Cloud Excellence Awards 2020
Welcome to the
How do we choose the winners?
The entry is doing something totally new, or has a new solution to an existing challenge
Find out the winners
"Lore ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed some witty quote in here to add detail"
Innovation
Relevance
The entry demonstrates an outstanding understanding of their chosen field
Success
The entry shows clear evidence of success, leadership and adoption in their field
Introduction
The judginG process
Who are the judges?
Firstname Surname
Tap each person
What are these awards all about?
Used properly, the cloud can enable allow organisations to be fast to respond to changing market conditions, and to experiment with new ideas, products and tools. It can be an incredibly efficient way to set up new infrastructure and platforms, or to remove the management overhead of parts of the IT estate the business would prefer not to keep in-house. Never before has the ability to move, react and scale quickly been more important than it has in 2020. Cloud-based systems and tools have enabled businesses to continue operating at levels of efficiency that would have been impossible 20 years ago. It’s not an overstatement to say that technology, and especially the cloud, has helped to keep the economy afloat this year. Such an important tool inevitably becomes the target of cyber-crime, and we also have categories celebrating the strong cloud-based defences that are in use today, as well as platforms for data management, analytics and automation. The Cloud Excellence Awards recognise every aspect of the cloud, from both vendor and customer angles, and we can’t wait to share the winners with you.
contact
Contact
AWARD CATEGORIES
Home
|
find out more
About the sponsor
Delta is a new market analysis service from Computing that draws its research from independently sourced end-users. It reveals the real experiences of senior IT professionals, rather than the opinion of analysts or vendor hype. As an IT Leader you will no doubt be time-poor, bombarded with information and expected to have a broad and deep understanding of every technology area, including all the latest developments. Delta provides deep and easily-digestible insight into the key technology areas for today’s IT leaders just like you.
Aaron powell
UCAS
alan Cruickshank
Tails.com
andy slater
Matchtech
Diana Kennedy
BP
Janet Adams
TSB Bank
Joanthan Girvan
Mitsubishi Electric
Kris Kupilas
ArcelorMittal
nina monckton
AXA PPP
Denise Dourado
HMRC
Aaron Powell
Aaron is Chief Digital and Data Officer at UCAS where he is leading the design and delivery of new products and services to support students and university-facing admissions services. Aaron has over 20 years’ experience in the development and delivery of software products and services across a range of sectors, including government, health, logistics, and financial services. Prior to joining UCAS, Aaron was Chief Digital Officer for NHS Blood and Transplant for four years, where he led the digitisation of several critical services that save and improve lives. His diverse international experience also includes stints living and working in the Far East, the Middle East, and the United States. A graduate in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Manchester, Aaron also holds an MBA and a Masters in Health Law.
Alan Cruickshank
Alan leads the data function at Tails.com, which uses award-winning technology to create and deliver a unique recipe of food for every single dog. In 2018 he won the "First Generation CDO" award at DataTalks London for his work building out a BI, Data Science and Data Engineering function from scratch, and using the unique data that Tails collects to drive rapid and confident change, both to the product and the organisation itself. Tails continues to grow to this day, recently turning five years old, with over 150,000 subscribers across the UK and Europe, and with over 200 staff. In particular he has focussed on building the right culture around data, being deliberate and sparing in technology investments and building trusting relationships between his team and the people across tails that his team supports.
Experienced Technology Recruiter and trusted partner, helping to support and enable Digital Transformation across the Construction, Transport Infrastructure & Civil Engineering sectors. An IT graduate and a self-confessed tech’ geek, I keep my finger on the pulse and regularly attend industry events, expos and am a judge and contributor to industry awards and events. With 10 years of experience focused on technology recruitment and talent acquisition consultancy, I'm currently focused on supporting digital transformation and new and novel technology implementation for Critical National Infrastructure in the Construction & Civil Engineering and Rail sectors, with a particular interest in digital and cloud strategy.
