What's the alternatives in IT? Chained to a hell-desk for minimum wage or being outsourced to Bangalore on a whim? (IT staff tell children not to follow in their footsteps, www.computing.co.uk/2221003)
IT is now a service industry within business, akin to the lightbulbs and toilets. Zero control, less respect. Why on earth would you want your kids to make the same mistakes as yourself?

Bill, submitted on the web

Exams are the lazy way to solve the problem of student plagiarism (Write 100 lines: "I must not outsource my homework to India", markkobayashihillary.computing.co.uk).

I've been using interviews with students for over a decade to address the possibility that a student has plagiarised their programming assignments. Having to explain your code and make changes to the code in an interview is a very effective way of guaranteeing that the student actually wrote the code, or at the very least understands the code well.

Martin, submitted on the web

As the first generation of IT professionals prepare to retire, businesses need to plan ahead if they have any hope of solving the skills crisis (How to stop the IT brain drain, www.computing.co.uk/2221152).
Appointing tech-minded business heads is a start, but companies must make sure their IT staff face the future, keeping their knowledge and skills fresh.

Today's IT professionals should be viewed as innovators. But instead, the misconception of IT as the socks-and-sandals stuff of the 1970s prevails. Computing is no longer a departmental solution to a niche problem, but the soul of all businesses and the platform for competitive differentiation.

The journey doesn't end there. Once businesses have attracted the best minds, they need to keep them that way by giving them structured career development and ongoing support. Only then will IT attract the candidates it truly deserves.

Rob Chapman, Firebrand Training

The current debate about falling house prices and negative equity has given me much food for thought. I'm not immune to it, but I think some perspective is required.

The credit crunch gloom comes as we at Byte Night prepare for the 10th anniversary of our event in support of NCH's fight against youth homelessness. It's a momentous anniversary and this year we're hoping people will get behind us to help raise £500,000.

And just as we begin to  recruit people to join our sleep-outs, it is interesting to note the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has recently released a report providing the first UK-wide review of youth homelessness in a decade. The parallels with the Byte Night timeframe and our shared purpose should not be ignored.

The report reveals a 73 per cent reduction in people sleeping rough since 1998. That's amazing progress. That said, there is still a frighteningly large problem that we can help solve. It is estimated that one in every 100 young people aged between 16 and 24 experiences some form of homelessness each year. This is normally borne out of domestic violence, trauma or a relationship breakdown, and can lead to health issues.

The nature of the "house price" debate creates a large amount of self-interest and concern for our own welfare. But every time there's a focus on the state of the housing market, I'm going to think about the 75,000 kids in this country who don't have a roof over their head.

I'd love for everybody to sign up to one of the nationwide Byte Night events, but I know that's a pipe dream. However, if we manage to put the issue front of mind for the next few months, especially in the context of the wider economic market, it will hopefully go some way to continuing the progress made over the past decade to ease one of this country's most pressing problems.

Ken Deeks, Byte Night
www.bytenight.org.uk

Gary Strang wonders why the government doesn't help to retrain IT staff (Don't kill off skills, letters.computing.co.uk).

The answer is simple Ð the government is busy dumping IT staff from the civil service as fast as it can because its supposed commitment to IT is just more New Labour spin. Virtually all IT staff at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been sold off to the Atlas consortium, headed by EDS, and many of us are now facing redundancy.

For those few still remaining in the MoD some of the integrated project teams are refusing to pay for professional membership of BCS  as they "don't consider it benefits the business", despite a national agreement to pay professional fees.

If they have such little commitment to their own IT staff, they're hardly likely to help anyone else's, are they?

Stephen J. Coombs

Martin Courtney's article refers to four IT service management frameworks, placing much emphasis on Cobit (Framework for change, www.computing.co.uk/2219498).

From our own findings, it is ITIL that remains the overarching de facto standard that companies have and continue to adopt.

From our latest research, a resounding 76 per cent of service desk managers across 10 market sectors are adhering to ITIL standards, compared with just 50 per cent four years ago.

In fact, the other frameworks to which the article refers are seeing a much  lower take-up, with only 10 per cent adoption.

Despite its popularity, the warning to businesses that have taken up ITIL already is that they must not become complacent.

With predictions stating that in five years' time "service management will expand to incorporate other areas, such as facilities management", there will be even more pressure for companies to continue investing in  in-house training and  accreditation of service desk staff.

It is better that companies start thinking about this now, as well as the increasing requirement for a wider range of skills, such as soft skills and business acumen to cope with the additional service areas.
If companies have the foresight to think about this now, they will be the ones who clearly differentiate themselves and become far more competitive in their market.

