It’s the first half of 2009, and unemployment’s rising to a 26-year high of 9.5%. Sound like the perfect time to launch an aggressive technology-driven product? It was for Progressive Insurance, which kicked off its “Name Your Price” Web site tool, letting customers build their own insurance policies, starting with what they think they can afford. It was for Coca-Cola, which tested a prototype fountain drink dispenser IT developed over two years with the company’s R&D team, letting consumers mix a variety of new flavors while aligning Coke with a select group of fast-food restaurants to analyze buying data and manage inventories better. And it was for CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, which partnered with Brazil’s top exchange to give traders electronic access to CME products, expanding CME’s global presence.
There’s a thread that runs through the companies at the top of this year’s InformationWeek 500: relentless innovation. In the 21 years that we have ranked the nation’s business technology leaders, none has provided as many obstacles to innovation as this past year, with its ferocious recession. This year’s top InformationWeek 500 companies stand out for keeping the pressure on for new ideas that drive business results. In our ranking—and our company profiles, industry insights, and “great ideas” exchange—the InformationWeek 500 celebrates those with the vision and guts to keep innovating.
Table of Contents
5 Research Synopsis
6 Relentless Innovation
6 How The InformationWeek 500 Process Works
19 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
23 Progressive Insurance
27 Wells Fargo
31 Salesforce.com
39 20 Great Ideas To Steal
49 250 Top Innovators
55 Masters Of Technology: Full InformationWeek 500 Listing
62 Government Innovators
66 Banking & Financial Services
67 Consumer Goods
68 Healthcare & Medical
69 Information Technology
70 Insurance
71 Logistics & Transportation
72 Manufacturing
73 Consulting & Business Services
74 Retail
75 Appendix
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