ARMONK, N.Y., March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) was named 2011 CRN Channel Champion as the top vendor in the Middleware, Backup & Recovery Software, and Midrange Servers categories – and was also recognized for its commitment to technical satisfaction and support in all three award categories.

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The CRN Channel Champions study measures overall Solution Provider perceptions of vendor products and services.  More than 100 solution providers were asked to rate vendor performance based on technical satisfaction, support and financial criteria.  CRN Channel Champion awards are based on these survey results and distributed in 25 technology fields and in four categories – overall champion, technical satisfaction, support satisfaction, and financial factors.  IBM won three overall Channel Champion awards and 11 total awards in the following categories:

Backup & Recovery Software: Overall winner and three subcategory wins, including: technical satisfaction, support and financial factor. This includes IBM Tivoli Backup and Recovery Solutions.

Middleware: Overall winner and three subcategories wins, including: technical satisfaction, support and financial factor. These include IBM WebSphere, Cast Iron and ILOG.

Midrange Servers: Overall winner and two subcategory wins, including: technical satisfaction and support. These include IBM POWER systems and System z.

"We are honored to receive this recognition from the Business Partner community for our technology leadership, channel support and financing capabilities," said Rich Hume, general manager of IBM Global Business Partners & Midmarket. "The CRN Channel Champion Awards reflect highly on our ongoing commitment to helping IBM Business Partners build skills, increase profitability and create value for our mutual clients."

"The Channel Champions award recognizes the most innovative, reliable and channel-friendly vendors, as voted on by solution providers," said Kelley Damore, vice president and executive editor at CRN. "These awards recognize vendors whose technical innovation and product quality has surpassed the competition, helping to drive increased revenue for their channel partners. This survey is an essential resource for the channel community. We congratulate these leading technology vendors on this recognition."

IBM received the awards during a ceremony in Orlando, FL on March 8, 2011 at the XChange Solution Provider conference.  A sample list of Channel Champions award winners and related study will be published in the April 25, 2011 issue of CRN magazine and online at www.crn.com.

About IBM

To learn more about becoming an IBM Business Partner, visit IBM PartnerWorld, a comprehensive program that offers marketing and sales resources, skills and technical support: http://www.ibm.com/partnerworld.

About Everything Channel

Everything Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, Everything Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. Everything Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about Everything Channel, visit us at http://www.everythingchannel.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/everythingchnl.

Media Relations Contact:
Jennifer C. Clemente
IBM Communications
917-992-3147
jennic@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM