Recognising individual excellence

This year’s Computing Awards for Excellence will recognise the best individuals and teams working in IT.

We are looking to reward IT experts at all levels of an organisation who have contributed to the development and deployment of innovative technology that improves business operations or enhances public services.

This year we have once again included a prize to recognise the importance of IT and business working together.

This award will be presented to a non-IT manager who has made a significant contribution to the success of an IT-enabled business initiative.

We are inviting readers to submit their nominations for these prizes. Entries can be submitted by companies and public bodies, individuals or teams wishing to recognise their own or their colleagues’ efforts, or by IT vendors nominating their customers. The individual and team awards are:

IT Leader of the Year

Awarded to a chief information officer, IT director or other board-level IT executive. The winner will be an individual who has consistently demonstrated excellence in leadership, innovation and quality in the use and promotion of IT in their organisation to deliver business growth or improvements in public services.

IT Department of the Year

Awarded to the IT department in any private or public sector organisation that has consistently proved its excellence in the delivery and support of IT services.

Business Manager of the Year

Awarded to a non-IT professional who has made a significant contribution to the use of IT.

The winner will have demonstrated how IT and business have worked together to deliver a successful project, improved operations or enhanced public services. Open to board-level executives as well as business/departmental/project managers.

IT Professional of the Year

Awarded to any individual working in IT, whether part of an IT department, business unit or small business.

The winner of this award will be an individual who has consistently demonstrated excellence in innovation, and quality in the use and promotion of IT in their organisation to deliver business growth or improvements in public services.

Judging criteria

Entries will be judged against the following criteria:

Excellence: consistently meeting or exceeding challenging objectives to ensure the successful use of IT.

Innovation: used innovative approaches or technologies to enhance their organisation.

Role model: provided an example to peers or colleagues of the importance of the role of IT in the organisation.

Success: has achieved significant success through involvement with one or more major IT initiatives in the past year

Quality: demonstrates a quality approach through personal values and working practices that ensure success for their team and organisation.

The final shortlists will be announced in September. The awards ceremony – recognised as the Oscars of the IT industry – takes place on 25 October at Battersea Park Events Arena in London. For further information and to submit your entry, visit www.computing.co.uk/awards.

Last year’s winners

IT Leader of the Year - David Lester, chief information officer, London Stock Exchange 

Since taking over the Information and IT Services division of the LSE in 2001, Lester has increased the unit’s revenue by 26 per cent. Last year, it accounted for 42 per cent of the company’s total sales.

He is driving the rollout of the LSE’s Technology Roadmap, migrating the Exchange’s systems to commodity hardware platforms and new software.

Other major projects for which Lester has been responsible include upgrades to the LSE’s Sets trading platform, a new IP network, and a corporate data warehouse as well as enhanced market data services.

IT Professional of the Year - Maggie Beaton, head of IT integration, Royal Bank of Scotland 

Royal Bank of Scotland owns Direct Line Insurance, and in September 2003 acquired Churchill Insurance, deciding to keep the two brands but to integrate the businesses on a common IT platform.

Beaton’s responsibility was to deliver the systems integration for the 15-month project. More than 700 IT staff were involved, along with managing the work of numerous contractors. Some 8,000 employees required training in new processes and systems.

The plan required the application of rigorous project and risk management skills as well as close liaison with business managers throughout.

IT Department of the Year - Ellis Fairbank 

Ellis Fairbank is an executive recruitment business, with an IT team of just four people supporting 128 staff.

Four years ago, the company was entirely paper-based, and IT was seen as an unnecessary distraction. Thanks to the team led by head of IT Lisa Jones, the department was by last year seen as a critical part of the business and a major contributor to its success.

The department introduced innovative new systems to help the sales teams and cut costs. But perhaps its biggest achievement has been in changing cultural attitudes to IT, by working closely with the business to demonstrate the benefits of technology.

Business Manager of the Year - Bill Miller, head of integration programmes, Royal Bank of Scotland 

Miller’s responsibility was to deliver the business integration for the 15-month project to integrate Direct Line and Churchill Insurance to a common business model and IT platform.

He chaired the Programme Implementation Board, managing the complex project as it covered several areas of the business.

Many of the project management methodologies Miller introduced have since been adopted across the firm.

Enter the Computing Awards for Excellence 2006