InformationWeek 500's Top 25 Innovators Lead the Pack in 2006 Stock Performance

InformationWeek 500 today announced its top 25 have reported significant stock performance growth with first quarter earnings announcements showing an average increase of 17 percent -- nearly double the 10 percent predicted by 2005 economic indicators.

Despite headlines from the last five years of failed technology projects and Internet start-ups gone bust, businesses have become addicted to the transformative capabilities, efficiencies and profit potential of technology. CIOs and business technology executives on last year's InformationWeek 500 list showcased their projects and told similar stories about the rewards of risk, the common threads;

  * Develop innovative use of business technology
  * Produce an information-driven strategy that blends all areas of the
    business
  * Apply performance metrics and standards to assess projects
  * Focus on what really matters; the cross-fertilization of IT and business
    talent crucial
  * Motivate vendors to deliver beyond expectations

Whether or not these items are absolute predictors it does seem that companies who take these steps to focus on business technology increase their chances of improving the bottom line. Many companies are stepping out of the slump; Northrop Grumman, Cadence Design Systems, Principal Financial Group and Avnet reported a phenomenal 39 percent average stock growth over the same period last year.

"The InformationWeek 500 list is meant to applaud companies that push the limit," says InformationWeek publisher Scott Vaughan. "We were on the mark with last year's top 25 selection. CIOs and business technology executives' creativity and use of the emerging technological tools at their disposal clearly paid off. We are excited to recognize those on the 2006 list and top achievers at the InformationWeek 500 Conference in September in Rancho Mirage, Calif."

Last years' InformationWeek top 25 reported significant stock performance growth over the 52-week period ending March 31, 2006.

For the past 18 years the InformationWeek 500 has identified and honored the nation's most innovative users of information technology with its annual listing. It is not too late to be named a master of technology in the InformationWeek 2006 list. The award deadline is April 28, apply online at http://www.informationweek.com/iw500/.

About InformationWeek

InformationWeek sets the agenda for business technology executives, covering the full range of information access points IT decision makers use today. A trusted, authoritative source and information filter, InformationWeek helps community members understand and focus on what's important up-to-the-minute -- in print, online, through independent research and at live, peer-to-peer events. Through its cross-media platform, InformationWeek delivers content to complement the print publication to its community of business technology leaders when and how they want it, 24/7. The InformationWeek community includes an audience of 1,600,000 CIOs and business technology executives who cut across industries, job titles, company sizes and global borders.

InformationWeek is consistently recognized for its commitment to excellence and thought leadership by the IT community, receiving many of the industry's top media accolades, including several awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), top spots in BtoB Magazine's Media Power 50 and Circulation Excellence Awards from Circulation Management Magazine.

About CMP Media's Business Technology Group (BTG)

Reaching the audiences that matter, BTG is comprised of the industry's leading technology brands reaching the most critical business technology audience segments -- InformationWeek, Network Computing, Intelligent Enterprise, and Optimize as well as a vertical industry suite including Bank Systems & Technology, Insurance & Technology, Wall Street & Technology, Advanced Trading and Government Enterprise. TechWeb Network provides technology professionals online access to aggregated content from all of these properties in addition to their original sites. Live events such as Interop, VoiceCon, Web 2.0 Conference, RFID World, Collaborative Technologies Conference, Mobile Business Expo, IPTV, Black Hat briefings and the Computer Security Institute's CSI Conference and NetSec complement print and online brands.

About CMP Media

CMP Media is a marketing solutions company serving the technology, healthcare and lifestyles industries. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP Media has earned the confidence of more professionals and enthusiasts in these fields than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in each of these industries in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Media is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

  Press Contact:
  Jennifer Cincu
  Articulate Communications Inc.
  212.255.0080, ext. 33
  jcincu@articulatepr.com

SOURCE: CMP Media LLC

CONTACT: Jennifer Cincu of Articulate Communications Inc., +1-212-255-
0080, ext. 33, jcincu@articulatepr.com

Web site: http://www.informationweek.com/iw500
http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/181993.html