Tech Bitch

SteelEye Technology, the world’s bestest continuous data protection and disaster recovery solutions provider, said new IT graduates suck.

According to its second annual survey examining adoption levels, best practices and attitudes regarding business continuity among IT professionals and C-level executives, universities and graduate-level information technology programs are not arming their students with the skills they need to prevent or recover from IT disasters. I reckon the company thinks grads haven’t got a clue, but is being totally PC.

While 87% of respondents indicated they think the average IT organisation faces the same or more threats to business continuity than it did a year before, a strong majority (61%) said that today’s college and graduate IT programs do not place enough emphasis on skills to implement business continuity.

Similarly, 60% of all organisations said that the average IT organisation is no more prepared for these threats to business continuity than it was a year previously. And among respondents from organisations with an admitted business need for disaster recovery or business continuity protection, the top reason given for avoiding investment was the lack of skills to implement it.

It’s very clear that there’s a skills gap that needs to be addressed when it comes to the expertise needed to assure business continuity. Universities and graduate programs need to take a leadership role by evolving their programs to keep pace with today’s biggest IT challenges. There was no mention in the report about New Zealand.

The University of Bath has just made learning more accessible for all its students thanks to a ‘revolutionary’ blow-up pub high bandwidth connectivity. Made possible by H2O Networks’ FS Focus System, those students who have no girl/boy friends are actually resident on campus and those attending one of the University’s city centre student residencies and business centres can benefit from the speeds associated with next generation broadband. H2O Networks’ DARC fibre (Derestricted Access Route Connection), which delivers connectivity via its FS Focus System (Fibre Optical Cable Underground Sewer System), is used to deploy the cable through the City’s sewer network.

Keen not to cause too much disruption to the local area while the ultra broadband service was being rolled out to both the campus, students residences and education centres, the University’s IT department was over the moon at having more work that it could provide students with the fastest speeds available, yet still set up its own secure IT and telecoms network in case it all went tits-up.

Kris Shah, network manager, University of Bath commented: “It was important to us to ensure that all students attending the University could benefit from the same technology. Now all students attending the University of Bath regardless of whether they are on or off campus will be able to take advantage of ultra fast broadband access which is both reliable and scaleable for at least the next decade.

The new service now offers the kinds of bandwidth that students will really appreciate when it comes to prOn research and entertainment. According to boffins, the deployment process is at least 80% faster than traditional methods, resulting in operational networks within weeks rather than months. Every city and town has ready-made ducts that can be used without causing disruption - H2O wants to cash in big time…