Real Business magazine and Microsoft have teamed up to find "the nation’s most intelligent users of software". These firms are harnessing software to radically improve performance, transforming their sector in the process. The 30 most innovative will be featured in a 13-page report in the November edition of Real Business, entitled Britain’s Digital Elite.

In particular, we are looking for firms that are deploying software in a creative and ground-breaking way. The area in which the software is used could be a small part of the firm’s overall operation such as warehousing or staff training, or it could be at the very core of operations. The software could be off-the-shelf, bespoke or customised; a single package or module, or a combination of packages.

There will be ten categories:

M&A Using software to facilitate any part of the M&A process
Mobile workforce Applications relying on all aspects of mobile
Workforce education Using software to upskill and/or talk to your employees
Consumer interaction Any customer-facing application
Marketplace analysis Using software to provide strategic insight
Performance analysis Internal information gathering
Taking on the big guys Using software to disrupt incumbents
Logistics Using software to co-ordinate, track and/or transmit goods
Back office automation Streamlining and accelerating processes
R&D Research and development focussed IT

Each category will have one Winner and two Highly Recommended

So you have an innovation solution, you should sign up now at http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/elite