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Hollywood may have just ended awards season, but we’re just getting started.

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Believe it or not, WPC2011 is just around the corner and the “Partner of the Year” awards are a big part the road to L.A.  Kristin, who is my breadth partner program lead (which includes driving our Unified Communications presence at WPC), has written a guest post to get you prepped for submitting your award nomination:

Hi partners -

I work on the Exchange Partner Marketing team, looking after our breadth partner programs. I will be driving WPC planning and execution this year for our team, and I look forward to seeing you at our marquee partner event this upcoming July 10-14 in Los Angeles. In Ian’s earlier post, he wrote about a series of Exchange partner videos I’ve been developing, and the WPC awards are yet another opportunity to highlight the great work you all do. WPC 2011 Awards categories were announced last week, and this post will provide more detail on the specific awards related to Exchange.

What’s new this year?

This year, the awards program includes special recognition and exclusive WPC access benefits for awards winners and finalists. Visit DigitalWPC.com to learn more.

Also, there are changes to the awards categories this year. We are looking to showcase how your business is helping to drive acceleration of Microsoft products in the marketplace as well as looking for examples of the innovative solutions built on Microsoft technologies your company is developing and delivering. This year, we are focusing on the following two Unified Communications awards:

Unified Communications Market Acceleration Partner of the Year

This award recognizes partners with proven expertise in planning, deployment, and management of Microsoft Exchange while helping their customers lower IT costs, boost user productivity and better manage risk. Successful entries will discuss how partners are driving upgrades from legacy Exchange or migrations from competitive platforms to Exchange Server 2010 or Exchange Online supported with quantifiable results and customer anecdotes. Entries specifically highlighting deployments of advanced Exchange workloads (archiving, security and voicemail) are encouraged.

Unified Communications Innovation Partner of the Year

This award recognizes partners that are building on the extensible Microsoft Unified Communication platform offered by Lync/OCS and Exchange and are delivering innovative solutions that integrate communications within business applications and processes (CEBP). Successful entries will highlight how the partner’s solutions around CEBP have a significant impact on how people communicate and collaborate by enhancing the end-user experience, increasing efficiency or by extending the existing products with unique add-ons. Partners should showcase the unique and positive effects their innovative solutions have had on their customers’ business.

I encourage you to submit entries and nominate your organization for these awards (1 entry per award max). We are eager to read about and recognize your success!

Interested in showcasing your incredible work over the past year?

  • Review the document outlining the awards categories, descriptions and requirements and start preparing your entry today.
  • Revisit and begin submitting your entries on March 18 at DigitalWPC.com. All entries must be submitted by April 15.

Any questions? Post a comment, and I’ll be happy to answer.

Cheers,
Kristin Murray
Product Manager