William Friel, 12/27/99

The 25 most powerful people in networking

William Friel, senior vice president and CIO,
Prudential Insurance Company of America

K. Friel

Business 101 courses teach us about listening to customers, that the customer is always right. Though we can't possibly do everything all customers ask of us, a select few do guide our practices. Bill Friel is a member of that elite group.

You've probably seen the full-page ads in The Wall Street Journal showing a smiling Friel endorsing IBM's Lotus Notes software. IBM and Lotus are just two of the network-related companies on whose advisory boards Friel sits.

The others include Microsoft and Intel. Not bad when such leading computing companies have you as an advisor.

That's the kind of influence Friel quietly wields in our industry. So then, what's he done for Prudential?

Consider the facts: Since becoming Prudential's chief information officer in 1995, Friel has built a company driven toward world-class IT operations. He created the Year 2000 Project Management Office to begin aggressive, controlled elimination of the Year 2000 threat. He spearheaded the company's efforts to upgrade an outdated infrastructure, eliminating legacy circuits and equipment, and creating a single, streamlined routed frame relay network to connect Prudential offices in 900 sites globally.

Friel created the Corporate Information Technology group to set, implement and manage company standards for hardware, software and IT processes. He led a companywide technology procurement program, saving millions of dollars and earning recognition by Gartner Group as best in its class for IT procurement and asset management.

Friel also created an emerging technologies group to preview the latest technologies and partner with vendors to create products that meet Prudential's IT needs.

Under his leadership, the company upgraded its Internet sites, intranet and customer service call centers, and continues to build on its promise to provide service to customers anytime, any place and in any way they prefer.

Related links

Bill Friel bio
From Prudential's Web site

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