Let me start by thanking all for the overwhelming response we received in 2018. It is heartening to see the number of nominations that we received.
The ICMG Ratings & Award competition provides a neutral, peer-driven evaluation opportunity for Enterprises worldwide to showcase projects & initiatives to move out of stagnation with improved digital offerings and bettering brand loyalty by re-inventing as Digital Enterprise.
In its 13th year, and there is a growing interest to be part of this global competition. This competition is unique in several ways, the various award categories, impeccable jury and the above all support of ICMG management to keep it sponsor free. No pressure, no coercive forces in action. Just one objective, let the discipline of "architecture" aid and empower enterprises to thrive, make better product and services and in turn enhance enterprise longevity. Last year, 25 projects that brought in pivotal shift and enhanced potential of growth walked home with Global Awards for Architecture Excellence amidst enough fanfare at New York, Nov 2018.
In the last thirteen years, ICMG Global Architecture Excellence Award Competition driven by independent jury has become a global benchmark of excellence as the leading companies from USA, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, South America have participated in this competition showcasing projects and initiatives supporting strategy move to enhance potential of growth.
We have been receiving feedback from the participating organizations. These inputs have resulted in new award categories, refinement of the evaluation process, etc. As we continue this journey, there is a growing demand to have country-specific awards and summit. Though the idea was always exciting; it would take a few years before we could implement that. Starting this year, we are happy to set up Architecture Excellence Awards region (geography) wise. The idea is to encourage participation and support evolution of Enterprise & Digital Architecture practice. This year we plan to have the Architecture Ratings & Awards Competition for the following regions namely
1. Asia Pacific Region and Australia & New Zealand, the final round at Singapore
2. The Middle East & Africa, the final round at Abu Dhabi
3. India, the final round at Bengaluru
4. Canada, the final round at Toronto
4. Europe, the final round at Zurich and
5. The USA, the final round at Washington DC
As we initiate the Regional Ratings & Awards program, the Evaluation process remains the same. Though we plan to have a separate jury for each region, there will be few jury members who are common for both the regional awards as well as global awards.
Also, there is no separate nomination process for the Global Awards Competition. The winners and the finalists of the regional award competition will automatically qualify for final round of the Global Awards. The global winners will be decided based on the onsite assessment during the Digital Architecture World Summit on 19-20-21 Nov at Washington DC.
Evaluation to include Video Interactions and Onsite assessment at the Summit
We have been continuously refining the evaluation process. Last year, we introduced the onsite assessment at the Architecture World Summit that contributed 25% to the overall rating scores. This change in format was appreciated by one and all as it provided much-needed interactions between project members with the jury as well as other aspirants of the Ratings & Award program.
It was to company advantage to be physically there to be able to answer queries and share how did they manage specific issues in their project compared to other projects (case studies). The presence of the Project/Enterprise Team members at the summit provided an opportunity for the peers for review, discussions, and Q&A.
Round III of the evaluation will continue to be via a direct video interaction between the jury members and leaders/project team of the companies. The idea is to provide an opportunity for review and get project insight. Each video interaction round has a duration of 50-60 minutes based on the questions/clarification needed based on the info shared in the nomination form. I hope this will bring more engagement between the jury and the nominees.
You can visit the page to see the details for the various evaluation rounds.
Why Participate in Digital & Enterprise Architecture Awards 2019?
Over the years, each company has a different motivation to participate in this awards competition.
1. One of the CEO felt that participation in this competition opens up a conversation with a global community of practitioners and prospective customers.
2. Some of the CIOs agrees that it brings more transparency into the internal systems and enhances business opportunity.
3. I was told that in some cases, the management decision to participate forced the team to address the issues than obfuscate the technical and business issues.
This award program is not a vendor or media sponsored event.
ICMG Ratings & Award Program is not a marketing platform, BUT a project & enterprise validation opportunity to check if your project and enterprise efforts are in sync with the global benchmark set by the founder of Enterprise Architecture discipline, Mr. John Zachman. It's important thing, you see. Imagine if you had an Award from Sir Issac Newton saying that, yes you have really applied the principles very well or you have done great, how about making these changes... It's like that.
That means not only we assess the projects, but also help you in improving your architecture and project deliverables in the process. Of course, you can count on us as our senior consultants have worked very closely with Mr. John Zachman and his team.
ICMG Ratings & Awards (IRA) Consultant
As you start your participation in this year's program, you will realize that it takes around 4-5 months of interactions before you are ready for the onsite assessment. When you download the Nomination Form, you will get an account created for you in the ICMG My Architecture portal. Besides, you will have access to one of the IRA Consultant assigned to your account.
IRA consultant will be a single point contact for your account as you progress through the various rounds of evaluation. Our consultants will also regularly review, monitor and update you regarding important pieces of information.
Our consultants will clarify any doubts that you may have and help you in filling the nomination forms a well as creating the supporting documents. They will be part of your evaluation including video interaction in Round III. Also, most likely, they are the ones who will co-author and share with you the Rating report after the entire process is completed.
Why there is an entry fee and onsite assessment fee?
This program is unlike some of the industry award programs hosted and sponsored by vendor/s partners resulting in free travel/stay and vendor presentations.
By design, we have kept this program independent of Vendor sponsorship. This adds little cost to our customers, but it brings value worth thousands of dollars to each project every year. A small price but lasting value.
In the last 13 years, Award competition has reached out to more and more companies, industries, and geographies. Each submitted project that is in many cases is of multi-million dollars budget, affecting hundreds and thousands of people need careful review and assessment. Thus, each project nomination requires significant hours of efforts for an end to end processing & operation support.
With the addition of onsite assessment and video interactions, we are also continuously improving our evaluation processes. The fees will go towards the cost of managing such multi-country, multi-time zone environment needs more resources and operational support.
Keeping in mind, the benefits that will accrue from being finalists and winners of the Awards, we believe this is just a nominal fee that would reflect a firm commitment from the participating organizations.
So, if you or your colleagues have recently completed a project or initiative related to improving supply chain, efficient component manufacturing or new service assembly etc. that has brought a visible difference to your Enterprise in terms of services offerings, brand loyalty or customer delight etc., we are happy to invite your nomination for this year’s Ratings & Award program.
Thank you again to those who helped to spread the word and got your team and companies to participate.
The next 32 weeks are going to be interesting as the nomination starts this week. Best of luck to all. Keep visiting for the updates.