Sungard AS Kicks Off 2015 With Partner Performance Awards, Announces 30 Percent Channel Program Growth Since 2013

Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, recently announced the winners of six Sungard AS Partner Performance Awards, which recognize Sungard AS channel partners for their execution and dedication. Influenced by channel partners, the company’s expanding channel program grew 30 percent in overall revenue since 2013.

Three “Partner of the Year” awards distinguish overall partnership engagement and sales performance, while three “Breakout Partner of the Year” awards acknowledge excellence in execution in working with Sungard AS. The following six companies – selected from the United States and Canada – received the recognitions:

• Canadian Partner of the Year: Allstream
• U.S. Service Provider of the Year: AT&T
• U.S. Breakout Application Integrator of the Year: DAZ Systems
• Canadian Breakout Partner of the Year: Illumiti
• U.S. Solution Provider of the Year: Presidio
• U.S. Breakout Partner of the Year: Sigma Technology Solutions

“We strive to be the availability provider that every partner wants to work with, and we’re delighted to help our dedicated partners achieve profitable growth during this time of dynamic convergence in the marketplace,” said Carmen Sorice, senior vice president, Channels, Sungard AS.

The Sungard AS Channel program saw great success in 2014, including a new state-of-the-art partner portal that delivered easier access to deal registration, sales tools, collateral and more. Improved relationships and technical partnerships led to more than 90 seminars with over 86 companies. Sungard AS channel partners – chief among them the Partner Performance winners – brought dozens of new customers in the healthcare, consumer goods, energy, communications and financial sectors into the Sungard AS ecosystem. As a result, the company saw double-digit increases in lead registration and improved partner satisfaction and engagement.

To continue this momentum, Sungard AS announced that it will continue to improve its partners’ overall experience with Sungard AS – from how partners engage with the company online, to their interactions with the Sungard AS teams in the field. Sungard AS plans to increase its number of channel-focused solutions engineers, add new tools to help partners generate price quotes for customers, and initiate new efforts to create simpler service bundles designed for channel resale.

“Partners tell us that our ability to orchestrate the relationships between Sungard AS, our technology alliances and our shared channel partners is an innovative way to leverage these mutual synergies to create business opportunities,” Sorice added.

For example, Sungard AS initiatives with EMC’s Enterprise Storage Replication (ESR) and Cisco’s Advanced Cloud Initiative resulted in the delivery of numerous collaborative customer solutions in 2014. Sungard AS was named one of the first Cisco Intercloud partners, which enables the company to extend support for hybrid clouds, and as a result, it was recognized by Cisco as Breakout Partner of the Year.

“Working closely with its technology alliances will continue to be a top priority for Sungard AS this year,” Sorice concluded.

About Sungard Availability Services
Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS) has more than 30 years of experience providing flexible availability services that help ensure organizations keep applications always on, always available. The company leverages its proven expertise to provide managed IT services, information availability consulting services, business continuity management software and disaster recovery services to clients in North America, Europe and India. Sungard AS helps customers improve the resiliency of their mission critical systems by designing, implementing and managing cost-effective solutions using people, process and technology to address enterprise IT availability needs. For more information, visit www.sungardas.com