Diana has been with BP since 2010, firstly leading the Strategy and Architecture function for the Enterprise Systems group, and latterly for the Upstream Business. In addition, Diana led the Information and Big Data Agenda for the group until February 2017 when she was appointed Vice President, Strategy, Architecture and Planning for BP. Prior to BP, Diana was Head of Architecture and Technology for British Gas, part of the Centrica group, where she led the solutions team for the retail transformation of British Gas. Diana started her career in consulting, firstly with Boston Consulting Group and subsequently PwC, where she held senior design and architecture roles, predominantly in the financial services and insurance sector. Diana holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering, a post-graduate degree in Computer Science from the University of London and an MBA from Henley Business School. She has three children and competes for Great Britain in Masters Athletics in her spare time.
Jonathan Girvan
Jonathan Girvan is an astute and dynamic senior change leader currently working as Head of Delivery for Change and Transformation. Jonathan has a wealth of change and IT delivery experience spanning more than 10 years working in a diverse range of industries including manufacturing, financial services and utilities. Leading large change programmes with mix on premise, hybrid and cloud solutions, as well as developing and shaping multi-million pound strategic portfolios of change to realise organisational strategy. Jonathan has a keen interest in cloud management and development, having previously managed cloud services, financials and reporting within in financial services.
Current role – Digital Transformation Lead, Global R&D ArcelorMittal, world largest steel manufacturer. In this role Kris is actively contributing to his organisation’s transformation to maximize technology contribution to its operations and innovation. In the last 25 years Kris held various roles in international corporations like EDS (Electronic Data Systems), Hewlett-Packard and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise from Systems Engineer, Business Analyst, Project and Programme Manager, Regional Manager and Account Executive mainly in Automotive and Manufacturing sectors. He also contributed to non-profit organisations as a Non-Executive Director and a Board Member. In the past Kris also was member of The Institute of Directors in the UK and was a member of its Welsh leadership council. Kris is passionate about technology and its role in transforming organisations and people lives. He created and led multinational teams and is always on the lookout for new ideas and creative collaboration. He is committed to lifelong learning and in 2018 started the PhD research related to Digital Transformation and Digital Maturity with the University of Oviedo in Spain.
Nina Monckton
Nina is a data leader with a passion for driving value from data. Her work with the NHS identified over £1 billion of savings and won her, her organisation and strategic partners several awards for innovative use of cloud analytics. Nina currently works with AXA Health leading their ambitious data strategy and analytics activities.
Denise joined HMRC in April 2017 and is responsible for leading the core Engineering function within HMRC’s IT department, as well as the Cloud, Data Platform and messaging teams. Denise and her team are delivering an agenda of stabilisation and improved resilience to the department’s current IT estate, as well as migrating its services from their current data centres to Cloud (both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure). An on-premises facility, Crown Hosting, has also been established under the programme’s governance. In addition, Denise has delivered a new Cloud Centre of Excellence within HMRC to ensure that ways of working are adapted to deliver successfully and efficiently in the Cloud. Denise has also taken on responsibility for developing the plan and programme to remediate wider Technical Debt across HMRC’s estate. Prior to HMRC Denise worked at NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) as Director of Transformation. Denise’s IT career started at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) where she was responsible for delivering a number of IT changes across PwC’s global IT estate.
Janet Adams is a long-term enthusiast in artificial intelligence and recently completed a Master’s degree in AI at the University of Essex. A disruptive tech advocate with over two decades of experience in banking risk and technology, Janet currently works at TSB Business Banking as Head of Strategic Projects and Performance. Janet’s experience extends across commercial and investment banking, and her resume includes the likes of HSBC, RBS and Barclays. Combining her published MSc dissertation on Explainability and Accountability of AI, with her special brand of technology, risk and conduct expertise, Janet has established herself as a thought leader in AI ethics in banking. Janet is committed to the principles of inclusivity and strongly believes that the AI revolution will play a significant role in furthering the work of strengthening diversity.
