Best Practices and Tips

It is the primary intention of T.E.N. that participation in The ISE® Award Programs is a wonderful experience for everyone involved whether you are the nominee or nominator that is completing the nomination form on behalf of the nominee.  Below are some helpful insights into the scoring process as well as tips for submitting a successful ISE® Nomination.  These best practices and tips are a compilation of the feedback from the T.E.N. Team and the ISE® Judges.

ISE® Executive Category

In order to be successful in the nomination process, an ISE® Nominee should work with their nominator (if applicable) to complete the nomination form in order to provide accurate and insightful information for the Judges to consider. The Judges review each of the nomination forms and score the nominees based on the following:

• Responsibilities– Breadth and scope of responsibilities and number of users supported.
• Alignment - Ability to align security with the organization goals. Specific examples should be provided so the Judges can assess the impact of the nominee’s information security/risk management/compliance/governance initiatives.
• Leadership – Nominee’s style of internal leadership to accomplish his/her mission. They also look at the nominee’s external leadership and commitment to the improvement of the industry as a whole.
• Innovation – Specific examples in a nomination form that showcase the nominee’s creativity and ingenuity in problem solving.
• Technology Partnerships – Assessment of the nominee’s ability to develop strategic relationships with vendors, solution providers and technology partners. The Judges are also interested in learning about a nominee’s open dialogue towards improving products and services needed in the industry.
• Vision of the Future – This information should highlight the nominee’s insight and ideas for the future and how it affects security professionals over the next few years and beyond. The answer to this question should be carefully considered as The Judges want to ensure that the ISE® Nominee will be a role model for the security profession for years to come.

Additional Executive Category Best Practice Tips

• We encourage you to focus on the nominee’s vision and strategy as well as the future for risk management, data asset protection, and privacy, governance and information/network security. Judges give a great deal of weight to these questions.
• Specific and measurable results help to bring clarity and scope to the nomination. It helps to include direct feedback from third parties including comments from bosses, peers, direct reports, vendors and other industry players.
• Be sure to pay attention to the time range covered by a specific question. If the question references “in the last 12 months,” please do not include examples prior to that timeframe.
• We encourage nominations from the nominee’s technology partner (information security products and services providers); however, we ask that when describing the nominee’s usage of the technology partner’s products and services, to not focus on the product or service, but rather focus on the nominee’s business success through integration of the product or service and strategic value of the partnership.
• Each question must be answered completely as each Judge is asked to score on a scale of one to five each question on the merit and quality of the answer as it relates to the question. An omission of a single question will automatically bring down a nominee’s score by five points and can potentially erode the credibility of the application as a whole. It also can be the difference of the nominee being selected to be a finalist.
• Please do not include any supplemental materials such as articles, web links, blogs or presentations as it will not be provided to the Judges to review. Submit only the nomination form.
• Please keep in mind that the information provided may be included on websites, in magazines, or other publicized materials. If you wish to keep specific answers confidential and not for public knowledge, please explicitly note this in your application and reference the specific items that are to remain confidential.
• In advance of completing your nomination form, clearly establish the review and approval process as well as the timeframe required for these activities for your nomination submission. Some nomination forms are required by the nominee’s company policy to be reviewed by public relations professional and/or a legal department. This can and will add extra time to the nomination process.

ISE® Project Category

In order to be successful in the nomination process, a nominee should work with their nominator (if applicable) to complete the nomination form in order to provide accurate and insightful information for the Judges to consider. The Judges review each of the nomination forms and score the nominees based on the following:

• Complexity of the Project – Scope, size, length, breadth of project.
• Business Case - Problem to be solved, goals of the project and execution / implementation of project.
• Innovation – Showcasing the project in terms of creativity and ingenuity in problem solving as well as the technology utilized.
• Results/Impact of the Project – Impact to the organization along with measurable results.

Additional Project Category Best Practice Tips

• We encourage you to focus on the describing the project and the complexity of it as well as the innovation. Judges give a great deal of weight to these questions and want to see how the innovation was applied.
• Specific and measurable results help to bring clarity and scope to the nomination. It helps to include direct feedback from third parties including comments from bosses, peers, direct reports, vendors and other industry players.
• Be sure to pay attention to the time range covered by a specific question. If the question references “in the last 12 months,” please do not include examples prior to that timeframe.
• We encourage nominations from the nominee’s technology partner (information security products and services providers); however, we ask that when describing the nominee’s usage of the technology partner’s products and services, to not focus on the product or service, but rather focus on the nominee’s business success through integration of the product or service and strategic value of the partnership.
• Each question must be answered completely as each Judge is asked to score on a scale of one to five each question on the merit and quality of the answer as it relates to the question. An omission of a single question will automatically bring down a nominee’s score by five points and can potentially erode the credibility of the application as a whole. It also can be the difference of the nominee being selected to be a finalist.  
• Please do not include any supplemental materials to include articles, web links, blogs or presentations as it will not be provided to the Judges to review. Submit only the nomination form.
• Please keep in mind that the information provided may be included on websites, in magazines, or other publicized materials. If you wish to keep specific answers confidential and not for public knowledge, please explicitly note this in your application and reference the specific items that are to remain confidential.
• In advance of completing your nomination form, clearly establish the review and approval process as well as the timeframe required for these activities for your nomination submission. Some nomination forms are required by the nominee’s company policy to be reviewed by public relations professional and/or a legal department. This can and will add extra time to the nomination process.