Howard Kendall,
The Service Desk Institute

Anybody who wishes to go into IT should know from the outset that you are entering a very techie environment with lots of abbreviations and industry-only words, so I don't think it is a bad thing that people are put off by that idea - as these are the ones likely to switch off in class, (The art of the rubbish buzzword, editor.computing.co.uk).

You are right about the use of technical terms when selling a product. The problem here lies in non-technical promotional staff picking out phrases that they don't even understand, to try to make their company sound technically competent.

Perhaps more liaison with technical staff could provide another means of getting the message across while still remaining technically  accurate.

Marcus, submitted on the web

Despite recent legislation the rampant ageism in recruitment agencies will prevent people retraining or returning to IT unless managers are prepared to go out and do their own recruitment (Skills? We need IT now, intellect.computing.co.uk).

I spent two years trying to obtain work when I was over 50. I did all the recommended things but made no progress, so I applied to go over to the "dark side" - recruitment.

I explained to the managing director of a well-known agency why I was changing direction. He quite openly agreed that ageism was almost certainly the problem, and that they would rarely put forward anyone over 45, as one of their main performance indicators was  the conversion of submitted CVs to interviews. As the number of CVs were normally restricted they knew they had a greater conversion
rate on applicants under   the age of 45.

I have no doubt this remains part of normal operations. I am now fortunately in work, but only after finding a company which had specific needs for stability that I could provide. It will need a mindset change in this area as well as that of suitable qualifications to overcome the skills gap.

Tony Thomas

The problem is that IT departments often fall into two areas - understaffed, or having a motherload of work to get through (Putting IT in the driving seat for business success, sandrasmith.computing.co.uk).

My department would not appreciate having to do projects that are not really our responsibility, because we do not have the resources to spare. We prefer to use the IT director as the bottleneck for all work coming into the department, so at that point we can start to apply project management constraints.

For example, "we can do that for you, but we don't have the resource for another two weeks" or "you can have X, but it is incompatible with Y, so which one is more important?"

Then, when a piece of work becomes a project, we have control of it from the start, and we can impose a realistic deadline to begin with, rather than have one  pushed upon us.

Jesus Horatio Hernandez

Your article raises some important points (Nine in 10 women say IT sector is biased, www.computing.co.uk/2218837). However, I disagree that gender is a bar to progression.

There is no reason whatsoever why women should feel deterred from pursuing careers in a computer industry which is crying out for quality recruits to adapt to and shape its constantly changing landscape.
Unfortunately, the sector has been plagued by an outmoded image in which the geek is king for far too long.

The technology sector should no longer be viewed as the exclusive preserve of the techies.

Schools and colleges need to do far more to promote IT to girls as a viable, rewarding career option. The  percentage split of computer science graduates these days is becoming more balanced, yet progress is far too slow.

More focus should be placed on female role  models in the industry  such as eBay founder Meg  Whitman, who has inspired many American women into IT. Likewise, those who have forged successful careers in this country need to champion the cause and evangelise the message.

Women are making huge strides in British industry. There are 117 female directors on FTSE100 companies and women-owned businesses generate about £130bn turnover annually. So why should IT be any different and why shouldn't there be more Martha Lane Foxes?

Of course, women students must also play their part and drop any preconceptions they might harbour about the IT profession. It is possible to progress. I have worked at high levels at eBay and Amazon.
Technology also affords the opportunity for women who want children to work from home, so it is not inevitable that maternity has to have an adverse impact on a career.

The sex of an employee should not and does not present barriers to anyone passionate enough about working in the industry.

Jennifer Mowat, BT Tradespace

Building Schools for the Future is perceived by some as a great invasion for schools (Vice-like grip,
letters.computing.co.uk).

John Jones needs to go into schools and see the excellent work that IT staff provide. I manage a team of six who are employed by the school to provide support exceeding the standards set out by Becta and private firms.

This high standard will be eroded and the best practice we employ will be replaced by private companies with shareholders who are more important than students.

John Richards

The expertise built up through the Fujitsu contracts will be invaluable to the NHS (Fujitsu may lay off 700 NHS IT programme workers, www.computing.co.uk/2219727).

It seems essential that the NHS should negotiate a transfer of Fujitsu staff and directly manage their
continued work on the National Programme for IT. Of course there would have to be changes to top-level programme management, but perhaps more local involvement could be factored in this time.

When will the government learn that automatic outsourcing of development and programme management is not the way to transform public sector IT?

Patrick Newman

Why does the government not help retain IT staff? (IT training needs more government support, www.computing.co.uk/2219454).

My company struggles to train me - I can only do so much myself. I am actually thinking of moving out of the IT industry to earn more money, so why not help me and retain my 12 years of skills and experience?