Get in touch
Andy Isenman
Heathrow Airport
Andy is an entrepreneurial leader for change especially pertaining to structured enterprise environments. He specializes in leveraging key technology concepts in innovative applications to streamline processes within a traditional or corporate structure. A leader at the director level, his finely tuned skillset, exemplary communication skills and seasoned insight have earned him much respect from the development teams he has overseen and has allowed him to champion the successful definition and implementation of new software development practices across a wide range of platforms. He is adept in increasing process efficiency, networking with proprietary stakeholders, modernizing service delivery practices, setting benchmarks and motivating teams to surpass them. His proven success includes many notable achievements such as Heathrow Olympic venue delivery and delivering multiple award-winning mobile apps.
Neil Sinclair
Police Digital Security Centre
Neil Sinclair is the National Cyber Lead for the Police Digital Security Centre. Neil was recognised in The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2019 for his work in Technology & Cyber Security. Neil has worked in UK counter-terrorism policing for over thirty years and has been involved in most of the Metropolitan Police’s biggest Terrorist Operations. He was a key member of the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit for 10 years and is an accredited Financial Investigator. Neil was the Lead for Financial Intelligence at GCHQ, prior to joining the Police Digital Security Centre.
Marina Brilleman
British American Tobacco
Marina is a Global Business Analysis IT Manager in BAT. Her international career spans across Russia, Germany, Singapore and UK and she fluently speaks languages of those countries. Love for optimisation and structure topped up with the International Management Master’s degree and passion for art giving Marina a powerful mix for creative problem solving. Within her team she instils the idea that nothing is impossible. In her current role Marina has championed the potentially risk-reduced products as a step-changing addition to the traditional tobacco business in BAT. Overseeing IT side of this start-up within the corporation, she was instrumental in defining the operating model and data structures, lately integrating new generation products into the overall company business, and finally launching B2C e-commerce platform as a service. Marina is delighted to be judging the 2020 nominees for the Cloud Excellence Awards. The sky's the limit!
Laura Dawson
LSE
laura dawson
Laura Dawson is Director, Data and Technology Services at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been a leader in the Charity and Not for Profit sector for nearly 30 years including RSPB, Save the Children UK and British Council. She is an advocate for ensuring that we get the value out of data and ensuring that technology is making a difference to our beneficiaries which is why she has been a Trustee of Charity IT Leaders. A long standing Watford FC season ticket holder, she has learnt to manage her expectations, expertly.
tom allen
Incisive Media
TOm allen
Tom Allen is the Site Editor for Delta, Computing's market intelligence service, and writes for both Computing and The Inquirer. He joined Incisive Media in 2017 from the display industry, trading LCDs and quantum dots for big data and the IoT. As well as tech market analysis, Tom's role consists of interviewing C-level IT leaders, organising events and complaining about improper use of the Oxford comma.
tom Copinger-Syme
Strategic Command
Major General Tom Copinger-Symes CBE commissioned into The Royal Green Jackets in 1992. His operational experience includes Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. As Commanding Officer of 5 Rifles, he deployed to Afghanistan on Op HERRICK 15. Having held a wide variety of staff appointments working across everything from enduring campaigns, UK resilience, counter terrorism and defence engagement he was selected to command 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade in 2014 before becoming the Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) in Army HQ. In 2017 he led the Information Manoeuvre Project Team before being selected as GOC Force Troops Command. He assumed his current appointment as Director Military Digitisation in UK Joint Forces Command in August 2019.
neil sinclair
Marina-brilleman
andy isenman
tom copinger-syme
Amerdeep Riat
CIBC
Executive Director Technology & CIO Europe, CIBC Capital Markets & Corporate Banking. Amerdeep heads up technology for CIBC in Europe and was appointed in September 2019 with responsibility for Europe all aspects of technology including strategy, governance and operations with board responsibilities at ExCo and OpCo. Formerly Amerdeep was Head of Technology & Transformation at Handelsbanken Investment Management & Wealth Management responsible for technology (e.g. transformation, governance, application development, infrastructure operations). Amerdeep has over twenty years in senior roles in financials services delivering large scale business, regulatory, operations and technology transformation (e.g. ERP implementation. Application development and infrastructure) at companies including HSBC Global Markets, Credit Suisse, Barclays and Deloitte Management Consulting. Amerdeep holds an MBA from Imperial College, PhD in Lean Management, MSC & BEng degrees in Electronic Engineering. His hobbies include triathlons and crossfit.
the 2020 awards
Enabling seamless deployment and flexible management
Cloud Development Platform of the Year
Hybrid Cloud Product of the Year
Using public and private clouds, or combining them with on-premise platforms, to unlock the best of both worlds
Software-Defined Infrastructure Product of the Year
Using scalable infrastructure to support innovation
Cloud DR and Continuity Product of the Year
How do you minimise the fallout of business disruption?
