Nothing defines what InfoWorld does best like the InfoWorld 100, our annual award to the 100 companies that have met their business and IT demands with innovative technology deployment. The InfoWorld 100 isn't just a collection of cool case studies;... Nothing defines what InfoWorld does best like the InfoWorld 100, our annual award to the 100 companies that have met their business and IT demands with innovative technology deployment. The InfoWorld 100 isn’t just a collection of cool case studies; it’s a reflection of the community that we’re all a part of — and it repeatedly shows that the most impressive solutions come from real IT people who, when faced with major challenges, scratch their heads and ask: “Well, what if we did this?”Big projects tend to involve a slew of stakeholders and practitioners, so in most cases you can’t trace success back to a single moment of inspiration. That “Eureka!” moment, however, is what we’re looking for when we sift through the entries that pour through our InfoWorld 100 Web form every year. We’re looking for the spark of inventiveness that makes IT an interesting profession. New situations arise, new problems emerge, and suddenly someone comes up with a fresh constellation of technologies that, best case, may take an entire organization one step ahead.Last week at InfoWorld’s SOA Executive Forum, I saw that spirit on display again and again. As usual, we chased down the best SOA practitioners we could find: architects and IT execs who had grasped the potential of SOA and were in various stages of planning and deployment. We’ve always actively sought people who could not only innovate with technology, but who could bring alive what they’ve done — in detail sufficient to provide tangible value to those following a similar path. More than once last week I was struck by an atmosphere that was almost electric, as audience members hung on the words of their onstage peers. That peer-to-peer exchange extends to our diverse group of InfoWorld contributors, from Brian Chee and the resources he brings from the Advanced Network Computing Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, to Paul Venezia and the deep level of expertise he brings from his practice in Keane, New Hampshire. Like those we honor in the InfoWorld 100, these heavy-hitters are out there in the field figuring out problems on the front lines of IT.InfoWorld 100 editor and senior editor Jason Snyder got fired up as he delved into this year’s case studies. As he put it, “This year’s winners are an inspiration — and proof that striking a new path in IT can reap rewards for the entire business.” Even better, from our standpoint, is the innovation. We might be handing out awards, but we’re getting back new ideas that will provide the basis for InfoWorld content to come. So here’s one place where “community” extends beyond Web 2.0 buzzword and into the incalculable value of sharing relevant, useful information — our InfoWorld 100. Technology Industry