2013 Ventana Research Technology Innovation Awards Recognize Visionary Technology

    SAN RAMON, CA, August 15, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Ventana Research has announced the results of the 2013 Technology Innovation Awards (www.ventanaresearch.com/Innovationawards). The awards 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 potential of their applications and technology that enable to drive better productivity and outcomes.

This year's Technology Innovation Awards will present recipients with an opportunity to receive their award at the Ventana Research Business Technology Innovation Summit (www.ventanaresearch-innovationsummit.com) on November 11th & 12th at the Swissotel in Chicago, IL during the Awards Ceremony. Members of the press are invited to come to the Summit and see more about the advancements of technology.

"I am excited to be able to congratulate the recipients of the 2013 Technology Innovation Awards. Our program is the largest technology awards in the analyst industry, with over 26 awards honoring technology providers for their contribution to the industry," said Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer, Ventana Research. "I would like to commend them on their achievements in innovation. This year's innovation award recipients have gone above and beyond to introduce new advancements in use of technology, analytics and information. They've worked to provide methods for being smarter and faster to help move businesses to the next level in 2013 and beyond."

The annual Technology Innovation Awards are delivered by the Ventana Research team, which through its benchmark research, on-demand advisory and education services, 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 industry and research team to assess, score and select the technology that has the best impact for each of the specific categories.

The Technology Innovation Awards are awarded in four categories spanning from Business Technology, Business, Operational and IT. The winning technology vendors are:

Business Technology

- Big Data: Hortonworks for Hortonworks Data Platform 2.0
- Business Analytics: Datameer for Datameer v3.0
- Business Collaboration: Peoplefluent for Peoplefluent Social Collaboration
- Cloud Computing: VMware for VMware vCloud Hybrid Service
- Mobile Technology: Kronos for Kronos Mobile
- Social Media: NetBase for NetBase Social Media Management Systems

Business Innovation

- Office of Finance: Vertex for Vertex Enterprise
- Financial Management: Kyriba for Kyriba Enterprise
- Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC): IBM for IBM Algorithmics
- Human Capital Management: Oracle for Fusion Human Capital Management
- Sustainability: Johnson Controls Inc. for Panoptix

Operational Innovation

- Overall Operational Innovation: Globoforce for Globoforce
- Contact Center: Upstream Works for Finesse by Upstream Works
- Customer: VPI for VPI VirtualSource
- Marketing: KXEN for KXEN InfiniteInsight
- Sales: Xactly Corporation for Xactly Objectives
- Service & Supply Chain Excellence: Agility for Agility Multichannel

IT Innovation

- CIO: Planview for Planview Enterprise 11
- Overall IT Leader: Datawatch for Datawatch Panopticon
- Analytics: IBM for IBM SPSS Catalyst
- Business Intelligence (BI): Roambi for Roambi Business
- Information Optimization: Informatica for Informatica Vibe
- Information Management: Information Builders for iWay 7
- IT Analytics or Performance: SQLstream for SQLStream s-Server, s-Cloud, s-Analyzer and s-Transport
- Location Intelligence (LI): Esri for Esri Maps
- Operational Intelligence (OI): IBM for InfoSphere Streams v3.1

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.

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