MSP of the Year
Removing the stress from IT
Cloud Vendor of the Year
Outstanding in all respects
Best Cloud Project
Using the cloud for a dramatic business impact
Cloud Data Management Solution of the Year
Data plays an important role in helping organisations to compete in a crowded market
Best Cloud Support Provider
Supporting cloud transitions and business
The Cloud Excellence Awards recognise the very best individuals, companies, projects and products in the cloud today. These are the innovation leaders who operate at the cutting-edge of technology.
Explore our 2020 Awards
Click on a category to reveal the winner
Cloud Integration Product of the Year
Combining tools and processes is critical for success in modern business
Find the winner
Active Fund Awards
Unified Communications Product of the Year
Robust and agile communications are essential to success
Serverless or Container Project of the Year
Using the cloud to escape the constraints of legacy systems
Cloud Security Product of the Year – SMEs
A smaller budget shouldn’t stand in the way of top-notch security
Cloud Security Product of the Year - Large Enterprises
Large firms have hundreds of moving parts that need protection
Cloud Management Solution of the Year
Well-designed cloud management can help to solve the perpetual issue of sprawl
Cloud IoT Product of the Year
Simplifying life without affecting security
Cloud Professional of the Year
A cloud user who really stands out from the pack
Most Innovative Cloud Product or Service
The cloud encourages innovation, but are you innovating in the cloud?
group awards
Group awards
passive fund awards
Active fund awards
Best Cloud Finance Solution
Doing more with less
Best Cloud Automation Solution
Freeing staff to focus on critical work instead of repetitive tasks
Who made the shortlist?
The award
John Lewis & Partners
Back to categories
About this category
The cloud is becoming increasingly prominent as a tool for developers to build, test, deploy and run new applications at speed and scale. Cloud platforms remove infrastructure distractions and enable greater efficiency within the development stack – but not all such platforms provide the same level of service. This award is for the cloud development platform that best suits the needs of modern developers: one that is flexible, reliable, fast and minimises reliance on traditional coding languages.
Congratulations!
CLICK TO REVEAl
Who's the winner?
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
AND Digital
“An excellent submission clearly outlining the offering, how improvements are continuously made to make it easy to work with your developers, and clear results for your customers - well done!”
Why the winner was chosen?’
The main value in a hybrid cloud deployment is agility: whether the goal is to save money (IT) or make it (business), hybrid cloud products can adapt and change direction quickly. Whether the entry combines public and private clouds, or one or both of those with on-premise solutions, this award is for a product that demonstrates the ability to bring platforms together simply, easily and usefully.
“An interesting proposition from a vendor who is writing a hybrid cloud OS to ensure integrations. Very innovative.”
Red Hat
AlgoSec
METCloud
Software-defined infrastructure is not tied to specific hardware, allowing organisations to adapt to changing usage needs without needing to replace their infrastructure wholesale. This award goes to the SDI product showcasing great functionality, ease of use and innovation, as well as compelling adoption figures and provable benefits.
“An innovative contender in the rapidly growing field of cloud-native applications.”
Silver Peak
LOVIS
Storage OS
Versa Networks
Modern professionals need a data system that is scalable, versatile and secure. A simple data lake isn’t enough, though: the winning platform had to deliver critical functions like compliance, search, analytics and disaster recovery – while also simplifying the task of managing data.
“The solution presents an excellent case for managing and monitoring data in the cloud, especially with the seamless integration that is important to businesses who may have a number of legacy systems.”
