Awards Panel 2013

Judging Process

Again this year, we have overwhelming support from the IT community and have appointed 82 judges on our panel: 22 from the distributor ranks, 25 from the vendor camp, 24 from the reseller community, and 11 from the telecommunications industry.

This year, we welcome some new faces (people who have moved across into channel leadership roles) and have also brought on-board new companies across all segments of the channel (from the vendor, reseller and distributor categories).

As a judge, you’re voting on a list of finalists from across select industry categories. Nominations for the award categories open on June 11 and close July 13. From there the short list panel selects the finalists for each award.

The panel is made up of: ARN’s President and Publisher, Susan Searle; ARN senior editor, Rimin Dutt; ARN Associate Editor, Jennifer O'Brien; and Channel Dynamics’ Moheb Moses. They will create a shortlist of finalists for each category.

In order to keep the judges’ process as transparent as possible, here’s some information on the steps involved.

A list of nominees is emailed to the judges, a process that is all done online in order to keep things simple and efficient.

The process is kept as objective as possible given judges don’t vote on their own category or tier, but vote for other elements of the channel. For example, distributors don’t vote on other distributors, and vendors don’t vote on other vendors.

Each award is comprised of a set of questions with select criteria. For the ARN vendor category, for example, the awards recognise high-achieving technology organisations for their channel efforts over the past year. These awards stretch across hardware, software, specialist and innovative technology players.

Vendors are judged by the ARN Judging Panel on delivering high-class and innovative product sets, innovative channel rewards, training and marketing programs and above-par support.

Judges are asked to nominate a ‘Winner’ and a ‘Highly Commended’. Judges make their selections based on the way nominees have responded to the criteria, along with their knowledge of the organisation in the channel over the last 12 months.