Celebrated as part of Microsoft’s largest annual partner event, Microsoft Inspire, these prestigious awards recognise partners across the globe for their innovative use of Microsoft technologies to help customers succeed.

Collectively, Microsoft ANZ partners won a record five awards, and a further 14 companies were finalists.

The 2022 awards were hotly contested and the 58 awards given out recognised everything from partner excellence in cloud to edge technologies, to entrepreneurial spirit and social impact.

Rachel believes the success of ANZ partners highlights their ability to help customers build new capabilities and achieve true innovation by applying creative thinking and leveraging the latest technology. Their achievements are deserving of recognition on the global stage.

Country/Region Partner of the Year Award winners and finalists for Australia and New Zealand

A big congratulations to all of this year’s global award winners for their brilliant and ingenious work! Special shout-out to the following ANZ partners:

EY Australia – winner of Microsoft’s Partner of the Year for Australia

EY’s commitment to increasing the diversity of talent in the STEM workforce across all service lines and sectors, with a focus on women in technology, was exceptional. Its use of AI to monitor water drainage and vegetation growth using satellite imagery proved the power of technology in shaping the future and redefining the human experience. In addition, EY’s Document Intelligence Platform can extract insights quickly and automatically from relevant data in all types of documents, while helping to avoid fraud that is now also being explored with banks in Australia, Singapore and beyond.

Data-Driven – finalist for Microsoft’s Partner of the Year award for Australia

The judging panel was very impressed by the company’s cost-efficient, modern data platforms and its commitment to advanced specialisations on Microsoft Azure. Data-Driven’s CloudMonitor is an innovative tool that helps companies optimise their cloud services, improve their cloud governance and reduce costs.

DEFEND – winner of Microsoft’s Partner of the Year for New Zealand

This cybersecurity specialist has reshaped the security landscape in New Zealand, working in true partnership with organisations on their cyber resiliency so they can continue to operate, innovate, and adapt securely to new ways of working. DEFEND helped Foodstuffs North Island (FSNI) build a best-in-class, modern and secure supply chain. This enabled FSNI to ensure that food was on shelves during COVID-19 and spend more time focusing on higher-value areas of the business.

LawVu – finalist for Partner of the Year award for New Zealand

The company has fully embraced Microsoft’s cloud capabilities to transform businesses in an increasingly complex legal landscape. It has also built a resilient and globally diverse team to drive better customer outcomes.

Global Category Award winners and finalists for Australia and New Zealand

The ANZ partners claiming victory in the global categories are:

Barhead Solutions – winner of Community Response award in the Social Impact category

The specialised consulting firm worked with NSW Police to develop an application called RISEUP that streamlines police and case workers’ engagement with disaffected and at-risk youth. Barhead also worked with not-for-profit organisations to deploy the By-Name List (BNL) 2.0 app, which is designed to combat rising homelessness across the state, as part of the End Street Sleeping Collaboration. RISEUP and BNL 2.0 leverage Microsoft Power Platform and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Use of the solutions has enabled local teams to reach over one million youths in NSW and assess the needs of people sleeping rough in more than 120 local government areas.

Modis – winner of Inclusion Changemaker award in the Social Impact category

The global technology and smart industry solutions business uses Microsoft products and services to drive digital transformation for its customers. Modis developed the Yarning app to improve communication between law enforcement officers in Western Australia and Aboriginal communities across the state. Using Microsoft Power Platform, the app allows officers to select and play key messages to Aboriginal people in their first language. Yarning also helps users to grow the database of supported languages, phrases and regions. The app empowers Aboriginal people in Western Australia to engage with community and better access services.

Data#3 – winner of Device Partner Distributor/Reseller of the Year

The company is one of the world’s largest Microsoft device resellers and ANZ’s largest Microsoft Surface Hub 2S reseller. While Data#3 has been impacted by supply shortages over the last 12 months, it has achieved 53 per cent year-on-year growth in PC sales. The company has also established a team of Surface Sales Specialists to drive additional business growth and introduced its unique Device as a Service in Australia.

Engage Squared – winner of Employee Experience award in the Modern Work category.

The company has completed 232 projects for 136 clients over the past 12 months, as it continues to support organisations on their digital transformation journeys. Engage Squared has maintained its position as the number one Microsoft Teams partner in Australia. It is also the go-to partner for Microsoft Viva in ANZ and Asia, having helped the likes of Cricket Australia, The Star and Transport for NSW deploy the platform to enhance their employee experience.

Myriad Technologies – winner of Defense & Intelligence award in the Industry category

Myriad Technologies won for its Secure Search and Information Exchange (S2IX). The commercial, off-the-shelf product provides a common pattern for defence organisations to deliver decision superiority across enterprise and battle operations. S2IX uses an array of Microsoft technologies, including Azure, PowerBI, Office 365 and SharePoint, as well as third-party tools. By driving digital transformation from fixed networks to the tactical edge, and addressing the modern-day challenges of defence organisations, Myriad has unlocked several significant global opportunities.

Healthy list of finalists

Congratulations to the following ANZ partners that were finalists in their respective categories:

ASI Solutions – Surface PC Reseller
BizData – Healthcare & Life Sciences
Eighty20 Solutions – Modern Endpoint Management
Enlighten Designs – Power BI
FiveP – Modern Workplace for Frontline Workers
Flintfox – Dynamics 365 Finance
Generation-e – Meetings, Calling & Devices for Microsoft Teams
Lynkz – AI
Mobile Mentor – Education
Quorum – Security
Rapid Circle – Community Response
Resolution Technology – Modern Workplace for SMB
rhipe – Operational Excellence
Velrada – Dynamics 365 Customer Service & Field Service
Vodafone Next Generation Services Limited – Meetings, Calling & Devices for Microsoft Teams

Sonia notes “I’m so proud to be celebrating the success of Microsoft’s ANZ partner community. Their unwavering commitment to deliver impactful solutions for customers is truly inspiring. I look forward to continuing our relationship with these incredible organisations as they drive a stronger innovation agenda in Australia, New Zealand and across the globe.”

For the full list of winners and finalists, visit the official website: Partner of the Year Awards