All light on the night

Channel players were out in force at Battersea Events Arena

The 15th CRN Channel Awards at Battersea Park Events Arena was the scene of much jubilation as the lucky – ­ and hardworking – ­ winners collected their awards.

With more than 1,750 people attending the black-tie event this year, the CRN team was proud that so many people forgot the economic pressures on them for one evening and turned out to celebrate a night of success.

There was a slight change to the layout of the venue this year, with a mezzanine level introduced for the first time, giving all guests a good view of the main room before the formal part of the evening began.

The charity of the evening was the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Defibrillator Appeal, which is aiming to raise £300,000 to place much-needed defibrillators in tube stations across London.

A silent auction was also run in aid of the BHF appeal, with four VIP tickets to Aston Villa versus Portsmouth as the prize.

CRN editor Sara Yirrell made a brief speech before guests tucked into a three-course meal.

Guest host was comedian Jimmy Carr, who entertained the audience with his dry wit during his after-dinner speech, before launching into the main business of the evening – ­ the awards ceremony itself.

Bill Allan, UK sales director at headline sponsor OKI Printing Solutions thought the event was excellent.

“I was impressed with the venue, the professional organisation, plus the behind-the-scenes efforts and the overwhelming attendance from both vendors and resellers. It was great to celebrate such positive achievements with so many key decision-makers and influencers,” he said.

Julia Lunn, channel marketing manager at Lexmark, agreed. “I think it’s a really good forum for all the channel to get together and network on an informal basis.”

Going out with a gong

Outstanding channel players are still rising to the top against tough times and fiercer competition. CRN’s team of hand-picked and diligent judges found it harder than ever to pick the crème de la crème from the 250 that made it past the initial cull.

No less than 24 glass trophies and eight specially designed Judges’ Commended certificates were given out on the night. These awards will spark memories of 2008 long after the sharp suits and glitzy frocks are pushed to the back of the wardrobe.

Systems Vendor of the Year for 2008 was HP, with HP Procurve taking home the Networking Vendor of the Year Award.

Dave Poskett, director of the Solution Partner organisation at HP, said the CRN Channel Awards is one of the most prestigious award events in the industry.

“As always, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, which provided us with an opportunity to celebrate another great year with our partners. I would like to thank them for their continued support,” he said.

Winning both proves HP’s investment in the channel through its Preferred Partner Programme has had a positive effect, said Poskett.

Bell Micro also took two trophies: Systems Distributor of the Year and Software Distributor of the Year.

The first of the evening’s Judges’ Commended prizes went to Enfield-based Interactive Ideas in the Software Distributor category.

Not unsurprisingly, Microsoft fought off a challenge from VMware and a number of smaller, homegrown software developers to take the Software Vendor of the Year prize.

Specialist Vendor of the Year for 2008 was Kingston Technology. A Specialist Vendor of the Year Judges’ Commended certificate went to IT support services provider Comms-care. Richard Eglon, marketing managing at Comms-care, said: “These awards continue to be the premium event at which everyone wants to be. Even though we haven’t won first place, to be recognised for all our hard work by the judges is just as good. We are delighted.”

SME reseller of the Year went to WStore for the second year running.
Stewart Hayward, commercial director at Wstore, joked: “We won for the second time. But we have been shortlisted every year for nine years, so only winning twice is not good enough really.”

Hayward said that key to winning is getting everyone to vote for you, and starting the campaign for votes in plenty of time.

“The event itself was a great improvement on last year – I have been here every year for the eight or nine years. When it is involved with a charity or a decent brand that people know is current, it is often a better year. This is a better setup than last year too,” Hayward said.

This year’s Battersea Park Events Arena offered an improved layout that encouraged more mingling among attendees, he added.

Storage Vendor of the Year was Symantec, and the leading distributor of storage was Hammer. A storage distribution commendation went to CMS Peripherals.

Security, like storage, is an ongoing area of opportunity and is always a hot topic in CRN. After careful consideration, the judging panel voted Computerlinks as the Security Distributor of the Year, and Global Secure Systems (GSS) the Security Reseller of the Year.

David Hobson, managing director of GSS, said: “This is vindication of the work we are trying to achieve delivering information assurance, from the sales guys through to the consultants. I am really pleased so many clients are here with us to validate our win.”

Security Vendor of the Year was Trend Micro. Paul Anderson, UK and Ireland sales director at Trend Micro, said: “Tonight showed we are passionate about what we do.”

A Judges’ Commended certificate was also awarded in the security distribution category and Woking-based veteran Wick Hill was the lucky recipient.

Wick Hill chief Ian Kilpatrick also took home the channel Personality of the Year Award.
Editor’s Choice Emerging Company of the Year, personally selected by CRN editor Sara Yirrell, was technology infrastructure specialist ANS Group.

Scott Fletcher, managing director of ANS, said: “We were bowled over. This award is real recognition from the industry.”

Corporate Reseller of the Year for 2008 was IT services and solution provider Softcat. David Simpson, commercial director at the reseller, said: “It was another awesome evening. It is great to be recognised for our hard work and commitment to our vendors and customers. Softcat is proud to be a winner.”

The Corporate Reseller of the Year Judges’ Commended Award was given to Computacenter.

Computer 2000 also took home two awards: Networking Distributor of the Year and the much-coveted Distributor of the Year.

However, a worthy runner up in the Distributor of the Year category was specialist player VARlink, which also polled a high number of votes.

Finally the winner of the coveted Reseller of the Year award, for the second year running was BT Basilica.

Nick Wiltshire, sales director at BT Basilica, was delighted to win again.

"This is really important to us and I find it hugely gratifying that our customers and colleagues around the industry have voted for us once again," he said. "As a joint business BT Basilica and BT Lynx have faced lots of challenges over the last year, not least the integration of our two companies, which makes the winning of this award all the more significant as it goes to prove the quality of the service, people and reputation that we now have as one business. "

Winning a much deserved Judges Commended award for the category was Intrinsic Technology.