Gary Strang

Women do not appear to like or prefer technical roles (Feminine skills thrive in IT market, www.computing.co.uk/2217241).

I know that is something of a generalisation, but in my opinion very few females are in technical roles. There are many more in project management, business analysis and testing. We have 600 people in our branch and that appears representative of my experience in other companies as well.

I do not know if women are better at such things, but more of them seem to be on the business or process side.

David A Wood

It costs between £25,000 and £50,000 a year to keep an inmate in prison, while their family often needs
financial help (Government turns to prisoners to tackle IT skills shortages, www.computing.co.uk/2218728).

Every individual given and taking the opportunity to become a law-abiding bread winner and taxpayer is of huge benefit to us all. While training is a good investment, schemes with private support and sponsorship are truly win-win. May there be many more such schemes.

Nick Bishop

The article in Computing missed someone who really deserved a mention (Queen honours IT leaders, www.computing.co.uk/2219443).

Southampton Solent University professor Margaret Ross was awarded an MBE after being a leading light
in IT for more than three decades.

According to the Southampton Daily Echo, she has also been instrumental in outreach programmes to help young and old computer users in Hampshire learn more about both the benefits and dangers of the web.

Apart from her 30 years of teaching at what used to be Southampton Institute of Higher Education and is now Southampton Solent University, Maggie Ross has also been a major figure in the development and promotion of the BCS in Hampshire. She deserves a mention - if only because a great many people in IT will remember her.

Gill Bullen

As more men in IT, or any other traditionally male-dominated realm, brave a roomful of women from their own industries - giving them all a lot to talk about - the more men will spread the word of the pleasant learning experience of it all (A thorn among roses, editor.computing.co.uk).

On paper, a balanced workforce may look too extreme for those who prefer their workforce to be as it has always been - mainly male. But men and women alike see, feel and experience what a difference a mixed workforce can make in learning and productivity.

The panel Computing wrote about, and others that have emerged in other industries, will make a balanced workforce less of a theoretical and more a practical and powerful concept.

Andrea Learned

What about the unemployed, such as myself, who would like to enter networking and cable installation within the IT profession? (Government turns to prisoners to tackle IT skills shortages, www.computing.co.uk/ 2218728).

What about those who have never done anything illegal or been to court or prison? How do people such as myself get this golden opportunity? Break the law and go to prison, I suppose.

Tam, submitted on the web

After years of under-investment, under-training, offshoring and devaluing of the second biggest industry in the UK, let's give jobs that require a high degree of trust to the proven untrustworthy (Government turns to prisoners to tackle IT skills shortages, www.computing.co.uk/2218728).

What's wrong with skilling up the unemployed who desperately want to get into IT? Although I suppose being able to hotwire cars would make you quite good at cabling.

This is another example of how this government has no idea about the IT industry. Give me strength.

John Watson

The reason diligent school IT staff must think about issues such as security and compatibility is because they are both responsible and accountable for the network (Vice-like grip, letters.computing.co.uk).

If we simply act like robots and do as we are told, do you imagine the staff who asked us to carry out the task will take responsibility for its failure? Of course not. They will point the finger of blame in our direction.

Many schools have very good IT staff because they have large and complex networks. With the abuse they receive from people who know nothing, they should expect better from those who profess to know it all.

Tony Forder

Reading the press, it appears there is a shortage of IT staff in the UK. With the rising costs of employment and the effects of the credit crunch on companies' willingness to take on more staff, firms are looking to alternatives - one of these being offshoring (Banks shift more IT offshore).

Working at one of the major banks in the UK, I ask whether or not this is an option that should be explored. There are many talented and experienced local people on whom companies are closing their doors in favour of cost savings from offshoring.

Offshoring has its time and place, but it should not be for the entire IT function.

The bank I work for has been exploring offshoring to India for about two years. Although the costs have not been reduced and projects are failing miserably, they have been marketed as successful and cost-effective, allowing management to continue with redundancies and to increase the number of offshored employees.

Costs of offshoring have been hidden under other expenses on balance sheets, or picked up by other projects with only local resources.

Even when projects come in late or over budget, they are marketed as successful because you need to accommodate transition and handover periods.

The truly offshored resources are cheaper than local contractors. But for every local contractor replaced, two or three offshored employees pick up the work.

If projects still fail, external consultancies are brought in to fix the mess. This results in significant costs which again are not associated with the project, further skewing data.

Companies should wake up and realise there are no significant cost savings involved. No benefits have been achieved from offshoring in so many areas and it is being felt by local staff. Hopefully, the idea will be limited to aspects of business where actual benefits can be realised.

A bank employee who wishes to remain anonymous

Your article highlights some fundamental truths about the role of women in the IT world today (Feminine skills thrive in IT market).

