ATLANTA, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company (NYSE: SO) today announced that IDG's Computerworld magazine ranked it among the best workplaces for information technology professionals in its annual "100 Best Places to Work in IT" list for the fifth consecutive year. Southern Company placed 18th among all companies, marking its highest ranking ever on the list.

Since 1994, Computerworld's annual "Best Places to Work in IT" feature has ranked the top 100 work environments for technology professionals, based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, diversity, career development, training and retention. Nearly 30,000 IT employees from across the country completed the Computerworld survey, including 400 Southern Company IT employees.  

"Southern Company is proud of this recognition, because it is based on survey results from our IT employees," said Southern Company CIO Becky Blalock. "Being nationally recognized is a great testament to the company's work environment, culture and the important work we do every day."

Southern Company IT was recognized for its communication efforts, including webcasts and its electronic newsletter. The "Shout IT" group on Yammer, an intra-company social networking tool, was also noted as a way for employees to recognize co-workers for a job well done. Computerworld's profile of Southern Company can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.computerworld.com/spring/bp/detail/817

The complete 2011 rankings can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.computerworld.com/spring/bp/2011/1

With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company was named the World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility by Fortune magazine in 2011, and is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company