It's the time of year for the Microsoft DesignIT competition. There is £15,000 worth of software and expertise for the charity of the winners choice up for grabs

It's not a raffle so some work is needed. Basically you need to submit a system design and a 400 word summary. It doesn't have to be a complete plan (apparently a sketch on a whiteboard is good enough*) but with some idea of the costs needed.

The winning design will be passed to a Microsoft team to get it all up and running. There are also four runners up prizes of £1000 worth of Microsoft software. If altruism isn't enough motivation to enter, all the winners will get tickets to the TechEd: IT forum in Barcelona.

I'm not sure if I have the expertise to make a full submission but I've often thought that there are many charities that would benefit from a really good IT setup. Some that I have had contact with rely on volunteers from all over the country and a proper email and calendar system (lets assume Outlook and Exchange in this context) would make their work more efficient.

Details of past winners can be found here and are a good starting point for inspiration.

The competition closes on 21 March so I'm off to find myself a whiteboard.

* I'm guessing they mean a photo of a sketch on a whiteboard, however tempting it is to courier across a physical whiteboard.