Those that choose IT as a career can and do flourish. However, the numbers entering the sector are still not what they should be.

In my experience, women who make it in business tend to be innovative, excellent team players and good communicators - all key attributes for the IT sector.

The pressing issue is how best to harness these skills and characteristics so they look to the computer industry to make their living.

Undoubtedly, the soaring popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook has helped elevate IT as a  viable, rewarding career  option for women more than ever before.

However, education institutions need to teach the subject to girls in an accessible, interesting way. One method is for schools and colleges to focus on case studies of successful women who have worked in the sector, such as Martha Lane Fox of Lastminute.com and Meg Whitman, founder of eBay. A good role model is one of the finest persuaders there is.

Companies also need to do more to publicise how the growth of broadband has made home working a very real option.

As more women, especially those with children,  hanker for greater flexible working opportunities, IT provides the perfect platform to juggle a career with a successful family life.

Indeed, the Web 2.0 age is a great boom for women in business generally. For example, we have teamed up with the Everywoman.com web site to champion the cause of female entrepreneurs and their pioneering spirit.

IT has so many benefits for society that it should no longer be seen as the preserve of the male geek. Gender should not and does not present any barriers to anyone passionate about working in the industry.

Jennifer Mowat
Director, BT  Tradespace

Being in a position to support eight schools, one of them a community college, I have a problem with the statement: "it is time to build a new professional IT workforce in schools" (Vice-like grip, letters.computing.co.uk).

I interact regularly with the IT managers from a number of secondary schools, and I can assure you that nobody aims to say "no".

Probably any IT manager can do a far better job if given the same budgets as available in BSF. Seeing as there is such massive budget shortfalls in education IT,  innovation flourishes - it simply has to. Need has led me to develop many  software utilities aimed specifically at schools.

Schools connect via something called national grids for learning, and the various grids do have stringent
firewall rules in place.

While I will be the first to point out how infuriatingly difficult this layer of red tape can be, that same inflexibility remains the only thing keeping many primary schools secure. So please enlighten us regarding the new and improved way of doing things? And do you know of many people administering networks where hacking tools are run against and from  inside the network virtually on a daily basis?

Yes, we are aware of when it happens, yes, we catch the culprits, and yes, they will be back in school the next day to do it again, as they are  almost not allowed to be  excluded.

Balance that against the level and nature of data schools hold on their networks: full personal details of all staff and students.

On the networks I support, that information is safe, and workstations remain functional. Teachers are happy because there is predictability in the network's overall stability. This simply means they can teach without disruption. And all this on a fraction of the budget you guys have to work with.

My advice to the letter writer is simple: change your attitude. You seem to be  incredibly quick to judge, without being aware of all the facts. Perhaps it is not just old schools that need  rebuilding, but also outdated and judgemental attitudes.

William Nel-Barker

This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard (Staff using social networks to talk to customers).

Social networks do not allow you to totally separate your private and business life - people generally tend to aim their profile at one or the other. You cannot keep a true audit trail of communications with your customer, or guarantee them a service level in case MySpace/Facebook were to break.

Corporate email and web sites, and the many companies that offer products and services to link into these, are there for a reason.

Any company that allows its employees to conduct business with their clients through social networks
instead of the corporate  infrastructure they paid for is incompetent.

The exception is companies that run themselves from a social networking site. Graduates need to get real if they think they can go to their first "real" job and use Facebook to talk to  colleagues or customers.

DHD, submitted on the web

Thank you Neil Harvey. Your letter was like a breath of fresh air, and I could not agree more (Working 9 to 5, letters.computing.co.uk). You get what you pay for in life, and if a company wants "x" amount of work done, they should simply pay for it.

As Neil says, your employer is not a charity, so why should they get work done for free? And if they can't afford more staff, then  perhaps they need to expand a little more slowly, prioritise work differently, deal with a bigwig's over-sized pay packet, find and fix  inefficiencies or perhaps  admit that they're a hopeless case and shut up shop for the good of us all.

Any firm where overtime is commonplace should take a long hard look at itself, and work out if they are
under-staffed or inefficient.

Regular overtime is simply encouraging staff to live  unbalanced lives. If you  want worn-out, unhappy staff, possessing the decision-making precision of a small child, this is the way  to run things.

Instead, I hope you want  to run your company in a sustainable, efficient manner. You could even think about training your staff - another topic entirely.

The degree to which a company serves - yes, serves - its staff and customers  determines its value. Some companies get this so wrong they absolutely deserve to go to the wall, and I sincerely hope they do.

Phil Hackett

I am a 21-year-old woman working as a software engineer on an industrial placement as part of an information systems degree (IT must offer jobs for the girls).

