Time to make your votes count

With more open categories, this year's event has attracted more entries than any previous one

With more open categories, this year’s event has attracted more entries than any previous one, so make sure you put in your votes now to give your favourite companies the best possible chance of winning, writes Simon Meredith

The short lists for the CRN Channel Awards 2005 demonstrate that this is the most open awards since they began. There are a total of 80 companies in the running for an award. This high number is partly due to the more clearly defined categories we have this year, but mostly it is down to the tremendous number of entries that have been received, the highest in the history of the Channel Awards.

Now it is your turn. The shortlists, printed here and on our web site, www.chanelawards.co.uk, are open for voting, so if you want to see your vendor, distributor or reseller win an award at this year’s event on 24 November, register your vote now. And don’t forget the most coveted prize, the Outstanding Achievement of the year award for Vendor, Distributor and Reseller. There are no short lists for the Outstanding Achievement awards, as these are voted solely by you.

Industry consultant and Awards judge, Mike Briercliffe, said the entries this year were of an exceptionally high standard. “The short lists – apart from vendors in some categories – are a great reflection of what’s going on out there,” he said.

His comment about the vendor categories is a reference to the absence of some companies which, for whatever reason, did not put in an entry this year. Briercliffe drew attention to the high number of niche players entering the vendor categories. This is perhaps a reflection of a shift in power to the smaller players in the sector. The mix of names on the vendor short lists also reflects the polarisation of the sector. The Specialist category received more entries than any other.

Even so, deciding on the short lists in most categories was not easy, according to Bob Tarzey, judge, and services director at analyst Quocirca, because some of the best entries came from companies that have a relatively low profile in the UK channel, while others, from more established players, were very ordinary.

“There were some well-known companies with bad entries and some little-known companies with very good entries.” Tarzey said.

“That made judging a challenge, but on the whole I think we reached a good consensus. With no entries from many of the major software vendors there is a good opportunity for a small software vendor to come through in the category, although there are still some daunting challengers.”

Keith Warburton, chairman of the PC Association and an Awards judge, had a similar view. “The standard of submissions reflect the state of our industry, in that the quality was variable and some people, even some quite big players, didn’t properly work towards meeting the criteria,” he said.

“Might this mean that they don’t really listen to their customer’s needs? Having said that, there were also some very good entries, and there were some clear up-and-comers that I’d like to see put themselves forward again next year when they have a more established record.”

Putting together a good entry is vitally important, and in the meantime, building up awareness and a good reputation is important, Warburton added. “We have worked extremely hard to compile short lists that we feel are right, but in some categories it was a very difficult choice. Bear in mind for next year that if you didn’t make the short list this time there’s a good chance that just another one per cent effort might have swung it your way,” he said.

While the judges were virtually unanimous in identifying the leading contender in one or two categories, Warburton noted that their decisions were based largely on the written submissions, with a little added insight from the panel. “It will be interesting to see if the resellers select the same leader, based purely upon their own experience and without sight of the written submission,” he said.

This is where the readers of CRN come in. From now until 28 October you have the opportunity to cast your vote for the short-listed companies you think deserve to win an award. At the end of the voting period, the judges will meet again and their votes will be combined with the readers’ votes to decide the winners.

Voting takes just moments. Go to www.channelawards.co.uk and click on the ‘vote now’ icon. You will then be able to vote for your chosen company and help make sure the companies you believe deserve to win have the best possible chance.