denotes premium content | Feb 7 2012 
Enterprise Information archive
Volume 1 Issue 3
It’s the nature of news to be variously unscheduled, surprising, amusing and edifying. Sometimes, it’s a mixture of these. Sometimes it’s all four – an enticing combination I came across as we were going to press with this issue of ei.
Microsoft has received attention in the popular press lately for social gaffes involving some of its commercial products. The company blundered when it created a video game in which Muslim warriors transformed churches in to mosques. The game didn’t endear Microsoft to the Saudi Arabian government and was promptly withdrawn. In another slip-up, a translation error led to the company’s Spanish-language version of Windows XP offending women in Latin countries. When choosing their gender, users were asked to specify between ‘not specified’, ‘male’ or ‘bitch’. While none of these clangers is conventionally or intentionally amusing, it is hard to stifle a schadenfreude-inspired chuckle at the software giant’s expense.
But even when Microsoft gets it right, the firm is not immune from criticism. The risks surrounding the presence of hidden metadata in Office documents has been widely reported, and though the firm has developed tools to enable users to strip this out, businesses are still coming to grief. A common reaction has been to blame Microsoft once again, but the fault in this instance lies squarely with end users.
Microsoft Office collaboration-software vendor Workshare recently launched metadatrisk.org, a website informing people of the dangers hidden metadata poses.
The site features a tool called Metafind, which is designed to automatically analyse and expose metadata in documents posted on a website. Matthew Brown, Workshare’s product manager, told CNET News.com that up to 25 different types of metadata exist in Microsoft Office and Word documents, but the tools to remove them are used inconsistently. The more these documents get passed around, Brown said, the more risk there is. So if you thought you had enterprise security covered, think again. The idea of hidden metadata – containing potentially valuable information – getting outside your business every day is of great concern. This news should force you to, at the very least, consistently use the metadata-stripping features available in Word and Office software. More broadly, it’s a prompt to introduce related policies that will help reduce risk.
While contemplating this risk, the experiences of our contributors in this search and retrieval-themed issue of ei should inspire you. As always, if you have any suggestions on future story ideas or ways to improve the magazine further, feel free to contact me at hwilson@ark-group.com.
Features
Wellington rejuvenates its intranet
In May 2003, the intranet at Wellington Underwriting was little more than a glorified company phone directory that lacked cohesive design, relevant content or any editorial control. Redesigning the site without a content-management system, using older technology and operating with no budget has proved challenging, but as intranet manager Lucy Cass explains, the company’s intranet project, Wellnet, is on its way to becoming a success.
Avoid failure and plan for your intranet's success
Intranets can be a powerful tool, but they will never completely replace people creating and sharing business knowledge. If you think they can, your system will become a crutch that doesn’t support you. Warwick University Business School’s Harry Scarbrough looks at how intranets can fail or succeed from a knowledge-management perspective.
Safety net: using a portal to make the internet safe for kids
The internet is sprawling ever outwards, capturing the attention and use of every possible demographic. Although benign and usually under our control, it can be a threat – especially to children who are often unknowing targets of paedophiles. Here, Mark Minicucci and Christine Loftus of the NetSmartz Workshop explain how a content-management system helped keep the system organised and the kids safe.
G-lessons: ideas for business success from Google
Shortly after going public, the search engine giant continues to innovate, threatening rivals Yahoo!, Microsoft and Apple not only with its Gmail service, but with desktop search software as well. Yet as Neil Budde, former editor and publisher of The Wall Street Journal Online, explains, smaller enterprises needn’t be frightened by Google – they can learn from them.
Edinburgh battles the democratic deficit - online
There’s no doubt e-government initiatives can improve efficiency and deliver enhanced customer service. But they can also provide a solution to voter apathy and increase citizen participation in the local government decision-making processes. Andrew Unsworth, head of e-government for the City of Edinburgh Council, outlines the value of Council Papers Online, a project aimed at improving accessibility to the council’s decision-making processes.
BACS trys to find its lost knowledge
Jointly owned by the biggest banks and building societies in the UK, automated clearing house BACS has never lost a single payment in 36 years of business, despite processing more than four billion of them per year. But prestigious ownership and impressive records aside, could they handle implementing a knowledge-management programme to help employees find critical information? Gareth Lodge, the company’s knowledge manager, describes the often challenging process.
Abbey National Bank's content lifecycle
You create it, nurture it, use it and eventually, you lose it – and no, it’s not your hair. The riddle that is your enterprise’s content lifecycle can be tricky to figure out, but doing exactly that is an essential process for any business. Peter Greenfield, online channels manager at Abbey National Bank, explains how to do so.
Regulars
Last Word: disabilty discrimination deadline looms
Access denied ?
It is probably not the compliance issue you are most familiar with, but starting in October 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act will require employers in the UK to make their internal IT systems accessible to those with disabilities. The costs of not doing so, writes Harry Wilson, could be enormous if enterprises don’t take action sooner rather than later.
Trendtracker: cheaper, simpler search solutions to come?
Could less eventually mean more?
As enterprises watch chunks of their budget being spent on expensive and comprehensive search and retrieval solutions, research shows people are still finding the task difficult. Meanwhile, writes Harry Wilson, some corporate names you might recognise are slowly beginning to edge into the market with web and desktop-based search solutions designed to be simple, cheap and effective.
Board's eye view: the challenge of a portal project
To support their knowledge workers, many organisations have developed or studied the possibilities of implementing an enterprise portal. Furthermore, portal technology, with personalised access to information and web-based tools, is increasingly applied in business-to-consumer and business-to-business commerce. But do these projects always fulfil their promises?
