2012 Ventana Research Technology Innovation Awards Recognize Visionary Technology Vendors

    SAN RAMON, CA, October 26, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Ventana Research has announced the results of the first ever Technology Innovation Awards. The awards are a new addition for 2012 and recognize technology vendors who have introduced innovations in technology to advance business and IT.

The awards distinguish pioneers that have developed clear visionary and transformative technology. The Technology Innovation Awards showcase what technology vendors have done to advance the computing potential of their applications and technology so that it can be used to drive better efficiency and productivity as well as the outcomes and performance of an organization.

The new addition of the Technology Innovation Awards will accompany the Ventana Research Leadership Awards that have become an industry tradition. This year's Leadership and Technology Innovation Awards will present participants with a new exciting opportunity to receive their award at the Ventana Research Business Technology Innovation Summit (www.ventanaresearch.com/innovationssummit) on November 8th at The Tech Museum in San Jose, CA during the Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony. Members of the press are invited to come to the Summit and see more about the advancements of these organizations using technology.

"I am excited to be able to congratulate the winners of the 2012 Technology Innovation Awards, live this year from our Technology Innovation Summit where we celebrate 10 years of research and education. This is the largest industry technology awards to date with over 26 awards honoring vendors on their contribution to the technology in business and IT," said Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer, Ventana Research. "I would also like to congratulate the vendors for their achievements in innovation and improvement to the technology that helps the business world and humankind."

The annual Leadership and Technology Innovation Awards are delivered by the Ventana Research team, which through its benchmark research, on-demand advisory and education continues to pioneer new methods for organizations to become efficient and effective in their business. As part of the scoring process and methodology, Ventana Research examined submissions and nominations from the research team to assess, score and select the technology that has the best impact for the specific category.

The Technology Innovation Awards have been awarded in categories spanning from Business Analytics, Cloud Computing to Sustainability. The winning technology vendors are:

Overall Business Innovation: SuccessFactors, an SAP Company for SuccessFactors Headlines
- Finance: Tidemark for Tidemark Financial Planning and Metrics Management
- Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC): EDGR for EDGR ActiveGRC
- Human Capital Management: Ceridian for Ceridian Dayforce HCM
- Sustainability: SAP for SAP Sustainability Performance Management

Business Technology Awards
- Big Data: Teradata for Teradata Aster Big Analytics Appliance
- Business Analytics: Narrative Science for Quill
- Business Collaboration: Saba for Saba PeopleCloud
- Cloud Computing: Salesforce for Salesforce Platform
- Mobile Technology: Peoplefluent for Peoplefluent Mobile Talent Management
- Social Media: MicroStrategy for MicroStrategy Wisdom Professional

Operational Innovation Awards
- Overall Operational Innovation: IBM for IBM Watson
- Contact Center: NICE Systems for NICE Contact Center Cross-Channel Interaction Analytics
- Customer Excellence: CallMiner for CallMiner myEureka
- Marketing Excellence: GoodData for GoodData GoodMarketing Bash
- Sales Excellence: Anaplan for Anaplan Performance Cloud
- Service & Supply Chain Excellence: Stibo Systems for Stibo STEP

IT Innovation Awards
- Overall IT Innovation: SAP for SAP HANA
- Analytics: Altyrex for Alteryx Strategic Analytics
- Business Intelligence (BI): IBM for IBM Cognos Insight
- Information Applications: Datawatch for Information Optimization Suite
- Information Management: Informatica for Informatica PowerCenter Big Data Edition
- IT Performance: Splunk for Splunk Enterprise
- Location Intelligence (LI): Space-Time Insight for Space-Time Awareness Server and Designer
- Operational Intelligence (OI): Vitria for Vitria KPI Builder

About Ventana Research
Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research's insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.

To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations' use of information and technology through benchmark research, education and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

# # #