Forrester research compares frequently capabilities of software vendors and cloud platforms in our Forrester Waves™. John Rymer and James Staten recently published the comparison of Enterprise Public Cloud Platforms. I am currently researching such a Forrester Wave™ around Hybrid² Integration capabilities. This is the integration between cloud and on-premise and across different traditional integration tools. 

However, all these Forrester Waves™ have one significant gap. They all start with a product or service offering by a vendor or (cloud) service provider. Analysts at Forrester Research investigate for sure if the vendor statements are real, watch demos and we try out products on our own before we write about it. One part of the Forrester Wave™ process is also customer interviews, which validate that product features work in reality. All criteria, scores and notes are published to our clients, not only a final PDF. 

So where's the gap in such a thorough process? Well, the starting point is always the capabilities that product vendors and service providers claim – never the actual challenge withing the enterprises! I was not aware of any assessment or competition, which really starts here – with a real client challenge and project! Maybe one enterprise ends up using a unique combination of different products and cloud services. 

Living in Germany, I was intrigued three years ago by the idea of the Computerwoche magazine in Germany to address exactly this subject with a public award: The Best In Cloud Award!  This is where you, real enterprises, tell your cloud-stories. You bring usually the most important cloud provider with you, but no cloud provider or product is allowed to apply alone. The award assesses the way cloud services are leveraged and their capabilities create value within your real enterprise. See here some impressions of last year’s award and winners in a previous blog post. At this time it is restricted to the German speaking reagion of customers or cloud providers. Maybe UK or US likes to create a similar event.

It is my special pleasure to serve again as a jury member for this award the third year in a row. The award event will be on the 23rd and 24th of October, where every project got 6 minutes to present and a few minutes to answer questions from the jury or the audience. There are four categories:

▪       Software as a Service(Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud)

▪       Infrastructure as a Service(Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud)

▪       Platform as a Service(Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud)

▪       Special Price „Best Enterprise App Store“

 

It’s not too late to apply with a brief project description. You’ll find more information on www.best-in-cloud.de and can request the application forms and guidelines at callforpaper@bestincloud.de. The dead-line is July 21, 2013.

It’s worth doing it and a lot of fun. The event will also be a cover story in the German Computerwoche and you’ll get a lot of press momentum with a one or even two page article describing your successful cloud project. The award event is also a great networking event to exchange ideas and experience among CIOs, business leaders and architects and vendors.

If you have a real cloud project implemented in Germany – go for it and apply now!

See you soon…

Stefan