IT Industry Awards: A small IT team looks back on its big success

The closing date for the UK IT Industry Awards is imminent, so make sure that you get your applications in before it is too late. The deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday 15 July.

To highlight the benefits of taking part, we have been profiling some of last year’s winners.

Not only do the UK IT Industry Awards aim to highlight the massive success of enterprises around the country, they also recognise the impact a small IT department can make in an organisation.

This was true of Newport City Homes, which was the deserving winner of Small IT Department of the Year in 2010.

Newport submitted its application just over 12 months after it was established, by which period it had already notched up some significant achievements.

The company was created in March 2009 after a stock transfer of about 9,500 properties from a local authority.

This required a completely new technology infrastructure to be set up in a new building, and servers, storage, telephony and desktops had to be implemented.

The 12 IT staff involved managed all this in a short amount of time while they were also busy installing crucial finance, HR and payroll applications.

The team was pretty confident on the night of the 2010 awards ceremony.

“Truth be told, I thought what we achieved would take some beating,” says Neil Jones, head of information systems, Newport City Homes.

“But the anticipation was building throughout the evening, and the champagne was flowing nicely. We were quietly confident. If we hadn’t won last year with what we had achieved, I doubt we would ever be able to win.”

Not satisfied with what it had already achieved, Newport City Homes has now introduced a brand new Housing Repair System. This enhanced its mobile workforce functionality, and employees are now able to stay out of the office if required. It operates by sending a dynamic working schedule directly to each employee’s PDA.

“We were very pleased when we won,” says Jones. “It was such a fantastic way to demonstrate to everyone what the team had gone through and achieved.”

Jones highlights how winning the award has gone far beyond the benefits of marketing ploys. It has also significantly raised IT awareness within the company.

“It has made the organisation far more aware of how leading edge we are with the technology that we deploy,” he says.

“When we first entered for the award, the company’s board had no idea how prestigious the awards are. It was great to see them in the crowd and to have them recognise how important an achievement this is.”

Jones says that Newport City Homes will definitely be applying for a chance to win again this year, though it won’t be for the Small IT Department of the Year prize. Since last year, it has implemented a new call centre and overhauled its disaster recovery systems - achievements that could win it the IT Project of the Year category.

“The UK IT Industry Awards are brilliant. They are a superb showcase for the industry, and a great way to reward those who are taking things forwards and being innovative with their work,” says Jones.

“This is especially poignant in the current economic climate. It isn’t all doom and gloom out there - there are pockets of brilliance in the IT industry.”

The UK IT Industry Awards are the benchmark for excellence throughout the computer industry, and they are a fantastic showcase for those working in IT.

The awards focus on the contributions of individuals, projects, organisations and technologies that have excelled in the use, development and deployment of IT in the past 12 months.

The winners will be announced at a lavish prize-giving ceremony, to be held at the Battersea Park Arena in London on Thursday 10 November 2011.

For a full rundown of this year’s award categories, please go to www.ukitindustryawards.co.uk.