IT Awards Blog

As the entry deadline for The 2012 (10th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., quickly approaches on Wednesday, April 25,  we'd like to help you recognize your organization's achievements by highlighting our IT awards categories. If you haven't already done so, you can request your entry kit here and you will receive it right away.

The 2012 ABA IT award categories are:

• Information Technology Department of the Year
• Information Technology Team of the Year
• Information Technology Executive of the Year
• Technical Professional of the Year

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories include:

• An essay of up to 500 words describing the nominee's accomplishments since January 1 2011,
• A biography of the nominee or the leader of the nominated department or team of up to 100 words, and
• Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges.

The following departments, teams, and individuals were honored with information technology awards at the 2011 ABAs:

• Information Technology Department of the Year
  Hallmark Services Corporation, Naperville, IL
• Information Technology Executive of the Year
  Carbonite, Inc., Boston, MA: David Friend, Co-Founder, CEO & Chairman
• Information Technology Team of the Year
  CIGNA Government Services, LLC, Nashville, TN: Rising to the Challenge
• Technical Professional of the Year
  High Performance Technologies, Inc., Reston, VA: Tom Simmavath, Team Lead

2012 ABA Finalists will be announced mid-May and the 10th Annual award winners will be announced at our tech awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 17th at the Julia Morgan Ballroom.

Want more ways to highlight your organization's IT efforts? We have several corporate awards categories that may be of interest including: app awards, live event awards, video awards, and website awards.

As the entry deadline for The 2012 American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., approaches on Wednesday, April 25, we wanted to provide you with several tips for submitting winning IT awards entries. (If you haven't already done so, request your entry kit here and you will receive it right away.)

To make the most out of your IT award entries, we suggest the following tips:

1. Review the corporate awards categories.
There are four award categories that are specifically labeled as information technology awards:

1. Information Technology Department of the Year
2. Information Technology Team of the Year
3. Information Technology Executive of the Year
4. Technical Professional of the Year (for non-executive technical professionals includes software developers, web developers, technical writers, etc.)

We have several other award categories that may be of interest to IT professionals including our app awards categories, live event awards categories, and website awards categories.  

2. Review the entry submission criteria.
Information to be submitted online for these technology awards categories include:

1. An essay of up to 500 words describing the nominee's accomplishments since January 1 2011
2. A biography of the nominee or the leader of the nominated department or team of up to 100 words
3. Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges

3. Download our 10 Tips for Winning Technology Awards tipsheet. 
Our tipsheet will provide helpful tips and tools for making the most out of your entries

2012 ABA Finalists will be announced mid-May and the 10th Annual award winners will be announced at our tech awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 17th at the Julia Morgan Ballroom.

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Abu Dhabi Police - General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, won a Stevie® Award for IT Team of the Year in the information technology award categories of The 2011 International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards program. (The 2012 IBAs are now open for entries. Request your entry kit here and submit entries by the April 11 early-bird deadline for discounted entry fees.) Here we look at how the IT award winning team transformed the Abu Dhabi Police's (ADP) communications system.

The Problem
Abu Dhabi Police's communication system was no longer keeping up with current security and emerging technology demands, leading to increased security risks. ADP's communication system had limited coverage, a lack of integration across all of Abu Dhabi, and an inadequate information security system, causing information leaks due to eavesdropping on police conversations.

The Project
The IT awards winning team, composed of four members with no less than ten years experience and previous knowledge of the current system, was given the task of updating ADP's system. The four had to research various solutions, select the best system, and monitor all of its development and operations.  The new system had to meet technology innovations including:

• Ability of reducing processing time and increasing customer satisfaction,
• Coverage of the Emirate's land and sea (95% coverage was initially targeted), and
• Security for the protection of Police Operations privacy.

The Solution
After several inquiries and significant research, the tech awards winner decided to introduce TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA) as ADP's new communications system. TETRA's capabilities include:

• Collective voice communications,
• Wireless telephony, and
• Data services.

The Results
Through ADP's introduction of TETRA, the communications system has become the first integrated wireless system in the Arab world. TETRA has contributed to better crime control and safer roads - advancing the UAE to the 11th most reliable police force in the world according to the 2011 World Economic Report. ADP's TETRA system has helped the police force in several ways, including:

• Automatically identifying the location of the police patrols and the person making the call.
• Automatically identifying the location of chased cars and illegal drivers.
• Allowing decisions to be made on site without having to be in the command and control center.
• Enabling coordination between paramedics and victims.

