Race is close in voting for N.C.’s top tech exec award

Who will be named North Carolina’s top tech executive?

The voting is close with just over one week left for people to make their choice online.

Sharon Allan of Accenture, Lee Congdon of Red Hat, Jesse Lipson of Citrix and Jeff Stovall of the City of Charlotte are the finalists.

According to the North Carolina Technology Association, the race is close. NCTA didn’t disclose who ranked where but did list percentages:

1st – 35%
2nd – 28%
3rd – 22%
4th – 15%

Online voting continues through Oct. 17.

NCTA will name the winner at its annual 21 Awards program in November.

The finalists, with bios provided by NCTA:

Sharon Allan, Accenture: As a senior executive with Accenture’s utilities industry group, Sharon Allan leads the smart grid practice for North America. She was named one Smart Grid’s three most powerful women in 2010.
Lee Congdon, Red Hat: As Chief Information Officer, Lee Congdon is responsible for Red Hat’s global information systems, including the technology strategy, enterprise architecture, information technology governance and systems operations supporting the company.
Jesse Lipson, Citrix (formerly ShareFile): Jesse Lipson founded ShareFile in 2005 and in just over 6 years helped the company grow to almost 20,000 corporate customers. ShareFile was acquired by Citrix Systems in October, 2011.
Jeff Stovall, City of Charlotte: As Charlotte’s first Chief Information Officer, Jeff Stovall is responsible for the overall business planning of all technology systems relative to the city’s strategic goals. Jeff was instrumental in preparing the city’s technology infrastructure to successfully host the Democratic National Convention.

Finalists were disclosed last week for 18 of the other NCTA 21 Award categories.

Best Customer Service Award: APEX Analytix, Citrix, SoftPro, WorkSmart
Best Internal Implementation of Technology Award: Carolinas HealthCare System, NC Department of Health & Human Services – NC FAST, PlyGem Building Products, Wastequip
Best Product or Service Technology Company Award: Citrix, Epic Games, nContact Surgical, RegEd, XS Inc.
Best Workplace Culture Company Award: Epic Games, Geomagic, Hirease, LexisNexis, Red Hat
Clean Technology Company Award: e-Cycle, Elster Solutions, Semprius, Tantalus Systems, CoaLogix
Corporate Impact Company Award: EMC, LexisNexis, Google, Time Warner Cable
Emerging Technology Company Award: 6fusion, Windsor Circle, nContact Surgical, TearScience, Deal Cloud
Environmental Steward Company Award: CommScope, e-Cycle, Google, SAS
Fastest Growing Company Award: 6Fusion, BioResource International, DukeNet Communications, Lenovo, SilkRoad Technology
Healthcare and Life Sciences Company Award: BioAgilytix Labs, Bioptigen, Medicago, TearScience
Industry Driven Technology Company Award: Allscripts, ChannelAdvisor, Epic Games, Jackrabbit Technologies, Railinc
Large Technology Company Award: Cisco, Epic Games, Lenovo, Microsoft
Mid-Size Technology Company Award: Diversified Information Technologies, Internetwork Engineering, SciQuest, Intelligent Access Systems, RegEd
Most Innovative Technology Company Award: Automated Insights, Bioptigen, Valencell, Xanofi, Geomagic, Talari Networks
Private Company Award: AvidXchange, Bandwidth, Cenduit, Meridian, Netsertive
Public Company Award: Accenture, Cisco, Lenovo, Red Hat, SciQuest
Small Technology Company Award: Appia, Epsilon, Netsertive, Parameter Generation & Control, Small Footprint, Telovations
Software Company Award: AvidXchange, Epic Games, Knowledge Tree, Red Hat, WebAssign