2008 Government VAR Awards Honor The Cream Of The Crop

More than 130 solution providers attended the XChange Government Integrator '08 conference to network and to learn about upcoming products and vendor programs at the event on the shores of the Potomac.

At a cocktail awards ceremony on May 8, Everything Channel editors presented the winners with their awards. Five solution providers and five vendors were recognized for their exceptional work with the public sector.

Everything Channel Senior Vice President and Editorial Director Robert Demarzo kicked off the event.

"Recognizing public sector channel excellence is a core part of Everything Channel's public sector mission to serve government technology integrators with high-value content and strategic insight so they can make critical technology and vendor decisions," he told the audience.

Alex Hart, Director, Public Sector Channel Sales from Symantec, one of the sponsors of the awards presentation, spoke to solution providers about working with the public sector and Symantec.

Dennis Morgan, VP Public Sector from Oracle, another sponsor of the event, also addressed the crowd before the awards were handed out.

First up, Everything Channel presented the award for Small Business Solution Provider of the year, a category reserved for solution providers with less than $50 million in annual revenue, to New York-based Bluewolf.

Accepting the award for Bluewolf was Mark Loveless, Bluewolf Project Manager.

With public sector clients including the Chicago Housing Authority and United Way, Bluewolf launched a "Power of Us Partner Program" in which companies donate their time and money to help non-profit organizations. One six-month pro bono product involved rolling out an on-demand student tracking system to 25 schools in the N.Y. Board of Education's Autonomy Zone.

Fairfax, Va.-based SRA International took home the award for Government Channel Solution Provider of the Year.

With more than 300 U.S. Government customers and $1.5 billion in annual revenue, SRA plans to leverage its government expertise in defense, civil government and healthcare solutions to hit $5 billion in annual revenue by 2012.

Mike Fox, SRA's senior vice president of marketing and sales accepted the award from Everything Channel Industry Editor Craig Zarley.

Co-award winner in the Federal Solution Provider of the Year category was EDS, of Plano, Tex., a solution provider whose zero downtime strategy and Green Data Center programs helped it grow its public sector business in 2008.

Keith Blodgett, Vice President and Director, EDS U.S. Government Service Delivery accepted the award from Everything Channel's Robert Demarzo.

Lockheed Martin was the co-winner in the Federal Solution Provider of the Year award.

Haden Land, vice president and CTO of Lockheed Martin, accepted on behalf of the Bethesda, Md.-based company, honored for its versatility and breadth of solutions it offers to the Federal market, including aeronautics, electronic systems, information and space systems.

Carahsoft Technology, Reston, Va., took home the State and Local Solution Provider of the Year award after leveraging emerging technologies like virtualization, open source solutions and collaboration tools to grow its business 150 percent between 2006 and 2007.

President Craig Abod accepted the award on behalf of Carahsoft.

Ann-Marie Clark, APR General Manager, Public SectorMarketing for CDW-G accepted the award for Education Solution Provider of the Year.

For six years CDW-G has cooperated with Discovery Education on the "Win a Wireless Lab" sweepstakes that gives schools across the country the chance to win 21st-Century classrooms with wireless computers, interactive whiteboards and digital cameras.

Panasonic took home Everything Channel's Top Federal Program of the Year on the vendor side.

Following a 5-star appearance in Everything Channel's 2008 Partner Programs Guide, Panasonic's programs and products such as its Toughbook line of rugged notebook computers help solution providers and their government clients.

Jan Ruderman, vice president of government sales, accepted on behalf of Panasonic.

Symantec, another five-star rated vendor, took home the award for Top SLED Program of the Year, propelled by growing demand for its infrastructure security software, helping public sector organizations meet compliance regulations.

Director, Public Sector Channel Sales, Alex Hart, accepted for Symantec.

Cisco walked away with the Government VAR Satisfaction Award, heralded for its emphasis on certifications, technical skills and solutions expertise over sales volume.

Dawn Duross, operations director for Cisco, accepted the award from Everything Channel's Robert Demarzo.

Everything Channel's Robert Demarzo and Craig Zarley honored Government Channel Executive of the Year, Hewlett Packard's VP Public Sector Michael Humke.

As the first executive devoted to public sector sales with HP, Humke helped increase public sector sales by 20 percent in 18 months as well as tripling the vendor's investment and support for public sector VARs. He emphasizes developing solutions that maximize IT spending while focusing on top public sector needs.

Happy Humke smiles after being recognized for a job well done.

Everything Channel's Government VAR award winners show off their trophies.

Everything Channel staff and editors congratulate the ten winning companies after the awards reception.