Channel Awards Criteria - Resellers

The criteria for the reseller categories of the 2016 Channel Awards are listed in full here - have a look and see which one/s you are going to enter

CRN Staff
14 April 2016

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IMPORTANT POINTS (Please read before starting your entry) ONE entry PER CATEGORY only.

Multiple entries in the same category are not allowed and WILL BE DISQUALIFIED with the judges picking just one entry.

Please keep the entry relevant to the UK market and include facts, figures and testimonials to strengthen your entry. Entries that focus on another market outside the UK will be marked down or disqualified.

CRN reserves the right to move an entry to another category if the judges see fit, and also to drop categories that are not adequately entered. DO NOT go over the 1,200 word count (judges' discretion does count).

THIS YEAR WE ARE ACTIVELY ENCOURAGING ALTERNATIVE STYLE ENTRIES to the standard block of text - this can be in the form of a video or PDF to really make your entry stand out. Feel free to use pictures, these do not count towards the word count.

You can still submit text entries, you won't be penalised for doing so, but the option is there to be more creative with your entry if you so wish. Also do not feel you have to address the criteria in a formulaic manner, you can include them in any order you like and you don't have to divide the entry into a Q&A style entry either.

To enter CLICK HERE.

Reseller Awards

Award Name

Rising Star Award - NEW!

Eligibility

Is this the Award for you?

Reseller Awards Reseller Awards will recognise excellence in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers, taking into consideration the reseller's ability to deliver real benefits to the end user organisation, and to meet customer objectives in terms of improved efficiency, ROI and investment protection, and cost reduction.

Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new concepts and solutions will also be candidates for these awards. Rising Star Award This category is open any company that is seeing phenomenal growth in their field and has been in business for a MAXIMUM of five years and MINIMUM of 18 months in their current form.

There is no specific business model that is more qualified than others to enter - so you could be an MSP, VAR, integrator or a specific vertical sector IT provider. If you can demonstrate strong growth over the past year, feel you are a disruptive force and can give some example of your potential growth in the future, then you are the ideal candidate for this award.

Entry Criteria:

Your entry should be based around the following criteria, which is what the judges will be using as a basis to score each entry. Please do not address each point separately and just base the entry on these points alone -try to add some colour/personality and just incorporate them into your entry as you see fit. Also bear in mind that the judges are accepting PDF or multi-media entries, but at the very least please make sure your entries that are easy to read and digest if in plain text format.

• Outline why you are entering this category and convince the judges why your entry should be considered in this category - give examples of customer demographics and include some information about your business to set the scene - size, staff, how long company been in business, what exactly you do etc.

• Provide evidence of your growth over the past year and why you should be considered as a rising star in your field - what will you achieve in the coming year and how will you make an impact on the market? Use stats and figures to back up your points. Include any investment in new systems/vendor accreditations/services for example. Or if you have made an acquisition to further bolster your offerings, please elaborate. Why do you stand out from the competition in this category? Why are you a valuable player and a one to watch in this space?

• Pick a particularly successful case study from the past year that has contributed to your amazing growth and explain to the judges why it was such a success and perhaps what different skills you brought to the table. A customer testimonial can be used to back up the study and again use stats.

• People - how do you keep your staff happy and motivated? Do you offer anything different from the norm?

• Company image - describe any marketing activities you undertake to raise awareness of your company to customers, and how you go the extra mile to keep customers happy and ensure you continue to grow. Entries are actively encouraged to include hard facts and figures - all of which will be kept strictly confidential and used for judging purposes only.

All campaigns and initiatives must have been new or further developed in 2016 to qualify. Resellers are actively encouraged to enter for more than one award if they so wish, and if the category is relevant to their business. But every entry MUST be different.

Maximum word count: 1,200.

Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant customer testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.

Award Name

Corporate VAR of the Year

Eligibility

Is this the Award for you?