N2WS
Confluent
Informatica
Couchbase
Komprise
with Komprise highly commended
Combining environments, repositories, systems and processes in the cloud is critical for modern business success, enabling shared experiences and collaboration across an organisation. But it’s a complex and time-consuming task, with the potential to waste time and money if it goes wrong. The winner of this category will be able to accomplish the task of integration in a secure, fast and reliable manner.
“Wow! is this the game-changer we have all been waiting for? A fresh approach to one of the age-old enterprise challenges of data siloes.”
“With the recent increase and demand for home working we are all beginning to recognise just how important network performance is both in terms of latency and bandwidth. Thisentry applies a novel approach to using ML to optimise these factors at a couple of orders of magnitude. An important innovation.”
Arup
SnapLogic
Fivetran
with Red Hat highly commended
Business continuity has never been more important than it is in 2020. Whether it uses the private, public or hybrid cloud, the winning entry should describe the challenges it solves; how it protects sensitive data, and accounts for downtime; and proof of customer success. Evidence of innovation and adoption are critical.
“A leading product with a host of very satisfied, big-name customers, the winner has proven its success in a crowded market, and provides genuine value to its users.”
Datto
The internet of things is a wide-ranging world, with uses across business – which can lead to some dangerous security holes. Judges were looking for products with clearly defined use-cases, which tie the IoT into a network without compromising security.
“The product has a wide use case to solve complicated security challenges in the IoT space.”
GlobalSign
Eseye and Thales
With the massive growth in cloud adoption, tools to manage and monitor users, applications, data and services are essential to curb sprawl. These tools provide wide-ranging management capabilities and the winner should integrate with existing IT, support multicloud environments and ensure that all elements of the company cloud are working optimally.
Lore ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et solore magna. Lore ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et solore magna. Lore ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et solore magna elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et solore magna. Lore ipsum dolor sit amet.
: “A great, modern, integrated solution, tackling the biggest issue facing IT leaders today: cloud sprawl. Fantastic work.”
The Business Software Centre
Pulseway
Snow Software
The cloud has enabled business continuity at an unprecedented scale in 2020, but having hundreds or thousands of employees logging on from remote locations also widens the attack surface. With cloud security becoming more important than ever, this award is for the entry that not only provides excellent security, but is uniquely suited to modern challenges.
“This solution is a powerful people-centric product, combining analysis of contextual and behavioural analytics to provide threat protection. A quality submission for the award. Well done.”
Ermetic
OneTrust
SolarWinds MSP
Palo Alto Networks
Infoblox
Proofpoint
iboss
Aqua Security
CoreView
with N2WS highly commended
Lacking the budgets and training possibilities of their larger peers, small firms are even more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Addressing these vulnerabilities safely, efficiently and affordably is key to success in this category.
“A strong part of the cyber security arsenal: forewarned is forearmed, and this seems to do the trick.”
with Censornet highly commended
Kindite
Runecast Solutions
Kaseya
Avast Business
Censornet
Red Sift
The speed and scale of change the cloud enables encourages previously unseen levels of innovation: from new features to entirely new products and services. This award is for the product that not only does something very new, but makes a real difference to its users.
“This solution provides visibility beyond the customer’s own network, into cloud-based and Internet-centric environments that customers and employees depend on. It’s ground-breaking to have interface-level information on when and where traffic flows are disrupted on the internet.”
SaltDNA
RELAYTO
Bridgeworks
New Relic
ThousandEyes
Crises Control
Civica & Southern Health and Social Care Trust
Serverless, microservices and container environments are all the rage today, enabling extreme flexibility and agility: perfect for the rapid change 2020 has wrought on businesses. The winning entry should describe why such a deployment was chosen, what the differences are compared to legacy systems, and the effect of adoption on the customer’s business.
Congratulations Green Flag and Contino
“An impressive example of an organisation using cloud to free itself from the constraints of legacy systems, and becoming more successful as a result.”
Green Flag
SUSE
Bringing teams and individuals together is crucial to develop a company-wide culture, work efficiently and look after mental health. There are many systems that can do one part of that, but we are looking for a product that accomplishes all three, whilst also protecting its users and showcasing outstanding user adoption.
