ORLANDO, Fla., May 5, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. presented the Microsoft® Solution Provider Partner of the Year award to New Technology Partners Inc. (NTP) and recognized other winners of the annual award last night in Orlando, Fla. These awards recognize the best Microsoft Solution Providers, firms that develop and implement software solutions using Microsoft products and technologies.
The winners, selected from more than 240 entries, were honored last night during a banquet at the international Fusion ’97 Business Symposium for Microsoft Solution Providers. Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and CEO, and Microsoft executives presented the awards, which recognize excellence in nine categories:
Microsoft Solution Provider Partner of the Year
The Microsoft Solution Provider Partner of the Year award recognizes the Microsoft Solution Provider that most embodies what it means to team with Microsoft. This year the award went to New Technology Partners Inc., an integration, consulting and training services firm in Bedford, N.H.
“This award is an indication that our value proposition works,” said Bruce Backa, president of New Technology Partners Inc. “We’re deeply committed to adding value to this three-party equation – with Microsoft and our own customers.”
Microsoft recognized NTP for its top-to-bottom success with Microsoft products and initiatives. In the last year, the company boosted its training capacity by 100 percent, scored strategic wins against key Microsoft competitors, and witnessed an 80 percent rise in the number of Microsoft certifications of its staff. So heavily does the company invest in Microsoft training that its senior engineers are often requested by Microsoft to make public presentations and to participate in the development of its official training courses.
From putting marketing dollars behind key Microsoft initiatives to making BackOffice
™
-based product development a top priority, NTP proved itself a partner without peer.
Best Web Site Solution
Best Web Site Solution goes to the company that develops a Web site with the strongest customer or service focus, or that most enhances a client’s business. Bay Dweller Inc. of Grand Prairie, Texas, won the award for creating a Web-based catalog containing thousands of products in less than two months – one that significantly expanded its client’s business.
Bay Dweller did its work for Tucker Electronics, a direct provider of reconditioned test and measurement equipment. Tucker Electronics’ advertising for the past 30 years had been limited to direct mail catalogs, and the company was unwilling to give up its investment in copy and high-quality photos. Using custom data entry and generation tools, Bay Dweller engineers transferred existing product copy into custom HTML templates. The templates kept the site’s look and feel consistent; and, just as important, they ensured that daily product and price updates took only minutes.
The new site contains 400 pages, fully linked and searchable using Microsoft Index Server. It provides detailed traffic statistics, a customer feedback and profile form, and sales and quote forms routed directly to the Tucker staff via Microsoft Exchange. The site has expanded Tucker’s customer base, doubled its equipment purchasing power through the use of online listings, and lowered its catalog costs, all while offering the most comprehensive Web catalog in its industry.
Best Intranet Solution
The Best Intranet Solution award recognizes the business with an innovative intranet product that most improves a client’s productivity, efficiency or cost savings. This year’s award went to Itautec Philco SA of Sao Paulo, Brazil, for an online banking application that serves 250,000 customers.
With a 30 percent market share in the world’s 10th-largest economy, Itautec Philco SA provides consulting, hardware and software services to Brazil’s banking and retail automation industries. One of its applications is Internet-Host Connector (IHC), which lets bank customers execute electronic transactions using only telephone lines and a standard Internet service. Itau Bank, Brazil’s second-largest private bank, has chosen to offer the service to its 250,000 customers. Using IHC allowed the bank to offer 24-hour-a-day service and reduce the costs of running a home-banking service by more than 40 percent. The solution was implemented without any disruption of day-to-day banking service.
Best Business Solution
The Best Business Solution award goes to the firm that develops and implements superior business applications that address specific customer needs using standard programming languages. Integrated Computer Management (ICM) of Roseland, N.J., received the award for creating the world’s largest Windows NT® operating system-based imaging and document management system in less than six months.
The Electronic Compliance File (ECF) created for the accounting firm of Ernst &
Young LLP lets 3,500 tax professionals in 100 cities manage their documents and images in one structured folder. In addition to eliminating the loss of critical paper-based information, the folder provides secure, distributed, online access, regardless of a staff member’s location. The program reduced shipping costs, cut paperwork and increased overall efficiency.
Best Solution for Microsoft BackOffice
The Best Solution for Microsoft BackOffice award recognizes the company that develops and implements the best business solutions that address specific customer needs, excluding migrations, using components of the Microsoft BackOffice family. Ericsson Inc. of Cypress, Calif., won the award for its integrated suite of BackOffice-based computer telephony enterprise applications.
