InformationWeek Announces Results of 22nd Annual InformationWeek 500 Honoring Nation's Most Innovative Users of Business Technology

DANA POINT, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InformationWeek, the market-leading business technology media brand, today released its annual InformationWeek 500 honoring the most innovative U.S.-based users of business technology.  The rankings and research results were announced Tuesday evening during the annual InformationWeek 500 Conference, held at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California.

The top 10 companies in the 2010 ranking are:

"For 22 years, the InformationWeek 500 has honored the most innovative users of business technology," said InformationWeek Editor In Chief Rob Preston. "As we start to emerge from the worst recession in decades, the IT focus is now on driving growth — new sources of revenue, new relationships with customers, even new business models. This year's ranking placed special emphasis on those companies and business technology executives leading that charge."

Twenty-five percent of InformationWeek 500 CIOs have a formal responsibility for innovation, in addition to their IT jobs.  2010 top innovation plans include:

• 54%:  making business process more efficient  
• 40%:  introducing new IT-led products or service for customers
• 36%:  getting better business intelligence to more employees, faster

When asked which web technologies they are adopting, 75% say Software as a Service, up 14 percentage points from 2009, and 72% are adopting wikis, blogs or social networking tools for external collaboration, up 30 percentage points from 2009.

"Without a doubt, the budget hatchet isn't hanging over IT like it was in 2009," said Chris Murphy, Editor of InformationWeek.  "However, tension is everyday life for InformationWeek 500 IT leaders, as they try to let employees to be more open and collaborative than ever with customers and colleagues, while staying secure and compliant and within budget."

Past top InformationWeek 500 companies include CME Group, Conway, National Semiconductor, Kimberly-Clark, Hilton Hotels, and Unum. The InformationWeek 500 is unique among corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in information technology, NOT the biggest IT spenders.

This year's conference featured a keynote address from bestselling author Nicholas Carr — who just released his provocative best seller, "The Shallows."  Carr expanded on his thesis that the Internet is changing the way we think — and not necessarily in a good way.  "I fear we are not tapping into some of the most profound capabilities of our mind," he told the audience.

In a separate keynote, Peter Hinssen — one of Europe's esteemed thought leaders in the field of technology and its impact on business life and society — spoke on "The New Normal in IT."  Hinssen collaborates with organizations in the areas of IT strategy, transformation, fusion, and coaching.

More than 370 of the nation's CIOs are at the event — a "who's who" in technology purchasing power — including top IT leaders of American Express, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Eli Lilly and Company, Hewlett-Packard, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and DHL Express.  

Sponsors for the 2010 event include iRise, HCL, Teradata Corporation, VMware, Workday, IBM Enterprise Content Management, Qwest Business, Riverbed, Cast Iron Systems (An IBM Company), Dell, Information Builders, Rimini Street, Splunk, SuccessFactors, and Vidyo.

To download the 2010 InformationWeek 500 research report, including exclusive profiles, research, and the full ranking, please visit, http://analytics.informationweek.com

About the InformationWeek 500 (http://www.informationweek.com/iw500)

Now in its 22nd year, the InformationWeek 500 is the annual ranking of the 500 most innovative users of business technology in the U.S.  The research reveals the strategies and best practices of the top 500 companies in a comprehensive study. The annual InformationWeek 500 Conference is where InformationWeek brings together the most innovative users of technology to share knowledge and experiences, while celebrating the companies named in the current InformationWeek 500. The InformationWeek 500 Conference provides a unique opportunity to meet and interact with the most respected and recognized executives in the field. The conference is held each fall and continually proves to be an insightful, thought-provoking discussion amongst America's top business technology executives.

About InformationWeek Business Technology Network (http://www.informationweek.com)

The InformationWeek Business Technology Network provides IT executives with unique analysis and tools that parallel their work flow—from defining and framing objectives through to the evaluation and recommendation of solutions. Anchored by InformationWeek, the multimedia powerhouse that looks across the enterprise, the network scales across the most critical technology categories with online properties like DarkReading.com (security), IntelligentEnterprise.com (application architecture), NetworkComputing.com (networking and communications) and PlugintotheCloud.com (cloud computing). The network also provides focused content for key IT targets, such as CIOs, developers, SMBs and IT Support Managers via InformationWeek Global CIO, Dr. Dobb's, InformationWeek SMB and HDI, as well as vital vertical industries with InformationWeek Financial Services, Government and Healthcare sites. Content is at the nucleus of our information distribution strategy—IT professionals turn to our experts and communities to stay informed, get advice and research technologies to make strategic business decisions.

About UBM TechWeb  (www.ubmtechweb.com)

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and business information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology.  Through its core businesses – media solutions, marketing services, and professional information – UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands, applications, and services in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs, IT and IT Support managers, Web and digital professionals, software and game developers, government decision makers, telecom providers and business executives) actively participate in UBM TechWeb's communities. UBM TechWeb brands include: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Game Developers Conference (GDC), Web 2.0, Black Hat, and Enterprise Connect (formerly VoiceCon); large-scale online networks such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Gamasutra; research, training, and certification services, including HDI, Pyramid Research, and InformationWeek Analytics; and market-leading magazines such as InformationWeek and Wall Street & Technology.  UBM TechWeb is part of UBM, a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

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