“A powerful solution that brings a greater degree of control into the communications world.”
Content Guru
3CX
2020 has seen a sharp spike in cloud adoption – both first-time migrations and moving old legacy systems to cloud-based workflows. Companies that can support these moves, and the ongoing work of doing business in the cloud, are essential to maintaining business operations in these challenging times.
“Building on a strong foundation, the winner has worked closely and tirelessly with their customers to support them and make improvements in a radically changing world during Covid-19.”
HeleCloud
Virtustream
GFT
Point Progress
Just After Midnight
with GFT highly commended
Every business wants to focus on its core competencies, and many hand the management of their IT over to an expert. These experts must not only provide an exemplary service in day-to-day operations, but be ready and able to respond to security alerts at a moment’s notice. The winner of this award must show a commitment to customer relationships and noticeably enhance their clients’ business.
“This company has already seen incredible success this year, but underpinning it all has been a commitment to improving already strong customer relationships and the support network they provide.”
SysGroup
Fordway
Everon
Virtuoso
Xalient Group
While all vendors working in and with the cloud today must care for their customers, the most outstanding consistently exceed expectations. They must be true innovators, bringing something absolutely new to the table: whether that is in a product, a service or a more strategic fashion. We wanted to know how the winner differentiated its offering, and to see evidence of customer success.
“The winner, rightly, continues to be lauded for its commitment to supporting innovation across the IT industry.”
Really Simple Systems CRM
Luminance
The cloud has a massive impact wherever it is implemented. A simple move to the cloud could, in some businesses, be seen as a dramatic change – but to win this award, the entry had to demonstrate something truly outstanding. We wanted to see evidence of using the cloud to transform workflows, paying particular attention to the project’s outcomes.
Congratulations
Centrica and Fujitsu
RapidValue Solutions
Civica & Department of Health N.Ireland
BJSS and Goal Group
National Enabling Programme NPCC
Nationwide Building Society
Endava & K2 Consulting Partners
Workday Adaptive Planning
Gett
“Excellent example of how technology and cultural change have been at the heart of this transformation. The project has been rightly scoped, challenges identified, and cross-functional teams formed with the goal always in mind. Well done!”
with Civica & Department of Health N.Ireland highly commended
Having professionals who know how the cloud works and how to get the most from it is essential to every business. In this category we were looking someone who knows how to do more than use a Google Sheet: someone with a real passion for the cloud, who shares that passion with their colleagues and uses it to help their organisation get ahead.
Congratulations Andy Foley
Andy Foley - Nationwide Building Society
Sameer Paradkar - AtoS
Mike Skuse - Nationwide Building Society
Alfie Whelan - Nationwide Building Society
Andy Perriman - Nationwide Building Society
Tim Wright - Nationwide Building Society
“It takes confidence and character to create new roles and lead organisational change. The winner is a good corporate citizen that values cost controls around the cloud environment and is prepared to ask difficult questions. Well done.”
Everyone is aware of the need to do more with less: lack of resources is a problem that many businesses and departments face on a daily basis. Automation is an answer to this challenge, allowing staff to focus on interesting, high-value work while robots manage threat alerts, or data entry. The cloud gives incredible scalability to automation, as well as a variety of other benefits; we wanted to see exactly where and how these benefits are realised; how the solution differs from the competition; and customer references for its use.
Chef Software
Redwood Software
Apstra
Ultima
“The use of unsupervised and supervised machine learning is the closest thing we've seen to AI.”
Demand on financial solutions is growing, but resources are not – or are even being cut. Staff now need to do more with less, and sometimes even without the data they need to work optimally. We wanted an entry that addresses these issues, with the ability to scale workloads, centralise data and establish an audit trail.
Apptio
Kapitalise
Civica & South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
MyWorkpapers
TurnKey
Workday
Privalgo
Sage
TurnKey Lender
“Technology is great at raising efficiencies - this work in the healthcare sector can not only save money, but lives as well.”
