MUMBAI, INDIA: The Enterprise Connect Awards 2009 were presented at a gala award ceremony here today evening.

BSES Power Limited CIO  K.B.Singh got the Champion CIO award in the above Rs. 1000 crore category, while the Gold CIO award was given to Sekar S, CIO of The Karur Vysya Bank Limited.

The Enterprise Connect Awards instituted by CIOL in association with Dataquest recognize the pioneering works done by CIOs in large and medium enterprises. Constituted in 2004, these awards are an extension of the vision for CIOL Enterprise.

The awards have a broad turnover classification for organizations above Rs.. 1000 crore and below Rs.. 1000 crore with each of these categories having three awards: Champion CIO, Gold CIO and Silver CIO. This apart, there are individual awards also. However, this time no Silver CIO award was given in the above Rs. 1000 crore category.

In the below Rs. 1000 crore category, G.S Ravi Kumar, the CIO of GATI Limited, got the Champion CIO award. The Gold CIO award went to Pertishth Mankotia, the CIO of Sheela Group, while Sunil Kunders of Arvind Brands bagged the Silver CIO award.

Welcoming the gathering at the sixth edition of CIOL-Dataquest enterprise connect awards ceremony, Anil Kumar R, senior vice president, CyberMedia Publications, said the Enterprise Connect Awards is built around a framework that recognizes a CIO's leadership qualities, business-technology understanding, people orientation and performance through pioneering and innovative efforts.

“We are recognizing excellence in the technology sphere. We are recognizing those people who brought 'change'  into their organization,” he said.

The jury chaired by Girish Paranjpe, Joint CEO and member of the board, Wipro Ltd, comprised Avinash Vashistha, chairman and CEO, Tholons; Rajesh Uppal, chief GM (IT) and CIO, Maruti Suzuki Ltd; J.S.Puri, VP - Corporate Affairs & IT Enterprise Solutions,Fortis Healthcare Ltd; Prof. S Sadagopan, founder director - IIIT Bangalore; Shyam Malhotra, executive director, CyberMedia Publications and E.Abraham Mathew, president, SMG, CyberMedia Publications.

Jury member J.S. Puri, who addressed the gathering, said it was not an easy task to decide on the award winners.

“It is in such a scenario that a project is often considered based on its business impact apart from the strength of innovation and pioneering. Even the re-invention of the wheel makes sense at times, though not always,” he added.

Justifying the decision not to give eco-smart award for state governments, Puri said the jury was of the opinion that the State governments keep reinventing, though reinventing is always better than doing nothing.

In the individual category, Sumit Chowdhury, Reliance ADAG CIO got the Pioneer CIO award while the Advocate CIO award went to S.C. Mittal, CIO of IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited).

REPCO Bank CIO  R. Rajagopal bagged the Innovator CIO laurel while the Extended Manager award went to Nishi Vasudeva of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. Ramasamy, Executive Director of the Indian Oil Corporation  got the Process CIO award.

During his speech, Puri raised the doubt as to whether the CIOs are not sharing their innovations in public, as quite a few innovative implementations are revealed in the open platforms.

“But this gives the notion that India lacks in innovation as far as IT implementation is concerned, which need not be true,” he said, adding, “Bharat IT has a global standard – and that need not always be a ‘State Secret’.”

The former winners include Maruti Udyog Limited, LG Electronics India, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, Reliance Life Insurance Company Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Tata Motors Limited, Reliance Industries, CESC Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, North Delhi Power Limited, Reliance Infocomm Limited, Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd, TVS Motor Company, State Bank of India to mention a few.