Stories about: First Union

Austin Adams, who gained attention in 2004 for canceling a mammoth outsourcing contract with IBM, is retiring as CIO of New York City-based JP Morgan Chase Adams will step down at the beginning of October.

Approaching downtown Charlotte, N.C., from the airport, one can't help noticing the Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Even on its home turf, Wachovia operates in the prominent shadow of its larger rival, a regular reminder of at least one alternative its customers have for their banking needs.

Like a lot of other security professionals these days, Mike Hager, security chief at OppenheimerFunds Distributor Inc. in New York, is under excruciating pressure to provide top-notch protection of data, ensure privacy and manage user access -- all on a drum-tight budget. He also needs to justify all project costs and results to top management.

While other companies are cutting thousands of jobs to pare costs, Bank One Corp. announced last week that it plans to add 600 IT workers in an effort to speed up and expand internal technology projects.

On the first business day of the new millennium, Duke Energy initiated a guerrilla approach to e-business. A small band of advocates began to roam the utility, living in the business units, seeding pilot projects, assisting with implementations, coordinating resources and spreading success stories. Eighteen months later, having launched more than a dozen successful Internet initiatives that saved the company US$52 million last year alone, the "e-team" is now handing off the projects to the businesses.

Citigroup Inc. yesterday said it will offer its corporate customers the ability to route bills electronically to consumers through an online service backed by three large financial services competitors.

Westpac's B2Buy electronic exchange is shrugging aside the derailment of its e-commerce software supplier, Metiom.

The recent online banking explosion has offered banks new revenue streams, but those streams can bring new risks. Insurance companies are finally beginning to look at the risks and offer coverage.

The days when users would buy new storage technology based on things such as improved data backup speeds or immediate cost savings have passed due to the softening economy. Now, companies are focusing on total cost of ownership and the long-term returns that storage investments can bring.

Metiom Australasia has named David Issa as chief executive officer, effective immediately.

A data standard created to act as a high-tech lubricant for the exchange of customer information is facing problems, including a just-announced review by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and, perhaps more important, a lack of big end-user acceptance so far.