KEANE AND NATIONAL LIFE GROUP ACHIEVE CMM LEVEL-3 CERTIFICATION
Strategic Outsourcing Initiative Delivers High-Quality Improvements in IT
Processes
BOSTON, Mass., July 22, 2005 - Keane, Inc. (NYSE: KEA), a leading business
and information technology (IT) outsourcing firm, today announced its
application management engagement at National Life Group has been assessed
at Level-3 of the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability
Maturity Model (CMM). This assessment certifies National Life Group has a
high level of quality consistently applied across its IT organization to
improve operational efficiency, lower costs and enhance performance. Keane
provides application services for on-going maintenance and new IT
development with on-site teams at National Life Group's headquarters in
Montpelier, Vt., and an offshore team at Keane's Advanced Development
Center in India. To support the engagement, Keane and National Life Group
established a Program Management Office that provides a structured,
rigorous framework for executive review, and project leadership and
implementation.
"This certification is the culmination of a year-long effort of training
and hard work," said Joel Conrad, chief information officer (CIO) at
National Life Group. "Very few organizations have gone from Level 1 to
Level 3 within an 18 month timeframe. This accomplishment demonstrates
the strategic contribution IT is making in improving the agility and
efficiency of our company so we can better meet customer needs."
"It is
an impressive accomplishment for our Keane on-site staff to achieve this
major milestone right on schedule, and while also managing a very
demanding and important workload," said Greg Doremus, senior vice
president, New Business and Customer Service at National Life Group.
"They have provided a methodology and approach that has helped us
optimize IT performance. We expect adoption of these best practice
methodologies will make our already excellent development deliverables
even stronger in the future." CMM is an objective means for evaluating an
organization's current IT processes and establishing steps for
improvement. The Keane/National Life Group team was reviewed by an
independent assessor firm called ProcessWorks Inc., which considered the
organization's capability to deliver high-quality services in a timely
manner, and the institutionalization and maturity of those processes.
According to Gary Klemens, Outsourcing director for Vermont at Keane,
"Our close partnership with National Life Group has enabled us to
fast-track this engagement to CMM Level-3. This achievement by both
companies reflects our shared commitment to optimizing business
performance through IT excellence."
About the National Life Group
The National Life Group is a growing and diversified family of financial
service companies made up of its primary company, National Life Insurance
Company which was founded in Montpelier, Vt. in 1850, as well as NL
Capital Management Company, the Sentinel Companies, Equity Services,
Inc., National Financial Services Inc., and National Retirement Plan
Advisors Inc. all of Montpelier; Life Insurance Company of the Southwest
of Dallas, Texas, and American Guaranty & Trust Company of Wilmington,
Delaware. Companies in the Group offer a comprehensive portfolio of life
insurance, annuity and equity products to help individuals, families and
businesses meet their financial goals.
About Keane
In business since 1965, Keane, Inc. (NYSE: KEA) is a premier business and
IT services firm. Keane delivers Application and Business Process
Services to help clients transform their business and IT operations to
achieve demonstrable, measurable and sustainable business benefit. Keane
is a trusted advisor and partner for its clients by solving real business
issues through the development and implementation of cost-effective,
change-oriented, industry-specific solutions. Specifically, Keane
delivers highly synergistic service offerings, including Application
Development & Integration, Application Outsourcing and Business Process
Outsourcing. Keane believes that business and IT improvements are best
realized by streamlining and optimizing business and IT processes,
implementing rigorous management disciplines and fostering a culture of
accountability through meaningful performance metrics. Keane, based in
Boston, MA USA, delivers its services through an integrated network of
regional offices in the United States, Australia, Canada, India and the
United Kingdom, and via SEI CMMI Level 5 evaluated Advanced Development
Centers (ADCs) in Canada and India. Information on Keane is available on
the Internet at www.keane.com.
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