The seven awards that make up the Organisational
Excellence section of theBCS
IT Industry Awardsrecognise the contribution
made to an organisation's success by the IT department and the
systems they use.
Public Sector Organisation of the Year
Fife Council, the winner of this year's Public Sector
Organisation award, was selected by the judges as an outstanding
example of best practice in delivery of a large-scale IT
transformation project.
Fife, the third largest authority in Scotland, impressed the
judges with its recent completion of a £21m programme to replace
its telephone system across its sites, implementing voice over IP
and upgrading its entire computer network.
The project involved replacing more than 12,000 phones in more
than 360 sites, providing alternative systems to a further 98
sites, upgrading communications circuits to achieve extra
bandwidth, improving Lan/Wan resilience, replacing switches in
schools across Fife, and cabinet and power upgrade works throughout
council buildings.
John Higgins, director general of Intellect and chair of the
judging panel, explains, "This was a great example of best
practice. The council recognised that a telephone replacement
project offered an opportunity to meet a number of wider business
drivers and created an effective service transformation programme
that delivered business benefits to budget in three rather than
five years."
Medallists in this category were North Tyneside Council ICT
Service and HM Land Registry.
Commercial and Financial Sector Organisation of the Year
Described by the judges as using IT to help it lead the market,
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) collected the
Commercial and Financial Sector Organisation of the Year Award.
Formed in 1986, N&P offers a range of financial services,
including a strong commercial lending operation, and has about
1,000 employees.
On the back of regulatory changes, N&P developed a
risk-based individual pricing structure for borrowers that provides
benefits including quick process time, bespoke personal rates, and
an application that is assessed and approved at the point of
sale.
The project introduced agile practices such as daily "scrums"
and weekly meetings aligning business needs and IT focus. This
flexible approach allowed refinements to be made incorporating
broker and staff feedback during the build process.
Higgins says, "Norwich & Peterborough Building Society has
demonstrated excellent innovation in response to European
regulation of its market and implemented new products that delight
its customers while reducing risk to the society. IT was an
integral component in enabling the company to lead the market."
Medallists in this category were Standard Life and Morgan
Est.
IT Consultancy of the Year
The award for IT Consultancy of the Year went to Xantus
Consulting, an independent consultancy offering advice on
commercial, technological and business issues.
In making the award, judges were looking for evidence of the
contributions made by the consultancy to the success of the
client's business through the use of the supplier's products and
services.
Xantus impressed the judges with its ability to deliver projects
for clients across the globe, providing true business benefits and
in many cases significant savings. Projects included the
development of new IT environments, delivery of a satellite network
infrastructure, and the replacement of obsolete technology.
The company prides itself on building good working relationships
with clients, and several have given the consultancy "trusted
adviser" status. This means they rely on Xantus to bring breadth
and depth of market and supplier knowledge while remaining
independent, ensuring that advice is based on what is the right
strategic direction for their business.
Xantus customer satisfaction levels gained through regular
surveys show that 96% of its clients are either satisfied or
"delighted" with its work.
Higgins says, "Xantus provides its clients with sound, impartial
advice on commercial, technological and business issues, enabling
them to fully realise strategic benefits. Its services and skills
are tailored to address the complex challenges of today's
CIOs."
Medallists in this category were The Structure Group and Wipro
Technologies.
SME of the Year
For helping organisations transform their business through
e-commerce, the SME of the Year Award was presented to Portal
Technology Systems.
The technology consultancy focuses on the design, implementation
and integration of e-commerce, content management and portal
systems. It has delivered more than 200 internet and intranet
projects for companies including Royal Mail, Post Office, Premier
Farnell, The Body Shop and Johnson & Johnson.
Portal Technology Systems handled the development of Royal
Mail's online stamp - the biggest single e-business project for the
Royal Mail Group since its web portal was launched in 2000. The
challenging project was delivered on time and to budget and has
proved a huge success in terms of the business benefits it has
brought Royal Mail.
