The Future Is Bright: 2014 Winners Of Annual GTDC Rising Star Awards

The Channel's Rising Stars

Every year, the channel celebrates its growing vendors at the Global Technology Distribution Council U.S. Vendor Summit, held this year in San Jose, Calif. Chosen for their "exceptional sales growth," this year's recipients of the Rising Star Awards drove more than $130 billion in annual revenue combined through the channel. Take a look at which vendors took home awards at this year's event.

Methodology

The Rising Star Awards are an annual measure by industry researcher the NPD Group to measure sales results for vendors through distribution. The group only takes into account companies that have been selling their product through distribution for at least a year. The NPD Group uses its Distributor Track service to measure the results by aggregating sell-through data from distributors between May 2013 and June 2014. Using the data, the NPD Group is able to see trends and measure channel sales.

Hardware Gold Winner ($500 Million+)

Samsung took home the Gold award for the fastest growing hardware company in the biggest category of the night. It is the vendor's second year taking home the award. As the smartphone company continues to take market share in the industry, it's no surprise that they were at the top of the heap.

Accepting the award for Samsung was Greg Taylor, vice president of EBD Sales. He accepted the award from Synnex CEO and GTDC Chairman Kevin Murai.

Hardware Silver Winner ($500 Million+)

With new offerings in cloud, software-defined storage and more, EMC is making moves in the hardware category this year, taking home the Silver award for the more than $500 million category.

Accepting the award for EMC was Joe Barnes, divisional partner manager for the U.S. West region at EMC. He accepted the award from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

Hardware Bronze Winner ($500 Million+)

In a year filled with massive acquisitions, including IBM's x86 server business and Motorola Mobility, it is no surprise Lenovo has seen lots of growth through distribution. This year, the Chinese technology company took home the Bronze award for growth in distribution in the category of $500 million+.

Chris Frey, vice president of North America commercial channels and SMB, accepted the award for Lenovo from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

Hardware Gold Winner ($100 Million to $500 Million)

In a year filled with changes to its partner program and a readjusting of its business units, AMD's efforts have paid off through distribution in 2014. This year, the semiconductor company took home a Gold Rising Star award for its high growth in the $100 million to $500 million category.

AMD did not have a representative at the event to accept the award.

Hardware Silver Winner ($100 Million to $500 Million)

Dell has seen huge channel gains, including in distribution, after the company went private a few months ago. In its fourth Rising Star award in five years, Dell has won the Silver award for the hardware category of $100 million to $500 million.

Accepting the award for Dell was Frank Vitagliano, vice president of channel sales, and Jonas Brown, director of North American distribution sales and strategy. They accepted the award from GTDC Chairman and CEO Kevin Murai.

Hardware Bronze Winner ($100 Million to $500 Million)

After being a Rising Star winner for the past three years, this year was no exception for Aruba Networks as the company looks to leverage a new generation of WiFi and products for what GDTC CEO Tim Curran called "Generation Mobile."

Accepting the award for Aruba Networks was Vice President Global Sales Jim Harold. He accepted the award from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

Hardware Gold Winner ($25 Million to $100 Million)

With 100 percent of its enterprise sales through the channel, Palo Alto Networks' commitment to the channel has paid off with a Gold Rising Star award in the $25 million to $100 million category.

Tom Kelley, global head of distribution, accepted the award for Palo Alto Networks from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

Hardware Silver Winner ($25 Million to $100 Million)

Vizio has been busy expanding this year with a host of laptop, TV and other hardware releases under its belt. Vizio said at the beginning of the month that it would be diving into the Canadian market. For its efforts in these areas, Vizio was awarded the Silver award for growth of sales in distribution in the category of $25 million to $100 million.

No representative from Vizio was present to accept the award.

Hardware Bronze Winner ($25 Million to $100 Million)

Long a leader in the software space, Microsoft's more recent hardware efforts, including Surface and Windows Phone, have proved fruitful for the company through distribution. For its expansions into the hardware category, Microsoft was recognized for its growth with a Bronze award in the category of $25 million to $100 million.

Microsoft Vice President of SMB and Distribution Cindy Bates accepted the award at the event from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

Software Gold Winner ($20 Million+)

Taking home the top prize in the software category, Veeam was recognized in the awards ceremony by GTDC CEO Tim Curran for its business built around maintaining workflow and recovery objectives.

Accepting the award for Veeam was Chris Moore, senior director of North America Channels, and Laura Ramsey, director of North America Distribution. They accepted the award from Kevin Murai, GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO.

Software Silver Winner ($20 Million+)

Coming in second in the software category, RSA saw incredible growth through distribution over the past year. GTDC CEO Tim Curran recognized the company's work in building security around rapidly growing areas of BYOD and virtualization.

Annie Fabik, distribution manager at RSA Security, accepted the award for the company from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

Software Bronze Winner ($20 Million+)

A long-time veteran of the Rising Star awards, Red Hat made the list once again for its growth through distribution, taking home the Bronze award. The company was recognized for its work in the areas of Open Source and hybrid cloud technology for the future of IT.

Accepting the award for Red Hat was D. Robert Martin, vice president North America Partner Sales. He accepted the award from GTDC Chairman and Synnex CEO Kevin Murai.

GTDC 2014 Excellence Award

The GTDC 2014 Excellence Award, now in its second year, is given to a member who has shown outstanding support of GTDC and its members. This year, GTDC CEO Tim Curran recognized Julie Hens, vice president of Worldwide Distribution Sales at Cisco, for her work in this area, especially around the vendor channel support to GTDC. Hens has also been named a CRN Channel Chief and Women of the Channel executive.