CIO 100 Awards: Questions & Answers
What We're Looking For
The 25th annual CIO 100 Awards will celebrate 100 organizations (and the people within them) that are using information technology in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth or improving relationships with customers.
Perhaps you took a risk on an emerging technology or deployed the tried-and-true in a new way. Maybe you built a better business process or fostered closer collaboration. Or you found ways to get more from existing customers, to pursue new markets, to save money or to make more. Here's your chance to tell your peers about the technology innovations that have enabled or led the way to greater success for your organization.
To be selected, applicants must show not only that they have executed their project well, but that they have done so in uncommon, innovative ways: pioneering a new technology, applying a familiar technology to a new purpose, setting the bar higher for competitors. And they must demonstrate business value, not just IT benefits.
Note: This is not an award for technology vendors' products; however, we will consider the value (revenue) of technology-driven services that leverage a company's nontechnology core competency (banking, health care, moving freight), as long as the service is a natural extension of what the company does.
What's in It for You
A CIO 100 Award is an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence. In a survey by PR Week magazine, CEOs named the CIO 100 among the top 10 most influential corporate scorecards compiled by any publication or organization. Because the award is given to companies rather than individuals, it's an honor everyone on your staff can take pride in. Executives from honored companies will be recognized among their peers and colleagues at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards Ceremony, to be held at The Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA on August 19-21, 2012.
How We Judge the CIO 100 Awards
The CIO 100 honorees will be chosen by the CIO editorial team (working in concert with an external judging panel of former CIOs and industry experts) based on information submitted in the attached PDF file. Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to review any additional materials. Entrants are encouraged to include any information about their projects or initiatives that they would like the judges to consider in their answers to the questions on the application.
Each entry will be judged based on how it compares with all other entries submitted. Honorees are not ranked.
Criteria
To be selected for a CIO 100 Award, you must demonstrate excellence in:
Technology Innovation: The extent to which your organization used IT in a new way or enabled new ways of doing business, whether internally or externally.
Business Value Delivery: The measurable impact, backed up by supporting data, that your project or initiative has had on your organization's business results.
Judging Process
Each application will be read by two members of the CIO 100 judging panel, who will rate it on a scale of 1 to 5 for each criterion, for a possible total of 20 points. Final selections will be confirmed by CIO magazine editors. All scores will be kept confidential. They will not be released publicly, nor will they be discussed with any individual applicants.
Increase Your Chances of Winning
Applications that focus on the business goals and results of the project and provide detailed answers to all questions have a better chance of winning. The most successful applications are written by the CIO or another business-oriented IT manager with input from both business stakeholders and technical staff. If you are an IT vendor that would like to nominate a partner or customer for a CIO 100 Award, we strongly advise you to enlist the CIO or another IT manager within the organization you wish to nominate to submit the application.
In order to win a CIO 100 Award, applicants must provide data and examples that support their claims of innovation and business value. For example, it is not enough to tell us that a sales support system enabled your company to increase its market share. You must also provide numbers such as your market share before and after the project, how your rank changed among your competitors, or other metrics that illustrate your claim.
How We Use Your Information
The information you provide in your CIO 100 application will be used by CIO primarily for judging the awards but may also be used in articles (both in print and online) or other publicity materials related to the CIO 100 Awards. Application information will be used for editorial purposes only, with the exception of contact information and vendor information, which may be used to market CIO content and programs.
If you have information about your project (such as internal metrics) that you would prefer not be published, but that you would like us to consider as part of your application, please note this in the text box where the information appears or where specifically in the application.
Deadlines
Applications for the 2013 CIO 100 Awards will be available in late 2012.
