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August 29, 2003
Guardian Receives CIO 100 Award for Resourcefulness
New York, NY - August 29, 2003
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY has received the prestigious CIO 100 award from IDG's CIO magazine. The 2003 CIO 100 award recognizes organizations around the world that excel in positive business performance through resourceful IT management and practices.
"This year's CIO 100 award recipients are being honored because their companies have demonstrated resourceful use of IT systems, staff and budgets," says Abbie Lundberg, Editor in Chief, CIO magazine. "Maximizing return on investment is a priority when times are tight, and these companies excel in generating greater value from limited resources."
CIO selected Guardian as a leader for demonstrating resourceful use of technology and related assets in a tough economic climate. This was accomplished by opportunistically sourcing new technology at record low price points from aggressive suppliers in a down economy, the leveraging of new technologies throughout the organization, augmenting our staff with effective use of offshore developers, and through the implementation of governance processes throughout IT. Guardian realized achievements in the areas of disciplined financial management; lower operating costs; implementation of reusable technology components as part of an Enterprise Architecture initiative; consolidation of data centers; leveraging of outsourcing opportunities; and strengthened employee training and mentoring programs. As a result of these efforts, the Guardian IT division was able to maximize new development dollars and provide funding for major strategic initiatives while reducing the IT budget by 23% from 2000 to 2003.
"Guardian is honored to receive this recognition from CIO," said Dennis Callahan, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. "Guardian has responded to the economic climate of the past few years by forging closer alignment with business area management in an effort to achieve efficiencies and control costs. As a result, we have been able to reverse a trend of escalating technology expenses while simultaneously increasing the value delivered to the business areas."
The recipients of this year's CIO 100 were selected through a comprehensive three-step process. First, companies filled out an online application form. In addition, CIO editorial staff and members of its expert panel nominated companies they deemed best fit the award criteria. A team of CIO editors and writers reviewed the application forms and expert recommendations and voted on the final 100. The judging objectives were to recognize positive business performance through the resourceful use of IT systems, staff and budgets in a challenging economy.
Complete coverage of the 2003 CIO 100 is featured in the August 15 issue of CIO magazine and at www.cio.com. About Guardian
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY (Guardian) is the fourth largest mutual life insurance company in the United States. As of December 31, 2002, Guardian and its subsidiaries had $34.1 billion in assets. Founded in 1860, Guardian is listed among Fortune magazine's top 300 businesses---and in 2003 was ranked once again as one of the top 10 most admired life and health companies in Fortune's "America's Most Admired Companies" list. With 5,500 employees, over 2,700 financial representatives and 100 agencies nationwide, Guardian and its subsidiaries protect individuals, businesses and their employees with life, disability, health and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), mutual fund and annuity investment products, and trust services. More information on Guardian can be obtained at: www.guardianlife.com.
About CIO Magazine
CIO magazine (launched in 1987) is published by CXO Media Inc. CXO Media serves CIOs, CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other corporate officers who use technology to thrive and prosper in this new era of business. The company strives to enhance partnerships between C-level executives, as well as create opportunities for information technology (IT) and consumer marketers to reach them. In addition to publishing CIO and CSO magazines, CXO Media produces www.cio.com, The CIO Insider, www.darwinmagazine.com, and www.CSOonline.com as well as Executive Programs, a series of conferences that provide educational and networking opportunities for corporate and government leaders.
CXO Media Inc. is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company. IDG publishes more than 300 computer magazines and newspapers and 4,000 book titles and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net (www.idg.net), which comprises more than 270 targeted websites in 70 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related expositions worldwide and provides IT market analysis through 50 offices in 43 countries worldwide. Company information is available at www.idg.com. | |
