“Besides providing validation for all the hard work my crew and I did, our Impact Award has helped distinguish our business as an award-winning company in our field. We have mentioned the Impact Award in our proposals for delivering solutions, and the reaction we have received has been gratifying. Nearly all of our new customers have said, If you won an award for your solutions, you must know what you’re talking about. Winning the award has been a win for us in every way, and we look forward to entering our newest solution for an award in 2015!”
- Akos Zsufa, Managing Partner ITnorth.
SMB Canada West Cloud Provider of the Year Award Winner
It’s award season again – with WPC right around the corner it marks the time for us to celebrate both our Partner of the Year and Canadian IMPACT Awards. From now till April 14th partners can self-nominate amongst 41 Awards for Partner of the year Awards and till April 20th for IMPACT Awards.
Last year at WPC we kicked off celebrating IMPACT awards during the Canadian regional Keynote, we will continue this new tradition on Sunday evening July 12 at our Regional Keynote, and host a private dinner for our finalists Monday night. The Impact Awards historically have served as a local opportunity for us to reward and recognize our partners in Canada for the incredible solutions they deliver throughout the year. This year we will focus on 15 Canadian-centric awards that have achieved technological excellence in a Cloud-first, mobile-first world.
The Partner of the Year Awards tool is open till April 14 at 11.59 PM PST. You can go here to learn more about the awards and nomination portal.
The IMPACT award nomination tool is open now until April 20, 2015 at 11:59 P.M pacific time. We recommend that you review the complete award guidelines and have your entry 100% ready to go before you begin the upload process.
What can you expect to receive as a winner for Partner of the Year or IMPACT Awards?
Partner of the Year Awards
- Customized logos and web banners that allow you to showcase your company as an esteemed Microsoft partner
- Custom public relations templates to help promote your award status (for both winners and finalists)
- Recognition collateral to help celebrate your success
- Congratulatory letters from key Microsoft executives
- Photo opportunities with key Microsoft executives at WPC
- Winners are recognized during keynote presentations at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, DC
- Winners are also invited to an exclusive awards celebration during WPC. The event is a unique opportunity to network with Microsoft executives in specific business areas and strengthen relationships with Microsoft business groups
Impact Awards:
- Customized logos and web banners that allow you to showcase your company as an esteemed Microsoft partner and winner of IMPACT Awards
- Custom public relations templates to help promote your award status (for both winners and finalists)
- Recognition collateral to help celebrate your success
- Congratulatory letters from key Canadian Microsoft executives
- Photo opportunities with key Canadian Microsoft executives at WPC
- Winners are recognized during Canadian keynote presentation at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando, Florida
- Winners (and Finalists) are also invited to an exclusive awards dinner hosted by the Microsoft Executive Team. This is a unique opportunity to network with Microsoft executives and strengthen relationships with Microsoft business groups
- discounted tickets to WPC the following year.
Stay tuned for more exciting PR updates!
Also, ALWAYS consider nominating in more than one category. Sure, writing more than one entry does take more time, but it also gives you a better chance of being a winner or finalist. to help you build a successful nomination we are holding an award writing digital seminar where you can hear from Gail Mercer-Mackay about what it takes to write a good nomination, tips and tricks and ask your questions! Hold the date on March 24th @ 2PM EST - Register today
We hope to see you at WPC in Orlando being recognized by your peers as an award winner. Good luck!
Here are some additional tips from Gail Mercer-Mackay to help you create an award entry that shows off your solution, the results you’ve achieved and tells a story about your organization.
WRITE YOUR ENTRY
1. Consider every question. Though you are not required to submit an answer against every question, consider every question in building your nomination - each submission is carefully reviewed by a panel of judges independently, so don’t skip a question.
2. Create a compelling story. Define the challenge vividly using specific details. Make your story human. Your technology solution is ultimately for people.
3. Showcase your solution. Position your solution value in terms of business innovation, technology innovation, and customer ROI. Remember, your solution must actually have been deployed. Show the depth of the Microsoft stack used and don’t forget to include information on how your solution went above and beyond answering your customers’ needs.
4. Prove your success. Here’s where all those numbers come in. Include your metrics. Have a measured return on investment. Show exactly what you achieved, with the stats to back it up.
5. Include customer evidence. Including links to supporting materials such as case studies, white papers, other awards, videos, or anything else that helps document you and your customers’ success. Don’t forget to ask your customers’ approval to use any of their content, although entries will not be disclosed without your consent.
EDITING AND FINAL REVIEW
Don’t upload until it’s final! This bears repeating. Wait until your entry is completely final before uploading. We pull your nomination as a document to make it easier for you to submit.
Now, you’re ready to upload. Great job and good luck!
Submit your success stories. Get recognized. You deserve it!
For more information about IMPACT Awards, categories, and more, please visit the Awards page.