Vanessa Sorenson (Microsoft)
Microsoft has recognised three Australian channel players at its global Partner of the Year Awards for 2023.
Announced ahead of the Microsoft Inspire conference, the awards saw Insight Enterprises named Australian partner of the year for its combination of client focus and technical excellence.
Vanessa Sorenson, chief partner officer for Microsoft A/NZ, described the company as "an excellent example of what the partner of the future looked like".
"Insight has delivered incredible client outcomes this year including overhauling Australia’s largest water network's infrastructure through an Azure IoT wastewater management solution, reducing public health risk and environmental damage, as well as an enterprise data platform for Transport for NSW which utilises real-time analytics and alerts to provide commuters with more reliable journeys," Sorenson said.
Insight also represented the best of "partnering for purpose" and had built a genuinely inclusive workplace.
"It has made a significant commitment to the Champions of Change and Women Rising programs for their internal development, and externally it’s partnered within SheCodes, Dress for Success and the Indigenous Literacy Foundation to help bridge the diversity and inclusion gap," Sorenson said.
A number of A/NZ partners also picked up accolades in the other global awards categories including FiveP for the modern workplace for frontline workers.
This covered its Teams-based messaging service, Baret, and work with the Victorian Heart Hospital.
“Our customers are seeing transformative results with Baret and the Microsoft Teams platform handling clinical communications for their staff across a large range of hospital and healthcare settings," said David Dennis, CEO at FiveP.
"We’re proud to partner with and share this win with them. Together we will continue working to support frontline healthcare staff with tools that empower them to spend more time on improving the quality of patient outcomes.”
Data#3 also won the award for Surface PC reseller, which was said to recognise outstanding leadership and for the company's ability to provide superior Microsoft Surface PC device solutions and services to customers.
"We’ve helped many organisations to harness the power of people and technology for a better future," said Data#3 CEO and managing director Laurence Baynham.
"From hospitals, aged care, schools and universities, through to government and large corporations – Data#3 is the trusted partner of choice for Microsoft solutions – and we look forward to another fantastic year partnering together.”
Insight Enterprises again also won an award for solution assessments while New Zealand's Volpara Health for healthcare and life sciences.
ASX-listed Volpara Health Technologies makes AI-powered image analysis software that enables radiologists to quantify breast tissue with precision and helps technologists produce mammograms with optimal image quality.
Teri Thomas, chief executive at Volpara, described the award as "an amazing surprise".
"It has given us the opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come, and we want to thank the team at Microsoft for all the support along the way, and our team for all of their hard work every day – we wouldn’t be where we are without you."
Sorenson said Volpara embodied a deep commitment to Azure and AI analytics that would ensure it was on the cutting edge of health tech innovation for years to come.
