Less fluff, more facts – how to impress an IT industry award judge

A seasoned business award judge in the IT industry, Erin Mikan knows exactly what she’s hoping to see in an entry. ‘No matter what sector you’re in, you should always include what I call “the human element”. It’s by highlighting the impact that your innovation, project or research has on people that makes an entry so much more compelling. Very often there are quite personal stories behind an achievement and they deserve to be shared. Bringing it back to people is exceptionally powerful and what gives a business award entry real heart.’

According to Erin, the most important thing she looks for when assessing an award entry is that it shows clarity of purpose. ‘The entrant should show how they’ve channelled their passion into solving a problem or achieving their goals and what the positive impact has been on their clients, customers, users, their team or their industry.

However, Erin says that quantitative evidence is as important as the qualitative. ‘Good award entries go further than simply identifying a problem,’ she explains. ‘A good entry shows that the solution was well thought out. It presents evidence that clearly identifies the initial issue or challenge and to what lengths the entrant has gone in understanding the root cause.

‘I’d also expect to see clear evidence that, currently, the issue isn’t being addressed appropriately or cost effectively by other providers – hence why the entrant’s solution is a winning one.’

So, what’s Erin’s pet beef when it comes to reading an award submission? ‘Too much fluff! When we look at the entries, so many have clearly been written by a company’s marketing team rather than by the team who’ve actually done the work. This takes away from the achievement because words are wasted giving unasked for detail about the company’s history or trying to “sell” the product with sales-style hype. This means that the opportunity to describe the benefits of the innovation or solution as fully as it should can be lost – and that’s a shame because it could have been a winner.’

Erin also has advice for anyone unsure of whether they should enter an award. ‘I’ve seen people submit entries that certainly weren’t ready – almost “sketch on a napkin” stuff. Judges are very skilled at rapidly assessing whether enough thought and effort has gone into an award submission. So, if you’re not prepared to genuinely commit to the process, then you might want to think that through and come back next year.’

Erin first began judging when asked to take part in the Young ICT Explorers Awards open to high school students. ‘These awards aim to stimulate interest in STEM subjects and the creativity the students displayed for dealing with, for example, common safety and care problems was incredibly impressive and insightful. They viewed these everyday issues from a different viewpoint; they saw things adults didn’t necessarily see.’

This early experience motivated Erin to pursue judging, particularly in her own specialist area, the technology and innovation space. She sees judging as a great way to keep abreast of what’s happening and to witness close-up the pace of change. ‘I find it as intriguing to hear firsthand what global issue a start-up is trying to solve as I do an established organisation coming up with an innovation to make a customer’s life easier.’