In ancient times, among the armies of the Roman Republic, various awards were given to soldiers and their leaders to recognize bravery, heroism, exceptional skill in battle, and so forth. The highest, and most rarely given honor, was the Grass Crown, presented to a commander or officer whose actions saved an entire legion. The crown could only be awarded by a vote of the soldiers whose lives had been saved.

Recognition by peers, even in 2017, is still among the most valued and highly regarded forms of acclaim. Think about how much hoopla is showered on the winner of an Academy Award, for example. Similarly, in the IT realm, there are a variety of prizes and honors bestowed on certified professionals that typically involve at least some degree of peer celebration.

One such honor is the Red Hat Certified Professional of the Year award, handed out annually at the Red Hat Summit event. The peer element of determining the RHCP of the Year — or Red Hat CPOY, if you'd prefer — figures in at the nomination phase. Each year's nominees are put forward by peers (or even by themselves), and a panel of judges determines the overall winner.

The nomination process is simple. All you have to do is head to the Red Hat Certified Professional of the Year 2018 website and fill out a form on that page. The nominee must have at least one Red Hat certification or Certificate of Expertise. Self-nomination, as noted above, is permitted.

The Powers That Be want to know how Red Hat technology and certification helped the nominee to excel at his or her job. In particular, they are hoping to hear about real world business outcomes, they want a good story (personality is welcomed), and they want Red Hat to be featured alongside the nominee. For example, how are any or all of the following involved?

• Did Red Hat solutions help the nominee to succeed at his or her job?
• Did Red Hat solutions help the nominee improve an employer or customer IT environment?
• Did Red Hat solutions help the nominee to improve system performance for an employer or customer?
• Did Red Hat solutions help the nominee to provide better system security for an employer or customer?
• Did Red Hat solutions help the nominee deliver better results for an employer or customer?

Here's how Red Hat director of certification Randy Russell put it in a release announcing the nomination period (Nov. 1 through Jan, 19): "Red Hat Certified professionals are spread across industries and around the globe. They are the problem-solvers and pioneers tackling the needs and challenges of their organizations.

"The RHCP of the Year Award gives us an opportunity to showcase the efforts of an IT professional who has promoted open source culture, generated value, and transformed IT within their organization."

The winner will be announced and honored at Red Hat Summit 2018, to be held May 8-10 in San Francisco.