OAKLAND, CA - Matson Navigation Company's Vice President and Chief Information Officer Peter Weis has been recognized by Computerworld magazine as one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2009. The publication's top 100 honorees were selected by a panel of Computerworld editors and outside judges from over 1,000 nominees, and were evaluated using Computerworld's IT Leader Index, which is a measurement of how closely an individual matches the publication's definition of an IT leader. Characteristics of Computerworld's IT leaders include identifying IT strategic opportunities, promoting an IT vision that supports the company's strategy, comparing best practices with those of peer companies, leveraging technology vendors as partners and developing leadership skills inside the IT organization.
"Matson is very proud that Peter Weis has been included in such a distinguished group of IT leaders," said Matt Cox, president, Matson Navigation Company. "At Matson, IT supports virtually every aspect of our business, from gate processing at our terminals to online bookings at matson.com. It is an essential component of providing the highest levels of customer service in all of Matson's transportation units, including ocean services, logistics and terminals. In addition, Matson's IT operations deliver efficiencies to the company's administrative divisions, ranging from financial reporting to global equipment control. Since joining Matson in 2003, Peter Weis has led the company's IT initiatives, and has established a governance process that involves all business divisions in guiding the strategic direction of those initiatives at Matson."
As part of the selection process, the panel of judges reviewed a number of IT initiatives implemented at Matson in recent years that are aligned with the company's key objectives. The strategic drivers for these initiatives fell into three categories: eliminating business risk caused by obsolete technologies, reducing IT and business operating costs, and enabling the company's strategic growth initiatives. Examples cited included a single, web-based operating platform designed to support Matson Integrated Logistics' highway services, the fastest growing division in the logistics unit. Another key initiative involved Matson's terminal operation in Honolulu, which is one of the most compact and dense container facilities in the world; with over 50 percent of Matson's shipments flowing through Hawaii, performance there has a major impact on costs and profits. Continuous investments in wireless, RFID and GPS infrastructure have made significant contributions to improving productivity and containing operating costs.
Equally important is Matson's integrated outsourcing strategy, which leverages external IT service providers in order to cost effectively deliver data center, network, and applications support. Matson's IT strategy also has included initiatives with an environmental focus, including reducing energy consumption by computers in offices, minimizing usage of paper within the organization, and curtailing business travel by leveraging technology solutions for communication and collaboration.
"As Matson's CIO, it is very rewarding to receive this level of recognition among IT professionals throughout the country," said Weis. "From my perspective, this honor is a direct reflection of the exceptional talents and efforts of Matson's IT services staff, who have made tremendous contributions in recent years to ensure our customers and internal clients realize the benefits that these initiatives seek to deliver. It is also important to acknowledge the strong companywide support we have received, particularly at the senior management level. This sponsorship has allowed us to achieve far ranging technology improvements throughout the entire organization."
Matson provides ocean transportation services to Hawaii, Guam, China and Micronesia, as well as logistics services through its subsidiary, Matson Integrated Logistics. Matson is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. of Honolulu (NYSE: AXB).
Jeff Hull, public relations
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