Every company wants to win a Channel Award, but for major vendors, distributors and resellers the Outstanding Achievement awards are the premium accolade. These awards mark companies out as the very best in the eyes of the channel or, in the case of a reseller, among their customers. They are the only awards decided by reader votes alone – the judges have no influence on the decision. If you get the most votes, you win – it as simple as that. This year, CRN has changed the name of these awards to more accurately reflect this, so the awards are now known as the Readers’ Choice Awards for Outstanding Achievement.

Last year’s winners of the vendor and distributor awards were no great surprise, but Kelway’s victory in the reseller category was unexpected by most onlookers.

Kelway displaced Equanet, which had won the award for the past three years and also claimed the Corporate Reseller of the Year crown – again taking the honour away from Equanet, which had won it in two of the preceding three years. Elcom claimed the honour in 2005. Kelway’s entry for the Corporate award had made a very good impression on the judges, who felt it was good to see someone else winning an award.

Alastair Edwards, senior analyst at Canalys, said: “Kelway was a deserving winner with an excellent entry and customer testimonials. It set the standard for the competition and hopefully will encourage stronger entries from other entrants this year.”

Among other judges there was some surprise that Kelway had won the Outstanding Achievement Award and also some expression of desire to see more entries for the major reseller awards. However, to win the main award, what resellers really need to do is attract enough votes – they do not have to win any of the other awards. Any reseller that has a loyal customer base and is prepared to make a serious effort to win has a very good chance. Kelway had clearly done this – it was way ahead in the voting.

The point for resellers is that it is a great excuse to talk to customers and revisit them. Marketing to customers about the achievements the firm has made throughout the year and asking them to vote is a fantastic way to encourage more interaction between reseller and customer, according to previous winners.

Fujistu-Siemens Computers (FSC) had won the vendor award in 2005 and continued its good work with the channel in the following 12 months. Even so, it has powerful rivals – Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft in particular were expected by many to be ahead of FSC. However, the channel obviously felt that FSC deserved to win again last year.

Edwards said: “FSC has consistently proved itself as a channel-oriented company that is not driven purely by revenue, but also balanced profitable growth. This mentality is more beneficial to partners than a ‘grow at any expense’ model, which can lead to direct conflict and margin erosion. FSC has also coupled this with effective channel programmes in the SME and mid-market and reliable, quality products.”

Another judge, Bob Tarzey, services director at Quocirca, agreed. He pointed out that the company had been highly effective in helping VARs to counter the direct sales threat.

“FSC has good channel management and a good offering for VARs in the highly commoditised PC market, and scored success at the expense of Dell by working with the channel,” he said.

Interestingly, the recent first quarter market share estimates for Europe showed FSC increased its sales by about 90 per cent compared with last year, while Dell’s sales declined by 11 per cent, according to the preliminary estimates. If they are accurate, it is the second quarter of decline in succession for Dell. There can be little wonder that Dell has finally come out of the closet and started to make more positive noises about working with the channel.

This year’s award will be interesting and FSC is bound to face a stiff challenge in a market where vendors, just as much as anyone in the channel, are struggling to maintain good profit margins and have to compete aggressively to win key contracts. The market is growing, but at a slower rate than in previous years. While IDC recorded growth of 11 per cent in the first quarter, it predicts that the overall growth rate throughout 2007 will be closer to eight per cent.

With consumer purchasing of notebooks driving much of that growth, average prices will almost certainly continue to decline. Vendors will really need to demonstrate their value to the channel to win in 2007 and do more than cut prices to win business.

According to Edwards, it was, in some respects, inevitable that Computer 2000 (C2000) would once again win the distributor award.

“It just shows the dominance of Computer 2000 in the UK and its importance to so many resellers,” Edwards said. “There are some equally deserving candidates out there in the UK distribution sector and it would be healthy to see another winner this year, but only a few can come close to C2000 in terms of reach into the channel.”

Anyone expecting the company to be beaten to this year’s award should perhaps brace themselves for disappointment. However, while a long run of wins might indicate that, on form, the same result is likely, there is always a time when a run will be broken. Ingram and Bell Micro are certain to once again mount a strong challenge, but with the prevailing conditions in the market making it just as hard for distributors as it is for vendors, this award is perhaps more open than it has been for some time. As with the reseller award, it is the vote that counts and nothing else. Any distributor that can rally its customers to the cause can win. The fact that Computer 2000 has been able to do this for so many years in succession is impressive but ought, if anything, to spur its rivals to canvas for votes even more.

One of the only awards that is not voted on is the Editor’s Choice category. CRN editor Sara Driscoll last year, with the judges’ help, selected Microsoft to be the recipient. All of the judges acknowledge the firm’s wider contribution to the industry and the channel over the years. Tarzey suggested that perhaps it should have been acknowledged before.

“Many like to characterise Microsoft as a bête noir, but few in the channel do,” he said. “Microsoft’s dedication and contribution to the channel over the past 25 years has been a key to its success in the business market – it was overdue recognition.”

Driscoll said: “Although Microsoft has had some turbulence in the distribution channel over the past months, the vendor’s overall importance and channel attitude makes it a crucial player in the channel.

“The vendor has run a consistent and successful channel strategy for a very long time, and for these reasons I selected the vendor to win the award last year.”

This year, the Editor’s Choice category has changed. Driscoll and the judges decided that the CRN Channel Awards need to recognise companies that may not have enough experience in the market to win one of the main category awards but are seen as very up and coming. The Emerging Vendor award will be chosen by the judges and presented to the firm that they think has truly shown this year that it is one to watch in the future.

In all the categories, the 2007 awards will be even more valuable than they have been in previous years. The market conditions continue to be very tough for vendors and distributors in particular and being able to demonstrate that customers have come out and voted for you will speak volumes.

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