Microsoft Recognizes Accenture and Avanade with 2012 U.S. Regional Partner of the Year Awards

Press release from Accenture:

August 29, 2012

Microsoft Recognizes Accenture and Avanade with 2012 U.S. Regional

Partner of the Year Awards

 

Companies Honored as Eastern Region Cloud Partner of the Year, Central Region Enterprise Compete Partner of the Year and Northeast District Dynamics CRM Partner of the Year; Receive Individual Recognitions for Healthcare Industry Solutions and U.S. Federal Dynamics Partner of the Year

 

NEW YORK; Aug. 29, 2012 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN), a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, and Avanade, a business technology solutions and managed services provider, have been recognized with several regional U.S. Partner of the Year awards for 2012 by Microsoft.

 

The U.S. East region was honored as Cloud Partner of the Year and the U.S. Central region was awarded the Enterprise Compete Partner of the Year. This marks the second consecutive year that Accenture and Avanade have been honored with these two awards. The Cloud Partner of the Year Award honors the partner that sold and deployed innovative solutions and services for customers with hybrid on-premises, public cloud and private cloud needs across the U.S. East region.

 

Microsoft also recognized Accenture and Avanade with the Enterprise Compete Partner of the Year for its work on strategic accounts across the central United States. Additionally, Accenture and Avanade were honored as the Northeast District Dynamics Partner of the Year for CRM. This award recognizes a Microsoft partner who provides innovative solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and fosters superior customer engagement in the Northeast District.

 

“Accenture and Avanade continually work with clients to achieve maximum performance from the Microsoft platform,” said Scott Harrison, global managing director of alliances channel management at Accenture. “As companies continue to look for ways to become more competitive, Accenture and Avanade are helping organizations achieve important business results through technology innovation in areas such as cloud computing and CRM, and in industries such as healthcare. We are pleased to be recognized by Microsoft for the results we have delivered to our clients.”

 

Aziz Virani, Avanade’s president of North America, said, “These awards reflect Accenture and Avanade’s commitment to enabling customers to harness the business benefits that can be achieved with the Microsoft platform. Together we are working with customers across all industries to help them drive down costs, strengthen customer relationships and improve performance."

 

Accenture and Avanade were also individually recognized for their work in the healthcare industry. Accenture was named the U.S. Health and Human Services Partner of the Year for 2012 for its Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) offerings. The Accenture Public Health Platform (APHP) is based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology and is designed to enhance administrative efficiency, improve flexibility in program management and speed deployment, thus reducing total cost of ownership. The platform enables states to better adapt to the continually evolving Medicaid landscape, budget pressures and initiatives surrounding health reform mandates.

 

Separately, Avanade was recognized as the U.S. Health and Life Sciences Dynamics Partner of the Year for its innovative work developing solutions that enable the healthcare industry to build stronger customer relationships. For example, Avanade is working with a leading cancer treatment organization in North America to create an automated patient relationship management system to ensure that patients and caregivers have the best experience possible throughout the entire relationship – not just during treatment. Built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the solution enables hospitals to track each patient throughout the care lifecycle, as well as ensure ongoing contact with primary caregivers and family members.

 

Finally, Accenture Federal Services was recognized as the U.S. Federal Dynamics Partner of the Year for its Task Management solution, TMT. TMT is the leading task management solution deployed in the U.S. Department of Defense and is used by over 70,000 users world-wide.

 

The companies were selected for these awards by Microsoft’s Field Partner Awards Program, which enables Microsoft to award regional partners on a global scale. The recipients of the 2012 Microsoft Partner of the Year awards were recognized at this year’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, held July 8-12 in Toronto. More information can be found at: http://www.digitalwpc.com.  

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company with over 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

About Avanade

Avanade provides business technology solutions and managed services that connect insight, innovation and expertise in Microsoft® technologies to help customers realize results. Our people have helped thousands of organizations in all industries improve business agility, employee productivity, and customer loyalty. Avanade combines the collective business, technical and industry expertise of its worldwide network of experts with the rigor of an industrialized delivery model to provide high quality solutions using proven and emerging technologies with flexible deployment models–on premises, cloud-based or outsourced. Avanade, which is majority owned by Accenture, was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation and has 16,000 professionals in more than 20 countries. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.