Other benefits include:

• The TETRA communication system is a cost-effective system reducing maintenance costs by 32.9%
• TETRA has contributed to higher customer satisfaction:

            o  Customer satisfaction with the security levels reached 94.8%
            o  Satisfaction of businessmen with the security levels reached 97.5%

• Crimes per 1,000 residents was reduced to 0.6 %
• Percentage of solved crimes reached 96.6%
• Current coverage: 98% of Abu Dhabi
• Since its implementation, there have been 0 security violations
• Satisfaction with the clarity of the voice is 100%
• Availability of communication channels when calling: 98.47%

About Abu Dhabi Police
The Abu Dhabi Police - General Headquarters is located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The police department strives to make a safer society by preserving stability, reducing crime and contributing justice to the general public. The force values are integrity, honesty and respect for all human rights. The force serves with responsibility, tact, kindness and promotes teamwork and recognition of the contributions of both individuals and teams on the force.

tmg-e*media, inc. of New York  received a Stevie Award for Smartphone or Tablet App of the Year in the 2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business.  (The 2012 edition of the awards will open next May - join the mailing list to learn when entries open.)  Many of the Stevie Awards competitions have tech awards categories.

Anna Murray, principal of tmg-e*media, inc. and key technical consultant to Little Brownie Bakers, served as technical strategist in the development of the Stevie Award-winning Little Brownie Bakers mobile application. The app allows consumers to search for Girl Scout® Cookie sales.  Users can type in their location using their phone’s GPS feature to view a list of upcoming Cookie Booth Sales, an activity organized by Girl Scout® troops and councils at local venues such as a malls and supermarkets. The app has been used by hundreds of thousands of people to find Girl Scout® Cookies.

Anna is a recognized authority on technology and Internet strategy, and has provided us with a technology tip that may be equally relevant in other fields:

The Pile of Snow

It’s an icy day with snow piling up outside. Someone presents you with two choices of task. You could

(a) Stay inside and sort out the mess in your jewelry box, or

(b) Go outside and shovel the walk.

Who wouldn’t choose (a)?

Then, five hours later, you’re still sitting cross-legged on the floor, a straight pin in each hand, trying to pick apart a Gordian knot containing a brooch, three necklaces, and four dangle earrings. The shoveler finished hours ago and is sipping hot chocolate while watching football.

Software Development Rule: The Pile of Snow Is Always Simpler.

Developers by their very nature avoid tasks that seem boring and laborious. You write programs to do the heavy lifting! So rather than spend an hour doing data entry, a developer will opt to write a program that does it for him. He’ll argue: “The program can be re-used.”

But what if it isn’t? I’m amazed by the number of times “re-use” never happens. Furthermore, what if the simple just-write-a-script tasks ends up in a five-hour jewelry box disentanglement? Leadership needs to be on the lookout for when tech folks simply need to shovel that pile of snow.

Management themselves are often attracted to whiz-bang. Who wants to hear about a boring, low-tech approach that saves $3,000? Is that why I have all those cool, tattooed tech guys in the basement talking about things that I don’t understand (but pretend to)? No, I want to hear about a $50,000 tech investment that will increase sales 400%! That’s the pitch I listen to!

But six months into a tech project now vastly over budget I may look longingly at the shovel.

So, beware. And ask yourself, what unglamorous “pile of snow” tasks and initiatives are you and your tech folks avoiding?

About Anna Murray

Anna Murray has more than 20 years of interactive technology and marketing experience and is a nationally recognized expert for her ability to implement technology and Internet strategy. She began her career working for news organizations including ABC News before founding the interactive agency, e*media, in 1996. In 2004, e*media was acquired by the Technology Management Group to form tmg-e*media, Inc. where she now serves as President.

Anna is recognized as a dynamic thought leader who works with many nationally and internationally prominent clients crafting and leading their technology initiatives. Her expertise includes media, pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods, technology, non-profit, and ecommerce companies. Her client list includes Slate, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Salvage Sale, SkyMall, Time Out New York, Kellogg Corporation, The National Institutes of Health, Toll Brothers, and Summit Business Media.

Anna graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale University and has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia University. She is a highly sought after speaker and has presented for numerous industry organizations including: Ad:Tech, Jupiter Media, the Direct Marketing Association, DrupalCon, and the Yale School of Management. Anna contributes articles for Marketing Sherpa, Retail Wire, Small Business News, and others. She is also the author of the “CPG eMarketing Guidebook: Stop Wasting Money & Get Measurable Results” (Marketing Sherpa, August 2003), and a board member of the International Women’s Writers’ Guild.

Anna maintains a blog, Content is Queen, and also contributes to Open Salon with a blog on New York’s Upper East Side.  She can be found on Twitter @tmgemedia and LinkedIn.

