Help us find the software industry's successes and rising stars in 2008

Entries are now being accepted for the 2008 Business Software Satisfaction Awards, which honour the suppliers who have done the most to keep their customers happy during the past year.

Nearly 2,000 people voted for last year's awards, with votes cast by members of Sift Media's online professional communities AccountingWEB.co.uk, FinanceWeek.co.uk, BusinessZone.co.uk, UK Business Forums, MyCustomer.com, TrainingZone, HRZone and KnowledgeBoard.com. An even bigger survey sample this year will reinforce why these are the software prizes that matter most, because they are based on the views of genuine buyers and end-users of business applications.

The Business Software Satisfaction Awards are run in association with the software trade association BASDA, which will present the annual Theo Van Dort Award to the individual who has done the most during the year to foster collaboration within the industry. Last year's winner was HMRC's Steve Lamey, who was promoted to the department's chief operating officer on the day of last year's awards ceremony.

Accounting & finance represents the biggest section of the awards, with 10 categories covering:

• Small Business Accounting Software
• Mid-Range Accounting Software
• Enterprise Accounting Software
• Practice Management Software (new category for 2008)
• Tax Software (new category for 2008)
• Paperless Office Software
• Web-Hosted Application
• Business Intelligence/CPM Software
• Excel-Based Application
• Reseller of the year

There are also categories for HR, training and customer relationship management systems.

Suppliers in all of these categories are encouraged to put themselves in the running by entering their products in the awards by 16 May. Voting will start in May and run throughout the summer, leading up to the award ceremony in London on 30 October.

The results are published online and in annual Buyer's Guide summarising key trends file of the 2007 Software Satisfaction Annual (8.5MB PDF) is available online.

At BASDA's suggestion, a new category has also been added to the awards to find the industry's "Newcomer of the Year". This is where we need your help. If you have run across a business application or online service that you think has or is likely to make a real impact, please post the company and product name below.

Many of the newcomers will already be in the running for awards in the other software categories, but because they may not have as many users as more established suppliers, their claims will be assessed by a joint panel comprising BASDA CEO Jairo Rojas, Sift Media technology editor John Stokdyk and Stuart Lauchlan, news and analysis editor for MyCustomer.com. Their decision will be based on responses from users in the overall survey, combined with an assessment of the products' innovative qualities and commercial strategies.

If you would like to be informed when the 2008 Business Software Strategy questionnaire goes live in June, visit the Software Satisfaction Awards website and put your name down on the mailing list. May the best vendors win!