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January 15, 2004
Further Public Recognition for Guardian Life Insurance Information Technology
Further Public Recognition for Guardian Life Insurance Information Technology
Marc S. Sokol, Chief Security Officer, and Shelley McIntyre, 2nd Vice President Business Technology Services Named As 2004 Premier IT Leader by COMPUTERWORLD
New York, NY - January 15, 2004 - The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY today announced that Shelley McIntyre, 2nd Vice President Business Technology Services, and Marc S. Sokol, CISM, Chief Security Officer, have been recognized by IDG's Computerworld, the "Voice of IT Management," as two of the business world's Premier 100 IT Leaders. The award honors executives who show exemplary technology leadership in resolving pressing business problems.
Honorees were named and profiled in the January 5 issue of Computerworld and will be honored again at Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference, March 7-9, 2004 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort, Palm Desert, Calif. This follows closely on the heels of Guardian being recognized by CIO Magazine as the winner of the Enterprise Value Award for the Financial Services Industry. The award, which recognizes Guardian for reducing back-office processing costs by 40% and reducing time to market for new products by over 75%, will be received by EVP/CIO Dennis S. Callahan & Shelley McIntyre at the CIO Enterprise Value Retreat & Awards Ceremony in February.
Guardian has built a strong executive IT team over the last three years under the leadership of Callahan, who was recognized last year by Computerworld's Premier 100. "Shelley and Marc exemplify the quality and leadership capabilities of our team," said Callahan. "Their vision and leadership in implementing systems, improving operating efficiency, and upgrading security has had a significant impact on the firm and contributed to forging a strong working partnership with Guardian's businesses."
McIntyre and Sokol were selected from nearly 600 nominees, who were measured against Computerworld's IT Leadership Index, a set of characteristics that describes executives who guide the effective use of IT in their organizations, and evaluated by the editors and an external panel of past Premier 100 honorees. Other 2004 honorees include leading IT executives from corporations such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Marriott International, American Express, Lockheed Martin, MetLife and the U.S. Air Force.
"Our Premier 100 list honors those who've had a positive impact on their IT groups and their companies during some of the toughest times in years," said Maryfran Johnson, editor in chief of Computerworld. "They lead people and projects to success. They're adept communicators who are 'bilingual' in tech-speak and business talk. But most significantly, they're still willing to take risks in these highly risk-averse times."
Guardian IT has been recognized with 9 industry awards over the past two years and this trend continues with the recognition of McIntyre and Sokol by Computerworld. In addition to the Premier 100 IT Leaders award, McIntyre was also recognized as one of the 12 best in class for the year.
Shelley McIntyre, 2nd Vice President and Senior Business Systems Officer, joined Guardian in March 2001 to run the Equity Business Technology unit. Today she is responsible for application development related to Guardian's Equity business, broker/dealer (Park Avenue Securities), Investment division, HR and Finance systems. In addition, she manages IT outsourcing relationships and is responsible for facilitating and supporting business process outsourcing activity. Under McIntyre's leadership, these various development teams have achieved considerable success, efficiently and effectively supporting their business partners' strategic objectives. With nearly 23 years of experience in the insurance industry on the business, systems, carrier and vendor sides, McIntyre brings a unique perspective and knowledge to her work at Guardian.
Marc S. Sokol, CISM, Chief Security Officer, assumed this position at Guardian in late 2002. In this capacity, Sokol leads the company's efforts in establishing and maintaining a security program and governance framework to provide assurance that information security, physical security and business continuity/disaster recovery strategies are aligned with business goals and regulatory obligations. Under his leadership, Guardian established the Guardian Corporate Security Office and initiated an executive level Security Committee that provides a top-down management structure and centralized governance for coordinating security and information risk activity across the enterprise. Sokol brings over fifteen years of experience to Guardian.
The complete list of Premier 100 IT Leaders can be found in the January 5, 2004 issue of Computerworld and online at www.computerworld.com. The issue includes several feature articles summarizing the challenges IT Leaders expect to face in the coming year, including motivating staff, avoiding project pitfalls, shoring up network security and preparing for the rebound.
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 Computerworld
Computerworld, the "Voice of IT Management," is the most trusted source for the critical information needs of IT management. Through its weekly print publication, Computerworld.com website, focused conference series and custom research, Computerworld's integrated offerings form the U.S.-based hub of the world's largest (58-edition) global IT media network. Computerworld has won more than 100 print and online awards for editorial and design excellence in the past five years, including a Jesse H. Neal Award for "Best News Coverage," 22 ASBPE awards and BtoB Magazine's "Media Power 50" in 2003. In print since 1967, Computerworld currently has a guaranteed rate base of 180,000, a total print audience of 1,869,000 (according to IntelliQuest CIMS v.10.0), and an online audience of over 900,000 unique monthly visitors (according to DoubleClick). Breaking news and resources for IT management are available at www.computerworld.com.
Computerworld is a business unit of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research and event company. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net (www.idg.net), which comprises more than 330 targeted Web sites in 80 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related events worldwide, and IDG's research company, IDC, provides global market intelligence and advice through 51 offices in 43 countries. Company information is available at www.idg.com. | |
