• Home
  • Reseller
  • Distributor
  • Vendor
  • Finance and M&A
  • People moves
  • Cloud
  • Technology and trends
  • Women in channel
  • Newsletters
  • Sign in
  • Sign in
  •  
      • Newsletters
      • Account details
      • Contact support
      • Sign out
     
     
    • Please contact your account administrator for more information on your access.

  • Follow us
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Newsletters
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • Register
  • CRN Essential
  • Events
    • Upcoming events
      event logo
      CRN Fight Night 2020

      20 fearless channel contenders will once again immerse themselves into the brutal world of boxing to raise money for their chosen charities. Raising over £220,000 for charity since the first fight in 2008, CRN is thrilled to be raising money once again for a host of worthy causes.

      • Date: 21 May 2020
      • The Brewery, London, London
      event logo
      CRN Conference MSP North

      Attend the 2020 Channel Conference MSP to hear real-life case studies from your peers and meet with leading industry vendors to find out about the latest technology to capitalise on.

      • Date: 17 Jun 2020
      • Venue news coming soon..., Manchester
      event logo
      Sales & Marketing Awards 2019

      The CRN Sales & Marketing Awards recognise and reward the achievements of those individuals and teams that are responsible for making the UK IT channel truly great.

      • Date: 02 Jul 2020
      • To be confirmed..., London
      event logo
      European Channel Leadership Forum

      The European Channel Leadership Forum is a unique 2 day conference. It brings together leading CEOs from European VARS and MSPs to discuss pressing issues, technologies and developments facing the industry, and also to network with no agenda.

      • Date: 02 Sep 2020
      • Sea Containers London 20 Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PD, London
      View all events
  • Whitepapers
    • LATEST WHITEPAPERS
      What are the opportunities for the channel with the growth of AI?

      A common misconception associated with AI (Artificial Intelligence) is that it's all about self-driving cars and robots and that you need both a degree in higher maths and hugely powerful computer systems to make it work. However, that's far from the case and in this research paper, we investigate real-world business uses that are, in fact, based on widely available common technologies, tools and services which channel partners already provide, manage and support.

      Download
      How do MSPs really feel the channel will shape up by 2020?

      47 per cent of MSPs questioned in exclusive research by CRN, said they were planning for further organic growth in the year ahead, with 18 per cent keen to collaborate with peers over the next 12-24 months. Unsurprisingly, 39 per cent of those same respondents were also convinced Brexit would have the biggest impact on their plans for the coming year.

      Download
  • A-list
  • Top VARs
  • Printer Supplies
channelweb
channelweb
  • Home
  • Reseller
  • Distributor
  • Vendor
  • Finance and M&A
  • People moves
  • Cloud
  • Technology and trends
  • Women in channel
 
    • Newsletters
    • Account details
    • Contact support
    • Sign out
 
 
  • Please contact your account administrator for more information on your access.

  • Enterprise

A sneaky peek into the Channel Awards winners' judging day

Channel Awards winners are selected via a two-stage judging process. Now, for the first time, Sara Yirrell shares how stage two of the process works

A sneaky peek into the Channel Awards winners' judging day
  • Sara Yirrell
  • @yirrelli
  • 11 October 2019
  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Send to  
0 Comments

The CRN Channel Awards are the result of a lot of hard work; on the part of the team that run them, those that submit entries, and most importantly, the judges.

Winners have to battle through a two-staged judging process, with some categories having the extra pressure of presenting in front of the panel of judges on the second judging day to convince them they deserve the trophy.

Related articles

  • On 6 August 1991: The World Wide Web changed how the channel would sell forever
  • Seven distribution bosses reveal the rival they most respect
  • SPONSORED: Legacy vs cloud security - busting the myths that prevent progress
  • Nutanix CEO on why it's more important to impress 'Main Street' than Wall Street

The only exception to this rule are two categories: Channel Chief of the Year and the Channel Achievement Award - one of these is decided through partner votes, and the other is an editorial choice.

A rundown of the day

The judges arrive in the morning, and after much-needed coffee and pastries, they retire to their allocated rooms.  Judges are split into three panels - one for Resellers, one for Distribution and one for Vendors. Each panel has a head judge, again an independent channel expert, all of which have already been involved in the shortlist selection during the first judging stage.  

Each of our second-stage judges have a strong channel pedigree - having set up and run a successful channel business or held numerous senior-level roles in vendor, distribution or reseller land. Some of them have even done both and have experience across all three channel disciplines.  

So in short they know what they are talking about. And they know what makes the channel tick.

Before attending the judging day, every judge will have spent many hours reading through the shortlisted entries, making notes and preparing points for discussion during the day.

As the judging process starts, they go through every single shortlisted entry and often engage in lengthy debates before deciding the winners.  This is where quality of entry comes into play, those companies that have really read all the criteria and submitted the best, most personal and comprehensive entry, will always take the crown.

Before lunch, two of the panels have presentations to sit through as Reseller of the Year (sub £50m) and Distributor of the Year (Sub £250m) are contested.  Presenters start arriving about 30 minutes before and their nerves are evident, as is their excitement at being able to fight their case in front of the judges.

