2010 Channel Champions: Celebrating Overall Winners In 21 Categories

Channel Champs

Twenty-one categories. Fifteen companies. Meet your 2010 Channel Champions. In this 20th annual survey, solution providers were asked to evaluate the importance of technical, support and financial criteria and then rate vendors' performance in those technical, support and financial criteria and weigh vendors' performance scores by the relative importance of each technical, support and financial criteria. Only solution providers currently selling vendors' products and/or services in a category were eligible to respond. (Answers are weighted and therefore could total more than 100.) Here's a look at this year's winners.

Client Security Software (Firewall, Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus)

Kaspersky Lab (74.0 score)



Kaspersky took home the client security category by sweeping the three criteria: technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors.

Data and Information Management

Microsoft (76.0)



Microsoft won the data and information management category thanks in large part to its top showing in technical satisfaction and support satisfaction.

Enterprise Networking HW (includes wireless)

Cisco Systems (81.2)



Longtime channel favorite Cisco won this category thanks to its impressive showing in technical satisfaction and support satisfaction. Cisco's 81.2 score was the highest Channel Champions score in any category.

Enterprise Network Storage (SAN or NAS)

Dell (76.8)



Dell easily captured the overall Champion Award in this category, sweeping the three main criteria: technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors.

Flat Panel Displays 19"-30"

Hewlett-Packard (74.6)



There was not much that solution providers don't like about HP's displays. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor swept the three main criteria to capture the overall Channel Champs title in this category.

Middleware

IBM (75.5)



IBM swept all three main criteria: technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors, to earn the Channel Champs' top spot in middleware applications.

Midrange Servers (more than $25,000 in price)

IBM (79.8)



IBM captured its second product category win in midrange servers, more than $25,000 in price, by again sweeping all three criteria: technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors.

Multifunction Printers

Xerox (73.6)



Xerox captured the overall Channel Champs crown in multifunction printers by winning the technical and support satisfaction criteria. Lexmark finished first in financial factors.

Network Security Appliances

Juniper Networks (78.1)



Solution providers chose Juniper Networks as their top choice in technical satisfaction and financial factors, enough to give Juniper the overall Channel Champion title. Cisco Systems finished first in support satisfaction.

Network Security Software

Trend Micro (75.4)



Solution providers chose Trend Micro as the top company in technical and support satisfaction and financial factors, garnering the company the overall Channel Champion award for network security hardware.

Notebooks/Mobile Computers

HP/Lenovo (73.3)



Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo Group tied for the overall Channel Champion award in notebooks. Lenovo finished first in technical and support satisfaction, while HP was tops in financial factors.

Power Protection and Management

APC (77.9)



APC is the marketshare leader in power protection and management products and the company also earned the highest marks from VARs in the Channel Champions survey, sweeping the top spot in the technical, support and financial criteria.

Processors

Intel (76.0)



Intel earned the top spot over its main rival AMD in the processors category by sweeping all three main criteria: technical and support satisfaction and financial factors.

SATA Hard Drives

Seagate (75.9)



Seagate is the overall Channel Champions winner in SATA hard drives, thanks to its first-place finish in the technical and support satisfaction criteria. Western Digital was the top company in financial factors.

Server/Application Virtualization

VMWare (78.4)



When many solution providers think of virtualization, they think of VMware. So it's no surprise that the company captured the overall Channel Champions award in server/application virtualization by sweeping all three main criteria.

SMB Networking Hardware (includes wireless LANs)

HP ProCurve (76.8)



Hewlett-Packard's ProCurve line finished first in all three main criteria: technical and support satisfaction, and financial factors, to win the overall Channel Champs award in SMB networking hardware.

SMB Network Storage

Hewlett-Packard (77.6)



In SMB network storage, HP earned its third product category sweep, capturing the overall Channel Champ award as well as technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors.

Storage Management Software/Data Protection Software

EMC (79.0)



EMC's dominance in storage management software/data protection software was evident in the Channel Champions voting this year as the company swept the technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors categories.

Unified Communications/Voice-over-IP Technology

Cisco Systems (74.8)



Cisco earned its second Channel Champions category win in unified communications (to add to its enterprise networking hardware category victory). Cisco swept the three criteria: technical satisfaction, support satisfaction and financial factors, in earning the award.

Volume Servers (less than $25,000 in price)

Hewlett-Packard (74.2)



HP's win in the volume servers category gives it five wins or ties in this year's Channel Champions survey. This category was a tougher fight. HP won the technical satisfaction and overall award, but IBM had the highest score in support satisfaction and Lenovo had the top score in financial factors.

Workgroup Color Printers

Xerox (76.5)



Xerox won its second printing category this year in workgroup color (having also won multifunction printers). The company had the top scores in support satisfacation and financial factors, while HP led all companies in technical satisfaction.