The CIO 100

1. Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence continues to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. Technology is charged with giving troops a competitive edge and also saving time, money and lives.

2. Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

The breakdown in HMRC management control and information security policy led to the biggest data loss in recent history last year, rocking faith in government IT.

3. Royal Bank of Scotland Group

The Royal Bank of Scotland has maintained its position near the top of the CIO 100 ranking during the past year despite these trying economic times.

4. BT

BT has embarked on a worldwide transformation programme with the creation of two new operating units: BT Design and BT Operate.

5. Department for Work & Pensions

The Department of Work and Pensions manages the £155 billion paid out each year to 26 million UK citizens. This year it had met ambitious efficiency targets.

6. Unilever

Neil Cameron, Unilever global CIO says the company has had a year of good progress, both for IT and the corporation as a whole. IT operations at Unilever have begun to use a four quadrant model, which will be in place globally by 2010, dividing up responsibilities into strategy and planning, business partnering, innovation and services.

7. DHL

It has been a good year for Nigel Underwood's IT team at DHL Logistics. The major integration project to merge the UK logistics company Exel with DHL parent company, Deutsche Post was completed ahead of schedule. The benefits it has delivered has built much credibility for IT across the new business, according to Underwood.

8. Royal Mail Group

Group Technology Director Robin Dargue arrived at the Royal Mail Group six months ago, with a remit to drive transformation. "I have inherited a fundamentally successful IT team that supported the £9 billion business of the Royal Mail on virtually nothing. It deserves a medal," he says. "Since I arrived we have now been up weighting the technology team so that it can cope with the transformation project ahead."

9. Lloyds TSB Group

Lloyds TSB is set to merge with HBOS to create a banking giant as the financial sector faces difficulties following on from the collapse of Leman Brothers in the US. The merger, which the government is likely to approve will create wide ranging redundancies. Perhaps by virtue of its size and having only the UK as its key market, making it the fifth largest banking group in the UK, Lloyds TSB Group has felt comparatively less growth pains in the midst of increasing global economic instability. With revenues of £16.9 billion last year, it still registered a balance-sheet item termed a "revaluation reserve reduction" of £740 million that was bigger than the £667 million sub-prime related losses charged against profit.

10. HBOS

HBOS is set to merge with Lloyds TSB to create a banking giant as the financial sector faces difficulties following on from the collapse of Leman Brothers in the US. The merger, which the government is likely to approve will create wide ranging redundancies Just before news of the merger leaked, HBOS said in its most recent trading update that, while it has not been immune to the wider economic and credit conditions, the UK's largest mortgage and savings provider was on track to demonstrate a “resilient performance in 2008”. Not bad for a bank in its tenth year as a listed company.

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