Bow ties and taking a bow - VMware UK Partner Recognition Awards

I don’t know about you, but my tuxedo didn’t get worn nearly enough over the past two years so I was delighted to dust it off (and discover that it still fits!) for the VMware UK Partner Recognition Awards.

What the broad grin in this picture with Aleksandra Dabrowska of winners boxxe won’t tell you is that my day had begun with a wardrobe problem – I couldn’t find a bow tie. As someone who owns five (the classic, the clip on, the spare one, the white one and the ‘fun’ one) I was disappointed to discover they’d been consumed by a ‘black tie black hole’ formed during the pandemic as my house made way for a growing family and working from home.

But all was not lost – thanks to a friendly neighbour one was found and I was on the bus and on my way to London! Oh yes – in the spirit of sustainability and cost saving, The Hicks took the Number 50 into Birmingham City Centre, then the train, in full evening attire to the amusement of raucous students and fellow passengers.

Recognition all round

The first thing that struck me on arrival at the Savoy Place was just how good it was to see so many friendly faces. From partners I’ve worked with for the past 15 years (hello Dan Hayden-Hammond) to VMware counterparts and colleagues I’d only met online like Jamie Hudson, the atmosphere was full of warmth and camaraderie as partners mingled with each other and the Tech Data and VMware leadership teams.

What was especially encouraging was that each award had a VMware Managed and Distribution Managed category. This proved the point that the entire community has something to offer; whether an established service provider with a rich VMware heritage or a smaller partner with high potential.

Celebrating shared success

And while I didn’t take the stage personally to celebrate a win, lots of Tech Data partners did. In fact, in both of the categories where Tech Data were finalists, our partners won so there was a sense of pride in knowing our value added services contributed towards their success. My congratulations go to all of the partners that were nominated and to the following winners:

• Advanced (Social Impact)
• boxxe (Industry Award)
• Viadex Ltd (Industry Award)
• Computacenter (UK) Ltd (Partner Value)
• Softcat (Partner Collaboration)
• CDW (Partner of the Year)

Sharing your stories

As you’ll know from my previous VCPP posts, I love a partner success story. Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be sharing the background story of three of the winners. And I’d like to encourage all of the partners I work with to share theirs too. Making a note now of customer wins and service innovation will help you showcase your talents to customers, prospects and employees as well as ensuring you’re ready next time the nominations come around.

Wanting to win

Next year I’d love to see Tech Data win the Partner of the Year category and the work for that begins today. Firstly, it means continuing to consistently deliver on our promise of adding value to our partners and their end user customers by giving them the best possible wrap around services for their VMware practice. Pre-sales, post sales, licensing, programmes, marketing, commercial, technical…..anything! You name it, we’ll provide it.

Secondly, it’s about making sure we capture even more of the good work coming from our partner community and help them share their narratives. If you’re looking for a hand with this (and want to get cracking on your own award submission) think about stories that touch on sustainability, innovation and making a difference on the front line. As I share the background on some of the winners over the coming weeks, you’ll notice themes of outcome-based value, impact, social contribution and safety – gone are the days of it being “all about the numbers”.

Don’t wait until the last minute

When it came to finding a bow tie at the 11th hour I was in luck. Next time I won’t leave it to chance. If you’d like some assistance on how to best use VMware’s solutions and programmes like VCPP to create an award-winning difference for your customers, get in touch.