IT Pro Day Awards - Submit Your Nominations!

The IT professional is the unsung hero of today’s modern business, and the global pandemic has elevated IT pros as essential workers—working behind the scenes keeping global organizations performing and our lives running smoothly, all while managing the challenges of remote work and increased burdens on IT environments. Being an IT professional means considering the unprecedented and constantly seeking ways to use technology to solve problems, and this has never rung truer than in 2020.

We’re thrilled to introduce the IT Pro Day Awards as another opportunity for all organizations and the global IT community itself to recognize the technology professionals who keep us connected, productive, and ready for what comes next.

Celebrated on the third Tuesday of each September, IT Pro Day was established in 2015 to thank all those -- at any level of an organization -- who keep the wheels of IT turning: system administrators, network engineers, database administrators, information security professionals, developers, MSPs, IT support techs, and a plethora of other IT-related professionals.

We're ramping up this year's celebrations with the introduction of IT Pro Day Awards. Please nominate your industry friends, peers, and colleagues in the following categories now through August 31, 2020:

Rookie of the Year: We all start somewhere—and we want to pay special attention to the rising stars of IT. This award recognizes an IT pro new to the profession who’s made an immediate impact, whether by developing new skills (technical or otherwise), contributing to the success of a challenging project, or driving measurable results for the business.

Rockstar of the Year: This award honors an IT pro or team who has gone above and beyond the typical IT call of duty. They may have managed/executed on a shoestring budget, took on a challenging request or led a project that generated tangible business results, picked up extra shifts in response to strained staffing resources during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, or committed their free time to upskilling to have a transformational impact on their organization.

IT Mentor of the Year: This award recognizes a seasoned IT pro who has supported and empowered others to be successful by sharing their experience with their team(s). This person regularly leads by example, helps foster growth and development, and has shown sustained commitment to the advancement of their organization through technology.

Trailblazer: Part of what makes IT so important to modern organizations is the transformative impact new, innovative strategies and technologies can deliver. This award recognizes an individual or team who has experimented with or implemented something new and out of their comfort zone. Did this person conceptualize the rollout of a DevOps approach, test automation, or begin exploring the role of data-driven operations in the data center? Highlight why their work qualifies as “unprecedented” and its potential measurable outcomes.

Nominations will be reviewed by a panel of judges comprised of the SolarWinds Head Geeks and prominent industry leaders—Denny Cherry, Karen López, and Silvia Spiva. The judges will evaluate nominations based on the achievements of IT pros, including specific challenges, project or technology implementation hurdles, measurable results and data points, or other qualitative/quantitative context best demonstrating the values and goals outlined in the chosen category.  

To nominate a technology professional for the IT Pro Day Awards 2020, please complete and submit entries in the online form by 11:59 p.m. CT on August 31, 2020. Winners will be notified in early September and celebrated as part of IT Pro Day on September 15, 2020.

Any questions on the submission process or the awards program itself can be directed to ITProDayAwards@solarwinds.com.