• Microsoft revealed plans to introduce new security measures into its next generation of software. The next version of its Windows desktop software, Vista, and its server software ‘Longhorn’ will disable key features if illegitimate authentication keys are used to verify the products.

• Criminal charges were filed against former Hewlett-Packard chairman, Patricia Dunn, in relation to a boardroom spying scandal that has rocked the company. Dunn and four others face several charges, including identity theft and conspiracy, following a rogue investigation into boardroom leaks.

• More computer makers had to recall laptop batteries because of potential fire risks affecting Sony-made components. In total, more than seven million Sony batteries have been replaced since the first batch was recalled in August 2006. Manufacturers Toshiba, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Dell, Sony and Apple have issued recalls.

• JP Rangaswami, previously CIO at investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort, was appointed the new CIO at telecommunications giant BT Global Services. Rangaswami is one of the highest profile CIOs in the UK, and was responsible for radical changes in IT collabor-ation and communications approaches within the bank.

• Supermarket giant Tesco said it would launch a range of budget own-brand software which will result in a stand-off with established software vendors such as Microsoft and Symantec. Its range of six packages will include an office suite, two security and anti-virus products, a personal finance tool, CD/DVD burners and a photo editing product. The software will retail for less than £20, and will be rolled out over 100 stores in the UK over the next 12 months.

• IT services company, Accenture, withdrew from the high-profile £12.4 billion NHS IT improvement programme in the UK. Accenture was originally contracted to be the local service provider for the programme in the East and North East regions. The contract, worth £1.97 billion, will now be picked up by rival Computer Sciences Corp.

• Microsoft appealed against the e280.5 million ($357.4 million) fine imposed on it by the European Com-mission for failing to meet conditions set out in a 2004 antitrust ruling. The fine – for failing to share critical application information with software developers – was imposed on top of a record $632.5 million fine imposed by the EC on Microsoft in March 2004. It forms part of a long running battle by the EC which claims Microsoft has abused an alleged monopoly position.

• The City of Munich council began rolling out the first phase of its migration to open source software, a year later than planned. After a series of delays, 100 users in the Mayor’s department have migrated to the Debian distribution of Linux. The council hopes to have 80% of all PC users on Linux by mid-2009.

Infoconomy Index: European companies accelerate

Strong growth from many of Europe’s IT services companies helped push the Infoconomy European Index to its fifth successive monthly increase, overshadowing the downward trend displayed by the industry globally.

Figures for September show the Infoconomy Index, which charts the rate of growth at the world’s 200 largest IT vendors, at 6.7%, down from August’s 7.0%. In contrast, the index of Europe-based companies rose another 0.7% to 10.6%.

Within that European subset, IT service companies fuelled much of the growth, with new bookings at Axon, Business & Decision and LogicaCMG helping push quarterly revenues up by 57%, 52% and 39%, respectively. Only UK-based consultancy Morse saw revenue dip by 16%, largely due to its ongoing transformation from an IT reseller into a full services firm, while French group Steria treaded water with a 4% increase in revenue.

Overall, the strongest European performance came from UK-based Xyratex, where high demand for its storage and network systems (which are sold by many better-known storage vendors under their own label) increased quarterly revenue by 61%. Other good performances were recorded by data centre services company IX Europe (46%), systems integrator Compel (38%), and security software firm nCipher (31%).

In the absence of reporting from many of the global IT giants, the index was affected by a 4% downturn at content management vendor Open Text, a 9% drop at communication software vendor Openwave and 21% fall in revenue at beleaguered Unix group SCO. Mediocre growth at Accenture (2%) and CA (3%) also had an impact.

The Infoconomy 200 Index measures the overall growth rate of the IT industry by tracking the financial results of the world’s most important publicly listed companies. For more details, go to www.information-age.com.