The top 10 moments of 2019

As the end of another year approaches, we reflect on the key events that have shaped 2019 and have had an impact on the world of Comms-care and across the IT channel.

Our top ten highlights from 2019 are:

1. Comms-care launched its new website and wider refresh of its brand

We’ve come a long way since we first set out in 2002 and as our partners’ needs have evolved, our business and services have evolved right along with them. So, in June we unveiled our brand refresh to better reflect who we are and what we believe in. This included the launch of our new website demonstrating more than ever our continued commitment to excellence in the IT channel and delivering better outcomes for our partners.

2. Comms-care’s Beckie Modeley was a finalist at CRN’s Women in Channel Awards 2019

Our very own Beckie Modeley, Head of Service Delivery, was nominated for the ‘Rising Star’ award at the Women in Channel Awards 2019 which is a fantastic achievement.

Last year’s mandatory reporting of gender pay gap figures was an important reminder that the tech industry isn’t reflective of the society we live in. These awards highlight the remarkable accomplishments of women in the channel and the companies who are setting an example. We’re extremely proud to sponsor this event which plays an important role in tackling the issue.

3. The UK channel saw the SD-WAN market take off

SD-WAN is one of the most disruptive network technologies of 2019. It’s been coined ‘the silver bullet to networking’ and it’s no surprise that interest among end users is building rapidly. The market saw revenues rising 8% in the first quarter of the year alone. Don’t miss our partner guide to selling SD-WAN.

4. Comms-care was awarded Service Partner of the Year by Insight UK for the second consecutive year

Recently listed at number 8 in the Top 100 VARs 2019 report by CRN, Insight UK awarded the prestigious Service Partner of the Year accolade to Comms-care at their 2019 Partner Forum. To win this award two years in a row is a real testament to the dedication across the whole of our business.

5. Gaining valuable insights at key vendor conferences

Representatives from Comms-care attended a number of key vendor conferences this year including Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, Cisco Partner Summit in Las Vegas and VMworld 2019 in Barcelona. Check out our key takeaways.

Our vendor relationships enable us to remain at the forefront of innovative technologies and provide the best possible service on behalf of our channel partners.

6. CRN Fight Night champions… again!

We’re super proud of our own Meg ‘the Merciless’ Littler, who battled her way to victory at the notorious CRN Fight Night 2019 and took home the title! It was a great fight for a great cause and Meg raised over £2000 for her chosen charity, St Luke’s Hospice.

7. Celebrating our biggest asset – our people!

Our Employee Excellence Awards always promise to be a sensational night for our employees and this year was no different! We celebrated our achievements over the past 12 months and sixteen awards were presented to our star performers in recognition of their outstanding contributions.

In the Summer, we also held our very own festival for our employees and their families – Comms-care Fest! We had an awesome time complete with Comms-care Olympics, a petting zoo and rodeo bull!

8. Continued accreditation growth

We’ve continued to grow our extensive list of vendor accreditations and are delighted to now hold: all 13 VMware solution competencies and two Master Services Competencies in Network Virtualisation and Datacentre Virtualisation; 13 Microsoft Gold competencies; as well as continuing to develop our long-standing relationship with Cisco as a Gold Partner for the 11^th consecutive year.

9. Another great night at the CRN Channel Awards

Comms-care was once again a proud sponsor of the prestigious CRN Channel Awards for 2019 in November and was a finalist for ‘Channel Services Provider of the Year’ for the fifteenth consecutive year – a record we’re extremely proud of. Hosted by comedian Justin Moorhouse, this year’s event was a funfair theme representing the rollercoaster ride the industry has been on for the past 12 months, with plenty of ups and downs including the drawn-out Brexit process.

10. The channel has seen an increased focus on customer experience

The channel has recently seen customer experience, or CX, spiral. With IT projects more complex than ever and a growing skills gap, CX is crucial to help customers get more from their technology investments and achieve their business outcomes. We’re certain it’s going to be a hot topic for 2020.

Overall, 2019 has been a fantastic year with significant events, changes and developments which is why this industry is so exciting – it never stands still.

Wishing all our partners a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with continued success in 2020 and beyond.