Meet the Microsoft NZ Partners award winners
- 18 October, 2019 09:45
Pip Simeon, Barrie Sheers and Sarah Bowden during the awards ceremonies
The 12th annual Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards saw 12 local businesses recognised for their outstanding customer solutions at an event that celebrates Kiwi innovation.
Microsoft says a total of 56 partners competed for the honours announced at an awards ceremony last night.
Judges noted the entrants’ ability to come up with new ways to empower their customers, not only within the scope of each project but in ways that benefited all areas of their business.
“The magic of these Awards is that they reveal the capability and influence that Microsoft Partners have in empowering customers to create real change and value.
“Some of the examples we’ve seen have created an impact that reaches far beyond one organisation, transforming people’s wellbeing as well as our natural environment,” says Sarah Bowden, Microsoft New Zealand One Commercial Partner Director.
Some of the examples we’ve seen have created an impact that reaches far beyond one organisation, transforming people’s wellbeing as well as our natural environment.
Several Partners were recognised more than once for creating solutions that achieved the greatest difference for their customers.
Enlighten Designs took home the awards for Transforming Products and Cloud for Good, with Datacom and Information Leadership also receiving two mentions.
Umbrellar celebrated its earlier win at the Microsoft Global Partner Awards, receiving the accolade for New Zealand Country Partner of the Year in June. Meanwhile
The Laptop Company won the Surface Partner Award for the second year in a row.
Intergen won top honours in the Engaging Customers, Optimising Operations and Modern Workplace categories, highlighting the company’s breadth of expertise in delivering comprehensive solutions for businesses of all sizes, in all industries.
A project to introduce an innovative dental subscription plan for customers of national dental chain Lumino The Dentists, saw Intergen assist in transforming the customer experience for thousands of patients.
Intergen partnered with Otaki-based Māori learning institute Te Wānanga o Raukawa to ensure students and staff across three campuses have the digital tools to do their work securely and collaboratively.
New Zealand’s largest network of gymnasiums, Les Mills, also turned to Intergen to help it migrate to a cloud-based platform, which has enabled operational efficiency and given Les Mills the tools to make use of a wealth of data to better serve gym-goers.
Intergen CEO Simon Bright says the accolades symbolise the value of partnering to help organisations achieve their goals.
“Our shared success last night shows just what can be achieved when organisations choose a trusted technology partner to assist them on their digital transformation,” says Bright.
“These three clients all had different and complex needs that require innovative approaches. I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together and of the team at Intergen that helped these organisations achieve their potential,” says Bright.
Aware Group won the Azure Innovate Award for its IoT solution that monitors noises exceeding agreed levels at Port Otago.
Previously staff members were spending substantial time listening to recordings and manually tracking the source of the noise. Aware Group’s solution uses sensors with artificial intelligence to identify and filter out false positives such as passing trains and motorbikes. Not only has this raised productivity and compliance, employee morale has risen dramatically.
Employees also benefited greatly from Information Leadership’s solution for Todd Energy, which pulled together fragmented information and operations into one easy Office 365 platform supported by Power BI. Staff found themselves able to collaborate, source information, track progress and work flexibly in ways never before possible.
“We were delighted by the mix of entries this year, both from our long-time Microsoft Partners and new members of our Partner network who are already delivering fantastic outcomes for their customers and accelerating digital transformation,” says Bowden.
The full list of 2019 winners are:
New Zealand Partner of the Year (global award)
Winner Umbrellar
Azure Innovate Award
Winner Aware Group – Port Otago
Azure Migrate Award
Winner The Instillery – Carter Holt Harvey
Business Applications Award
Winner Datacom
Empowering Employees Award
Winner Information Leadership – Todd Energy
Modern Workplace Award
Winner Intergen – Te Wananga o Raukawa
Highly Com DXC Eclipse – Fonterra
Highly Commended Information Leadership – Todd Energy
Engaging Customers Award
Winner Intergen – Lumino the Dentists
Optimising Operations Award
Winner Intergen – Les Mills
Transforming Products Award
Winner Enlighten Designs – Sitecore on Azure
Highly Commended Datacom – UDC Finance
Surface Partner Award
Winner The Laptop Company
Channel Development Award
Winner Exeed Ltd
Cloud for Good Award
Winner Enlighten Designs – Sustainable Coastlines
Highly Commended Fusion 5 – Barnardos
Highly Commended Spark New Zealand – Oranga Tamariki
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