A golden opportunity

Entries are now being invited for the 11th Channel Awards, and with this year's revised categories there are even more chances to win

This year's Channel Awards promise to be more open than ever before.

For the first time, most of the awards will be decided by the judges rather than on a straight reseller vote. This change has been made so that smaller vendors, distributors and resellers have a much better chance of winning.

The Awards have always been of the highest importance because resellers vote for the winners - and the three main Outstanding Achievement Awards will continue to be decided in this way - but the fact was, the bigger you were, the better were your chances of winning. This year, the situation is very different.

The Channel Awards have always been about recognising the companies that have delivered the highest levels of service to their customers, whether they are resellers or end-users. And this year, even if you are very small, you can still hope to compete with even your largest rivals, so there is more incentive than ever to enter.

Of the 20 awards that will be presented this year, three will be decided by a vote, three by CRN editor Sara Driscoll, and the remaining 14 by the judging panel. The panel will consist of independent figures from the channel press, leading analysts and representatives of reseller and end-user groups.

Entries must be in by the end of July and the judges will meet later in the year to decide who will be short-listed and who will win the final awards. They will be drawing on their own knowledge and experience and on the testimony of resellers and end-users with regard to the performance of each entrant.

It is important for entrants to understand that the service they deliver after their entry has been put in will count just as much as their achievements before the deadline. While entries need to be in by the 30 July, the judging will not take place until closer to the time of the awards.

Both past and potential winners are encouraged by this year's changes and looking forward to getting this year's campaign underway.

Nick Culley, product marketing director at distributor Midwich, praised the category changes, and said he is particularly delighted to see two awards covering the booming audiovisual (AV) market. Midwich will certainly be entering for the distribution award, he said.

"The growth of AV products via IT channels has been phenomenal, and it would be great for our staff if we won an award this year - not least because 2004 marks our 25th anniversary. We've made considerable investments over the past few years to ensure that we provide our customer and vendor partners with the best possible distribution service. By doing this we secure our future, and that's our number-one goal," he added.

Culley said the system of using a panel of judges rather than a straight vote for the specialist categories is much fairer. "We don't distribute certain tier-one IT brands, which means our customer breadth is likely to be narrower than the broad-liners, which may disadvantage us when awards are based on the quantity of votes," he said.

Shaun Frohlich, chairman of corporate reseller Teksys, also welcomed the new categories and the panel system. "The categories are more focused than ever and reflect the core elements of today's channel," he said.

"It will be interesting to see which companies come to the fore, particularly in the service sectors. Panel judging is preferable to numerical voting when it comes to categories where the finalists' organisations are of differing scales, because it allows entrants to compete on a level playing field."

Frohlich also pointed out that it was very important for the judges to do their homework. The panel will need to have a good up-to-date understanding of exactly what is happening in the channel today. Hopefully, with a panel of 12 people who are working with the channel every day, the decisions made will be the right ones, he said. Resellers and end-users will certainly be encouraged to make their views known to the panel ahead of any decisions.

While 14 of the awards will be decided by the panel, resellers and end-users will be voting for the three Outstanding Achievement Awards, and there will be strong competition for these accolades once again. Ann Keefe, sales director for the UK and Ireland at Kingston Technology Europe, which was one of last year's winners, said being top of the pile is very important. "We were delighted to win last year," she said. "Winning a Channel Award is a great accolade and we believe it adds real credibility to our business for our channel partners to vote for us in such great numbers."

Frohlich agreed. "Our award generated greater confidence inside and outside of Teksys," he said. "The whole organisation was proud and customers loved the fact that they were dealing with us - all in all a very valuable formula and one that motivates us to support the Awards and do our utmost to win again in the future."

Teksys will be entering for the Corporate Reseller of the Year award, which it won in 2002. Last year it was a finalist and the company was, Frohlich said, "gutted to lose in 2003". He stressed the importance of having an awards system that recognises the best achievements in the business. "They create a community of professionals in an industry at times full of screaming mediocrity. The Awards breed healthy competition and stimulate innovation and excellence - important elements in all industries, but essential in one as young as ours," he said.

Teksys is also looking forward to simply having a great time and seeing just about everyone who is anyone at what is unquestionably the biggest social event in the channel calendar. "Every year we look forward to attending the event and every year it gets better and better," said Keefe. "It is a great opportunity to catch up with everyone, and hopefully this year we will again be celebrating with our partners."

For all the details of the Awards categories, entry forms and the judging and voting procedure, go to www.crn.vnunet.com and press the Channel Awards button.