Ahead Named 'Top Cloud Practice' in CRN's 2011 VAR500 List, Jumps from #435 to #142 Ranking in One Year

CHICAGO, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Data center consultant/integrator Ahead has been recognized as the Top Cloud Practice in CRN's 2011 VAR500 list, which ranks the top 500 technology integrators in North America. Ahead also catapulted from last year's #435 ranking to the #142 slot on the strength of $130 million in revenues – a $100 million year-over-year increase achieved by an emphasis on developing and building next-generation data center solutions that drive business value.

The VAR500 ranking recognizes the largest value-added resellers, solution providers and integrators in North America. The 2011 list is based on revenues from hardware sales, software sales and managed IT services sold in 2010.

"Our growth stems from a combination of solutions-based consulting, a massive investment in cloud enablement that includes a multimillion-dollar in-house lab, and a substantial increase in head count that has included hiring engineers who are on the cutting edge of today's emerging technologies," said Ahead President Daniel Adamany.

"We start by understanding a client's business requirements and translating those into an IT solution rather than simply solving technology issues," Adamany noted. "There are very few IT practices that have these capabilities."

The VAR500 list will be published in print and online at CRN.com on June 20, 2011.

The 2011 list and individual award winners were announced at the VAR500 Executive Conference and Awards, a two-day conference sponsored by IT channel services provider Everything Channel.  The conference was held June 13-14 in Jacksonville, Florida.

About Ahead

Ahead is a Chicago-based IT consultancy specializing in designing, engineering and deploying next-generation data centers that combine virtualization, storage and cloud technologies to help businesses reduce costs while also becoming more nimble and scalable. As one of the fastest-growing solution providers focused on the data center, Ahead has developed innovative methodologies and invested in a multi-million dollar lab for testing, demonstrating and delivering integrated solutions from EMC, VMware, and Cisco to drive private cloud enablement for its clients. In 2010 the company was named EMC's Backup and Recovery Partner of the Year, received an EMC "Journey to the Private Cloud" award, and became a Premier partner in the VMware Partner Network. For more information, visit www.ThinkAheadIT.com.

SOURCE Ahead