Rock Your Enterprise Structure Award Submission: Dos and Don’ts

Since 2010, Forrester has sponsored its International EA Awards, which suggests that is the fifteenth annual event! This award provides the chance to showcase actual excellence in enterprise structure, distinguish your organization’s thought management, and provides again to the broader structure career. Forrester has once more partnered with The Open Group, which is contributing each publicity and judges. Final yr, US Financial institution (Americas), Schneider Electrical (EMEA), and Union Financial institution of the Phillippines (APAC) received. This yr, will it’s you?

EA award submissions are in full swing, and also you’ve acquired lower than a month to go in case you are in North America. As you wrap up your submissions, please contemplate the next:

What Makes A Profitable Submission

Each Forrester knowledge and consumer inquiries recommend that EA is making a comeback. Between 2022 and 2023 the variety of enterprises within the US reporting that they had an structure group rose by 20% (sure, two years doesn’t a development make, and I’m trying ahead to this yr’s knowledge).

But behind that quantity are many consumer tales indicating a deep concern that EA can now not afford to be seen as an “ivory tower” exercise. Forrester strongly promotes the concept all structure should ship enterprise outcomes, by way of decreasing danger and price, and/or bettering buyer expertise and income and mission outcomes. For instance, decreasing the assault floor reduces cyber danger, and requires governance of expertise acquisitions – which generally falls to EA. Bettering vendor leverage by way of decreasing the product footprint, bettering buyer expertise by way of establishing grasp knowledge, serving as a trusted advisor on transformational initiatives – all are methods we hear EA teams including worth.

Inform A Compelling EA Story

It’s not sufficient to say “As an EA group, we advise on transformational initiatives.” Which? GenAI? Cloud transformation? Main ERP uplift? What have been the enterprise aims, how measured, and have been they achieved? Did you scale back portfolio sprawl by X%? The applying packet comprises these “good” and “unhealthy” examples:

How We Decide

Final yr, every submission was judged by 4 judges rotated from a bigger pool. This yr is more likely to be the identical. The questions replicate Forrester’s outcome-driven structure mannequin:

So, anticipate questions in your priorities, capabilities, and the way structure influences supply in the direction of true enterprise outcomes. This yr, we even have two particular awards classes: genAI and IT4IT structure (see the packet for particulars).

Judges search for particular and ideally quantified actions and outcomes. Platitudes and generalities rating low.

If You Win

Should you win, we request that you simply be prepared to work with us to write down up a related case research out of your submission when you win or place. You’ll have remaining approval over this case research. Please don’t apply for the award except key facets of your achievements will be shared with the world.

How To Take part

You’ll find extra details about the award classes, plus detailed submission packages and directions, on the web sites for our three Expertise & Innovation Summits under. Please select the suitable hyperlink in your area:

North America

EMEA

APAC

Submissions shut on Could 20, 2024, for North America; June 20, 2024, for EMEA; and July 9, 2024, for APAC. Be a part of us in celebrating the achievements of these on the forefront of technological innovation and enterprise transformation. Nominate your high-performance IT group at this time!