We are looking to recognise the organisations that have demonstrated excellence in their industry during the past 12 months. The awards seek to reward organisations who have contributed to the development and deployment of innovative IT systems that improve business operations or enhance public services. Entries can be submitted by IT vendors nominating their customers or themselves, from companies/public bodies or individuals wishing to recognise their own organisations’ efforts. IT vendors nominating their customers should ensure that they have the necessary consent and ideally a customer representative as part of the presentation team.

The awards in this category will be judged against four key criteria:

Entrants should provide a maximum 500-word explanation for how they meet each of the four criteria, plus a maximum 250-word summary of why they believe they should win this award.

Each entry, therefore, requires:

Organisational overview (80 words), which can be used for PR purposes
Four sections detailing achievements against each of the four criteria above (up to 500 words each)
A summary statement (up to 250 words)

Organisational excellence categories include:

Best Place to Work

Awarded to the organisation that provides the best employment and career opportunities for IT professionals as well as demonstrating a positive commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion The winner will be an organisation that its IT employees view as a great place to work; that can demonstrate improvements to the diversity and inclusiveness of its staff; that values the role of IT and the professionalism of the staff that provide and support it, offering career and skills development, reward and recognition for personal achievement and industry-leading employment benefits. Metrics showing how the organisation’s inclusivity has improved in recent years will be helpful.

Development Team of the Year

Awarded to the team or department that best demonstrates how its work has helped achieve or exceed objectives and contribute to the overall competitiveness and/or success of the organisation during the previous 12 months. The winning entry will show how important the development team is to the business, and what steps it took to accomplish its goals.

Project Team of the Year

Awarded to an outstanding project team that has implemented an end-user project that has been exceptionally well-managed. The winning team will demonstrate against the four criteria how well the project has been run and what lessons have been learnt, how customer expectations have been surpassed, innovation introduced by the project and measurable outcomes for the project.

Services Company of the year

Awarded to recognise excellence in the provision of IT systems, the winner will be a supplier of hardware, software and/or IT services that has achieved significant business success in the past 12 months and can demonstrate high levels of customer satisfaction and business benefits from the users of its products and services.

Team of the Year

Awarded to the company or public body that demonstrates how the development or implementation of its IT strategy has helped to meet objectives, achieve greater competitiveness or improve public services during the past 12 months. The winning organisation will show how IT is fundamental to achieving business goals.

Special award – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

This award will go to the organisation which is best able to demonstrate the steps it has taken to improve diversity, equity and inclusion. This could be of it’s own workforce, initiatives it has taken to assist its customers or a service or product it has created and supplied to others. Metrics demonstrating achievement will be helpful.

Special award - Sustainability

This award will go to the organisation which is best able to prove that it has taken specific steps to reduce its environmental impact and improve its sustainability. Judges will expect to see details of a significant sustainable initiative, together with the impact achieved. Metrics showing how the organisation’s sustainability has improved as a result of the initiative will be helpful.

Vendor of the Year

Open to all vendors, this standalone award will go to the vendor who can demonstrate outstanding performance in terms of market penetration, revenue growth, customer feedback and the launch of innovative new products. Crucially, the vendor must clearly demonstrate a commitment to workplace diversity as well as IT excellence. They will have set up schemes to encourage and promote equality amongst staff, with opportunities provided to the most talented individuals regardless of their personal attributes or beliefs. The organisation will be able to demonstrate a solid record of both innovation (whether that's in their products, working practises or processes) and investment in the UK IT industry. Evidence of youth training and recruitment programmes, and charitable works will also be considered.

This category will be judged against four key criteria:

Entrants should provide a maximum 500-word explanation for how they meet each of the four criteria, plus a maximum 250- word summary of why they believe they should win this award.

Each entry, therefore, requires:

Organisational overview (80 words), which can be used for PR purposes
Four sections detailing achievements against each of the four criteria above (up to 500 words each)
A summary statement (up to 250 words)

The nomination window is now closed

Finalists will be announced on 22 August!