We techies are labelled as anti-social by the other departments no matter how much we interact with everyone else, and I think unless something changes dramatically people will always have this opinion.
To be honest it does not bother me provided I enjoy my job, which I do.

And I still live the same social life as everyone else, going out and enjoying life.

Marie, submitted on the web

Partnerships for Schools chief executive Tim Byles said: "Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is not about taking things away" (School plan is to build, not demolish).

BSF will not be delivering the IT service, the service provider will, and it will wish to minimise costs to maximise profit.

So while BSF may not take things away, the service provider will - especially the IT technicians from schools - and allocate them centrally to save costs.

Proper consultation is  impossible because of the structure of the project. I participated as a school
governor in a consultation exercise. The local education authority (LEA) BSF IT team imposed last-minute changes in its contract with schools that seriously disadvantaged all the schools.
There was nothing the school governors could do about it. We could only discuss the school-LEA agreement, and not the real driver, the LEA agreement with the service provider.

On career development, some school technicians are working in schools because they want to serve their community and do not want to work for a large corporation.

They knew the job did  not offer much by way of opportunities in the  careerist sense, but offered different prospects.

Their choice to serve an identifiable social unit whose values they share  are destroyed by BSF IT.

The fundamental objection to the BSF IT project is that it is bureaucratic and anti-competitive. The LEA chooses the service provider prior to negotiating the terms of the contract, so the other businesses which might have bid are excluded before the exact service is  defined.The alternative approach would be to set interoperability standards and standard service contracts to create a genuine market in which
local suppliers and service  organisations could bid, and where individual schools choose to buy a service.

BSF IT is just a way of  diverting public money to large corporations in the guise of providing a service to schools. It is bad for the schools and bad for small UK IT  service providers.

Roger Hill, school governor

I am curious as to how the government expects MI6 to attract a world-class enterprise architect when its web site shows that it is paying below the market rate for such a job (MI6 holds IT staff recruitment drive).

MI6 is offering a salary range of £56,000 to £79,000, while the market salary, according to IT Jobs Watch, is £70,000 to £86,000.

I now see why the government suffers security lapses when, even for what are probably the most critical jobs in the world, it consistently fails to offer salaries which could attract the cream of the industry. I
hate to see what salaries it offers technology staff who work in other parts of government.

Jonathan Eaton

The seventh principle of the Data Protection Act is: "Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data" (Lose data and you go to jail).

IT professionals are already finding it tough to implement and maintain IT solutions to address evolving data security threats.

Vital projects are frequently competing for IT budget and resources.

In my experience, organisational measures - such as the effective communication of policies and procedures and training of employees - have a greater potential to  affect people's behaviour.

Therefore, better habits are acquired and risks truly minimised. Automated solutions which ensure the timely distribution of new and   revised policies and procedures, so that they are read, accepted and proved to be understood, make policy compliance affordable for all organisations, however large and dispersed its workforce.

It is high time that all departments within every organisation recognise  that data security is a
shared responsibility, which demands a collective  response and, dare I say, shared budget.

In this way, simple yet effective cross-function interventions are less likely to be overlooked, as large IT project rollouts take precedence.

Dominic Saunders

I read with interest your interview with Tim Byles regarding Building Schools for the Future (BSF) (School plan is to build, not demolish).

I note that he uses the mantra: "We are in the business of educational transformation; this is not a bricks and mortar project".

However, the examples he quotes are all linked to administration and facilities management rather than teaching and learning or the engagement of reluctant learners.

Where is the talk of personalising learning with engaging online resources sorted by learning type and ability? Where is the access to media-rich learning on an individual basis? Where is the principle of anywhere, anytime learning that allows our most able to access advanced learning material to extend their horizons, while at the same time allowing a child off school to catch up with missed work?

The administration systems are important, and engagement of parents in their children's learning is vital, but the learning activities are missing from this view of BSF. The danger of BSF is
re-creating the same education system in new buildings, and that will not transform education.

Our children deserve better learning environments than the tired and worn out schools they occupy. BSF is a long overdue investment in our education infrastructure and we must applaud our government for making this commitment. All is far from perfect, however. Is educational transformation at the forefront when schools are told by architects that, because of heat considerations, there should be no more than five PCs in a classroom?

Children find learning most engaging when they are trying something new in an environment where they feel safe and secure in case something goes wrong.

Well, BSF is certainly trying something new but as for feeling safe and secure?

Stephen Douglas
City Learning Centre Manager

John Jones appears to have all the answers with regard to Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and seems to be putting the blame squarely on IT support staff (Vice-like grip, letters.computing.co.uk).

Maybe if the education system employed teachers who were actually IT-competent, and did more to check on what the pupils are really trying to do with their computers in lessons rather than concentrate on their work, we wouldn't have to block such "innovation".

