Steve Bozzo, CIO of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM®, Wins Global Award for ITIL® Case Study of the Year at the 2010 Pink Elephant Conference

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Iselin, March 2, 2010 – Steve Bozzo, CIO of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, INC. (FLWS), the world's leading florist and gift shop, was selected by the attendees here at this year's Pink Elephant 14th Annual IT Service Management (ITSM) Conference & Exhibition as global award winner of the prestigious ITIL® Case Study of the Year.

Bozzo had presented a case study at the conference, Delivering Profitability through IT Cost Transparency, detailing how 1-800-FLOWERS.COM used ComSci's Technology Financial Management™ (TFM) solutions to enable its brand line of business executives to understand IT costs and its impact on their brand's profitability.

The ITIL Case Study of the Year is considered among the most prestigious awards in ITSM, because the winner is chosen by Pink Elephant conference attendees, from IT organizations around the world. Evaluation results are tabulated for each of the ITIL case studies presented during the conference, and the award is given to the individual who delivered the most compelling session and received the highest evaluation.

As a technology-intensive business, IT is a significant and essential investment for 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. The company needed to understand how IT expenditures contributed to the growth and profitability of each of its brands. After a number of acquisitions, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM found itself in a situation where IT services were delivered centrally, yet the brands were not responsible for the IT costs. Because IT Services were not being charged to the brands, it was becoming more difficult to determine the true profitability of each brand.

"The success of our business depends on technology, and we want business to control how IT is used. How much of our on-going ‘lights-on' IT expense is justified? Could it be better spent elsewhere?" commented Bozzo. "We can only answer those questions with the full participation from the business, and, to do that, the business needs to understand the costs behind their consumption of IT services and resources."

ComSci worked with 1-800-FLOWERS.COM to add financial transparency and visibility to the brands' use of IT services. This involved establishing an IT services catalog with specific products and rate structures. The IT department generated mock bills and reviewed the results with brand presidents.

Bozzo's presentation outlined how this iterative approach delivered both immediate hard-dollar payback and significant soft benefits, such as building an enhanced partnership between IT and the 1-800-FLOWERS.COM brands.

About Pink Elephant and ITIL

The Pink Elephant conference, held February 21st to 24th, 2010, at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the world's largest gathering of professionals focused on ITSM and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ComSci is proud to have been a sponsor of the Pink Elephant conference.

ITIL is a set of concepts and practices for Information Technology Services Management (ITSM), IT development and IT operations. ITIL gives detailed descriptions of a number of important IT practices and provides comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that any IT organization can use to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. Since the UK's Office of Government Commerce (OGC) first developed ITIL in the late 1980s, it has gained recognition as an international IT industry standard. Pink Elephant has worked diligently to increase awareness of the best practice framework on a global scale, and part of this effort has included introducing an ITIL certification program to North America.

About ComSci

ComSci delivers Technology Financial Management™ solutions that empower organizations to implement more effective IT financial governance. Through decades of experience and a suite of web-based tools, ComSci helps IT organizations enhance technology transparency and visibility, which in turn enables business units to understand and optimize demand and utilization of technology resources. ComSci is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, and was founded in 1971.
Visit www.comsci.com for further information.

About 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. is the world's leading florist and gift shop. For more than 30 years, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. has been providing customers with fresh flowers and the finest selection of plants, gift baskets, gourmet foods, confections, balloons and plush stuffed animals perfect for every occasion. 1-800-FLOWERS® (1-800-356-9377 or www.1800flowers.com), was listed as a Top 50 Online Retailer by Internet Retailer in 2006, as well as 2008 Laureate Honoree by the Computerworld Honors Program and the recipient of ICMI's 2006 Global Call Center of the Year Award. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM offers the best of both worlds: exquisite arrangements created by some of the nation's top floral artists and hand-delivered the same day, and spectacular flowers shipped overnight from its Fresh From Our Growers® collection. As always, 100% satisfaction and freshness are guaranteed. The Company's BloomNet® international floral wire service provides (www.mybloomnet.net) a broad range of quality products and value-added services designed to help professional florists grow their businesses profitably.

The 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. "Gift Shop" also includes gourmet gifts such as popcorn and specialty treats from The Popcorn Factory® (1-800-541-2676 or www.thepopcornfactory.com); cookies and baked gifts from Cheryl&Co.® (1-800-443-8124 or www.cherylandco.com); premium chocolates and confections from Fannie May® confections brands (www.fanniemay.comand www.harrylondon.com); wine gifts from Ambrosia® (www.ambrosia.com) and Geerlings&WadeSM (www.geerwade.com); gift baskets from 1-800-BASKETS.COM® (www.1800baskets.com) and DesignPac® gifts (www.designpac.com); Celebrations® (www.celebrations.com), a new premier online destination for fabulous party ideas and planning tips Shares in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, ticker symbol: FLWS.

Visit www.comsci.com for further information.

Contact: Oliver Picher, Sagefrog Marketing Group, 610-566-1063, oliverp@sagefrog.com