Reseller Awards

Reseller Awards will recognise excellence in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers, taking into consideration the reseller's ability to deliver real benefits to the end user organisation, and to meet customer objectives in terms of improved efficiency, ROI and investment protection, and cost reduction. Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new concepts and solutions will also be candidates for these awards. Corporate VAR of the Year

This category is open to all VARs/MSPs/integrators that deal with either mid-market (loose definition: 250-1,000 seats) or enterprise (loose definition: 1,000+ seats) customers, or a mix of both - supplying products, managed services or a mix of both, preferably from a mix of vendors. These customers can be UK based, have multiple UK offices, or be multi-national companies with a significant base in the UK, in the private sector.

At least 80 per cent of your business needs to fall under the ‘corporate' definition to be eligible to enter.

Entry Criteria: Your entry should be based around the following criteria, which is what the judges will be using as a basis to score each entry. Please do not address each point separately and just base the entry on these points alone -try to add some colour/personality and just incorporate them into your entry as you see fit.

Also bear in mind that the judges are accepting PDF or multi-media entries, but at the very least please make sure your entries that are easy to read and digest if in plain text format.

• Provide evidence of the value provided to your corporate clients over the past year- use stats and growth figures to back up points. Include any investment in new systems/vendor accreditations/services for example. Or if you have made an acquisition to further bolster your offerings, please elaborate. Why do you stand out from the competition in this category? Why are you a valuable partner for vendors in this space?

• Pick a particularly successful corporate customer case study from the past year and explain to the judges why it was such a success, how you helped that customer save money/streamline their business/improve their service. A customer testimonial can be used to back up the study and again use stats.

• People - How have you invested in your people to ensure they provide the best possible service to your customers? Do you invest in training/team-building exercises to keep your staff happy?

• Company image - describe any marketing activities you undertake to raise awareness of your company to customers, and how you go the extra mile to keep customers happy.

Entries are actively encouraged to include hard facts and figures - all of which will be kept strictly confidential and used for judging purposes only. All campaigns and initiatives must have been new or further developed in 2016 to qualify. Resellers are actively encouraged to enter for more than one award if they so wish, and if the category is relevant to their business.

But every entry MUST be different. Maximum word count: 1,200. Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant customer testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.

Award Name

Public Sector Provider of the Year

Eligibility

Is this the Award for you?

Reseller Awards Reseller Awards will recognise excellence in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers, taking into consideration the reseller's ability to deliver real benefits to the user organisation, and to meet customer objectives in terms of improved efficiency, ROI and investment protection, and cost reduction.

Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new concepts and solutions will also be candidates for these awards.

Public Sector Provider of the Year

This category is open to VARs that have a clear focus on doing business, providing products and solutions to public sector customers. These organisations can be in any part of the public sector from education to healthcare, from local government to government, and emergency services.

AT LEAST 25 per cent of your business must be public sector-based to qualify for entry.

Entry Criteria: Your entry should be based around the following criteria, which is what the judges will be using as a basis to score each entry. Please do not address each point separately and just base the entry on these points alone -try to add some colour/personality and just incorporate them into your entry as you see fit. Also bear in mind that the judges are accepting PDF or multi-media entries, but at the very least please make sure your entries that are easy to read and digest if in plain text format.

• Outline why you are entering this category and convince the judges why your entry should be considered in this category.

• Set the scene and describe in detail the percentage of your business that is public sector as per requirements, using stats and figures where possible, and explain which part/parts of the public sector you serve and what exactly you specialise in.

• Provide evidence of the value provided to your public sector clients over the past year- use stats and growth figures to back up points. Include any investment in new systems/vendor accreditations/services for example. Or if you have made an acquisition to further bolster your public sector offerings, please elaborate. Why do you stand out from the competition in this category? Why are you a valuable partner for vendors in this space?

• Pick a particularly successful public sector customer case study from the past year and explain to the judges why it was such a success, how you helped that customer save money/streamline their business/improve their service. A customer testimonial can be used to back up the study and again use stats.

• People - How have you invested in your people to ensure they provide the best possible service to your customers?

• Company image - describe any marketing activities you undertake to raise awareness of your company to public sector customers, and how you go the extra mile to keep those customers happy. Entries are actively encouraged to include hard facts and figures - all of which will be kept strictly confidential and used for judging purposes only.