The only things we have to block is YouTube - because there is little related to education on there - social networking, proxy-bypass and games sites because the pupils cannot control themselves enough to not play games or chat when they should be working.

It gets to the point that we're having to manage behaviour because a teacher cannot.

I've never had to turn a teacher's idea down because of "firewall issues", but I have had to disappoint them when they purchase outdated software designed for Windows 95 or NT or is not designed to be run on a  network because they didn't speak to us first.

Perhaps John has watched far too many TV commercials for teacher training where all the little darlings are polite, friendly and willing to learn.

Instead of "advising",  perhaps he should spend some time in real schools and see the problems we face on a daily basis - threats, abuse, blatant attempts to bypass security, theft and damage.

If the pupils and staff don't respect the equipment we manage, they can hardly expect any respect from us.

Andy Davis

I find it shameful that a person in such a position would apportion blame to technical staff in schools, but fail to mention the years of poor leadership and direction from local authorities when it comes to strategic leadership of IT (Vice-like grip, letters.computing.co.uk).

Surely if local authorities were engaging with schools - as some are - and helping schools move forward to  sustainable models of IT which has significant impact on teaching and learning, leadership and management, and achievement and attainment in schools, comments such as this would not be able to be made.

We should try supporting technical staff in schools.

After all, these are likely to be the same people providing the support in the schools anyway, just under
a different company name, and having to respond based on company and contractual protocol rather than the directives of the senior leaders in the school.

Tony Sheppard, Edugeek.net

Yes, in some schools IT support is terrible, but that is hardly surprising given the salaries offered (Consistency is key, letters.computing.co.uk).

With an ageing senior staff who simply do not understand computers, and the skill and effort required to maintain and install computer systems, basically computers for schools is the hardest of IT jobs.
It is no wonder that people leave to work elsewhere.

Joe King

Yes - a percentage of schools have bad IT systems and bad IT staff (Consistency is key, letters.computing.co.uk).

The same goes for industry, and for any department in an organisation. The situation should be remedied by cutting out the cancers, not killing the entire organism.

The IT portion of BSF is  using a blanket approach to all schools to fix a problem in a small percentage of schools. Unfortunately, the majority of schools who have superior IT services will be caught under this as well, and the standards decreased.

The BSF-not-so-smart bomb, is going to do far more collateral damage than is worth the problem it's trying to fix.

Marc Blake

As a network manager in a school environment I find the biggest problem I come across is the support staff put "in my way" as part of BSF (Vice-like grip, letters.computing.co.uk).

For example, I had a hardware failure on the internet connection which I diagnosed, but I have to report to the company put in place under the BSF agreement. Twenty minutes later I get a phone call from a field engineer who goes through some diagnostics which I had already tried, which is then referred to the corporate IT department of our council.

Twenty minutes after the call from the engineer I get a call from the council's IT  department, which diagnoses a failure on the fibre converter which needs to be swapped out. The response I get is I have to contact the support company who deals with schools, who will then  contact the same person I have just spoken to, to arrange replacement parts to be sent out to them, then they will come out and change the failed item.

In the old system in the days before BSF, all I had to do was make one phone call and diagnose the issue.
Once this was done an agreement was made on when and where the hardware item was replaced. Nine times out of 10, I met the engineer halfway between his base and mine and exchanged the parts.
Most fixes were sorted within the hour. This incident was still going 12 hours after the fault was reported. By saying the likes of   in-house support staff stand in the way of education is a joke.

We know more of what is going on and work harder than most to deliver a system which meets the needs of pupils and staff and is as cutting edge as is possible to the tight budgets we are given.

Simon Dart

There are lots of good and bad things about the BSF programme, but one thing we must not forget is that BSF is not the solution (Consistency is key, letters.computing.co.uk).

If some IT systems in schools are bad, why not create a company that goes to schools every so often to help network managers with problems? Why not set up, manage and send experts to help IT departments in schools? Create policies about standard IT, and help schools with IT problems.

Putting public sector organisations under the umbrella of a private sector company is not solving any problems, it is going to increase them. My managers think so, teachers in my school think so, so what is going on? Why are the top guys not hearing us?

At a previous IT BSF meeting, they told us we have the opportunity to create the classrooms of the future. But suppliers taking the contracts are going to implement their systems, so it's just more of the same - but it will cost more.

I am disappointed that secondary schools are wasting all that taxpayers' money.

Jose, submitted on the web

Learning and training have always been discretionary spends for corporations (The demand for skills should not be demand-led, peterskyte.computing.co.uk).

