Nutanix, the leading enterprise cloud company, today announced the 16 customer finalists of the inaugural NEXT Awards at the .NEXT Conference in Las Vegas June 20-22, 2016. The award winners in each of the five categories will be unveiled Tuesday, June 21 during the opening keynote with Nutanix Founder, CEO and Chairman Dheeraj Pandey.

“These awards are a great platform for recognizing the IT visionaries who are blazing new trails at their organizations,” said Glenn Allison, vice president of enterprise architecture and IT solution delivery at Tractor Supply Company, who is serving as a NEXT Awards judge. “It is inspiring to see such innovative work being carried out across a wide range of industries. We congratulate all the finalists and look forward to awarding the winners in each category at the conference.”

The evaluation of nominations and selection of finalists was undertaken by a panel comprised of Allison and other technology thought leaders, including:

• Maribel Lopez, Founder, Analyst, Lopez Research
• Ben Woo, CEO, Neuralytix Advisers
• Howard Ting, Chief Marketing Officer, Nutanix

The NEXT Award program recognizes IT professionals who are transforming their organizations with innovative enterprise cloud technologies. Finalists were nominated in each category for their unique approach to deploying Nutanix solutions.

NEXT Award Categories and Finalists

• Champion Award: Nominees have championed and introduced a change in the IT environment. Along the way, he or she met challenges that affected their likelihood of success, yet persevered to achieve proven business results (e.g., reduction in complexity and/or cost or the introduction of a new business or operating model).
  Finalists:
  • Jeff Babcock, Manager, IT Infrastructure and Security, Empire Life
  • Arun Guruprasad, Assistant Manager, Vehicle and Unit Development Business Systems, Toyota
  • Jonathan Seet, Infrastructure Architect, Tronox

• Disruptor Award: Nominees have successfully driven an initiative that created significant change in the organization, business or bottom line. Candidate would have brought to bear new ideas and strategies that had tangible impact in their organization.
  Finalists:
  • William Beckett, Systems Administrator, Followmont Transport
  • Alan Feltes, Manager Operations and Support, Telit/Crossbridge USA
  • Biju Samuel, Director, Information Technology, Cardlytics

• Elevate IT CIO Award: Nominees are CIOs or VPs who have demonstrated best-in-class leadership, strategy and business impact combined. Candidate has shown motivational or inspirational leadership that resulted in the elevation of the IT organization’s performance and impact on the overall business.
  Finalists:
  • Chris Cate, EVP and CIO, Cox Target Media
  • Mark Hindle, Head of Technology/CIO, Relationships Australia NSW
  • John Mason, CIO, Bottomline Technologies
  • Kelly Michel, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Charter

• The Industry Innovator Award: Nominees that have introduced innovative ideas in their organization in order to build differentiation against competition in their industry.
  Finalists:
  • Matt Day, ICT and Support Manager, Langs Building Supply
  • Tim Jones, Director of Technology, Blue Springs School District
  • Milind Samant, Director of Infrastructure Services, Bergen Community College

• Public Sector Visionary Award: Nominees have made a significant impact by delivering reliable and sustainable services to public sector customers and citizens.
  Finalists:
  • Thomas Sasala, Chief of the Strategy, Plans & Architecture Center, Joint IT Service Provider, Pentagon
  • Randy Steiner, Director Solutions, Secretary of Defense, Pentagon
  • Jon Walton, CIO, County of San Mateo