 

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EMC and its RSA Security Division Honored With Four CRN “Company of the Year” ARC Awards

EMC Press Release

EMC and its RSA Security Division Honored With Four CRN “Company of the Year” ARC Awards

Recognized by CRN for the Sixth Consecutive Year, EMC Voted Best in Class for Product Innovation, Support and Partnership, Receives Top Honors for, Enterprise Network Storage, Backup & Recovery Software and SMB Network Storage; RSA Awarded Network Security Software Title

HOPKINTON, Mass. - August 22, 2012

News Summary:

• Recognized by CRN for the sixth consecutive year, EMC has been named "Company of the Year" in the Enterprise Network Storage, Backup & Recovery Software and SMB Network Storage categories of the 2012 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC) survey.
• RSA, The Security Division of EMC, also received "Company of the Year" recognition in the Security Software category.

Full Story:

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced that for the sixth consecutive year it has been named Company of the Year in the Enterprise Network Storage and Backup & Recovery Software categories and for the second year in a row named Company of the Year in the small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) Network Storage category of the prestigious 2012 CRN Annual Report Card. RSA, The Security Division of EMC, has also received top honors as Network Security Software Company of the Year. The ARC awards are considered the definitive benchmark for measuring excellence in the IT Channel community, serving as the industry standard for excellence in vendor and Channel Partner relationships. Representatives from EMC and RSA accepted their awards at a ceremony during the annual XChange Americas Conference in Dallas, Texas on August 21.

The UBM Channel ARC research team surveyed more than 3,700 North American solution providers across 23 categories to evaluate their satisfaction with vendor products, support and channel programs. The Company of the Year recognition is given to a vendor that scores the highest marks across each of the award sub-categories — Product Innovation, Support, and Partnership. EMC secured the highest marks for all three in each category it participated.

EMC's continued streak of taking top honors in the ARC survey is a direct result of its commitment to delivering industry-leading products and listening to partner feedback to make significant changes, including its go-to-market approach and enhancements to its Velocity Solution Provider Partner Programto provide the most Channel-friendly experience in the industry. Key changes and enhancements made over the last 12 months include:

• Integration of EMC's business unit Channel organizations to provide a single contact to give Partners a more simplified and consistent engagement model across all of EMC's lines of business.
• EMC's recognition as Company of the Year in the SMB Network Storage category is marked by the success of the EMC VNXe® – the world's simplest, most efficient, and affordable unified storage system – as a Channel-only product that solves the unique storage requirements for SMBs, as well as the departmental needs of enterprises, remote and branch office deployments, and governmental opportunities..
• The EMC Data Domain® DD160, with all the benefits associated with Data Domain deduplication storage systems, was also introduced as a Channel-only product. In addition, the introduction of EMCAvamar® 6.1 and EMC NetWorker® 8.0 have expanded the backup and recovery opportunity for partners.
• The introduction of EMC VSPEX™ Proven Infrastructure ¬supports Partners desire to more easily sell multi-vendor solutions. The simple, efficient and flexible VSPEX reference architectures enable EMC's Channel Partners to sell complete, highly-flexible solutions to their customers, adding significant value to Partners' sales processes while increasing their mindshare in customer environments by allowing Partners to brand their own VSPEX solutions.
• In 2012 EMC announced Enterprise Select, a new go-to-market strategy in which Partners can exclusively sell to hundreds of enterprise accounts that were previously EMC-direct.

Sweeping all categories in which it participated, RSA's Network Security Software Company of the Year title is due to the strength of the RSA SecurWorld™ Partner Program, with recent program enhancements focused on fostering dynamic and mutually-beneficial relationships between RSA and its Channel Partners. During the past year, RSA has more tightly aligned the benefits and rewards provided through the SecurWorld program with its Partners' go-to-market models. Through the new solution-centric role-based training framework, RSA Partners are more quickly equipped to sell and support RSA's suite of products. Partners retain their tier status for one year, and through quarterly compliance reviews, have the opportunity to accelerate to a new tier more quickly. Another addition to the RSA SecurWorld program is the availability of the "Authorized" entry-level tier with access to deal registration.