The company places itself at the forefront of the e-commerce
business and seeks out innovative software, customising and
integrating it to create e-business solutions that allow clients to
break new ground in the service they offer to customers.
The judges were impressed by Portal Technology Systems'
technical capabilities and its ability to compete as an SME
alongside larger organisations to win major contracts. It achieves
this through its reputation for technical excellence, innovative
systems and the ability to deliver complex projects on time and to
budget. This is combined with a reputation for excellent customer
relationship management.
Higgins says, "This organisation really punches above its
weight. The judges were impressed by the scale and business impact
of the projects carried out by the company, in particular the
online stamps system for Royal Mail."
Medallists in this category were ProCheckUp and Tideway.
Large Technology Supplier of the Year
Neural Technologies was named Large Technology Supplier of the
Year for its commitment to customer service and innovative
technology.
The risk management software provider has pioneered neural
technology and advanced analytics to help organisations reduce
losses and optimise revenue in the areas of fraud, collections, bad
debt, customer attrition and revenue assurance.
Higgins says, "We were impressed by Neural Technologies'
ground-breaking implementation of fraud detection technologies
within the satellite broadcasting market."
Implemented ahead of schedule, the project employed an
innovative technology called Minotaur, a system that combines
traditional rules and threshold-based detection techniques with
neural behavioural modelling and neural predictive analytics.
Neural behavioural modelling is used to profile the behaviour of
customers. Unique profiles are automatically learned for each
customer and evolve to reflect any changes in normal behaviour. In
this way any anomalous and unusual activity is easily
recognised.
Neural predictive analytical models are developed using specific
rather than generic data: this is a vital factor because it makes
them highly relevant and accurate. An organisation's own historical
data, with known outcomes, is used to "train" the neural computer
to learn patterns and characteristics within the data. These
patterns are then used to create models that can differentiate
between fraudulent and genuine applications.
The company was also commended for its comprehensive approach to
customer service, providing the client with continuous on-site
support, which played a key role in bringing together the whole
team and maintaining momentum and focus on the business and IT
goals.
Medallists in this category were Sun Microsystems and
McKesson.
GCS Women in IT award
Goldman Sachs International collected the GCS Women in IT Award
in recognition of its initiatives to increase the number of women
it employs in IT roles over the past five years, at a time when the
overall number of women working in IT is falling.
The investment bank introduced a range of initiatives to boost
the number of female IT staff, including recruitment and retention
policies.
There are also active networks encouraging and supporting women
in IT in their career progression. These include the European Women
in Technology network established in 2001, the Women's Leadership
and Management Conference and Career Development Initiatives,
Women's Career Strategies Initiative and the MD and VP Leadership
Acceleration Initiative.
Staff benefits include flexible working, on-site back-up
childcare and permanent childcare places, schools out programme for
children aged 5-11 years, maternity workshops, buddy schemes and
on-site nursing facilities, enhanced family leave, elder care and
childcare resources, plus an on-site healthcare centre providing
screening programmes and wellness seminars.
Grahame Winman, sales operations manager at GCS, says, "Goldman
Sachs demonstrated the most complete range of initiatives to
encourage women into IT. The results witnessed by the company in
increasing the number of women employees in IT roles, at a time
when the general trend is for falling numbers, is a testament to
the range of initiatives adopted, including impressive outreach
work."
Medallists in this category were IBM and Lloyds TSB.
Photos from the awards ceremony
Photos of the
BCS IT Awards 2008 winners (part 1) >>
Photos of the
BCS IT Awards 2008 winners (part 2) >>
Photos of IT folk enjoying themselves at the BCS awards dinner
>>
Profiles of award winners
BT Flagship
Award for Innovation winner >>
Individual Excellence
Award winners >>
Project Excellence
Award winners >>
Green Award
winners >>
More information about the BCS IT Industry Awards can be found
on the
BCS awards
website.