3Com, Hewlett-Packard, Sun, Microsoft and ViewSonic Among Winners of VARBusiness Magazine's 1999 Annual Report Card and Annual Peripherals Excellence Awards

Benchmark Research Reveals Technology Industry Leaders for Reseller Relationships

PRNewswire
ORLANDO, Fla.
Sep 2, 1999

CMP Media's VARBusiness magazine announced 3Com Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Sun Microsystems Corp. and Microsoft Corp., among the award winners of the 1999 Annual Report Card (ARC) awards, and ViewSonic among the winners of the Annual Peripherals Excellence (APEX) awards.

The ARC and APEX research are the definitive industry benchmarks that measure value-added resellers' (VARs) satisfaction with their vendors in the areas of products, support and partnership. Based on over 5,000 extensive surveys with authorized VAR and integrator partners, the ARC analyzes VARs' satisfaction with vendor programs in 11 ARC product categories, including systems, software, Internet and networking, and four peripheral product categories, UPS, high-capacity hard drives, network laser printers and monitors, for APEX. The research was conducted by Bernett Research, a Boston- based computer industry research company.

VARBusiness Publisher, Robert C. DeMarzo, said "The ARC and APEX are the most significant benchmarks of the VAR-vendor relationship in the entire industry. Through this research, we provide resellers and IT companies with the information they need to choose the right technology partners and build profitable partnerships."

First-place honors for the third year in a row went to ViewSonic Corp. for the monitors category in APEX. APEX category winners are:

  Category                         Company
  UPS                              Best Power
  Monitors                         ViewSonic Corp.
  High-Capacity Hard Drives        Western Digital Corp.
  Network Laser Printers (tie)     Hewlett-Packard Co.
                                   Lexmark International Inc.

Eric Benhamou, Chairman and CEO, accepted the ARC networking hardware category award for 3Com. Sun Microsystems Corp. was selected by their VARs as the leading vendor in the Web application servers category, Hewlett-Packard Co. won four ARC awards and Microsoft Corp. placed first, for the second year in a row, for SQL databases. Winners for other Annual Report Card categories are:

  Category                               Company
  Desktop Computers                      Hewlett-Packard Co.
  Notebook Computers (tie)               Acer America Corp.
                                         Apple Computer Inc.
  Technical Workstations (4-way tie)     Compaq Computer Corp.
                                         Hewlett-Packard Co.
                                         IBM Corp.
                                         Sun Microsystems Corp.
  Entry-Level Servers                    Hewlett-Packard Co.
  Midrange Servers                       IBM Corp.
  Network Operating Systems (tie)        Novell Inc.
                                         The Santa Cruz Operations Inc.
  SQL Databases                          Microsoft Corp.
  Java Tools                             Symantec Corp.
  Web Application Servers                Sun Microsystems Corp.
  Systems Management Software            Hewlett-Packard Co.
  Networking Hardware                    3Com Corp.

Representatives of the winning companies received their honors during the VARBusiness Annual Report Card and APEX awards event held in conjunction with the Breakaway XChange Conference in Orlando. Breakaway XChange is cosponsored by CMP Media's Channel Group and the Computing Technology Industry Association. The VARBusiness ARC and APEX awards event is presented by Ingram Micro, Compaq Computer Corp. and 3Com Corp.

VARBusiness, the channel's leading magazine, goes behind the headlines, looking at issues and trends from the VAR's point of view, focusing on "what's in it for the VAR" in every article. It provides perspective, in-depth analysis, proprietary research and tools to help resellers and solutions providers grow their business. The rich editorial content provides the crucial how-to information VARs need to manage their business, make product, technology and supplier decisions, and enhance customer relationships. The American Business Press recently honored VARBusiness with a prestigious 1999 Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award. The magazine's Web site is at http://www.varbusiness.com/.

A wholly owned subsidiary of United News & Media plc (UNEWY), Miller Freeman is the world's largest trade show producer and a leading publisher of technical and industry-specific magazines. With divisions in Asia, Europe, U.K. as well as the U.S., Miller Freeman produces more than 450 exhibitions and conferences and nearly 440 publications, including 270 magazines, 260 Web sites and a fast-growing portfolio of CD ROMs and online services. CMP Media is now part of Miller Freeman Inc., Miller Freeman's U.S. division headquartered in San Francisco. Today, Miller Freeman Inc. has over 3,700 employees in 10 countries and operates in 26 market sectors. The companies' combined high-tech portfolio now includes 13 market sectors, produces 34 trade shows and conferences, 65 publications, and 99 Web sites. For more information, visit the Miller Freeman Web site at http://www.mfi.com/.

CMP Media Inc. is the leading high-tech media company providing essential information and marketing services to the entire technology spectrum: the builders, sellers, and users of technology worldwide. With its portfolio of newspapers, magazines, custom publishing, Internet products, research, consulting and conferences, CMP is uniquely positioned to offer marketers comprehensive, integrated solutions tailored to meet their individual needs. On-line editions of the company's print publications, along with products and services created exclusively for the Internet, can be found on CMPnet at http://www.cmpnet.com/.

SOURCE: CMP Media Inc.

Contact: Mark Kindley, Editor of VARBusiness, 516-733-8557, or
mkindley@cmp.com

Website: http://www.varbusiness.com/

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