Having selected BackOffice as its platform of choice, Ericsson developed Consono Dynamic Network Administration 2.1 (Consono DNA), a fully integrated suite of client/server applications that embrace everything from system and network management to call center administration and enterprise directories. Using standard ODBC data structures within Microsoft SQL Server
™
and available in eight languages, Consono DNA brings the power of computer telephony integration to any desk within a global enterprise.
Best Migration to Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft BackOffice
The Best Migration to Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft BackOffice award recognizes the business that completes the most efficient and trouble-free migration to a Microsoft product from that of a competitor, such as the transition from a non-Microsoft operating system to the Windows NT operating system. This award went to Sequoia Diversified Products of Auburn Hills, Mich., for migrating the Lear Corp.’s security and services from a Novell 3.12 environment to that of the Windows NT 4.0 operating system. The end result met Lear’s demand for enterprisewide connectivity, manageability and the ability to use its existing workstations. The move also lowered the company’s help-desk support calls and made e-mail and host systems more easily available, boosting overall efficiency.
Best Philanthropic Solution
The Best Philanthropic Solution award is presented to the firm that develops the best solution for a charitable or nonprofit organization. This year’s winner was Mallorn Information System Innovators (MISI) of Kanata, Ontario, for bringing powerful, Windows-based information management to colleges and associations.
At the core of the MISI system is a constituent management module that tracks organization members, suppliers, customers, staff and volunteers. It is integrated with call tracking, project management and membership accounting modules and provides optional links to third-party applications, such as financial-management packages. Developed using Microsoft SQL Server and the Visual Basic® programming system, the modules run on networked Windows NT servers linked to Windows® 95 operating system-based workstations – giving this nonprofit group access to the same leading-edge technologies found in for-profit enterprises.
Best Solution by Solution Developer
The Best Solution by Solution Developer award recognizes the company with the best packaged software products for a vertical and/or horizontal market. This year’s winner is Pivotal Software Inc. of North Vancouver, British Columbia, for its Relationship application, a product that lets companies locate, win, understand and retain their customers.
Relationship consolidates all customer information in one system, allowing sales, marketing, customer service and operations employees to target prospects, close sales, fulfill orders, and solve customer problems easily. It is the first 32-bit application to fully integrate Windows NT, Windows 95 and BackOffice, creating an affordable and adaptable customer-interaction system that not only shortens sales cycles but also builds customer loyalty.
Excellence in Training
The Excellence in Training award goes to the Authorized Technical Education Center (ATEC) or Microsoft Online Institute (MOLI) Training Provider that provides the best value-added training, and whose training results in a customer’s successful use or adoption of the Microsoft BackOffice family of products. TeKnowlogy Education Centers of Dallas, Texas, an ATEC, received the award for pre-eminent training, training that has educated more than 12,300 students in the use of BackOffice and developer products.
With more than 40 full-time instructors, TeKnowlogy offers training and certification on Microsoft technologies to information system professionals in large corporations. And the company adds value to the education process even before its students walk in the door – TeKnowlogy provides them with in-depth briefings on course perquisites to help identify the classes that suit them best. In addition, TeKnowlogy offers free self-study CD-ROMs for many courses, structured preparation sessions for Microsoft certification exams, and free e-mail support for 60 days after course completion.
Award Winners Selection Committee
Award winners were selected by Microsoft and solution-provider industry leaders including Bob Faletra, editor in chief of Computer Reseller News; John Russell, editor in chief of Reseller Management magazine; Rich March, associate publisher of VARBusiness magazine; and Bob Cohen, president of the Association of Microsoft Solution Providers.
Award Winners Receive Recognition, Publicity
Gates congratulated the award winners in front of an audience of an estimated 2,000 Microsoft Solution Providers from around the world. Also on hand was Sam Jadallah, vice president of the organization customer unit at Microsoft.
“Our channel is only as strong as the products of our Solution Providers,” Jadallah said. “The innovation we saw in this year’s entries – especially those of the award winners – bodes well for our company and every business that uses Microsoft products.”
Microsoft will showcase the winners and their work in advertisements in major business and industry trade publications and on the Partnering With Microsoft Web site http://www.microsoft.com/directaccess/partnering/microsoft/default.asp
Every day, nearly 13,000 Microsoft Solution Providers apply Microsoft technologies to business challenges in 49 countries around the world. They do so with the help of more than 115,000 Microsoft Certified Professionals who have proven expertise in designing, implementing and supporting solutions using Microsoft products and technologies.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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