Computerworld

Meet the Microsoft NZ Partners award winners

Pip Simeon, Barrie Sheers and Sarah Bowden during the awards ceremonies

Pip Simeon, Barrie Sheers and Sarah Bowden during the awards ceremonies

The 12th annual Microsoft New Zealand Partner Awards saw 12 local businesses recognised for their outstanding customer solutions at an event that celebrates Kiwi innovation. 

Microsoft says a total of 56 partners competed for the honours announced at an awards ceremony last night.

Judges noted the entrants’ ability to come up with new ways to empower their customers, not only within the scope of each project but in ways that benefited all areas of their business.

“The magic of these Awards is that they reveal the capability and influence that Microsoft Partners have in empowering customers to create real change and value. 

“Some of the examples we’ve seen have created an impact that reaches far beyond one organisation, transforming people’s wellbeing as well as our natural environment,” says Sarah Bowden, Microsoft New Zealand One Commercial Partner Director.

Sarah BowdenCredit: Microsoft
Sarah Bowden

Some of the examples we’ve seen have created an impact that reaches far beyond one organisation, transforming people’s wellbeing as well as our natural environment.

Sarah Bowden, Microsoft New Zealand

Several Partners were recognised more than once for creating solutions that achieved the greatest difference for their customers. 

Enlighten Designs took home the awards for Transforming Products and Cloud for Good, with Datacom and Information Leadership also receiving two mentions. 

Credit: Microsoft

Umbrellar celebrated its earlier win at the Microsoft Global Partner Awards, receiving the accolade for New Zealand Country Partner of the Year in June. Meanwhile 

The Laptop Company won the Surface Partner Award for the second year in a row.

Intergen won top honours in the Engaging Customers, Optimising Operations and Modern Workplace categories, highlighting the company’s breadth of expertise in delivering comprehensive solutions for businesses of all sizes, in all industries. 

A project to introduce an innovative dental subscription plan for customers of national dental chain Lumino The Dentists, saw Intergen assist in transforming the customer experience for thousands of patients. 

Intergen partnered with Otaki-based Māori learning institute Te Wānanga o Raukawa to ensure students and staff across three campuses have the digital tools to do their work securely and collaboratively. 

New Zealand’s largest network of gymnasiums, Les Mills, also turned to Intergen to help it migrate to a cloud-based platform, which has enabled operational efficiency and given Les Mills the tools to make use of a wealth of data to better serve gym-goers. 

Credit: Intergen
Credit: Intergen
Credit: Intergen

Intergen CEO Simon Bright says the accolades symbolise the value of partnering to help organisations achieve their goals. 

“Our shared success last night shows just what can be achieved when organisations choose a trusted technology partner to assist them on their digital transformation,” says Bright. 

“These three clients all had different and complex needs that require innovative approaches. I’m so proud of the work we’ve done together and of the team at Intergen that helped these organisations achieve their potential,” says Bright. 

Aware Group won the Azure Innovate Award for its IoT solution that monitors noises exceeding agreed levels at Port Otago.  

Previously staff members were spending substantial time listening to recordings and manually tracking the source of the noise. Aware Group’s solution uses sensors with artificial intelligence to identify and filter out false positives such as passing trains and motorbikes. Not only has this raised productivity and compliance, employee morale has risen dramatically. 

Employees also benefited greatly from Information Leadership’s solution for Todd Energy, which pulled together fragmented information and operations into one easy Office 365 platform supported by Power BI. Staff found themselves able to collaborate, source information, track progress and work flexibly in ways never before possible.

“We were delighted by the mix of entries this year, both from our long-time Microsoft Partners and new members of our Partner network who are already delivering fantastic outcomes for their customers and accelerating digital transformation,” says Bowden.

The full list of 2019 winners are:

New Zealand Partner of the Year (global award)

Winner          Umbrellar 

Azure Innovate Award

Winner          Aware Group – Port Otago 

Azure Migrate Award

Winner          The Instillery – Carter Holt Harvey 

Business Applications Award 

Winner           Datacom 

Empowering Employees Award

Winner           Information Leadership – Todd Energy 

Modern Workplace Award

Winner           Intergen – Te Wananga o Raukawa

Highly Com   DXC Eclipse – Fonterra

Highly Commended     Information Leadership – Todd Energy

 Engaging Customers Award

Winner           Intergen – Lumino the Dentists 

Optimising Operations Award

Winner           Intergen – Les Mills 

Transforming Products Award 

Winner           Enlighten Designs – Sitecore on Azure

Highly Commended    Datacom – UDC Finance 

Surface Partner Award

Winner           The Laptop Company 

Channel Development Award

Winner           Exeed Ltd 

Cloud for Good Award

Winner           Enlighten Designs – Sustainable Coastlines

Highly Commended    Fusion 5 – Barnardos

Highly Commended    Spark New Zealand – Oranga Tamariki  

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