About tmg-e*media

Founded in 1989, tmg-e*media, inc. helps customers leverage technology to achieve business goals. With its powerful combination of innovative thinking, leadership, and experience, tmg-e*media provides end-to-end technology consulting.

The American Business Awards have a slew of new app awards categories.  Will you be entering?

Ruvi Kitov is the CEO and Co-Founder of Tufin Technologies in Ramat Gan, Israel, which won the Stevie Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year in the Middle East and Africa in The 2010 International Business Awards. The entry deadline for the 2011 IBAs is June 30.

What do you think are the top Best Practices in network security?

One, always audit everything in your network twice. Every change needs to be verified and audited to insure that it stays within compliance and was designed and executed in the most effective and secure way.

Two, only allow what you need into the network. Whether it’s user access or firewall rules, the default behavior must be “deny all” and should allow only what is needed.  All too often new security guys block what they don't want yet allow everything else. You'll never win this battle.

Three, secure your network management. We often neglect our network management accounts and access paths with our security devices.  These accounts need to have strong passwords, and the passwords must be rotated with full audit trails on their usage.

Four, train employees on security and its implications to the company. Your employees and customers are the ones who are most at risk of circumventing your security if they don't understand why it is there. They are also the easiest targets for criminal activity.

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

The recent hack into RSA that has had a wide security impact. Many tokens used by banks for online transactions by individual account holders are now potentially at risk as a result of this breach, and it may have an even larger potential impact than the recent Sony hacks.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

When I was younger I wanted to be a psychologist or a filmmaker.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

Dedication, flexibility, and openness.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

The worst habit at work is engaging in office politics and gossip. When your state of mind is “what’s in it for me?” your accomplishments will be mediocre, and you will ruin the atmosphere for other people working with you.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

Although Tufin is doing well, we have a long way ahead of us on the path to becoming a significant vendor in the security space. I’m inspired by the brilliant people working at Tufin and by the excitement of customers whose problems we solve.

About Ruvi Kitov
Ruvi Kitov is CEO and Co-Founder of Tufin Technologies, a global provider of firewall operations management solutions. Since Tufin’s founding in 2003, Ruvi has led the company’s operations through a successful growth and product-development period, quickly gaining many of the world’s largest corporations as Tufin customers. Under Ruvi’s leadership, Tufin has attained consistent profitability, while quickly gaining recognition as an industry innovator that prioritizes customer service and reliability.

With more than 12 years of deep industry experience, Ruvi previously served in key project management and development roles at Check Point Software, where he led the design and implementation of core technologies. He graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.

About Tufin Technologies

Tufin™ is the leading provider of Security Lifecycle Management solutions that enable companies to cost-effectively manage their network security policy, comply with regulatory standards, and minimize IT risk. Tufin's award-winning products SecureTrack™ and SecureChange™ Workflow help security operations teams to manage change and perform reliable audits while dramatically reducing manual, repetitive tasks through automation. Founded in 2005 by leading firewall and business systems experts, Tufin serves more than 700 customers in industries from telecom and financial services to energy, transportation, and pharmaceuticals. Tufin partners with leading vendors including Check Point, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, F5, Blue Coat, McAfee, and BMC Software, and is committed to setting the gold standard for technological innovation and dedicated customer service.

For more information visit http://www.tufin.com, or follow Tufin on:

    * Twitter at http://twitter.com/TufinTech

    * LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/companies/tufin-technologies

    * Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Tufintech

    * The Tufin Blog at http://www.tufin.com/blog

    * The Tufin Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Tufintech  

What do you think of Ruvi's list of best practices?

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What are your top tips on how technology can be used to improve business?
Technology can be used to improve business by allowing organizations to communicate in ways not available in the past due to the poor quality, lack of availability, or high cost of equipment. Emerging telepresence services now offer an alternative to face-to-face meetings that still provides a rewarding exchange of information while cutting down on the time and money spent on travel.

Using technology to support virtual training is another benefit for businesses that need to refresh the skills of a global workforce yet do not have the funding to have employees travel to a central location. New techniques such as whiteboarding, polling, breakout rooms, and more make online training sessions truly interactive. The end result is a collaborative and engaging session that accomplishes the task at a much lower cost and without requiring the resources to travel.

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?
The way Facebook, Twitter, and other social media were able to influence political change in the Middle East. Social media is changing the identities and lives of young people who have not had a voice in the past. The speed with which information is shared—and the ease of access to a network of people from different walks of life—quickly brings people together and enables them to pursue common goals. Organizations must recognize the enormous impact these tools will have well into the future.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?
I’d like to be the owner of a bookstore because there is nothing better than a good book!

