Nominations are now open for the ARN Innovation Awards, with the new-look awards reflecting the changing dynamics of the Australian channel.
The revamped line-up will recognise excellence across customer value and innovation, spanning start-ups, partners, distributors and vendors.
Specifically, the Awards will honour the channel across nine categories - Start-up; Partner Value; Emerging Technology; Homegrown Innovators; Vendor Value; Distributor Value; Personal Innovation; Channel Choice and Hall of Fame.
All Awards will be judged through the lens of value -
- How are partners adding value to customers?
- How are vendors adding value to partners?
- How are distributors adding value to the channel?
Submissions must be received by Friday 6 July at 5pm, and will be judged by a voting panel of more than 180 judges, spanning the entire channel ecosystem in Australia.
Partner innovation
This year sees the introduction of the Emerging Technologies Awards, recognising partners providing customer value through new and emerging technologies - Cloud; Smart Technology; Digital Transformation and Internet of Things.
Nominations for these awards - which are open exclusively to partners - should demonstrate how a partner has delivered business outcomes through thinking ahead of the curve and delivering cutting-edge solutions, that go beyond traditional IT deployments.
In 2018, an Export award will also be launched, again open exclusively for partners.
2017 represented a year of progress for homegrown providers in the channel, because while partners may be born in Australia, they have global ambitions from day one and are shipping IP to the rest of the world.
Through new technologies and mind-sets, local innovators are becoming global players, leveraging cloud platforms with reach and scale that surpasses Australian shores. These partners will be recognised through an Export award.
Staying within the partner categories, 2018 also sees the launch of Collaboration and Customer Value awards.
In a specialised world, partner-to-partner collaboration is key, as the channel comes together to deliver new outcomes for customers.
Hence, Customer Value. Recognising that customers today look, think and buy differently, consuming technology in different ways through different providers.
With innovation levels heightening, forward-thinking customers are seeking forward-thinking partners in the year ahead, in a bid to create competitive advantage across the market.
The ARN Innovation Awards will honour those partners in 2018 and beyond.
New-look awards
This year also sees the introduction of a Marketing Excellence award, honouring marketing professionals working across start-up, partner, distributor and vendor organisations.
Specifically, this award recognises those individuals who deliver value through outstanding marketing initiatives, showing results in delivering leads, raising brand awareness and driving market engagement through strategic marketing campaigns.
Delving deeper, Channel Choice, ARN’s online-only people’s choice awards, allows readers the chance to choose their favourite vendor, distributor or partner over the past 12 months.
This year, a new award is being introduced in the form of Channel Enabler, recognising individuals within a vendor or distributor organisation, who continually adds value for partners.
The Awards already recognise individual excellence through Channel and Management Excellence awards, but this individual will be on the front-line, working with partners daily to help deliver innovation to customers.
ARN asks the CEOs, managing directors and channel managers to put forward these unsung heroes, and for partners to recognise outstanding work that makes their business successful.
For Channel Choice, voting will run for four weeks, from 13 July - 10 August, with only one vote per person/business email address accepted.
For a full overview of the new-look ARN Innovation Awards, and to nominate - click here