EMC Partner Quotes:

Gary Vaughan, President & Co-founder, Clearpath Solutions Group

"The company is listening to Partner feedback and taking action to provide more sales opportunities and make it easier to do business through improved field engagement and the enforcement of the Rules of Engagement. The commitment from all levels of EMC executive management to supporting and deepening the relationships with Partners is evident and indicates there is a bright future for EMC and Partners like Clearpath."

Bob Olwig, Vice President, Corporate Business Development, World Wide Technology, Inc.

"EMC has taken many steps this year to evolve the Velocity program to provide the right training and support for us to successfully address the increasingly complex requirements of our customers as they adopt cloud computing. We appreciate the straightforward, easy to adopt programs, products, and solutions like VSPEX that will help grow our business and provide our customers with the best possible technology and experience."

UBM Quote:

Kelley Damore, Vice President & Editorial Director, UBM Channel

"When it comes to the strength of relationships, quality of products and return on Partner programs, solution providers want to hear from their fellow VARs about the IT vendors that consistently exceed expectations. The Annual Report Card gives solution providers the opportunity to share feedback and recognize the vendors who truly demonstrate Channel excellence. We congratulate EMC and RSA for being recognized as the best of the best."

EMC Quotes:

Leonard Iventosch, Vice President, Americas Channel Sales, EMC Corporation

"EMC is making the largest investments in its history in the Channel. With their extensive experience and skill at taking on more and more of the sales cycle, EMC's Velocity Partners are critically important to extending our reach into the existing customer base and to finding new customers. We are extremely honored with the results of this year's CRN ARC survey. As the results clearly show, EMC's commitment and actions in the Channel are being leveraged and appreciated by our Partners."

Bill Taylor, Vice President of Global Channels and Alliances, RSA, The Security Division of EMC

"We are committed to the success of our SecurWorld Partners and are consistently working to enhance our channel program to not only ensure mutual profitability but also provide training and support that help partners grow their businesses. We are honored to be included in this year's CRN ARC Survey. It truly validates the work we've been doing to create program that our partners are proud to be a part of."

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about partnering with EMC and RSA
• Follow @EMCChannel and join the #EMC conversation on Twitter
• Learn more about how Trusted IT from EMC = Trusted Business at: www.emc.com/trust
• Connect with EMC via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and ECN
• Connect with RSA via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and the RSA Speaking of Security Blog and Podcast

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset — information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

About UBM Channel: (www.ubmchannel.com)

UBM Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, UBM Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. UBM Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about UBM Channel, visit us at www.ubmchannel.com.

UBM plc (www.ubm.com)

UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries is organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.ubm.com.

Nextiva Receives 2011 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award

Press release:

Nextiva Receives 2011 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award
Nextiva Office Recognized as Innovative VoIP Communications Tool

Scottsdale, Arizona August 15, 2012

Nextiva (www.nextiva.com), a leading provider of cloud-based business VoIP services, announced today that it is the recipient of TMC’s Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award for the second year in a row.

TMC, a globally integrated media company, presents this award to products that facilitate voice, data and video communications, or a combination of them. Companies that receive the esteemed Product of the Year Award must exhibit a combination of vision, leadership and thoroughness.

“We are proud to distinguish the greatest achievements in the unprecedented growth of communications technologies in 2011,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC. “Nextiva has shown their dedication to quality and superiority while addressing the ever-changing marketplace demands.”

Nextiva Office delivers comprehensive phone systems to small and medium-sized businesses, including high-quality features such as advanced call routing, call manager dashboard, push to talk and Nextiva Anywhere. Nextiva provides an online portal so that business managers can quickly and easily access all of their service and usage information.

“We’re thrilled that our Nextiva Office product has been recognized as a Product of the Year for the second consecutive year,” says Yaniv Masjedi, VP at Nextiva. “We continuously enhance our products so that our customers always have access to the most innovative communications tools as well as a team of experts who provide Amazing Service and support all of our customers’ needs.”

