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).

Best Of Category Name

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

Best Accounting

Sage Software

Intuit

Microsoft

Best Anti-Spam

McAfee

TrendMicro/Symantec

Malwarebytes

Best Anti-Virus

Symantec

TrendMicro

Kaspersky Lab

Best Availability/Delivery

Tech-Data

Interwork

Synnex

Best Backup and Recovery

Symantec

Veeam

Acronis

Best Black & White Laser Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Lexmark

Brother

Best Broad-Based Distributor

Tech-Data

Synnex

Ingram

Best Business Desktop

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Asus

Best Business Intelligence/Analytics

Sage Software

EMC Corp.

Sophos

Best Business Notebook

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Asus

Best Business Projector

InFocus

Epson

Viewsonic

Best Business Router

Cisco

WatchGuard

Asus

Best BYOD Device Management

Cisco

MobileIron

Symantec

Best BYOD/Mobility Vendor

Hewlett-Packard

Citrix

Fortinet

Best Channel Event

Tech-Data

Synnex

ChannelNext

Best Channel Video News Media

CDN

ecntv

 

Best Cloud Application

Microsoft

Google

VMWare

Best Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery

Barracuda

Evault

ExpertCloud

Best Cloud Server Platform

Microsoft

Amazon Web Services

Parallels

Best Cloud Services Vendor

IBM/HP

Google

Lenovo

Best Cloud Storage/Solution

Dropbox

Hewlett-Packard

QNAP/ExpertCloud

Best Colour Laser Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Lexmark

Xerox

Best Consumer Desktop

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Asus

Best Consumer Notebook

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Asus

Best CPU

Intel

AMD

 

Best CRM

Microsoft

SalesForce.com

Sage Software

Best Customer Service

Tech-Data

Interwork

Bluestar

Best Database

Microsoft

MySQL

Oracle

Best Desktop Storage

Western Digital

LenovoEMC

Seagate

Best Digital Signage

Samsung

NEC

Viewsonic

Best E-Commerce Solution for VARs

iBiz10

CNET

SynnexLeadGen

Best Endpoint Security

McAfee

Symantec

TrendMicro

Best Enterprise Switch

Cisco

Hewlett-Packard

D-Link

Best Enterprise Telephony

Cisco

Avaya

D-Link

Best Firewall

Cisco

WatchGuard

McAfee

Best Graphic Card

nVidia

Asus

AMD/PNY

Best Graphic Design

Adobe

Apple

Microsoft

Best Graphic Tablet

Wacom

Fujitsu

Penpower

Best Hard Drive

Seagate

Western Digital

LenovoEMC

Best Home Theater Projector

Epson

BenQ

Sony/InFocus

Best Home/Consumer Router

Cisco

D-Link

Asus

Best Infrastructure as a Service

Cisco

IBM

Hewlett-Packard

Best Ink-Jet Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Epson

Canon

Best Keyboard

Logitech

Microsoft

Lenovo

Best Label Printer

Zebra

Dymo

Brother

Best Memory

Kingston

Corsair

Crucial

Best Messaging/Collaboration

Microsoft

Apple

Cisco

Best Mobile Scanner

Fujitsu

Epson

Brother

Best Mouse

Logitech

Microsoft

Razer

Best Multi-Function Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Brother

Lexmark

Best Multi-Purpose Display

Lenovo

Asus

LG Electronics

Best NAS

QNAP

LenovoEMC/NetApp

Buffalo/HP

Best Networking Vendor

Cisco

Hewlett-Packard

D-Link

Best New Vendor

Hammond

Palo Alto Networks

Brocade

Best Online Channel News Media

E-Channelnews

CDN

CRN

Best Operating System

Microsoft

Apple

Red Hat

Best Overall Vendor

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Cisco/Asus

Best Personal Laser Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Brother

Lexmark

Best Platform as a Service

Dell

ExpertCloud

Red Hat

Best Portable Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Canon

Epson

Best Portable Projector

InFocus

Epson

Asus

Best Portable Storage

Western Digital

Seagate

LaCie

Best POS Vendor

ELO Touch

Datalogic

Toshiba

Best Print Managed Services

Hewlett-Packard

Xerox

Lexmark

Best Product Support

Tech-Data

Interwork

Bluestar

Best Productivity Software

Microsoft

Adobe

Google

Best Professional Display

Asus

Samsung

Viewsonic

Best Publishing

Adobe

Microsoft

Corel

Best Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

N-Able/LogMeIn

Level Platforms

Dell

Best SAN

Hewlett-Packard

IBM

EMC

Best Scanner

Fujitsu

Hewlett-Packard

Canon

Best Security Vendor

Fortinet

Symantec

Kaspersky

Best Server

Hewlett-Packard

IBM

Lenovo

Best Service Automation (PSA)

ConnectWise

GFI

Autotask

Best SMB Network Switch

Cisco

Hewlett-Packard

D-Link

Best SMB Telephony

Cisco

Avaya

Hewlett-Packard

Best Software as a Service

Google

LogMeIn

Citrix

Best Software Vendor

Microsoft

TrendMicro

McAfee

Best Specialty Distributor

Interwork

Bluestar

Arrow

Best SSD

Kingston

Intel

Samsung

Best Storage Vendor

Hewlett-Packard

Seagate

EMC Corp.

Best Surge Protector

APC-Schneider

TrippLite

EatonPower

Best Systems Vendor

Lenovo

Asus/HP

Apple

Best Tablet

Lenovo

Apple

Asus

Best Terms/Conditions

Tech-Data

Interwork

Bluestar

Best UPS Battery Backup

APC-Schneider

TrippLite

EatonPower

Best Utility

Microsoft

Adobe

MalwareBytes

Best Vendor Channel Program

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Cisco

Best Virtualization Software

VMWare

Microsoft

Citrix

Best Wide Format Printer

Hewlett-Packard

Epson

Canon

Best Wireless Access Point

Cisco

Asus

Meraki

Best Wireless Router

Cisco

D-Link

Asus

Best Workstation

Lenovo

Hewlett-Packard

Asus