Class of 2011 Yearbook: The Honorees

Employer: Avnet Inc.

LOCATION: Phoenix

Coolest current project: "We rethought our approach to security and access management and implemented single sign-on capabilities worldwide, giving employees one log-in and password to access approximately 70 business applications. This was incredibly rewarding, because it improved application security and had an immediate positive impact on employees, giving them much needed time in their days."

An innovative staff idea: "Avnet's U.S. components business wanted to unchain its field sales force from the office. The IT team worked with the sales team to provide real-time access, via smartphones, to CRM and ERP systems. This allowed the sales team to check product information and place orders when visiting customers, resulting in increased productivity and business."