BayCom ICT named Access4 Partner of the Year

BayCom ICT has been named Access4's Partner of the Year for 2026, taking out three awards on the night as 200 technology providers gathered for the vendor's annual gala at Ben Ean in the Hunter Valley.

The Auckland-based managed service provider also won Best Diamond Partner, and its sales lead Rudi Steffens was named Partner Sales Rep of the Year - making BayCom the standout performer across the 13 awards handed out on Tuesday night.

"BayCom didn't just grow with us this year," said Tim Jackson, chief executive at Access4.

"They leaned into the partnership at every level, from the boardroom to delivery, and turned that trust into results for the customers they serve."

Other winners on the night included Virtual IT Services, which took out Best Performing UC Partner; Black Box, which won Best Performing UX Partner; and Winthrop Australia, which claimed Best Performing CX Partner.

Winthrop also won Best Customer Deal for its work with Amana Living.

Smile IT was named Technical Partner of the Year, Broadconnect was given the Customer Excellence of the Year award, and Interphone - in its first year in the programme - won Best Newcomer.

Generation-e won Best Platinum Partner and Enablis took Best Gold Partner; Prosum won Best Innovation Deal for its work with Estia.

The awards closed a four-day conference held under the theme 'Unwind in the Valley: Conversations that Can't be Automated', with platinum sponsor Enreach backing the event.

The theme drew on the argument that as AI absorbs more of the customer journey, the conversations that remain carry the most value - and that the partners who own those conversations own the relationship.

Mental health advocate Diego Nievas addressed the room ahead of the gala dinner, asking partners to carry the conversation back to their own teams. The conference also raised funds for R U OK? through a blind auction of six helicopter flight seats over the Hunter Valley, with a hosted lunch at Bimbadgen.