News Digest
Intel Centrino Pro arrives
Intel has launched its Centrino Pro notebook platform for business buyers. The new laptops offer enhanced management capabilities, improved performance and new wireless technology support. Laptops based on the new platform are expected to arrive this summer.
Intel says Centrino Pro almost doubles the performance of current laptops while offering longer battery life. It also adds an updated wireless adapter meeting the draft 802.11n specifications for greater range and increased data throughout.
The most notable new feature is support for Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT), which enables IT staff to remotely reach into systems even if the operating system is not functioning.
Flexible working on the rise
According to research company Gartner, there are 5.6 million workers in the UK who telework at least one day a month. This amount is expected to increase to 24 percent by 2011, reaching a total of 6.8 million.
Technological advances, such as the proliferation of fast broadband connections and a desire to establish a healthy balance between work and life are driving the steady increase.
Despite the benefits, flexible and mobile working arrangements also bring with them new IT challenges.
According to Gartner, businesses should run a small pilot test prior to rolling out a flexible working programme. This will help them to identify any problems that are likely to arise and work out ways of tackling them in advance.
IT continuity plans fall short
Nearly half of all firms believe that a 24-hour IT shutdown could “jeopardise the survival of their entire business” according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
A shocking 47 percent of risk managers who participated in the survey into business resilience feared that much unplanned downtime could be commercially disastrous.
The most significant threats to operational management were loss of data (36 percent) and human error (35 percent). “The results of the survey illustrate the degree to which companies now rely on their IT systems, as well as the devastating consequences that can ensue from even a short period of disruption,” said Rob Mitchell, editor of the report.
This article originally appeared in the July 2007 edition of Expand.