·        51 companies from 16 countries represented

(London, 1^st February 2010) The finalists for the European IT Excellence Awards - the leading pan-European awards event for IT and Telecoms channels – were announced today by IT Europa. A total of 51 companies from 16 countries have made the finals. The winners will be announced at the European IT Excellence 2010 Awards Dinner at The Tower Hotel, London on 25^th February 2010.

The European IT Excellence Awards are the first pan-European awards which recognise the crucial role that Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Solution Providers play in the delivery of real world solutions, and attracted entries from more than 26 countries. Entries were submitted by ISVs, Systems Integrators and VARs describing the solution provided. Each entry had to be supported by an endorsement by the client.

“The quality of entries was extremely high and demonstrated the depth of talent in the channel community across Europe,” stated Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa. “Finalists have come from right across Europe with Central and Eastern European countries well represented.”

“The judges were impressed with the quality of all the entries and the obvious work that had gone into preparing them,” stated John Chapman, Editorial Director at IT Europa. “What was so exciting and uplifting was the real skill and ingenuity shown by the channel in many of the solutions. Our judges have a lot of experience in the IT industry and of sitting on such judging panels, so to have such comments as ‘I was blown away with what that company has achieved’ and ‘fantastic solution and amazing results’ from them was incredible to hear.”

The awards categories are divided into two main groups: ISVs and Solution Providers. The ISV categories are for software-based solutions for which the ISV has written the bulk of the solution itself. The Solution Provider categories are for complete solutions that include hardware, software, communications and services. As well as the channel categories there are three supplier categories where channel companies nominate their distributor, service provider or vendor for the support they provide through their channel programs.

“The entries in the categories for suppliers, showed that these companies have been putting a tremendous amount of effort into their channel development activities, particularly during the tough economic climate experienced in 2009,” commented John Chapman. “The entries detailed the sales and marketing activities undertaken in partnership with the supplier and showed the results as far as new business development and market penetration.”

The European IT Excellence 2010 Awards finalists:

The European IT Excellence 2010 Awards Dinner, at which the winners will be announced, will be held on 25^th February 2010 at The Tower Hotel, London. For further information visit: www.iteawards.com

The awards evening will be held at the end of IT Europa’s premier ISV event, the European ISV Convention 2010, which is also being staged at The Tower Hotel, London on 25^th February 2010. For further information visit: www.isvconvention.com

 About IT EuropaIT Europa is the leading provider of strategic business intelligence, news and analysis on the European IT marketplace and the primary channels that serve it. It publishes European channel publications such as the IT Europa Newsletter, markets a range of database reports and organises European conferences and events for the IT and Telecoms sectors. For further details visit: www.iteuropa.com  For further information contact: Alan NormanTel: +44 (0) 1895 454 604Email: alan.norman@iteuropa.com