If the UK is not to fall behind the rest of continental Europe, never mind such countries as India and China, UK firms - some of which are subsidiaries of global corporations often with US-based headquarters - must stop regarding vital investment in learning and training as non-essential.

In lean times, target the spend on immediate and  urgent skills training. In better times, allow employees to broaden their knowledge beyond just the known technical or workplace skills.

For example, let them learn a new language, or  follow a course in environmental studies or even on how to direct a stage play. Maybe none of these would have a direct or immediate application at work, but they would equip an employee with knowledge and skills that will, inevitably, come into play at some time   during their careers.

Government can play a part by assisting companies, perhaps through the taxation system, to provide financial incentives to continually re-skill the workforce.

Mick Matysiak

Legacy programming skills are somewhat required, but do not think all skills are
needed (Look to the future, letters.computing.co.uk).

I got my first job as a Cobol developer, which I have had for three years since graduating. I wish I had stayed away from Cobol and so should all graduates. It does not matter whether or not there are 70 billion lines of Cobol if you cannot get a job in this area.

I have been looking for work and finding it very hard to get a job. I am a  first-class graduate with a masters degree, and even with these academic qualifications three years of doing Cobol has crippled my chances.

All you have to do is type Cobol in a job search and there you have it - the last time I received just 40 hits. Cobol is dead in the job market. When you narrow down your search to London, there are only about seven hits.

Some developers say Cobol is not dead and that they have recently got a job. These people have probably been programming in Cobol for  a lifetime, so everyone is  competing with these guys for a handful of jobs.

A company might give people with Cobol skills lots of money to fix a bug, but how often do these bugs cause faults? You could be unemployed for years before anything goes wrong, waiting for your one-off big contract payment - it is too risky an investment.

I have three years' experience in Cobol and if another candidate has three years of Java, C or C#, I am out of the competition. Do not listen to those who say it does not matter what the language is, because it does.

I am now hoping to build on my skills at university and will keep trying to apply for jobs. I am also hoping to do some courses to refresh my knowledge in areas I have neglected over the past three years. Cobol should not be taught at university.

Peter, submitted on the web

This government has inflicted huge damage on the education process, but it is not fully to blame for the fact that too few students are signing up to take IT degrees (Falling through the skills gap, letters.computing.co.uk).

I joined the IT industry in 1984 having taken a non-IT degree. I did so because the potential earnings were high. By the age of 23 I had a mortgage on a flat in London. I am now 44 and have no mortgage, having worked in the industry all my life.

Yet if I were a student  today, I would avoid IT. It is not well-respected in boardrooms across the UK, and pay levels have dropped dramatically. This is backed up by the technical vacancies on your web site, which seem to average about £30,000 after several years' experience. That is equivalent to my starting salary.

Students understand that to clear their debts and make a three-year degree worthwhile, they need high potential earnings. At the moment, IT does not portray that potential even if it exists. Before firms grumble about the lack of IT skills, perhaps they could try offering a decent salary.

Kathy Sadler

Having just read your story on the shortage of skilled people in IT, I am stunned (Skills crisis sparks
investment in IT ability).

My son is 22 and has an HND with Commendation from Greenwich University. He has been out of work for two years. We have tried everything - but to no avail. He is based at home, works voluntarily, builds his
computers and dazzles us all with his know-how - but still no employer comes to light.

David Alston

Philip Lewis might be wedded to his company, but many employees are wedded to other human beings, who take a dim view of their spouses doing excessive hours (We can work it out, letters.computing.co.uk).

As a general rule, if you have to do a lot of overtime you are either understaffed or inefficient. Should inefficiency be rewarded? As for transferring the work to "flexible" people on the other side of the world, experience with call centres suggests you may have to pay for several times as many hours if you use overseas labour. And with wages in India rising much faster than here, the benefit could be trifling.

Why is it that some firms say they are not charitable institutions, yet expect their employees to treat them as such?

Neil Harvey

I share a lot of the concerns voiced over the future of IT provision in schools under Building Schools for the Future (BSF), especially the cost and the lack of flexibility that will result (Must do better: £45bn schools plan fails to impress).

However, we should not glorify what exists. While a lot of schools have excellent IT, some have horrendous setups that are under-invested in and not fit for purpose. These schools are failing their teachers and students, meaning that the government cannot meet its Every Child Matters agenda.

Very soon, students from the age of 14 will be able to study diplomas offered at a different institution to their host school - these locations will need to have joined-up IT for this to work. With the increased dependence on computers for assessment and examinations, standardisation is inevitable and
robust systems will need to be available for all students 24/7, hence some form of managed services will be  required to replace the  existing cottage industry.

