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| Tuesday, 24 February 2009 |
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Distributor winners revealed by EMEA Channel Academy
A VIP Vendor Jury selected nine distributor winners at the ‘EMEA Channel Academy: 2009 Awards’ event held in Monaco at Salle des Etoiles earlier this month. Using live electronic voting devices, jury members voted for their preferred candidate in front of a packed audience of hundreds of senior distribution executives from across EMEA during a Gala Dinner.
The ‘EMEA Channel Academy: 2009 Awards’ were positioned as the region’s first independent vendor-neutral awards ceremony celebrating and recognising excellence in distribution. The awards were held in conjunction with DISTREE XXL, the premier channel event for distributors and vendors in the EMEA region.
In total more than 700 EMEA channel executives attended the Gala Dinner. More than one hundred channel-facing senior vendor executives selected their preferred distributors by region within EMEA to determine the final five nominees for each award category. Senior members of the VIP Vendor Jury – representing channel-facing executives with EMEA-wide responsibility – voted live during the Gala Dinner to determine the winner.
"The fact that so many different distributors secured nominations is testament to the diversity of the EMEA channel; it remains an interconnected theatre made up of multiple markets – each with their own character and channel community," explained Farouk Hemraj, director at the EMEA Channel Academy.
Vendors nominated distributors based on a number of criteria including sales growth, channel breadth, credit facilities, financing, stock management, logistics, market development and reseller engagement.
The first distributor award category of the evening was Africa Distributor of the Year with Westcon Africa emerging victorious. Westcon Africa – formed by the merger of the Sparnoon-Dynatech group and Jet Distribution – saw off competition from fellow nominees Axiz, Smart Tunisia, Red Dot and Tarsus to pick up the award.
The nominees for the Central & Eastern Europe Distributor of the Year Award were ABC Data, Action, Asbis, Elko and Tech Data Poland. Polish broadline player ABC Data picked up the most votes and walked off with the second distributor prize of the evening.
In the Dach region Actebis, Cos Memory and Wave Computersysteme were nominated alongside global distribution giants Tech Data and Ingram Micro. Underlining the continued value of regional players in the EMEA market, Actebis – the third largest IT wholesale group in Europe – was crowned Dach Distributor of the Year.
The Middle East & Turkey Distributor of the Year Award saw five top regional players receive formal nominations: ABM Olayan, Aptec, Bogazici Bilgisayar, Despec MERA and Redington Gulf. Aptec picked up the coveted prize seeing off the challenge of the other nominees, including Despec MERA, its sister company.
Heading up to the top of the EMEA region, Komplett, Ingram Micro, GNT, Gandalf Data and Actebis went head-to-head for the title of Northern Europe Distributor of the Year. The vote went in favour of GNT – the largest IT distribution group in Finland and the Baltics.
The emerging market of Russia and CIS witnessed an impressive line-up of formal nominees with heavyweight players Elko, Merlion, OCS, Pirit and Trinity Electronics all making it through to the final five nominations. Elko, with annual sales in excess of US$1 billion, picked up the Russia & CIS Distributor of the Year Award.
The South East Europe Distributor of the Year Award went to InfoQuest – one of the largest IT companies in Greece. InfoQuest saw off the challenge of the four other strong nominees: AMY SA, ComTrade Group, M SAN Grupa and RHS.
The penultimate accolade of the evening was the Southern Europe Distributor of the Year Award. Only four companies received enough votes to warrant a formal nomination for this category: Banque Magnetique, Comtrade, Esprinet and Tech Data. The prize went to Italian and Spanish distribution powerhouse Esprinet, recognising the company’s impressive network of 40,000 resellers and extensive vendor line-up.
UK & Ireland Distributor of the Year was the final award of the evening with channel heavyweights CMS Peripherals, Computer 2000, Ingram Micro, Northamber and Westcoast battling it out for supremacy. Westcoast emerged victorious with company boss Joe Hemani on hand to pick up the coveted trophy.
"To win a distributor award is a fantastic achievement," added Hemraj. "These awards have highlighted the continued strength and diversity of the EMEA distribution landscape and the ability of national and regional powerhouses to operate alongside the global giants. The ’EMEA Channel Academy: 2009 Awards’ were independent and vendor-neutral and each winner has earned the respect of the vendor community."
Planning for the ’EMEA Channel Academy: 2010 Awards’ is already underway. DISTREE XXL attracts distributors from across EMEA, including delegates from emerging markets such as the Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS. The event serves vendors that are new to the region as well as those looking to expand or deepen their distribution reach. |
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