Some arrive carrying interesting looking packages, but most grab a coffee and go off to a quiet corner to go over their notes.

Each presenter gets 10 minutes in front of their respective panel, and a further five minutes for Q&A.

By lunchtime, most of the winners have been decided and it is just the ‘final three' categories left to go in the afternoon after lunch.

These categories are the Vendor of the Year, Distributor of the Year £251m+ and Reseller of the Year £51m+.

It is a real battle of the heavyweights, and the people who come to present in front of the judges are almost always the big cheeses from each company.  

The atmosphere is friendly and jovial with gentle teasing and banter, and also a lot of networking as each team or individual presenter waits for their turn. It is like a ‘who's who' of the IT channel.  Again, some come bearing very interesting props.

Bruce Hockin, long-standing member of the Vendor judging panel had some sage advice to share with vendors about the presentation stage after the judging day this year.

"We want to hear YOU talk about your UK channel. Keep the product stuff to a minimum and make sure your numbers between what you say and what you have written match up. Be human, be engaging, know your stuff.

"Talk about how you have helped the channel and qualify with numbers. If you have something cool and different, don't hide it away and wait for the judges' questions. Put it front and centre! It is all about your partners, not just the big ones. Some get that more than others," he said.

This advice applies also to resellers and distributors, particularly the 'be human, be engaging' message. And using numbers and facts to show how you are helping your partners and customers. 

In the words of one reseller boss on the day: "If you cannot spend just 10 minutes talking about your own company and why it deserves an award, then you really shouldn't be entering at all, or perhaps in charge of a comapny in the first place."

Once all the presentations are done and dusted, the judges then spend a considerable amount of time talking through the presentations and deciding the winners. Often the entries that they initially thought would win, are closely beaten into second place after a passionate and informative presenter blows the competition out the water.  

The aim of this article was to show how independent and how seriously this process is taken, and to share how it all works. The last word goes to Carl West, client success director, inside sales GB and Ireland at GfK, and head of the distribution judging panel.

"Another year passes by, I think my ninth as a CRN Awards judge, and it is clear that the channel wants these awards more and more," he said. "The level of competition grows and the bottled frustration can sometimes burst out on the night when companies don't win.  Each year as summer comes to an end and the dark nights draw in, the judges get wind of people complaining about the awards being influenced or the results being fixed. Here's how the process actually works:  Companies submit entries up to a thousand words with images, videos and people outside their company saying how good they are.  A team of independent judges score those entries for the purpose of shortlisting.

West added: "The next team of judges score further and then add to the points pool. [On judging day] the judges debate like a no deal Brexit question in parliament. No money changes hands, no awards are secured by advertising and no table booking gets you a trophy.  Hard work from entrants, judges and the CRN team make the night. So good luck to all the finalists."

  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Send to  
  • Topics
  • Enterprise
  • Channel Awards
  • Channel Awards 2019 Hub

More on Enterprise

Channel Awards 2019 winners

Congratulations to all those that took home an award last night, but also huge congratulations to all those shortlisted - it was a tough competition this year

  • Enterprise
  • 14 November 2019
Top reasons to attend the Channel Awards this year

We share some reasons why you should come along to the channel's biggest awards party this year. And yes, some are firmly tongue-in-cheek.

  • Enterprise
  • 25 October 2019
Are you a channel transformer?

The channel is seeing the emergence of the 360 transformer; companies that are not only embracing digital technology change, but also cultural change. At an upcoming CRN event next month in association with Agilitas, hear from industry leaders such as...

  • Enterprise
  • 21 October 2019
What makes a winning Channel Awards presentation?

Now the shortlist is out and the dust has settled, those who made the shortlist for our five 'presented' categories, are wondering what they need to do

  • Enterprise
  • 16 September 2019
The Channel Awards 2019 shortlist is out TODAY!

Congratulations to all those who made the shortlist - your entries now go through to the second stage of judging in October

  • Enterprise
  • 23 August 2019
blog comments powered by Disqus
Back to Top

Most read

HP accused of 'rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic' as pressure to negotiate with Xerox intensifies
HP accused of 'rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic' as pressure to negotiate with Xerox intensifies
A-List dinner 2019 in pictures
A-List dinner 2019 in pictures
Infinigate CEO on shifting focus to managed services
Infinigate CEO on shifting focus to managed services
Dell consolidates sales organisation in wake of exec switch-up
Dell consolidates sales organisation in wake of exec switch-up
HPE unveils 'game-changing' addition to GreenLake platform
HPE unveils 'game-changing' addition to GreenLake platform
  • Contact
  • Marketing solutions
  • About Incisive Media
  • Terms & conditions
  • Policies
  • Careers
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

© Incisive Business Media (IP) Limited, Published by Incisive Business Media Limited, New London House, 172 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5QR, registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 09177174 & 09178013

Digital publisher of the year
Digital publisher of the year 2010, 2013, 2016 & 2017