COMMON and IBM are very pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the COMMON/IBM Power Systems Innovation Awards. The COMMON/IBM Power Systems Innovation Awards showcase outstanding client achievements by honoring award winners at the 2009 COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition in Reno, Nevada, April 26 - 30, 2009.
What is Innovation? Innovation is a unique combination of people, passion, and technology that helps power your business. Power Systems innovation includes servers that feature the industry's leading POWER6 processors, with solutions based on AIX, IBM i and Linux operating environments - integrated to help you simplify your IT, reduce your costs and fuel innovation in your business.
What are the COMMON/IBM Power Systems Innovation Awards?
Several years ago, COMMON and IBM introduced a series of Innovation Awards to recognize, showcase, and share clients' best practices for IBM i solutions. In 2009, the COMMON/IBM Power Systems Innovation Awards have been extended to recognize business innovation which feature Power Systems servers with solutions based on AIX, IBM i and Linux environments. There are 5 award categories:
Power Systems Education Excellence Award - This award recognizes colleges and universities that have demonstrated an on-going commitment to provide quality education through the IBM Academic Initiative. The college or university nominated will have provided education support in a variety of forms including, but not limited to, curriculum, sponsorship and support for students and instructors.
Power Systems Energy Efficiency Award - This award recognizes a Power Systems customer that has demonstrated innovation in designing and implementing an energy-efficient data center. Nominations for this award should demonstrate how the use of technology (such as, but not limited to, the use of virtualization, energy efficient data center design, use of energy management tools like IBM Active Energy Manager) has allowed the customer to achieve a more energy-efficient data center.
Power Systems Web Solution Award - This award recognizes a Power Systems customer that has implemented an innovative, web-based business application solution demonstrating added benefit to their business. Nominations for this award can include, but are not limited to, solutions based on open-source technologies such as Java, PHP and/or MySQL.
Power Systems Business Solution Award - This award recognizes a Power Systems customer that has implemented an innovative business solution on Power Systems. Nominations for this award should demonstrate an innovative business solution running on AIX, IBM i or Linux operating environments.
Power Systems Virtualization Solution Award - This award recognizes a Power Systems or BladeCenter customer that has implemented an innovative virtualization solution with a shared infrastructure to run multiple operating environments (such as AIX and IBM i, or IBM i and Windows) on the same system. Nominations for this award should demonstrate the business value realized by implementing the virtualized solution.
Who is eligible for the COMMON/IBM Power Systems Innovation Awards? IBM clients who use Power Systems servers (including System i and System p) are eligible for these awards. IBM Business Partners are not eligible for these awards, but can nominate their clients with the clients' permission.
A judging committee will be assigned to each award category and each judging committee will include COMMON Board Members and IBM members. The judges will rank and score each nomination on the following criteria:
Demonstrate business innovation
Supports outstanding achievement
Highlights business value to the company and its end users
Is considered a best practice in the industry
Stands out from the others nominated in the category
What will award winners receive? In addition to the award, each winner will be eligible for the following benefits:
COMMON Membership for one year
Up to five complimentary registrations to COMMON conference
One complimentary registration to COMMON IT Executive conference
Feature articles in COMMON.CONNECT publication and IBM Power Systems Magazine, and other press features
How do I submit a nomination for the COMMON/IBM Power Systems Innovation Awards? Click on the link below to submit your nomination. Nominations will be accepted for COMMON in the United States until March 6, 2009. Winners will be contacted in late mid-March 2009 so that they can make plans to attend the 2009 COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition in Reno, Nevada.
