The Winners Of The 2013 Reseller Choice Awards are…

This year, the number of categories increased to 93 from 82 to include a variety of Cloud and Managed Services sectors. All together, there were over 14,000 votes. Over 500 Vendors were nominated. VARs did not have to vote for every one of the 93 categories, but each vote got them a ballot for the “Thank-You For Voting” prize draw.

Audience at Reseller Choice Awards 2013

Voting started on November 1st 2013 and ended on January 17th, 2014. The awards were handed out on February 6th, 2014 in Toronto. It covers the performance of the Vendors and Distributors in 2013. Check out all of the winners and runner-ups below and watch videos on www.ecntv.ca Also look for more news coverage on www.channelbuzz.ca

Although most last year’s winners held on to the top positions, there were a few surprises.

Stefan Bockhop of Lenovo Canada

The big winners this year were Lenovo for sweeping most of the notebook categories and the first surprise was that they also won Best Tablet, replacing Apple (who dominated the category for the past years). Lenovo also won the big one for Best Overall Vendor.  For the second year Lenovo took over the Notebook categories that was dominated by HP for the previous 5 years.HP dominated the entire printer category again this year and took the top spot for Best Servers. Although other printer companies are catching up, HP continues to stay ahead. Print Managed Services is category one to watch as this a growth market for the channel and several Vendors are making a push in the space.

John Cammalleri of Hewlett-Packard Canada

Tech Data won Best Distributor for the 7th Consecutive year. Who will challenge them this year? Their competitors got more votes than last year, but Tech Data continues to move ahead.  Tech Data also won in the other areas such as Best Product Support, Best Terms and Conditions, Best Availability and Delivery and Best Customer Service. Another surprise came from Interwork, who won for Best Specialty Distributor for the first time, overtaking Bluestar who has been winning this Award for the past 3 years.

Greg Myers of Tech-Data Canada

Cisco cleaned up most of the networking categories and mobility. Cisco is always strong in every category in which they are nominated, including the hottest Cloud categories. No surprise that Intel won again for Best Processor with no significant challenge from AMD. Epson won for best Home Theater Projector and has increased in the number of votes in all of their categories. Epson may be the one to watch next year.

Julian Lee, President of TechnoPlanet comments, “Each year, we look forward to handing out these awards that are voted on by Canadian VARs, MSPs and ITSPs. Every year it grows bigger and has become a great opportunity for vendors to be recognized for their hard work and to give a report card to all other vendors so they can improve for next year ”

After slipping last year, Symantec regained their top positioning in both Security and Back Up and Recovery. The refocusing on their global support for their channel may have been the key to them regaining the top spot. We saw many new entries in the Back Up/Recovery space so we expect this category to heat up for next year.

Jim Chalmers of Symantec Canada

Best new vendor went to a Canadian company, Hammond Manufacturing. It is interesting that Hammond won this category after being in business for 95 years. It just shows that companies who choose to innovate can remain relevant in the future. Hammond makes a full line of server racks and cabinets, among other products. 

A great big thank you to all the VARs who took the time to vote for their favorite vendor and distributor! Your voice was heard loud and clear. You can listen to the comments from the vendors about their commitments to the channel as well as their goals to improve the way they do business with you in 2014. In the end, it all benefits the channel. 

A big thank-you to Tech Data, Epson, Bluestar, Symentec and Eaton for supporting the event this year and for the prize donations to thank VARs for voting!
The reseller winners for the prizes are:

1. Matt K. of A+ Computers & Services (A 4-Post Rack Unit donated by Hammond Manufacturing)
2. Steve S. of Herjavec Group (An AppleTV donated by Symantec)
3. Keith Y. of BaystreetIT (A 5S Samll UPS donated by Eaton)

For more pictures on the summit and ceremony, please go to: http://www.channelnext.ca/postevent.php (Click on 7th Annual 2013 Reseller Choice Awards)

Check to see video coverage of the 2013 Reseller Choice Awards at www.ecntv.ca (click the Awards section).