2024 CRN Impact Awards: Announcing the partner Leadership finalists

The CEO who helped attract $50 million in capital and the co-founder of a fast-growing Microsoft Dynamics business are among the partner finalists in the Leadership category of the 2024 CRN Impact Awards.

The awards, sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS), recognise the impact of Australian IT channel-led projects, innovation, ESG initiatives and leaders. Winners will be revealed at the gala CRN Impact Awards dinner which will take place at the 2024 CRN Pipeline conference on August 15.

The Leadership category recognises exceptional channel leaders from partner businesses who have demonstrated significant, meaningful impact in their business and/or the wider IT channel or public through their leadership role.

The partner Leadership finalists are:  

• Joanne Spencer, Co-Founder and Managing Director, D6 Consulting:  Spencer has driven significant growth for this consultancy since its launch in July 2022, evolving its practices from six to five capability areas and contributing to a positive company culture.
• Stefan Buchman, CTO, Cevo: Buchman has played a pivotal role in Cevo’s refreshed go-to-market strategy, its multi-million-dollar three-year partnership with AWS and its restructure.
• Stephen Kowal, CEO, Atturra: this company’s successful raising $50 million in capital funding in 2023 was “due in no small part” to Kowal’s ability to “inspire the market”, and he spearheaded an expansion drive into the Asia Pacific region.
• Marc Tricksey, National Sales Director, Arinco: Tricksey has been instrumental in driving Arinco’s growth and partnerships, with the company strengthening its Microsoft and Databricks partnerships and earning the title of Microsoft ANZ Azure Partner of the Year.
• Stuart Kilduff, CEO, oobe: With a former career that includes running a successful landscaping business, Kilduff has gone on to lead this Fujitsu-owned IT firm to a Microsoft Partner of the Year finalist placing in 2023.
• Chris Greatrex, Founder & Executive Director, Dynamic Aspect: Not only did Greatrex steer Dynamic Aspect to a place in the 2023 CRN Fast50, he continued to provide expertise as a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy’s Reserve, volunteer on the Executive of the North Sydney RSL supporting veterans, and on the Board of the Northern Sydney Local Health District.
• Milan Rajkovic, CEO, OTTO IT: Rajkovic led this firm’s evolution from a hardware-centric business to a security-focused MSP, aligning its operations with ISO27001, ISO9001 and ISO14001 standards and leading it to a strategic acquisition.
• Corey Stewart, National Operations Manager, Precision IT: Stewart’s implementation of a four-day work week and modernisation of the company’s service desk operations significantly boosted productivity and improved customer service. 
• Galit Jona, Founding Partner & Director, Delta Insights Australia: Under Galit’s guidance, this Microsoft Dynamics specialist, which services the health, aged-care and community services sectors, has grown in a few years to a 26-person team, with Galit leading an Australian first Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare project.

Due to the large number of entries, we will not be announcing vendor and distributor finalists. Vendors, distributor and partner winners will be announced at the gala CRN Impact Awards event on August 15 during the 2024 CRN Pipeline conference.

Thank you to everyone who entered this category. If your entry isn’t a finalist, that does not mean the judges thought it was without merit. We received many entries and separating the nominations was not always straightforward. Thank you for giving the judges the opportunity to learn more about your achievements.

We also thank AWS for making the 2024 IoT Awards possible though their sponsorship.

The CRN Impact Award winners will be announced at the gala awards dinner on Thursday 15th August on the final night of the CRN Pipeline conference at the Sheraton Grand Mirage on the Gold Coast. See the CRN Pipeline agenda and purchase tickets.