My company works with another IBM Business Partner company to deliver repeatable solutions to our customers. Can I submit a solution nomination for both companies for award consideration?
Answer:
Yes, IBM Business Partners are encouraged to submit nominations delivering repeatable solutions to customers by teams of IBM Business Partners. However, the teams must be registered as a Value Net in IBM Value Net Connections when nominations are closed in order to be considered in their award category.
You must complete all the information on the online form and submit it prior to Beacon nominations closing on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at 11:55 PM. You also will need to meet with one of our agency partners for about 30 minutes to one hour to complete a co-marketing plan. You may also obtain incremental benefits for your team through this meeting.
Question:
What award is given when an IBM Value Net Connections team of Business Partner companies submits a nomination and wins or is a runner up (finalist)?
Answer:
Each company which is part of the value net and the customer solution delivery will receive a Beacon Award trophy recognizing their achievement as winners or finalists. Each winner or finalist company will be authorized to use the appropriate Beacon mark for one year from date of award.
Question:
May I nominate my company in multiple IBM Beacon Award categories?
Answer:
Yes, however, you must have a unique and different solution for each category in which you choose to nominate yourself. If you submit more that one nomination using the same solution, we will consider only the first of those duplicate nominations, and ignore the rest.
Question:
Do I need to have a customer reference in order for my nomination to be properly considered by the judges?
Answer:
Yes, all nominations must have at least one customer reference. This is necessary for the judges to understand that your nominated solution is indeed in production, which is a key requirement for all nominated solutions. A nomination with two or three customer references is judged of greater value than a comparable nomination with a single customer reference.
Question:
Does my customer reference need to be publicly referenceable?
Answer:
No. Your customer reference does not need to be publicly referenceable. However, if your nomination is chosen as a winner or a finalist, you may wish to ask your customer if they would allow IBM's public relations agency to interview them for advertising and other promotional opportunities. You are not able to take advantage of the case study benefit if your customer does not agree to be referenceable.
Question:
I have created a draft nomination that I would like to delete. Can I just request that you delete it for me?
Answer:
The IBM Beacon Award technical staff cannot delete any nomination for reasons of process integrity.
