Updated : June 15, 2014 02:50 am,
By Editor
By Editor
The 2014 VAR Arabia Awards honouring the leading achievements of the industry for the year across key categories were given away at a Gala evening in the prestigious Holiday Inn hotel in Al Qasr, Riyadh
The 2014 VAR Arabia Awards honouring the leading achievements of the industry for the year across key categories were given away at a Gala evening in the prestigious Holiday Inn hotel in Al Qasr, Riyadh. The event was attended by several senior and mid-level Managers of the Kingdom’s IT industry.
The awards included recognition for outstanding achievements by vendor brands, distributors, resellers and retailers.
Intel won the Component Brand of the Year for its continued initiatives to help boost PC sales and is focusing on reinventing computing by delivering new form factors, innovation, and longer battery life. Linksys, now owned by Belkin won the Networking Brand of the Year for its strong recall in the region and the expanded portfolio that has introduced over the year.
Symantec was declared Security Software Brand of the Year for having been resilient and making stronger impact in the channel Business of the Kingdom. The winner of the Security Appliance Brand of the Year category was Dell Sonicwall. The Printer Brand of the year category saw HP yet again maintain its stranglehold.
Dell was recognized as the Business Laptop brand of the Year Business Laptop Brand of the Year for its strong portfolio that is complemented with strong partners. Lenovo was the Consumer Laptop Brand of the Year for having weathered the churn and are gained ground in terms of market share with an extensive line-up offering great choices for consumers at great prices. Asus was recognized as the Gaming laptop Brand of the Year, as it continues to offer innovations in the segment.
WD yet again walked away with the recognition of Storage Hardware Brand of the Year, riding on its strong product portfolio as well as its strong operations on ground in the region. Likewise for its impressive product offerings as well as wide availability through partners, SanDisk was awarded the Flash Storage brand of the year.
APC by Schneider Electric was recognized as the Power Solutions Brand of the Year for its commitment to the local market while Microsoft was adjudged the Software Brand of the Year yet again for its continuing efforts to meet rising expectations of PC users through new versions of its ubiquitous OS and Office products as well as for making strong entry into the tablet segment. Epson was the winner of the Projector Brand of the year category for its market leadership.
Samsung emerged was the choice for the Tablet Brand of the Year, as it continues to make a stronger statement with new refreshes under its flagship Brands and successful channel partnerships.
Kaspersky Lab was the Brand of the Year for having successfully enhanced the level of acceptance in the market among retail and commercial segments equally.
Quantum from BDL was the Regional Tablet Brand of the Year, for having made an entry into the fast moving tablet market with an impressive line-up of innovative products
ESET won in the category Best Channel Initiatives by a vendor on the strength of its strong partner program that is rewarding to its channel and its sustained channel initiatives.
In the distributor categories, Al Falak Distribution was chosen as the Retail Distributor of the Year whereas BDL was yet again the winner of the Mobility Distributor of the Year category.
Sariya IT was awarded as the Security Distributor of the Year while Al Shugaa Computers was the Networking Distributor of the Year winner.
Saudisoft was the declared winner of the AV Distributor of the Year while Metra yeat again was the winner of the Broadline Distributor of the Year category. Al Jamaz Distribution was recognized as the Value Add Distributor of the Year.
Mohammed Amer, MD, Metra Computers received the recognition of ‘Channel Executive of the Year’. The award applauds a senior level decision maker from a distribution company who has contributed significantly to the company’s growth.
In reseller awards categories, PC Time was chosen as Networking Reseller of the Year whereas Al Forsan Gate Est. was the Security Reseller of the Year. The winner of the category
Systems & Peripherals Reseller of the Year was Al Shadady Computer Systems Est while the Mobility Reseller of the Year category was won by Best Selection.