"This started when we first exposed ourselves to the Web," Brune says. Allstate uses Computer Associates' TNG network and systems management to ensure the availability and performance of about 20 of its critical applications. Brune says she uses Unicenter to monitor the applications involved throughout a transaction. "When you're watching all of the pieces and the parts of an application, your mean time to repair goes down, and you get a very clear way to get systems back up and running," she says. "It's just a better way to run your business."
Brune hopes this type of vigilance will help the company do a better job of managing its Web services as they're rolled out. "Whether anyone believes it or not, Web services aren't as easy as they're sometimes made to sound," Brune says. "But they're easier than the old point-to-point solutions."
| INDUSTRY LEADERS | ||||
| Rank | Company | Revenue in millions | Income (loss) in millions |
IT employees |
| 13 | HIP Health Plan of NY | $2,899 | $178 | 242 |
| 25 | Aetna Inc. | $19,879 | ($2,523) | 2,450 |
| 42 | Ohio Casualty Group | $1,703 | ($1) | 333 |
| 45 | Anthem Inc. | $13,282 | $549 | 2,335 |
| 50 | Cincinnati Financial Corp. | $2,843 | $238 | 450 |
| 60 | Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America | $7,192 | ($283) | 525 |
| 72 | Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts | $4,043 | $99 | 162 |
| 80 | Principal Financial Group | $8,823 | $142 | 2,117 |
| 91 | Progressive Corp. | $9,294 | $667 | 2,520 |
| 121 | Cigna Corp. | $19,348 | ($398) | 3,600 |
| 138 | Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. | $15,907 | $1,000 | 3,300 |
| 152 | American Family Insurance Group | $5,307 | $58 | 1,025 |
| 161 | Northwestern Mutual | $16,024 | $158 | 1,050 |
| 173 | Farmers Group Inc. | $2,766 | $683 | 1,300 |
| 186 | Humana Inc. | $11,261 | $143 | 1,226 |
| 194 | Tufts Associated Health Plans Inc. | $2,000 | -- | 240 |
| 215 | Aflac | $10,257 | $821 | 409 |
| 221 | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina | $2,903 | $76 | 525 |
| 226 | Allstate Insurance Co. | $29,583 | $1,134 | 3,641 |
| 231 | Antares Management Solutions | -- | -- | 470 |
| 240 | Minnesota Life Insurance Co. | $1,700 | $4 | 442 |
| 245 | Nationwide | $12,858 | -- | 3,795 |
| 253 | Allmerica Financial | $3,317 | ($306) | 490 |
| 281 | Health Alliance Plan | $1,100 | -- | 139 |
| 285 | The MONY Group Inc. | $2,095 | ($23) | 258 |
| 288 | Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ | $4,098 | -- | 324 |
| 290 | New York Life Insurance Co. | $13,702 | $1,016 | 1,350 |
| 291 | Highmark | $7,423 | ($83) | 1,700 |
| 332 | Capital BlueCross | $1,253 | ($35) | 290 |
| 340 | Pacific Life Insurance Co. | $3,816 | $215 | 450 |
| 369 | Transatlantic Holdings Inc. | $2,616 | $169 | 27 |
| 394 | Empire BlueCross BlueShield | $4,628 | $377 | 275 |
| 411 | Jefferson-Pilot Financial | $3,480 | $475 | 350 |
| 412 | Chubb & Son Inc. | $9,140 | $223 | 1,620 |
| 416 | Oxford Health Plans Inc. | $4,963 | $222 | 406 |
| 422 | American United Life Insurance | $1,183 | $9 | 240 |
| 425 | Converium | $3,406 | $107 | 287 |
| 435 | PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. | $11,157 | $141 | 289 |
| 499 | Highmark Life & Casualty Group | -- | -- | -- |
| Financial data is from
public sources and company supplied. Revenue is for latest fiscal year. Employee data is from InformationWeek 500 qualifying survey. |
||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||