Exposing the channel winners

The much-anticipated Channel Expo Awards 2007 rewarded the brightest and best channel players. Sara Driscoll reports

What a glittering and glamourous night. The Channel Expo Awards 2007, held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham last week, were touted as an overriding success, as the winners celebrated, the losers commiserated and the channel ate, drank and were merry.

This is the first year that the Awards have been held in this way – a joint event from the owners of the Channel Expo exhibition and publisher of CRN, Incisive Media (formerly VNU), and the Professional Computing Association (PCA). The Awards were submitted during February and March, before the judging panel decided on the winners.

The aim of these awards was to really celebrate the technology products that enable to channel to sell and add value, said Simon Meredith, a judge for the awards.

“Products are the unsung heroes of the industry,” he said. “We talk a lot about ‘adding-value’ but what is it that we are adding value to exactly? Not that many resellers make that much money from selling products, but without them, there can be no solution, no added value. And if vendors can make their products really attractive, really easy to sell, that really helps resellers and retailers.

“It is good to see some of the best products and the best vendors in the market getting some recognition for the investment, creativity and effort that they put in.”

Keith Warburton, chief executive of the PCA and fellow judge, echoed Meredith’s views.

“Some of the entries were outstanding and all of the companies who were short-listed should feel proud,” he said.

“For the winners, this is a great opportunity for them to differentiate their products among their competitors, as independent proof that their product really does help channel players to add value.”

Meredith pinpointed some of the winners who he believed were especially deserving of picking up a Channel Expo Award.

“The winners are all good products and there were some excellent contenders on the short lists as well,” Meredith said. “There are some great networking and security products on the market right now. Also, Both Microsoft and Kingston have shown their enduring appeal and value to the channel and it is good to see a company such as Bullguard being recognised. Not all the best products come out of the biggest vendors.”

Over 300 people attended the evening, which was hosted by comedian Steve Furst.

Warburton added: “The venue was superb and the food and drink were excellent. The networking, as you’d expect, was great, and the entertainment, well, you’ve got to run out of superlatives eventually.”

Steve Reid, IT & imaging senior account manager at GfKand judge, said the awards did exactly as they should in recognising the companies operating in the channel.

“Bringing this together at a venue such as the National Motorcycle Museum not only contributed to a great evening, but also highlighted where the industry can go in the UK,” he said. “I shall look forward to next year being even bigger and equally worthwhile.”

Full list of winners:

Audiovisual Product of the Year
Sony PCS-G70 Videoconferencing System
Imago Group

Networking Product of the Year
Network Physics NP-2000
Centerprise International

Component Product of the Year
Kingston System Memory
Kingston Technology

Security Product of the Year
BullGuard Internet Security
BullGuard

Storage Product of the Year
SANServe
Griffin Internet

Best to Sell Value Added Product of the Year
Windows Vista
Microsoft UK

Unified Convergence & Communications Product of the Year
HostTalk
Node4 Ltd

VAR/Integrator Project of the Year
Armadillo
Barnardos Project implementation

Best to Sell Supplier of the Year
Microsoft UK

PCA Honourary Fellowship
Les Billing, Microtronica