2014: How was it for you? VAR bosses open up

Has this year been good, bad or ugly for the channel's top leaders?

We caught up with more than 100 top channel bosses for the annual CRN A-List to see how 2014 went for them.

Here is a sample of the VAR leaders' comments. To see more, along with the comments from vendor and distributor bosses, click here.

Nick Madhavji, founder of Joskos Solutions

"2014 has been phenomenal - in 2013 we grew north of 20 per cent. I wanted to grow in double digits again in 2014, but more importantly, I wanted to make it a year of focused investment in our people, systems and platforms. The goal has been to ensure that we safeguard and develop on the gains that we have made and to continue to build on the foundation of the Joskos business - service excellence to education. We have done exactly that."

Steve Cox, chief operating officer at TSG

"There have been a lot of challenges, and more change than usual, but that just means there are more highs when you overcome those challenges. And the outlook is promising. The pressure to drive business results, increase growth and profitability, reduce operational costs and manage workforces are all key focuses for businesses at the moment, and they are increasingly looking to technology to help them get there."

Julian Fielden, managing director of OCF

"It has been an excellent year. We continue to develop our offerings in the HPC, big data and analytics market and customers understand our value proposition."

Yolanta Gill, chief executive of European Electronique

"It has, and continues to be, a great year. After a double-digit growth in the year ending March 2014 we have continued to grow and prosper. We have succeeded in winning contracts for 50 organisations and 30,000 users with our Freedom Cloud solution. Coupled with this, we have expanded by opening new offices in Manchester. We have taken great satisfaction from listening to our customers and helping them achieve their goals."

Shamus Kelly, director of Portal

"2014 started ugly, with some internal and leadership trouble, a very difficult situation in a small close business. But wise heads prevailed, big decisions were taken and things are now progressing very well. A great tribute to the resilience and capability of a new leadership team."

Rupert Mills, managing director of Krome Technologies

"2014 has been a good year for us at Krome Technologies. We have secured another major client by winning the deal to assist Sainsbury's with its Windows 7 rollout around the country; we've secured another four-year contract in a competitive tender scenario with BUPA to continue delivering the services that we have for the past six years; and we also secured a number of other major projects with some great clients."