AT&T Executive VP Ron Ponder May Be on His Way Out; Report Posted on InformationWeek Online at http://www.informationweek.comPRNewswire Ron Ponder, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Executive Vice President of AT&T (NYSE: T), is under intense cost-cutting pressure from company President and COO John Walter and may be on his way out, according to a report posted tonight on CMP's InformationWeek Online (http://www.informationweek.com/). Walter wants Ponder to outsource much of the troubled company's information technology operations, sources close to AT&T told InformationWeek. Ponder is resisting the move, they add, because he believes it would undo his restructuring efforts of the last four years. "Ponder and Walter got into an intense debate over this," says a source close to AT&T who asserts Ponder is ready to resign over the matter. AT&T has no comment beyond calling Ponder a "valuable member of the executive team." Ponder, vacationing in Florida, confirms that he and Walter have had "spirited debates." Ponder, who is in charge of all information processing for AT&T, has already taken some losses. Earlier this year, Walter cut Ponder's direct reports from 70,000 people to about half that as part of a company-wide reorganization. The latest dispute springs from Walter's stated goal of cutting $2.5 billion from AT&T's overhead. He recently asked Ponder to head a committee to explore cuts in information technology, possibly through outsourcing to AT&T Solutions, which runs a $750 million outsourcing business. Says Rick Roscitt, head of the AT&T Solutions' network outsourcing unit: "One of the options I've always had is to run the AT&T infrastructure." Sources suggest AT&T Solutions might bring in IBM, EDS, or another outsourcer to help with the project. If that happens, the sources add, Walter could move Ponder to a new job within AT&T, or, more likely, Ponder would leave the company he joined in 1993. While Roscitt stressed to InformationWeek Online that no decision has been made yet, he is advising top AT&T managers on outsourcing. "I think you'll find AT&T Solutions stepping into a bigger role there," Roscitt says. One thing that will never be outsourced, Roscitt adds, is AT&T's own networks -- his unit's core competency. Published weekly by CMP Media, Inc., InformationWeek magazine delivers news, strategies, analysis, product and technology information to people who manage technology in business. At 350,000 qualified IT buyers, InformationWeek has the largest circulation in the information systems category. In addition to the weekly magazine, InformationWeek provides a complete system of information solutions for people who manage technology in business, such as InformationWeek Online (http://www.informationweek.com/), the Web-based resource for the information systems community; the annual InformationWeek 500 Conference for business and technology executives; and InformationWeek Daily, delivering news directly to the enterprise buyer's desktop. CMP Media Inc. provides publishing, marketing and information services to the broad high-technology spectrum -- the builders, sellers and users of technology through print and electronic media. All of CMP's publications and online products can be accessed through the company's TechWeb® site on the World Wide Web (http://www.techweb.com/). Print titles include EE Times, Computer Reseller News, InformationWeek and WINDOWS MAGAZINE. -0- 04/25/97 SOURCE: CMP Media Inc. CONTACT: Steve Rubel, 516-562-7434 or srubel@cmp.com, or Catherine Jarrat |