Technology services and integration company Morse has been selected as the preferred bidder for a £23m contract to overhaul the tech infrastructure of schools in the South Tyneside and Gateshead (STaG) area. The contract is to design and supply the IT infrastructure for 12 schools in the STaG area, including supplying computer hardware, software and online learning environments, and designing and supporting data centres, helpdesk, support and training for the schools' IT staff.

Virtualisation could save companies millions of pounds and be the dominant data centre technology within the next two to three years, according to analysts. Virtualisation can reduce the energy consumption and cut operating costs for companies adopting the technology, according to Butler Group's Infrastructure Virtualisation report. The report estimates a company currently operating 250 dual-core servers can save £2m over the next three years by adopting virtualisation technology.

Offshoring is creating a divide in the UK tech industry by reducing the proportion of mid-level software development jobs available in favour of higher level management roles, research has claimed. A report by IT staffing company ReThink Recruitment found that the proportion of jobs created in software development in the UK has fallen by six per cent in the past year from 34.3 per cent of new IT jobs to 28.5 per cent. During the same period, the proportion of IT support jobs - which are often seen as at risk from offshoring - has fallen from 24 per cent to 21.9 per cent.

Competition for outsourcing contracts is more cut-throat than ever with a huge expansion in the number of suppliers - so some significant consolidation is on the horizon. Recent rumours of a merger between sector heavyweights Infosys and Capgemini suggest the stars are aligning for some significant marriages. Duncan Aitchison, managing director of business advisory company TPI, told silicon.com even if the rumoured Infosys-Capgemini tie-up never materialises it reflects current "market sentiment", while other industry experts are predicting more mergers-and-acquisition activity in this sector over the next year or two.

Ever wondered what CIOs are reading on silicon.com? Our CIO Essentials feature puts you in the picture. Each week a leading IT chief picks his or her top stories from the past week and explains why they matter. This week we hear from Steve Clarke, head of internal computing at AOL UK. IM security unheard of among businesses AOL have used IM for years. It's embedded deeply in the culture and it really works. Before arriving at AOL, I'd never used IM in a business context and only briefly on a personal level but now it's an essential tool and I'm an advocate for its use. I wish I'd had access to IM in other roles - it would have helped me be more effective.

Marking a second round of layoffs this month, IBM has announced it will cut 1,566 jobs from its global workforce, primarily in its US strategic outsourcing services business. Big Blue, which employs 355,000 workers worldwide, said it expects to cut a total of 3,016 jobs by the end of the second quarter. That number includes 1,300 positions eliminated earlier this month.

A 30 second commute to the back bedroom, no need to force down a dodgy sandwich from the canteen - and you can work in your dressing gown. No wonder more and more people are working from home when they can - but what if the entire office had to work from home for the day? Our warts-and-all account of what happened when the whole silicon.com team worked from home for the day was a top story with readers this month, revealing the trials and tribulations of road warriors running out of power - and even how a cat disrupted the working day.

Ever wondered what CIOs are reading on silicon.com? Our CIO Essentials feature puts you in the picture. Each week a leading IT chief picks his or her top stories from the past week and explains why they matter. This week we hear from Gavin Whatrup, group IT director at marketing and advertising consultancy Creston.

Both techies and business users back the go-it-alone approach to fixing work-related IT glitches, judging by comments made by silicon.com readers. In response to the story last week, which revealed two-thirds of workers prefer to deal with IT issues themselves rather than go to an IT helpdesk, readers were quick to have their say. One reader said it is hardly surprising people feel like this when helpdesks seem to know less about PCs than themselves. He added: "The amount of times I have rung up about something and been told to restart the machine is exasperating."

Two-thirds of UK office workers take a 'handy Andy' approach to PC problems and attempt to sort it out themselves, rather than contacting the IT helpdesk. More than half of workers will go for the classic turn-it-off-and-on-again option when faced with a computer problem, according to a survey of 250 office workers. One in 10 of those surveyed claimed they might try this up to five times in the hope of solving the problem before resorting to calling the IT helpdesk.