Maximum word count: 1,200.

Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant customer testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.

Award Name

SMB Reseller of the Year

Eligibility

Is this the Award for you?

Reseller Awards Reseller awards will recognise excellence in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers, taking into consideration the reseller's ability to deliver real benefits to the user organisation, and to meet customer objectives in terms of improved efficiency, ROI and investment protection, and cost reduction.

Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new concepts and solutions will also be candidates for these awards. SMB Reseller of the Year The award is open to resellers that have a focus on the SMB market, whether this is on very small companies (1-9 employees) within a locality or region, or larger firms that fall within the ‘SMB' definition i.e. fewer than 250 employees. And also to those firms that are fairly young and consider themselves an ‘up and coming' player in the SMB space, and have seen excellent growth since launch.

NOTE - More than 80 per cent of your business must be SMB to qualify for entry. Entry Criteria: Your entry should be based around the following criteria, which is what the judges will be using as a basis to score each entry. Please do not address each point separately and just base the entry on these points alone -try to add some colour/personality and just incorporate them into your entry as you see fit.

Also bear in mind that the judges are accepting PDF or multi-media entries, but at the very least please make sure your entries that are easy to read and digest if in plain text format.

• Provide evidence of the value provided to your SMB clients over the past year- use stats and growth figures to back up points. Include any investment in new systems/vendor accreditations/services for example. Or if you have made an acquisition to further bolster your offerings, please elaborate. Why do you stand out from the competition in this category? Why are you a valuable partner for vendors in this space?

• If you are entering as an ‘emerging' company - give evidence of rapid growth in the form of facts and figures, and explain why you stand out from your peers. Plus give some ideas of growth expectations in the years to come.

Resellers are actively encouraged to enter for more than one award if they so wish, and if the category is relevant to their business. But every entry MUST be different.

Maximum word count: 1,200.

Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant partner testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.

Award Name

Managed Services Provider of the Year

Eligibility

Is this the Award for you?

Reseller Awards

Reseller Awards will recognise excellence in the delivery of service and support to end user customers, taking into consideration the reseller's ability to deliver real benefits to the user organisation, and to meet customer objectives in terms of improved efficiency, ROI and investment protection, and cost reduction.

Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new service offerings will also be candidates for these awards.

Managed Services Provider of the Year

This award is ONLY open to companies that can truly call themselves a managed service provider (MSP). Vendors or support companies DO NOT qualify for this award and will be removed from the category.

Business has to consist primarily of managed services TO END USER CUSTOMERS, this can be any or as many of the ‘as-a-service' disciplines as you like - although bear in mind there is a separate cloud category, so non-cloud entries will be given priority and cloud entries could be moved by the judges.

Entries can cover managed services to enterprise, mid-market or SMB level customers. We would ask that at least 40 per cent of your business is through managed services to qualify for entry.

Entry Criteria:

• Outline why you are entering this category and convince the judges why your entry should be considered in this category -explain the managed services part of your business, using figures and stats to demonstrate the size of that business, and ensure it meets the criteria requirements.

• Provide evidence of the value provided to your customers over the past year through your services - use stats and growth figures to back up points. Include any investment in new systems/vendor accreditations/services for example. Or if you have made an acquisition to further bolster your offerings, please elaborate. Why do you stand out from the competition in this category? Why are you a valuable partner for vendors in this space?

• Pick a particularly successful corporate customer case study from the past year and explain to the judges why it was such a success, how you helped that customer save money/streamline their business/improve their service to their own customers. A customer testimonial can be used to back up the study and again use stats.

• People - How have you invested in your people to ensure they provide the best possible services to your customers? Do you invest in training- if so what type and how often? Entries are actively encouraged to include hard facts and figures - all of which will be kept strictly confidential and used for judging purposes only. All campaigns and initiatives must have been new or further developed in 2016 to qualify.

Resellers are actively encouraged to enter for more than one award if they so wish, and if the category is relevant to their business. But every entry MUST be different.

