A crowd of more than 200 people packed the Paramount Conference and Event Venue in North Toronto to find out which company would be named Solution Provider of the Year as part of CDN‘s 2011 Channel Elite Awards.
The winner was start-up Infinite IT Solutions of Mississauga, Ont. Infinite IT won the competition with its innovative solution for a healthcare product supplier that was burdened by an outdated and inadequate IT infrastructure. Infinite IT managing partners Joe Ussia and Chris Stock compared that task to replacing an engine while the truck is still barreling down the highway. The solution provider put in a new network, firewall and phone system based on the latest Cisco technology, plus network-based security and a unified communications strategy. They’re also deploying virtual desktops to mobile devices so field reps can submit orders on the client site. The results spoke volumes for the client. It got a modern IT infrastructure that gives it a new edge in a very competitive business. Fewer people now need to touch an order and the days to delivery have dropped by at least 25 per cent. They’re also saving $50,000 annually on telecommunications costs alone, and have been able to measurably increase the Web portion of their business, bringing in new revenue.
Infinite IT also won the Silver award for Best Managed Services Solution.
The Channel Elite Awards started off with a workshop on mobile security presented by Info-Tech Research analyst James Quin. Quin delivered an insightful session on new business models and how to avoid pitfalls for mobile security.
The Gold award winners
For the first time ever a solution won the top two prizes in one category. The silver and gold awards for Best Enterprise Solution went to Compugen of Richmond Hill, Ont.
Last year’s Solution Provider of the Year, IT Weapons, captured the Best Collaborative Solution award with its partner, Concatenate.
The brand new award of the evening, Best Mobile Solution went to Tenet Computer Group Inc., a one time Solution Provider of the Year.
Broadview Networks from Winnipeg for Best Channel Marketing Initiative.
The Best Cloud Solution went to 3 Peaks Inc. of Markham, Ont.
Montreal’s GFI Solutions Group won Best Mid-Market Solution.
The Best Small Business Solution gold award went to Atum Corp.
The Gold Award winner for Best Managed Services Solution was i3 Solutions Inc.;
And finally, Compugen took home the Gold for Best Service Organization.
The Silver and Bronze winners
Acrodex got the Bronze for Best Service Organization and Insite Computer Group got the Silver in the same category.
ThoughtCorp. captured the Bronze prize in Best Mobile Solution, while IT Weapons won the Silver.
The Bronze winner for Best Managed Services Solution is Epic Information Solutions of Winnipeg.
In the Best Small Business Solution category, Thin Desk won the Silver and Metafore won the Bronze award.
Insight Canada won the Silver award in Best Mid-Market Solution and Atum got the Bronze.
The Bronze winner for Best Enterprise Solution was IT Weapons of Brampton, Ont.
In the hotly contested category of Best Cloud Solution, Thin Desk got the Silver and Jolera got the bronze.
The Bronze award for Best Collaborative Solution went to Itergy of Montreal and Onx took home the silver prize in the same category.
Epic got the bronze in Best Channel Marketing Initiative and IT Weapons picked up the silver in the same category.
