The 2025 Partner Award Categories
By Partner, we mean such businesses as MSPs, resellers, consultants, system integrators and cybersecurity services providers. Distributors and vendors are NOT eligible for these categories.
Each of the following Partner Award categories will feature two winners:
- A partner project
- An individual who works in a partner business
How do I enter?
Enter the 2025 Impact Awards here.
You can also download this PDF of the entry form to read offline and prepare your entry. But you must submit your entry via the online form, not via email.
Categories
Business Transformation
This category recognises Australian partner projects and people that helped transform an end-user customer's operations, delivering more efficient operations and/or profit growth. Projects eligible for this award harness the power of data, modernise internal systems and transform the way they do business. This could include modernisation or migration projects, creation or adoption of new applications, realising value from data, or finding new ways to delight end-customers.
Customer Experience
This award recognises Australian partner projects and people that helped end-user customers better service their customers in a digital, mobile world. This could include websites, mobile applications, or any technology deployed in the service of customers. If you delivered a brilliant digital experience for a client’s customers in 2024, enter this category!)
Modernising Infrastructure
This award recognises Australian partner projects and people that moved end-user customers' IT infrastructure to modern platforms: to support cost savings, efficiencies, growth and innovation. This category includes upgrading compute, storage, core networking or converged systems, end-user devices or printing. It also covers the migration of customer, partner or distributor data and applications to new infrastructure platforms. Data centre improvements also fit.
Workforce Empowerment
This category recognises Australian partner projects and people that made an end-user customer’s staff more productive. This includes projects that promote flexible working, enable mobile workforces and create the workplace of the future. This includes telecommunications and connectivity, including smartphones and tablets. Projects centred on unified comms and activity-based working also fit this category, as do contact centre builds, networking projects, and deployment of bespoke apps to staff - anything that makes a team measurably more efficient.)
Data Modernisation
This category recognises Australian partner projects and people that delivered measurable impact for customers through the strategic use of data. Eligible entries may include data platform modernisation, analytics, visualisation, AI/ML deployments, or initiatives that improved data governance, quality or compliance. This category also covers projects that unlocked new insights, enabled data-driven decision-making, or created new revenue opportunities through data.)
Network Evolution
This category recognises Australian partner networking projects and people that connected end-user customers' teams and organisations, sped up communications and broke down silos between teams, data and environments. This category fits telecommunications and network infrastructure projects, including moving to software-defined networking.
Innovation Award
This category recognises innovation in Australia by partners and their people that addressed the challenges of their organisation or fellow channel businesses, or end-user customers' challenges. This entry should be based on a discrete project, program, campaign, initiative or offering. For example: a partner breaking new ground in Australia with its own IP. Applicants must have progressed beyond the R&D phase and exhibit substantial growth potential by actively scaling their products through direct or channel sales.
ESG Award
This category recognises partner projects and their people in Australia that have contributed to positive environmental, social or governance outcomes – either directly or by working with the channel. This entry should be based on a discrete project, program, campaign, initiative or offering. For example: a program that improved the use of recycled materials by end-user organisations, a project that reduced energy usage by your business, initiatives that have fostered inclusiveness, better outcomes for the disadvantaged or vulnerable, and policies or initiatives resulting in ethical business outcomes.)
Judging
The Impact Awards will be judged by a techpartner.news editorial panel who will consider how well the nominated project or person met the criteria.
Partner Projects will be judged according to:
- Delivery of tangible outcomes for a customer organisation
- Innovation, complexity and significance
- Timeliness, agility and success of deployment
- Value for money and ROI
- Customer service and stakeholder management
Partner Individual Awards will be judged according to:
- Impact on success of their customers or their own business
- Navigation of customers or their own business through challenges and change
- Innovation and forging of new ground
- Challenges overcome
- Utilisation of resources (including tech talent)
- Approach to people management and fostering team culture
