SD Times 100
Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is the SD Times 100 a product award?

A: The SD Times 100 is not a product award. It recognizes companies, individuals and non-commercial organizations (such as open source projects) for their innovation and leadership in the field of software development.

Q: Who are the judges of the SD Times 100?

A: The editors of SD Times and SDTimes.com are the judges.

Q: What criteria do the judges use in deciding which companies, individuals and organizations comprise the SD Times 100?

A: The judges consider what innovation or leadership a nominee has demonstrated during the past calendar year, and whether that innovation and leadership has significantly influenced the software development industry. For example, we consider "buzz," which is how much other industry players talk about the nominee, either admiringly or as a competitor. We also look back over SD Times' recent coverage of each company, to see how much news it generated. News coverage is a key indication of leadership and innovation.

Q: Who may nominate a company, individual or organization for the SD Times 100?

A: Any reader of SD Times or SDTimes.com is welcome to submit nominations.

Q: May a company, individual or organization nominate itself?

A: Yes, if the person doing the submission is a reader of SD Times or SDTimes.com.

Q: Is there a fee or charge for nominations for the SD Times 100?

A: There is no nomination charge or fee of any sort associated with the SD Times 100.

Q: Is a reader nomination necessary for a company, individual or organization to be considered?

A: Reader nominations are not required for award consideration. Early in the process, the judges submit their own nominations for the SD Times 100, encompassing companies, individuals and organizations that they consider to be innovative and industry-leading. The previous year's winners are also automatically nominated. This is a very large list, to which we add the reader nominations. Most of our judging process focuses on whittling the long list of nominees down to 100 winners.

Q: So, why are there reader nominations.

A: Reader nominations are solicited to help ensure that innovative, industry-leading companies, individuals and organizations are not overlooked during the judging process.

Q: Should we solicit our customers to nominate us? Will a flood of nominations help our chances of winning by demonstrating our popularity?

A: Save the effort! These are nominations, not votes. We don't tally up nominations like ballots. In fact, we don't even count the duplicates.

Q: Is market share or company size a consideration?

A: Size and market share are definitely considerations, but are not the only considerations. Large companies have ample resources for demonstrating leadership and innovation, and frequently do. However, the SD Times 100 is not a simple listing of the largest companies in our industry, because many of the more exciting developments come out of smaller organizations. The SD Times 100 has always reflected a mix of large and small companies, as well as individuals and non-commercial organizations.

Q: Can my company do a presentation to the judges to demonstrate why we should be an SD Times 100 winner?

A: We do not solicit or accept presentations from the nominees.

Q: If my company does not win, will you tell me why? Will you coach me on what I need to do next year in order to win?

A: We do not provide reasons why nominees weren't selected for the SD Times 100, or provide coaching.

Q: I'm a PR professional, and my client is taking a long time to approve their SD Times 100 reader nomination. Will you give us an extension?

A: To be fair to the many readers who submitted nominations by the deadline, we do not offer extensions. Note that each year we hold reader nominations open for at least four weeks, and often much longer.

Q: Is the SD Times 100 logo available for use by the winners?

A. Winners of the SD Times 100 are entitled to use the appropriate year's logo, which may be downloaded in a number of formats for print and the Web. There is no charge for the use of the logo by the award winner.

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