InfoWorld honors a host of innovative new projects that highlight the resourcefulness of the IT community To avoid the budget ax, IT departments have made strides in demystifying the black magic of realistic ROI. By the same token, to figure out where the money is going, the business side has endeavored to learn enough to be dangerous about information technology.Yet most IT managers remain convinced that, outside of a small circle of technologists, no one really understands them or the challenges they face. That’s one reason why the annual InfoWorld 100 is such an important institution: It provides a unique forum where IT managers get the recognition they deserve for smart, successful projects from an audience of their peers.To enter the winners circle, an InfoWorld 100 project must stretch beyond the typical, off-the-shelf solution. As judges, our editors have an explicit bias toward multiple technologies used in innovative ways to serve well-defined business goals. That’s why, this year, we picked a ground-up development project, UPS’ package flow initiative, as the top InfoWorld 100 project. By closely modeling the logistics of package routing and loading, and writing software to manage them, UPS will eventually save more than half a billion dollars annually. In this and other winning projects, you will find object lessons to help you plan and sell initiatives — and maybe even help with the day-to-day task of making things work. Like a good blog, the InfoWorld 100 serves as a clearinghouse of ideas for people with similar challenges. Online or offline, that’s essentially the definition of community.The 2004 InfoWorld 100 ARCHITECTURE Gensler gensler.com Distributed systems optimization COMPUTING IBM ibm.com Unified supply-chain management CONSTRUCTION Beazer Homes beazer.com Integrated sales system DISTRIBUTION/SUPPLY CHAIN Arrow Electronics arrow.com Shop-floor control system Avnet avnet.com Web services partner integration EDUCATION Academy of Art University academyart.edu Full ERP and Wi-Fi deployment Michigan State University bus.msu.edu/msc On-demand supply-chain research Somerset Area School District sasdpa.net SSL VPN for unified school network ENERGY BP bp.com Wireless railcar monitoring BP bp.com Wireless vibration sensors for tankers Calpine calpine.com Dynamic, predictive querying tool Calpine calpine.com Integrated risk control system Calpine Energy Services calpine.com Energy price/cost reporting Lower Colorado River Authority lcra.org Distributed asset management FINANCIAL SERVICES American Savings Bank asbhawaii.com Speech-enabled banking application Essex Investment Management essexinvest.com E-mail, IM, and document archiving ETrade Financial etrade.com Call automation with voice recognition Fifth Third Bancorp 53.com Federated identity with HR outsourcer FirstCommand Financial Services firstcommand.com Financial services portal for personnel Lend Lease lendlease.com Unified identity/security management Mesirow Financial mesirowfinancial.com Distributed IP-based SAN solution MidAmerica Bank midamericabank.com Business continuity initiative Ocwen Financial ocwen.com Mortgage database security Quicken Loans quickenloans.com Information lifecycle management RouteOne routeone.com Web services credit check service Royal Bank of Canada Investments rbc.com Business process management State Street Global Advisors ssga.com SAN predictive change management 3Delta Systems ubizen.com Payment processing security upgrade Wachovia wachovia.com Grid computing using desktops Wells Fargo wellsfargo.com Web portal for commercial customers GOVERNMENT California Public Utilities Commission cpuc.ca.gov Workflow and document management City of Culver City culvercity.org Wi-Fi mesh networking initiative Florida Supreme Court flcourts.org Database integration and search portal State of Minnesota state.mn.us Medicare/Medicaid secure identity State of Oregon, Department of Consumerand Business Services state.or.us Disk-based backup and recovery United States Navy navy.mil Enterprisewide tracking system United States Postal Service usps.com Web app for carrier pickup HEALTH CARE Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center bidmc.harvard.edu Wi-Fi asset tracking with active RFID Centegra Health System centegra.com Consolidated