Colin Small

As part of one of the teams leading BSF in a large authority and an ex-local authority IT adviser, I feel it necessary to point out that over many years the block in innovation within many - not all - high schools has been the short-sighted view and iron grip of the IT management whose aim in life appears to be to say "no" before hearing the problem (Must do better: £45bn schools plan fails to impress).

It makes me smile when I hear of IT innovation being stifled in schools. Just talk to the countless teachers who have had their ideas rejected because of endless firewall  issues, security risks or apparent incompatibilities.

It is not just old schools that need rebuilding, it is time to build a new, professional IT workforce in schools.

John Jones

As the union representing the employees of the Royal Mail IT function we are disappointed that Robin
Dargue has gone to press at this stage of the reorganisation (Royal Mail delivers changes).

Royal Mail has sailed very close to the wind during this restructuring and has only just stayed on the right side of the requirements of redundancy legislation.

Being critical of a workforce that, based on Dargue's own assessment of the situation, has been starved of leadership, investment and skills development is easy to do, and is consistent with highly-paid recruits to companies. Come in, make changes and move on before anybody realises. We will see how long it is before he moves on.Unite members in IT at Royal Mail have been working hard to keep up with business requirements. They have been doing what was asked of them, often in difficult and uncertain circumstances.

There has been a lack of  investment but despite this the feedback from internal customers of Royal Mail has been consistently positive. They are concerned about the loss of individuals who have been delivering their needs for some time, and that there will be an impact on the service. Casting people adrift, as Royal Mail is, is simply not appropriate.

The trade union Unite is working hard to ensure that those of our members who want to stay in Royal Mail have every opportunity to do so and we will hold Dargue to his word that he will  invest in the right talent.

Unite remains opposed to any form of compulsory  redundancy and even a hint of this happening will create a backlash from the union.

Given the expense  incurred in consultancies  to undertake this work, the cost of voluntary redundancies and the cost incurred in recruiting and paying new, fully equipped employees, a cost benefit analysis is likely to result in a situation where Royal Mail loses.

Brian Scott, Assistant national secretary, Unite CMA

This research from the CBI once again highlights the serious skills crisis facing organisations across the
UK (Skills crisis sparks investment in IT ability).

While this has been a prevailing theme for a number of years, we are now seeing chief information officers struggling more than ever to fill specific IT roles, with those employees involved at the start of the UK software industry moving towards retirement and not enough graduates being trained to take their places.

It is heartening to see more than two-thirds of UK employers investing in initiatives to raise the level of IT proficiency among their workforce, but it is vital to set up a more sustainable framework for the future.

While investing in internal staff training is a quick fix, companies need to work closely with academia to ensure that the supply of skills meets their future demand.

Care must be taken to   ensure that the focus of these efforts is not only on new technological advances, but also upon existing systems, some of which  may have been in place for  a number of decades.

These systems have long been the lifeblood of the  organisations they serve, and a shortfall in the skills needed to maintain these could have serious implications for UK business.

Arunn Ramadoss

Peter Skyte is so right (The demand for skills should not be demand-led, peterskyte.computing.co.uk).

Even the CBI argues that there is a chronic shortage of skilled IT workers, and that it is damaging the industry and productivity.

This is contained in the CBI's survey of more than 700 UK companies across all industries.

It warns that six out of 10 employers are having difficulty recruiting graduates for technical positions such as IT, and that the falling number of graduates with science, technology,  engineering and maths
qualifications is fuelling a skills shortage.

The CBI says larger firms are increasingly looking to India, China and eastern  Europe to bridge the shortfall in UK skills. Meanwhile, the research also showed that more than half of  employers are concerned about their staff's inability to use computers.

Tony Burke, Unite

In her weblog on the fall in the numbers of students opting to study IT at school, Sandra Smith refers to the government's introduction of the IT Management for Business (ITMB) degree (It's time for IT students to get down to business, sandrasmith.computing.co.uk).

The ITMB degree is similar to information systems and information management degrees that have been offered in business schools and other parts of UK universities for more than a decade.

Yet sixth formers are no longer choosing these degrees, or indeed any degree that has IT or IS in it.
The ITMB will not solve the problem. First year students and sixth formers are convinced that there are no good careers in IT, and/or that IT is as boring as their lessons at school on how to use Microsoft Office.

David Newman

In response to Keith Lyall's response to my letter (Give and ye shall receive, The longest day, letters.computing.co.uk), all I can add is that, of course, staff are perfectly entitled to refuse
to work beyond their contracted hours.

In turn, they must recognise that I am entitled to grade them accordingly and to employ someone else
who is more flexible to do the work - probably in Chennai, Bangalore or Mumbai, for example.

We work in a global market and cannot revert to the working behaviour that made British Leyland, for
example, the company that it is today.

Philip Lewis

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 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

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

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

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

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-