South Africa’s resellers have made their voices heard, voting for their favourite vendors in the 2020 Channelwise Awards.
Over the years, the Channelwise Awards have tracked the progress of the South African IT industry, reflecting each year how technology and the various players have grown, matured and changed.
The industry and, in particular, the channel are no strangers to major events and seismic shifts, but 2020 has been a watershed year on so many levels.
The last few years have seen an increased trend towards digitalisation, with the IT industry at the forefront of trying to drive organisations’ digital transformation journeys.
The IT industry and the channel have risen to the occasion and become an indispensable part of every business’ digital journey, making the Channelwise Awards 2020 arguably the most significant yet.
New categories in this year’s awards reflect the many changes in the industry. Reseller partners have chosen their favourite vendors and distributors in the categories Infrastructure, Networking; End User Devices; Printers and Peripherals; Security; and Components and Accessories.
The categories and sub-categories reflect the changing industry and highlight the technology directions that partners and their end user customers are taking.
More than 1 000 reseller partners took part in this year’s Channelwise Awards survey, sending clear messages to their vendors and distributors and helping to drive more positive changes in the years to come.
The top vendors in 2020, as voted by the reseller channel, are as follows:
Infrastructure
Servers
Finalists: Dell; HPE; Lenovo
Winner: Dell
IaaS/PaaS providers
Finalists: Microsoft Azure; Axiz Cloud; AWS
Winner: Microsoft Azure
Virtualisation
Finalists: VMware; Microsoft; Nutanix
Winner: VMware
Hyperconverged Infrastructure
Finalists: VMware; Nutanix; Dell
Winner: VMware
Storage subsystems
Finalists: Dell; HPE; Lenovo
Winner: Dell
Backup systems
Finalists: Veeam; HPE; Dell
Winner: Veeam
Cloud Storage
Finalists: Microsoft; Veeam; Google Drive
Winner: Microsoft
UPS
Finalists: Eaton; APC; Huawei
Winner: Eaton
Inverters
Finalists: Apex; RCT; Vertiv
Winner: Apex
Networking
Networking devices (switches, routers etc)
Finalists: HPE; Cisco; Dell
Winner: HPE
SD-WAN
Finalists: HPE; Citrix; Silver Peak
Winner: HPE
Cabling
Finalists: DataNet; Molex; Netgear
Winner: DataNet
Edge Computing (IoT Gateways etc)
Finalists: HPE; Dell; Huawei
Winner: HPE
Cabinets and Racks
Finalists: HPE; APC; Mecer
Winner: HPE
Network Management
Finalists: Cisco; HPE; Dell
Winner: Cisco
Printers and peripherals
Laser printers and MFPs
Finalists: HP Inc; Brother; Canon
Winner: HP Inc
Inkjet printers and MFPs
Finalists: HP Inc; Canon; Epson
Winner: HP Inc
Projectors
Finalists: Epson; Acer; Dell
Winner: Epson
Scanners and ECM
Finalists: HPE; Kyocera; Fujitsu
Winner: HPE
Monitors
Finalists: Dell; Samsung; HP Inc
Winner: Dell
Smartboards
Finalists: Samsung; Mecer; HiSense
Winner: Samsung
End user devices
Personal Computers
Finalists: Dell; HP Inc; Lenovo
Winner: Dell
Workstations
Finalists: Dell; HP Inc; Lenovo
Winner: Dell
Thin Clients
Finalists: HP Inc; Dell; Lenovo
Winner: HP Inc
Gaming PCs
Finalists: Dell; HP Inc; Asus
Winner: Dell
Notebooks
Finalists: Dell; HP Inc; Lenovo
Winner: Dell
Gaming Notebooks
Finalists: Dell; Asus; MSI
Winner: Dell
Tablets
Finalists: Samsung; Lenovo; Apple
Winner: Samsung
Security
Endpoint software
Finalists: Kaspersky; Microsoft; Cisco
Winner: Kaspersky
Hardware (appliances)
Finalists: Fortinet; Cisco; SonicWall
Winner: Fortinet
Network security
Finalists: Fortinet; Check Point; Symantec
Winner: Fortinet
Cloud-based security
Finalists: Fortinet; Cisco; Check Point
Winner: Fortinet
Cameras
Finalists: HikVision; Axis; Provision
Winner: HikVision
Components and accessories
Bags and sleeves
Finalists: Targus; Dell; Port
Winner: Targus
Headphones
Finalists: Logitech; JBL; Jabra
Winner: Logitech
Keyboards, mouses, joysticks, VR headsets
Finalists: Logitech; Microsoft; Dell
Winner: Logitech
CPUs and GPUs
Finalists: Intel; AMD; nVidia
Winner: Intel
Graphic Cards
Finalists: nVidia; MSI; Asus
Winner: nVidia
Memory
Finalists: Kingston; Transcend; Crucial
Winner: Kingston
Disk Drives
Finalists: Seagate; Kingston; Transcend
Winner: Seagate
Sensors (IoT devices)
Finalists: Raspberry Pi; Siemens; Fujitsu
Winner: Raspberry Pi