The Channel Partners Excellence in Digital Services Awards is our newest awards program where we recognize partners who deliver stellar business outcomes for their clients. Winners get honored during a networking reception at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

If that sounds a bit like the Channel Partners 360° Business Value Awards, you’re right. The Channel Partners Excellence in Digital Services Awards are the next iteration: Winners still need to demonstrate that value. But now, we’ll recognize specific achievements across 10 categories, plus two very special awards. Rather than judging done solely by our editorial staff, the Channel Partners Advisory Board will be involved, bringing a real-world eye to entries. And rather than having 25 winners who all had to meet the same level of proficiency, we will now recognize standouts in various aspects of channel services and digital transformation.

The Channel Partners Excellence in Digital Services Awards provide recognition in the following 10 categories:

• Cloud Builder Award: For excellence in helping customers cloudify their business.
• Vanguard Award: For partners that turned their digital transformation expertise inward to revitalize their business.
• Code Controller: For partners that help customers with custom code development or deployment.
• Consultant of the Year: For excellence in developing, provisioning and managing personalized, specialized IT services.
• Brand Builder: For partners that use improved processes and insights to improve their client’s end-customer experience and this increase brand loyalty and profit margins.
• Master of Disaster: For partners that take creative steps to protect customers from data loss and the resulting business disruption.
• Next-Gen Telecom Award: For excellence in delivering telecommunications and collaboration capabilities including client/user support.
• Purveyor of Productivity: For excellence in helping customers wring maximum value out of their investments in people, systems and technology.
• Visionary Award: For partners that employed newer, cutting-edge technologies including machine learning, AI, virtual or augmented reality, blockchain or IoT as the primary enablers of their solutions.
• White Hat Award: Partners who protect customers from cyberthreats; also includes physical security, such as video-surveillance projects.

Editors will also select from among all entries two special awards:

• Vertical Virtuoso: For excellence in retail, health care or another vertical.
• Digi Master: For the partner entry that exhibited maximum digital transformation brilliance.

The awards are open only to channel partners — agents, VARs, dealers, SIs, MSPs, consultants and other partner firms. Suppliers, master agents and distributors are not eligible; however, we encourage them to make partners aware of the awards.

The Channel Partners editorial team, with help from our Advisory Board, will select Channel Partners Excellence in Digital Services Award winners each spring. Our 2019 awards ceremony was held April 10 during our industry-leading Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for more information on applying for the 2020 awards.