IDC Recognized High Performing IT teams in Dynamic IT Benchmark Survey and Awards in Asia/Pacific

Singapore and Hong Kong, March 21, 2006 – IDC announced latest findings and the winners of its inaugural Dynamic IT Benchmark Survey at the IDC Asia/Pacific 2006 CIO Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on 16 March 2006. The winners were selected following an IDC survey which covered 11 markets in the Asia/Pacific region comprising of Australia, New Zealand, PRC, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. The survey was conducted across some 120 companies to assess how businesses were aligning their IT investments with corporate strategies and business goals.

Through the survey, IDC noted that successful Asia/Pacific teams with the most progress had two distinguishing features; their definition of success was clearly articulated, and the team as a whole had multiple competencies, in addition to technology management excellence.

“To be successful on this journey of sustaining responsiveness to the business, IDC believes uncompromising leadership commitment is as vital as the ability to stay the course through the challenges,” said Dr Patrick Chan, Director for Emerging Technologies at IDC Asia/Pacific. “A roadmap that is translated into milestones that can be recognized by all stakeholders, especially individual employees who are users, has proven to be pivotal in facilitating change.” he added.

Creating competitive advantage through IT, controlling IT costs, and ensuring regulatory compliance emerged as the top three most pressing priorities for CIOs and their IT teams in the region.

IDC findings indicate that most Asia/Pacific companies are keen to embrace Dynamic IT, defined by IDC as the creation of a high-performance IT capability that effectively supports the rapid pace of business change. Given the competitive and evolving Asia/Pacific market, enterprises are increasingly looking at harnessing IT as a strategic tool; to remain relevant, gain a competitive edge and leapfrog into the global arena.

Survey participants provided feedback centered around Six Pervasive Principles*, IDC’s blueprint to building Dynamic IT, and prioritized the initiatives that they were expecting their organizations to implement as follows:

1. Flexible internal/external sourcing

2. Service-oriented architecture (SOA)

3. Modular components/standards-based interoperability

4. Flexible operating cost model

5. Virtualized resource model

6. End-to-end design and management

IDC also noticed that, whilst the Dynamic IT vision is gaining traction in Asia/Pacific, common challenges hindering implementation include disruption to existing processes associated with outsourcing and redeployment of human resources, shortage of skilled staff for emerging areas such as SOA, and the lack of defined processes and practices in place to facilitate IT standardization.

IDC presented awards to the following five exemplary IT teams which distinguished themselves in their industries with innovative IT best practices and their dynamic IT vision across the Six Pervasive Principles:

· Finance: NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative Limited

· Healthcare: Beijing Tiantan Hospital

· Communications & Media : Reliance Infocomm Limited

· Distribution & Logistics: Corporate Express Australia Limited

· Manufacturing: Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing :Limited

* Details of the Six Pervasive Principles are contained in IDC’s Implementation Guide adapted from “A Dynamic Enterprise Needs Dynamic IT: A Blueprint” by Frank Gens and Patrick Chan and available on request. For more information on the IDC Dynamic IT Survey, please contact Sapphire Yong, email: syong@idc.com.

About IDC Asia/Pacific CIO Summit

IDC‘s Asia/Pacific CIO Summit is an invitation-only event that is specifically designed to provide CIOs with a clearer perspective on some of the most important trends and issues shaping the ICT industry. The content-rich summit program offers valuable insight, first-hand knowledge and the latest best practices and approaches in the IT industry by IDC experts and industry leaders. CIO attendees from past summits have benefited from the practical advice and thought provoking content which have helped them in making well-informed business and IT investment decisions. The summit is also a platform for extensive networking with peers, industry regulators and leaders, and potential business partners.

This year’s IDC Asia/Pacific CIO Summit “Dynamic IT and the Visionary CIO” , sponsored by HP, AT&T and Intel, addressed how companies are aligning their IT to meet the challenges of organizational requirements and the evolving competitive landscape.

In conjunction with the event, IDC presented five awards in the following industries: Communications & Media, Finance, Distribution & Logistics, Manufacturing and Healthcare. The awards recognize the significant achievements of CIOs and their organizations in the successful and innovative deployment of IT to meet business goals.

More information on the IDC Asia/Pacific CIO Summit 2006, which took place on 16 and 17 March, is available on

http://www.idc.com.sg/CIO_Summit2006.

About IDC Verticals

IDC’s Industry Insights companies provide clients with research-based advisory and consulting services, with special emphasis on developing and employing strategies that leverage IT investments to maximize organizational performance. IDC’s Industry Insights companies provide full coverage of the industry value chain for manufacturing, energy, healthcare, financial services and government. Staffed by senior analysts with significant technology experience in these industries, IDC’s Industry Insights companies provide a portfolio of offerings that are relevant to both IT and business needs.

About IDC

IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. Over 850 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends. For more than 42 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting

www.idc.com.