Nearly 95 percent of organisations buy, provide or both buy and provide outsourced services and functions, in which they face inherent risks created by new and unforeseen challenges. 

Outsourcing is the quest to offload either commodity or very specialized activities, so that staff can focus on work that truly adds value to the business. 

In this week's Computer Weekly, we hear from Visa Europe CIO Steve Chambers on the technology behind the credit card transactions that retailers rely on. We examine the challenges facing the government's G-Cloud project; and we ask how Microsoft will cope when customers no longer want to purchase software licences. Download the new issue now. 

This white paper describes some of the enhanced capabilities of today’s server technology and discusses the three most common approaches to server refresh projects – replacement, upgrade, and outsourcing – along with the business benefits of each. 

Use this tool to scan up to 200 computers on your network to discover threats that your existing security software might have missed.  Scan for viruses, spyware, adware, rootkits, unwanted devices and applications, and suspicious files. You'll receive a comprehensive report of the results and  recommendations for guarding against the threats found. 

Why Outsource to Russia? How about scalable IT labor resources, low employee turnover, and reasonable prices. Do you need further convincing? The Read this white paper! 

Content provided by Google. This paper examines whether cloud computing makes good business sense for your company. Ultimately, you may find that moving your data to the cloud actually improves security, scalability, access, and disaster recovery. 

Readers of this e-guide document will learn about the different ways to approach data center outsourcing, including assessing services-oriented architectures for infrastructure and software. IT professionals will benefit from this document in learning how to evaluate, select and manage relationships with potential data center outsourcing partners. 

Adding a re-hosting project to outsourcing allows for a further reduction in cost. Watch this 2-minute video about the Cedacri Group’s mainframe modernization experience  to learn about the cost and performance advantages of a re-hosting strategy as well as how to ensure its success. 

In this week's Computer Weekly, we examine the economic benefits of plans to release more government data for wider re-use by software developers. We announce the winners of our Social Media Awards, and hear what the IT industry thinks of the new UK cyber security strategy. Download the new issue now. 

In investment reporting, customers expect detailed reports of irreproachable accuracy, delivered with no delay or excuses. This whitepaper will serve as as a guide for Investment Advisors. 

The UK's June Budget provides a mandate for all government departments to submit their spending review plans before the summer break and reports that it has scheduled the government spending review for October.