

MJ Ray

I have low pay and no future because of threats about outsourcing to the Atlas Consortium running the Defence Information Infrastructure project (The lure of the public sector).

My pay as a network manager is £26,000 - this is after 35 years of service, part of it as a radar engineer. I buy, configure and maintain 30 servers on a network of 1,500 workstations.

There are two people looking after the network and four low-skilled operator maintainers looking after more than 2,000 workstations and notebooks.

My advice: do not work for the public sector.

Ron Bumstead