BLS Bellsouth Cp

ATLANTA, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- BellSouth (NYSE:BLS) is a winner of CIO magazine's 14th Annual CIO Enterprise Value Awards. Underscoring the collaboration between information technology (IT) and business management, this prestigious honor is bestowed upon a select group of organizations that clearly demonstrate how they leverage IT to achieve business objectives and produce ROI (return on investment). BellSouth was recognized for developing a comprehensive consumer ordering interactions application solution commonly referred to as "Project Rodeo." "We were able to create 19 new common business services and redesign 14 applications to create a seamless solution for our users," states BellSouth Chief Information, eCommerce, and Security Officer Francis A. "Fran" Dramis. "The ultimate objective of any system is to improve the business and Rodeo accomplished this result as evidenced by a significant increase in product sales, higher revenues and lower customer churns." "In the 14 years we've been doing the CIO Enterprise Value Awards, we've seen a growing sophistication in the value of our winners' IT initiatives," says Abbie Lundberg, editor in chief, CIO magazine. "This year's winners hit more often and more deeply on multiple pillars of the different types of value we look at: the strategic, financial, operational, customer and even social impact of what they've achieved." About the CIO Enterprise Value Awards Enterprise Value Award entries are subjected to a rigorous judging process. Following a call for entries, applications were collected in the spring of 2005. CIO editors and a review board of independent consultants and academics examined the nominations and spoke with representatives of the various companies to evaluate their systems' costs and returns and impact on each company's overall operations. The team then presented their findings to a distinguished panel of judges, made up of prominent CIOs, for further evaluation. From there, the group selected 11 winning applications and 2 honorable mentions. After concluding site visits at the winning companies, the review board presented detailed findings of their research to the judges at a day-long meeting. Finally, judges determined one Grand CIO Enterprise Value Award winner, after debating the merits of each system, which will be announced at the CIO|06: The Year Ahead Conference in November 2005. For more information on the conference, visit http://www.cio.com/conferences. About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth has joint control and 40 percent ownership of Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider with 52.3 million customers. Backed by award-winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(R), residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial-up and high-speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(R) and The Real Yellow Pages(R). BellSouth believes that diversity and fostering an inclusive environment are critical in maintaining a competitive advantage in today's global marketplace. More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com/. About CIO Magazine Launched in 1987, CIO magazine addresses issues vital to the success of chief information officers (CIOs) worldwide. The CIO portfolio includes a companion website http://www.cio.com/, CIO Executive Programs and the CIO Executive Council. CIO properties provide technology and business leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals. The U.S. edition of the magazine and website are recipients of more than 160 awards to date, including two Grand Neals from the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards and two Magazine of the Year awards from the National Society of Business Publication Editors. CIO magazine is published in more than a dozen countries, including Australia, Canada, China, France and Germany. CIO Executive Programs - a series of face- to-face conferences including the CIO 100 Awards & Symposium(TM) - provide educational and networking opportunities for pre-qualified corporate and government leaders. The CIO Executive Council is a professional organization of CIOs created to achieve lasting change in critical industry, academic, media and governmental groups. CIO magazine, CIO.com, and CIO Executive Programs, and the CIO Executive Council are produced by International Data Group's award-winning business unit: CXO Media Inc. DATASOURCE: BellSouth CONTACT: Cecilia Taylor of BellSouth, +1-404-249-5701, or Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/ http://www.cio.com/ http://www.cio.com/conferences Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/095650.html

Copyright