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- Awards and competitions
- UK IT Industry Awards
- Technology Excellence
Technology Excellence
Presented for innovative new hardware or software products, or generally-available IT services, which make the biggest contribution to business technology or to IT in general.
2021 key criteria
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.
A product or innovation is classified as an application, service, device, or technology which is widely available; normally (but not necessarily) for a monthly or one-off charge.
Bespoke projects can be entered as long as they use a technology which can be easily extended to other customers. Free internet consumer services, mobile apps and embedded technology applications are eligible - see the categories below.
We are looking to recognise achievement in the development, sales and implementation of new technologies released during the past 12 months that have a substantial base in the UK or where the product or service is marketed within the UK.
There is also a special category for innovative products from organisations whose headquarters and development capability is in the UK.
Entries in this section will be judged against four key criteria, which carry equal weighting in the assessment. The appropriate section of the entry form must be completed for each criteria.
Innovation
Has the product introduced new or leading-edge technologies, created different ways of working, or novel approaches that benefit its users?
Measurable success
Can the team demonstrate significant commercial success for the product during the past 12 months?
Customer satisfaction
Is there evidence of customers using the product to improve their operations and that they would recommend the product, or service, to others?
Degree to which the product support is carried out in the UK
Whilst non-UK products are not precluded, the degree to which the entry is developed, managed and supported in the UK is an important factor for the UK IT Industry Awards.
Specific to the UK innovation and entrepreneurship award only: the product or service should be developed or managed entirely in the UK by a start-up organisation, or a small autonomous team within a larger organisation, using the expertise of UK IT professionals. Include the size of the team, and where it works, in the “Summary” section of the entry form.
Entrants should provide a maximum 500-word explanation for how they meet each of these three criteria, plus a maximum 250-word summary of why they believe their product or service should win this award.
Each entry, therefore, requires four sections detailing achievements against each of the three criteria above (up to 500 words each), plus the summary statement (up to 250 words), which should include where the product is developed and marketed. A product overview should also be included. Credit is given for each section, so all sections of the form must be completed.
2021 awards
The awards in the Technology Excellence category are:
Awarded to an innovative new product or service that has delivered measurable benefit for business users or customers in areas such as ecommerce, hosting, web performance, communications, blockchain or web services.
Awarded to a product or service that has delivered measurable benefit to end users in either a single, large organisation or for a variety of organisations through any mix of private or public cloud offerings.
Awarded to a product or service that has delivered measurable benefit to end users either within an organisation or across organisations. Entries should make clear what the innovation is and how success has been measured. This category includes the use of collaborative technologies from zoom to virtual reality to bespoke developments.
Awarded to an innovative new development or service that delivers a new class of solution or type of benefit. This category does not need to demonstrate 12 months’ worth of customer results before being submitted as it is intended to allow UK inventiveness to be showcased through these Awards.
Awarded to an innovative new product or service that has delivered measurable benefit for customers in areas such as data centres, networking, systems management, server hardware and software, storage, application development, IT support or other business infrastructure applications.
Awarded to an innovative new product or service that has delivered measurable benefit for customers in areas such as IT security, data protection, information management, risk management, business continuity, cybersecurity or disaster recovery.
Awarded to a new product or service that has delivered measurable benefit for customers, can demonstrate the potential to be an important product for customers worldwide, and has been developed by a small team in the UK. The aim of this award is specifically to recognise innovation and achievement in IT product or service development in the UK. This can be either by a start-up organisation, or a small autonomous team within a larger organisation.
