The channel's night of nights

Helen Frost

The awards night is fast approaching and the excitement is growing.

After months of preparation the shortlists are in and it is only a matter of weeks until 7 November when we unveil the winners at the CRN Awards gala dinner.

The inaugural event last year was a sold-out success, with channel players HP and Express Data acknowledged as the Vendor and Distributor of the Year.

CRN’s night of nights will again be held at the Shangri-La Hotel and hosted by Adam Spencer.

Our judging panel of experts this year includes representatives from a range of vendors, distributors, channel consultants and our very own readers.

This year, in an Australian channel first, resellers have played an integral role in deciding the award categories by voting in our reader survey.

To win one of the Vendor and Distributor Awards companies have had to to demonstrate channel friendliness, strong customer service and commitment to the channel.

They also have to provide products that are easy to sell and offer good margins.

With the introduction of three new categories this year it will be exciting to see who will be crowned our very first Resellers of the Year.

Readers had to nominate themselves for Regional Reseller of the Year, Enterprise Reseller of the Year and Most Innovative Solution of the Year.

After receiving the entries the CRN team has carefully reviewed
them and sent our shortlisted candidates to the panel of judges.

The panel is considering a variety of areas and will look at how resellers have successfully diversified their business and implemented creative solutions.

The judges will also look at whether or not the organisations have Green IT strategies, successful business plans or collaborate with partners.

This year the Channel Champion Award was open to resellers, vendors and distributors.

2007 winners

One of the biggest winners on the night was distributor Express Data.

The company picked up the Software Distributor of the Year accolade and also took home the Distributor of the Year title.

Ross Cochrane, chief executive officer, Express Data said that when you do get feedback and recognition it’s a very strong endorsement that you are on the right track.

“That was fantastic to get from our partners. People take a lot of pride in their work, we all do no matter what business you are in, so internally for the morale of the team and in terms of recognition and recruitment, to have that kind of award in place is absolutely fantastic,” he said.

This year the Vendor and Distributor Award Survey completed by readers has been included as a strong element of voting in the CRN Awards.

“In my view it gives more credibility in the sense that these are the people who are in the market day in and day out dealing with a range of distributors
and vendors and experiencing a range of service,” explained Cochrane.

“With a panel they have industry experience but I don’t know if they have that frontline day-to-day exposure that the resellers, your readership, has. In the end the people who are really on the frontline talking to the end purchaser and looking for support from their partners, be that distributors or vendors, is your readership and their feedback is vital and very valid.”

Another channel player to be recognised in the field of distribution was iTX.

One of the judges comments last year was “strong national distribution supported by dedicated security BDM, they have built a strong suite of security products”.

“We were thrilled to be awarded Security Distributor of the Year by CRN.

It makes me and the entire itX team very proud to be recognised for the hard work we’ve put into helping our resellers develop and grow their security practice,” said Greg Newham, general manager of distribution at iTX.

Recognised for ‘good quality, value-for-money products’ Linksys was acknowledged as the Networking Vendor of the Year.

“Cisco’s consumer brand, Linksys by Cisco, is extremely pleased to have won the Networking Vendor of the Year award,” said Graeme Reardon, regional director for Linksys by Cisco. “Our focus is on our resellers and retailers and enabling them to provide the connected home. The fact that a respected channel publication has called on a cross-section of people from within the channel itself to judge these awards is great. That they have voted and agreed that our multi-tiered channel strategy is delivering value to the channel gives us at Cisco great delight.”

Dr Nick Mayhew, group manager for the Partner Strategy & Marketing team at Microsoft Australia echoed his sentiments and said it was an absolute honour last year to be a recipient of the CRN Award.

“Microsoft’s partners and the wider channel community contribute significantly to Australia’s innovation effort and are directly responsible for employment generation, exports and growth. Recognition programs, such as CRN’s awards, are a vital way of highlighting the exceptional work that is happening in the wider IT community, as well as showcasing the innovative muscle of our industry,” said Dr Mayhew.

One of the highlights pointed out by Paul Robson, director for the Solutions Partners Organisation at HP, was that it is one of the only times that you get everyone in the same room at the same time.

“The reseller feedback is, those that have voted on the award, they tell us that they have voted and some of the reasons behind that based on the programs and activities we’ve been doing and the increased business we’ve been doing with them over the past 12 months. With other partners that may not be focused on HP I think it’s a great way of promoting ourselves to them as a vendor focused on the channel that can present profitable growth opportunities for channel partners.”

One of last year’s Channel Champions was Wayne Small, who launched his reseller outfit Correct Solutions 10 years ago, and successfully grew the business to turn over $2 million-plus a year.

Small currently spends a couple of days a week working at Correct and the rest of his time running courses, such as a series of training courses for Microsoft.

“Last year I made the decision to actually step back from the Correct business,” said Small.

“I decided I enjoyed helping people grow their business. I had a number of people asking if I would be their business mentor. When I stepped back from Correct then I had the time to focus on my writing and the training,” he said.

Charity auction

Combining both a silent auction and a hugely animated live auction, the charity element of the night is an integral part of the CRN Awards.

Last year the table sales from the night, as well as the proceeds of the auction, brought in approximately $62,500, and Jeremy Vaughan, Haymarket Media’s managing director rounded up that amount to $70,000 on behalf of the company.

Top-selling items included a Rolling Stones-signed Fender electric guitar which went for $10,000 and a Roger Federer-signed tennis racket going for an enormous $15,000.

One of this year’s big-ticket items is a guitar signed by every member of Irish band U2.

There will be additional items as well, and we hope the channel will show again how supportive it is of the Cancer Council of Australia.