2011 Product of the Year winners are announced on the websites for INTERNET TELEPHONY and Customer Interaction Solutions.

For more information on Nextiva’s business communication solutions, please visit http://www.Nextiva.com.

ABOUT NEXTIVA
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nextiva is a privately held member of the Unitedweb family of companies. Nextiva is one of the country's leading providers of cloud-based, VoIP business communication services. Nextiva has won more than 30 Independent Technology & Telephony Awards, including the "Product of the Year Award" by Internet Telephony magazine for four years running. Nextiva delivers “Fortune 500” phone service at start-up prices and serves thousands of small-to-midsize companies across the United States. For more information call 800-983-4289 or visit http://www.nextiva.com.

About TMC
TMC is a global, integrated media company that helps clients build communities in print, in person, and online. TMC publishes the Customer Interaction Solutions, INTERNET TELEPHONY, Next Gen Mobility and Cloud Computing (formerly InfoTECH Spotlight) magazines. TMCnet.com, which is read by two million unique visitors each month, is the leading source of news and articles for the communications and technology industries. TMC is the producer of ITEXPO, the world’s leading B2B communications event. In addition, TMC runs multiple industry events: 4G Wireless Evolution; M2M Evolution; Cloud Communications Expo; SIP Tutorial 2.0:Bringing SIP to the Web; Business Video Expo; Regulatory 2.0 Workshop; DevCon5; HTML5 Summit; CVx; AstriCon; StartupCamp; MSPAlliance MSPWorld and more. Visit TMC Events for a complete listing and further information. For more information about TMC, visit www.tmcnet.com.

Accenture Upgrades Technology to Help Massachusetts Manage $45 billion Annual Budget

March 08, 2012

 

Accenture Upgrades Technology to Help Massachusetts Manage $45 billion Annual Budget

 

Commonwealth Raises Standards for State Budgeting and Forecasting

  

BOSTON, Mass.; March 8, 2012 –At a time when state governments face unprecedented challenges in meeting the needs of their citizens, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has implemented a new budget system and adopted standards that enhance the state’s ability to project and allocate financial resources throughout the fiscal year.

 

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) worked with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance (ANF) to complete the Commonwealth’s annual budget process using the new “Massachusetts Budget Application.”  

 

The system enhances the state’s ability to provide a uniform, consistent and comprehensive budget process for the state’s 156 agencies by creating a common approach to project budget needs and reviewing and approving budget proposals. A detailed workforce-planning capability now enables agencies to project spending by individual positions and full-time employee staffing levels.

 

The new system also provides administration officials with a powerful tool that creates the foundation for more informed decisions about allocations to support programs and services while providing increased visibility on how agencies match financial and personnel resources to critical services and needs.

 

“Our goal was to build a foundation for better analysis and continual enhancements of the state’s performance, leveraging information to improve outcomes and fulfill missions of each state agency as well as the Commonwealth’s fiscal responsibilities to its citizens,” said Matthew Gorzkowicz, Massachusetts undersecretary for Administration and Finance.

 

Additional features and benefits of the new system include:

• Ability to do detailed workforce planning and position-based budgeting
• All funds (Operating, Federal, Trust) budgeting and reporting capabilities
• Visibility into the budget development, review and approval process
• Detailed point-in-time capabilities that reconcile budgeted costs to actual expenditures
• Increased accuracy to project cash flow to better identify spending patterns

 

“State governments face new fiscal constraints and increased pressure to control costs,” said Pallavi Verma, Accenture senior executive. “Massachusetts has demonstrated leading-edge fiscal management and a commitment to its citizens.”  

 

Accenture will continue working with the Commonwealth on other budget-related projects, including consolidating the state’s budget technology platform, implementing a planning application for capital budgets, creating budget management dashboards for state executives and the production of the governor’s budget.

 

Learn more about Accenture’s work with governments on cost reduction and budget transformation and delivering Public Service for the Future.

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

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