GTDC Honors 2009 'Rising Star' Award Winners

Fourth-Annual Awards Program Recognizes IT Companies for Outstanding U.S. Sales Through Distributors

• Press Release
• Source: Global Technology Distribution Council
• On 8:00 am EDT, Wednesday September 23, 2009

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwire - 09/23/09) - GTDC SUMMIT -- The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) today announced the winners of its 2009 Rising Star Awards in recognition of outstanding U.S. sales results through GTDC member distributors. GTDC members represent more than $100 billion in annual worldwide sales to IT resellers, retailers and solution providers that serve end customers ranging from small-and-mid-size businesses to large enterprises as well as home consumers.

The Rising Star winners, announced at the GTDC Summit awards dinner last night, were selected based on U.S. revenue or market share growth over the past year, as reported by market research company The NPD Group in its Distributor Track� service. This year's Rising Star Award categories and winners are:

�
               $500 Million+
Based on highest year-over-year market share growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Cisco                 Gold
     HP                    Silver
     Lexmark               Bronze

        $100 Million - $500 Million
Based on highest year-over-year revenue growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Sharp                 Gold
     ASUS                  Silver
     NetApp                Bronze

        $15 Million - $100 Million
Based on highest year-over-year revenue growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Check Point           Gold
     Philips               Silver
     McAfee                Bronze

    $15 Million+ Software Vendor Category
Based on highest year-over-year revenue growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Red Hat               Gold
     IBM                   Silver
     VMware                Bronze

GTDC Summit Today

The GTDC Vendor Summit conference -- the industry's premier gathering of IT distribution leaders, channel executives and research analysts -- continues today with a broad range of panels, presentations and breakout sessions focused on key trends, issues and opportunities. Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini is the featured keynote speaker this morning, and Aruba Networks President and CEO Dominic Orr addressed attendees at last night's Rising Star Awards dinner. For more information on the Summit and other GTDC events, go to http://gtdc.org/events.htm.

Rising Star Awards Methodology

Sales results for Rising Star award winners are based on actual U.S. revenue over the past year, as reported by industry research organization The NPD Group in its Distributor Track� service. Available by subscription, the Distributor Track aggregates actual distributor sell-through data to enable sharp insight into channel sales and pricing trends with the ability to drill down into specific product subcategories, including detailed attributes based on specific areas of interest. To be eligible for a Rising Star award, vendors are required to have sold corresponding products through IT distributors for a minimum of one year.

About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,700 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information on The NPD Group and Distributor Track, visit www.npd.com.

About The Global Technology Distribution Council

The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) is a worldwide industry association dedicated to defining and promoting the role of distribution in a successful and healthy information technology channel. The Council is comprised of the computer industry's top distributors dedicated to serving "the channel," a network of skilled value-added resellers and retail stores focused on providing hardware, software, and services to businesses and consumers around the globe. GTDC members include AB. S.A (WSE: ABPL), ABC Data, Actebis, Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW - News), Avnet (NYSE:AVT - News), Bell Microproducts (Pinksheets:BELM - News), Computer Gross Italia, DCC SerCom, D&H, Esprinet, Ingram Micro (NYSE:IM - News), Intcomex, Magirus AG, Redington (BSE:REDI - News), ScanSource (NASDAQ:SCSC - News), Synnex (NYSE:SNX - News), Tech Data (NASDAQ:TECD - News), Westcoast LTD and Westcon.

 
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