Down to the Core

THE JUDGING of the Enterprise Value Awards was different this year. Our venue changed from the historic, lofty-ceilinged Faneuil Hall of last year to the Vault Boardroom at the Boston Stock Exchange. The Vault is an interesting and unique location, to be sure, but in the context of September (we held the judging two weeks after the terrorist attacks), the below-ground site, with its heavy security and massive iron doors, served as a striking if unintentional illustration of how much our world had changed.

I am extremely grateful to everyone involved for their commitment to the project. Two members of the review board were out on site visits on the 11th; Jim McGee went from interviewing executives at Dow Chemical to sitting with their staff in front of the conference room television set, watching events unfold. Both Jim and Sheila Smith had to rent cars and drive long distances to get home to their families.

I’m indebted to our CIO judges for traveling to Boston and devoting an entire day to the deliberations, despite having their own new priorities to wrestle with: Rebecca Rhoads from defense contractor Raytheon, as our country was heading into war; John Glaser of Partners HealthCare System, thinking about how hospitals should respond to biological terrorism; Doug Barker of The Nature Conservancy, seeing charitable giving shifting away from anything unrelated to the victims?even Gregor Bailar made it, although Nasdaq’s headquarters at One Liberty Plaza, next to the World Trade Center, was devastated by the attacks. (To read the account of the story Gregor told us at dinner that night?an incredible tale of successful business continuity planning?go to www.cio.com/printlinks.)

Thanks too to Rick Swanborg, my cochair for the awards. Rick’s enthusiasm, attention to detail and sense of humor helped make this year’s judging as positive and successful an experience as any.

Of course, the judging is only the start of creating an awards issue. Katherine Noyes, CIO’s IT value editor, was responsible not only for putting the issue together but also for taking a step back and explaining what the collective accomplishments of this year’s winners represents in the context of our 10-year history of celebrating enterprise value. Owen Edwards created a new and powerful design that conveys both real value and a return to basics. Together, with the help of a great editorial and design team, they turned this year’s Enterprise Value Awards issue into a new standard.

Finally, thanks to this year’s winners and all of the applicants. We couldn’t do any of this without all the smart, dedicated, inventive people who created these systems in the first place. Those of us involved in the judging process this year agree that we’re seeing more examples of increasingly sophisticated business value than ever before.