Maximum word count: 1,200.

Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant partner testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.

Award Name

Cloud Services Provider of the Year

Eligibility

Is this the Award for you?

Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new concepts and solutions will also be candidates for these awards.

Cloud Services Provider of the Year

This category is open to VARs/MSPs/Integrators with a specific focus on providing cloud computing and the relevant services to their end user customers. This can be in any vertical sector with any relevant cloud technology set, whether it is security, storage, infrastructure, datacentre services or a mix of the above and others.

NOTE: Resellers entered for this category should derive at least 50 per cent of their business from the provision of cloud products and services.

Also bear in mind that the judges are accepting PDF or multi-media entries, but at the very least please make sure your entries that are easy to read and digest if in plain text format.

• Outline why you are entering this category and convince the judges why your entry should be considered in this category. If you have been on a journey to the cloud, or are a born in the cloud player, please include.

• Explain your cloud business - the services and products you offer and what customer demographic you serve with your offerings. Please include stats and figures to help set the scene and ensure you meet for criteria cut off point for entry.

• Provide evidence of the value your cloud offerings provide to your clients over the past year- use stats and growth figures to back up points. Include any investment in new systems/vendor accreditations/services for example. Or if you have made an acquisition to further bolster your offerings, please elaborate. Why do you stand out from the competition in this category? Why are you a valuable partner for vendors in this space?

• Pick a particularly successful customer case study from the past year and explain to the judges why it was such a success, how your cloud solutions helped that customer save money/streamline their business/improve their service. A customer testimonial can be used to back up the study and again use stats.

• People - How have you invested in your people to ensure they provide the best possible service to your customers? Do you invest in training to ensure your teams are always up to date with the latest cloud technology? Entries are actively encouraged to include hard facts and figures - all of which will be kept strictly confidential and used for judging purposes only.

Maximum word count: 1,200.

Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant partner testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.

Award Name:

Reseller of the Year

NOTE: If you are shortlisted for this award you are required to present in person at Incisve Media's Haymarket Office in October.

Reseller Awards Reseller Awards will recognise excellence in the delivery of solutions, service and support to end user customers, taking into consideration the reseller's ability to deliver real benefits to the user organisation, and to meet customer objectives in terms of improved efficiency, ROI and investment protection, and cost reduction.

Companies that demonstrate innovation in developing and bringing-to-market new concepts and solutions will also be candidates for these awards.

Reseller of the Year

This category is open to all VARs/MSPs/Integrators that feel they have done a particularly outstanding job over the past 12 months that deserves the top accolade at the CRN awards.

Any IT supplier, regardless of size, specialisation or focus is eligible to enter this award, but to be in with a chance of winning you have to have done something spectacular to impress the judges and be prepared to shout about it.

Entry Criteria:

Also bear in mind that the judges are accepting PDF or multi-media entries, but at the very least please make sure your entries that are easy to read and digest if in plain text format.

• Demonstrate why you feel you qualify for the Reseller of the Year award (this can be staff happiness/retention, impressive achievements, vendor accolades etc) and remember to use stats/figures to show growth and back up claims.

• What has your business achieved in the past 12 months that makes it stand out from the competition - this can be either significant revenue growth (both organic and through acquisition), a large number of vendor accreditations in one year, significant amount of major contract wins or just punching above your weight in a challenging economic climate. Again use stats and figures.

• What has been your company's most impressive achievement this year? Why are you proud of it, how did your people help achieve it? Again back up with stats and figures.

• Pick a particularly successful corporate customer case study from the past year and explain to the judges why it was such a success and why it should help you win the award. Remember to include stats and testimonials.

• People - How have you invested in your people to ensure they provide the best possible service to your customers? Do you do anything unusual for your staff that the competition doesn't? Entries are actively encouraged to include hard facts and figures - all of which will be kept strictly confidential and used for judging purposes only.

Maximum word count: 1,200.

Please read the criteria before submitting your entry. Relevant partner testimonials and supporting materials are welcome but must not exceed the 1,200 maximum word count.