The 6th Annual SD Times 100, featured in the June 1, 2008, issue of the newspaper, is our listing of those companies, organizations and individuals that most broadly "set the agenda" for software development managers, developers, and the industry through leadership and innovation during the past calendar year.

The SD Times 100 recognizes companies, non-commercial organizations, open source projects and other influencers for their innovation and leadership. It is not a product award.

READ THE 2008 SD TIMES 100 WINNERS!

Judged by the editors of SD Times, the SD Times 100 recognizes the top innovators and leaders in multiple software development industry areas.

Most companies, projects and individuals will be nominated for the 2008 SD Times 100 by BZ Media's editors, as well as an expert group of writers, conference faculty and analysts. As in previous years, the readers of SD Times may also nominate companies, projects and individuals.

You can read our FAQ for more details.

The 2009 Readers Nomination Process

The schedule will be announced in January 2009.

How the Judging Works

As we wrote in the debut awards in 2003:

The editors of SD Times identified the industry’s top leaders, innovators and influencers, and broke them out into 10 separate industry segments. Some companies lead in one category, others in more than one. In each category, one company has been spotlighted as a star deserving of special notice.

When choosing the SD Times 100, we carefully considered each company’s offerings and reputation. We also listened for the “buzz”—how much attention and conversation we’ve heard around the company and its products and technologies—as a sign of leadership within the industry.

The SD Times 100 looked for companies that have determined a direction that developers followed. Did the company set the industry agenda? Did its products and services advance the software development art? Were its competitors nervously tracking its moves? Were programmers anxiously awaiting its developments? Those qualities mark a leader.

Subjective? Of course. But leadership and innovation can’t be measured by stock valuations or analyst reports. The SD Times 100 represents what we believe to be the best of the best....

Previous Years' Awards

The 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 SD Times 100 write-ups may be read online.