enterprise portal CyraCom cyracom.com Multiple language voice recognition Denver Health and Hospital Authority denverhealth.org Smart card employee security Geisinger Health System geisinger.edu Secure medical records system Tuba City Regional Health Care tcrhcc.org Scratch ERP rollout with nine modules WellPoint Health Networks wellpoint.com PDA prescription system INSURANCE Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey horizonblue.comIntegrated voice recognition system Humana humana.com HIPAA-compliant messaging system Nationwide nationwide.com Grid computing risk and price modeling Zenith National Insurance thezenith.com Workflow for claims management LAW ENFORCEMENT City of Lakewood lakewood.org Wireless access for patrol officers King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office metrokc.gov/proatty Electronic document archiving project Northrop Grumman northropgrumman.com Data exchange for criminal records Pinellas County Jail co.pinellas.fl.us/sheriff/jail/jailmain.htm Wi-Fi, barcodes for inmate tracking South Carolina Computer Crime Center sc3.sc.gov SAN for computer crime task force LEGAL Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker paulhastings.com Business continuity, remote replication MANUFACTURING Barilla Americas barilla-usa.com Logistics management initiative Dufferin Concrete dufferinconcrete.ca E-business revamp, customer portal Honeywell honeywell.com Merging multiple supply chains Johnson & Johnson jnj.com Cost control system for contract labor Land O’ Lakes landolakesinc.com Document scanning and management Morgan Foods morganfoods.com EDI converted to Internet transport Owens Corning owenscorning.com Business intelligence and data warehousing Pitney Bowes pb.com Wireless field-service management Rock-Tenn rocktenn.com Large-scale system integration RPM International rpmintl.com Product lifecycle management Saturn Electronics and Engineering saturnee.com Product lifecycle management TRW North America trw.com Linux migration for auto-parts division Welch’s Foods welchs.com Server virtualization and consolidation PHARMACEUTICALS GlaxoSmithKline gsk.com Global VoIP and unified messaging Locus Pharmaceuticals locuspharma.com Outsourced supercomputing Schering-Plough schering-plough.com Collaborative project management REAL ESTATE Century 21 Real Estate century21.com Online learning platform National Association of Realtors realtor.org Distributed e-commerce system RETAIL Best Buy bestbuy.com Single sign-on enterprise portal Chicago Pizza & Brewery bjsbrewhouse.com Web-based data collection, reporting Mary Kay marykay.com E-business and supply-chain initiative Proflowers proflowers.com Enterprise service bus deployment Rent-A-Center rentacenter.com Secure, large-scale Wi-Fi deployment SERVICES EDS eds.com Virus early warning system Eloqua eloqua.com Outsourced CRM, teleconferencing Inflow inflow.com Datacenter management for MSP Life Time Fitness lifetimefitness.com Member management data integration Loudeye loudeye.com Digital media lifecycle management SalesForce.com salesforce.com Online CMS for CRM customers Thomson Prometric prometric.com SOA for testing/assessment service TSYS Prepaid tsysprepaid.com Conversion of existing APIs to Web services Viacore viacore.net B-to-b process automation, optimization TELECOMMUNICATIONS Hughes Network Systems hns.com Digital content management Hughes Network Systems Europe hnseu.com Satellite distributed in-store advertising McLeod USA mcleodusa.com RFP response, document management Telus telus.com BI monitoring of employee productivity TRANSPORTATION Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway bnsf.com Voice portal for rail workers FedEx fedex.com Printing from MS Office to Kinko’s Lynden lynden.com Distributed VoIP and call routing NYK Line nykline.com Portal to monitor critical systems Ozburn-Hessey Logistics ohlogistics.com Internet-based partner integration UPS ups.com Revamped package routing, loading TRAVEL/HOSPITALITY Cendant Hotels cendant.com Consolidated customer portal Continental Airlines continental.com Maintenance advisory distribution Hershey Entertainment and Resorts hersheypa.com Disaster recovery, business continuity Holland America Line hollandamerica.com Web-based reporting, mainframe data Technology Industry