Katana1, iSeek, Telstra win NetApp ANZ partner awards

Data management software vendor NetApp has honoured its top channel partners across Australia and New Zealand at its recent partner awards event held in Sydney.

The company handed out 15 awards across seven partners and eight individuals in recognition of their “outstanding commitment” to driving customer success and revenue growth throughout 2021.

Sydney’s Katana1 was named Keystone Partner Innovation partner of the year for creating a new go-to-market using NetApp’s Keystone platform as the basis for its managed service.

Sydney-based Tekoi Consulting was named new partner of the year for delivering a “sizable revenue contribution” in its first full calendar year of partnership with NetApp, and also for making significant business development investments with the vendor.

Melbourne-based Global Storage was named partner of the year: Gold for consistently meeting KPIs and “a readiness to rapidly grasp and sell” new NetApp solutions and technologies.

Brisbane’s iSeek was named services provider of the year for excelling in creating a new service provider go-to-market and securing significant net-new customers.

Cirrus Networks was named partner of the year: Platinum, also for consistently meeting KPIs and for readiness to sell new solutions and technologies.

Melbourne’s Nexsys IT was named cloud provider of the year for its work with cloud-based solutions that “have high-market impact and exceed customer expectations”.

Telstra was awarded global systems integrator of the year, also in recognition for consistently meeting KPIs and for readiness to sell new solutions and technologies.

NetApp also awarded Microsoft with the alliance partner champion award.

The vendor also handed out awards for individuals working with its local channel partners, with the winners listed below:

• Sales Excellence Award – Simon Loftus (Cirrus)
• Technical Excellence Award – Talor Hollaway (AdventOne)
• Rising Star – Luis Cassanova (Kytec)
• Data Visionary of the Year – Rob Simione (Meridian IT)
• Marketing Excellence – Denise Ktsenos (Arrow)
• Hall of Fame Award – Ross Ogilvie (Katana1)
• Deal of the Year – Frank Arena (Cube)

“NetApp prides itself on long-term partnerships with the industry’s best reseller, application, infrastructure, consulting and cloud service providers, and this year’s award recipients are testament to that,” NetApp ANZ managing director Paul Crighton said.
“Tonight’s winners are a reflection of how our local partnerships are leading the way for technology innovation globally, with one goal in mind: the success of our customers.

“NetApp technology proudly underpins many Australian organisations and some of the nation’s best technology projects across key sectors, empowering them to expand customer touchpoints, foster greater innovation and optimise operations by unleashing their data’s full potential.”

NetApp ANZ director of channel and alliances Neville James said, “The market is demanding greater support and innovation on their digital transformation journey and our local partners are leading the way NetApp does business with the channel at a global scale.”

“I congratulate all award recipients for their outstanding achievements. Their partnership and investment in NetApp to become specialists who help customers get the most value out of their data are testament to our joint success.”