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Personal accountability is paramount, as is leading by example and setting the tone for the necessary structure and discipline of a team’s environment. Equally important is building trust and respect by engaging in open and honest communications.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?
Organizations are really about the people. One of a leader’s main responsibilities is to develop a solid team with a diverse set of skills and capabilities. The worst bad habit for a leader to have is to be threatened by high-potential employees in the organization and as a result not devote time and energy into further developing those employees to achieve the highest levels in the organization.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
Watching an organization grow and develop a unity of effort. It is truly about teamwork, and I am inspired to watch teams come together to achieve the impossible. It is rewarding to be a part of that journey and to know that you were a part of creating the environment that made a real difference in what the team was able to achieve.

About Sheri Thureen
Sheri Thureen is Vice President of Enterprise Business Transformation within CSC’s North American Public Sector—Defense.  She has 23 years of information technology experience, including 18 years ERP experience.  Thureen has extensive business and project-management experience and has led numerous projects involving ERP implementations, business reengineering transformations, infrastructure upgrades, and sales and marketing initiatives.  She has worked on global projects spanning Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Prior to her current assignment, Thureen managed the Enterprise Business Solutions Division within the CSC Defense Group.  She also managed the Logistics Modernization Program (LMP).  This program successfully delivered global logistical modernization to the United States Army in support of the Army Materiel Command’s global logistics network. Under her direction, CSC’s solution became one of the largest fully integrated supply-chain, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) solutions in the world.

About CSC
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions and Services, the Managed Services Sector, and the North American Public Sector. CSC’s advanced capabilities include system design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support, and management consulting. The company has been recognized as a leader in the industry, including being named by FORTUNE magazine as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies for Information Technology Services (2011). Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 93,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.2 billion for the 12 months ended December 31, 2010. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.csc.com.

Want to win technology awards in The American Business Awards or another Stevie Awards competition? Check out our free tipsheet, 10 Tips for Winning Technology Awards in the 2011 Stevies.

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We've just published our latest tip sheet, called 10 Tips for Winning Technology Awards in the 2011 Stevie Awards.  Get it here.

There are many opportunities for technology professionals - engineers, developers, programmers, analysts, managers, and more - to be recognized in the Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards programs.  This brief tipsheet will outline the 10 best ways that technology professionals can be honored in the four Stevie Awards programs in 2011.  The programs are

• The American Business Awards
• The International Business Awards
• The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service
• The Stevie Awards for Women in Business

There are categories to recognize IT departments, teams, and individuals, categories for work such as new products and services and web sites, and much more.  This tipsheet will help you to choose the categories and competitions in which you'll have the best chance of winning a 2011 Stevie Award.

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Todd Crowder, Director of Customer Care with Vision Solutions in Indianapolis, Indiana will chair and form the final judging committee for the support awards categories in The 2011 American Business Awards. The support awards categories recognize achievements in all administrative support, production support, security, maintenance, research, etc. functions.  Basically the people who rarely if ever get a pat on the back.

Last year Todd was Director of Worldwide Technical Support for Double-Take Software when they won the Stevie for Support Department of the Year in The 2010 ABAs.   You can read their Stevie-winning nomination here.  Since that time Double-Take Software was acquired by Vision Solutions.

More judging committee chairs will be announced soon.

Support awards categories include the following:

Support Team of the Year

Support Staffer of the Year (for all non-executive support personnel, including office managers, administrative assistants, secretaries, maintenance professionals, etc.).

FYI, Support Staffer of the Year is one of the few categories in the ABAs that doesn't require payment of an entry fee with a nomination.

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Sheri Thureen, Vice President for Enterprise Business Transformation with CSC in Avondale, Pennsylvania, will chair and form the final judging committee for the information technology awards categories in The 2011 American Business Awards. 

The ABAs are the top business awards program in the U.S.A., open to all organizations nationwide - large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit.  The entry deadline is March 31, but late entries will be accepted through April 27 with payment of a late fee.

Sheri Thureen's group at CSC won the Stevie Award for Information Technology Team of the Year in The 2010 ABAs.  You can read their Stevie-winning nomination here.

Preliminary judging will begin in early April and will determine the Finalists.  Final judging will be conducted in late May and will determine each category's Stevie Award winner from among the Finalists.

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Congrats to 2010 Stevie winner Anyck Turgeon, winner of the 2010 Stevie Award for IT Executive of the Year in IT awards categories of The 2010 International Business Awards, on being named Chief Executive Officer and Chief of Information Strategy and Security of CoreClean Group.

Read the full-text of Anyck's Stevie-winning nomination here.  Anyck won the award for her work as Chief of Information Strategy and Security with Crossroads Systems of Austin, Texas.

Have news about a Stevie Awards honoree's promotion or job move?  Share it with us...