Partner Excellence Awards 2023 | Behind the scenes

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As we enter the final week until our Partner Excellence Awards Ceremony on June 8, and the count-down to crowning the regional and global winners, we thought we’d delve into what it takes to run this prestigious awards program and discover a bit more about the ‘fab four’ who are busy working behind the scenes. 

The Partner Excellence Awards program, now in its 5th year, was established to celebrate Partners’ ground-breaking achievements and showcase the variety of talent, innovation, and expertise in delivering intelligent automation capabilities to digitally transform how organizations operate, compete, and innovate. 

With over 100 entries, this year has been one of its biggest-ever award seasons. And it’s no mean feat to evaluate the many excellent submissions from the amazingly supportive partner ecosystem.

The long standing success of the awards would not be achievable without the team who work tirelessly to deliver the Partner awards each year, so lets now hear from them!

Gareth Lane, VP of Partner Programs & Success 

No-one understands this mammoth task more than Gareth, who joined the team this year as Head Judge who is the first to give us an insight into what it takes to put on this show stopping event!

What was the most rewarding aspect of organizing the event, and what impact do you hope it will have on your Partners?

Having served as a regional judge for previous partner award events I was already aware of the very high calibre of SS&C Blue Prism knowledge within our Partner ecosystem. I’ve read about and observed first-hand the remarkable work our Partners do. SS&C Blue Prism Partners deploy our Products for a huge variety of customers across all the major industries, solving many of the business challenges that true digital transformation brings to the surface.

This year as head judge, I’ve been closely involved in the review and voting for each and all the 106 submissions received, so my awareness of their capability has expanded. I have total respect, for just how amazing our Partners are at representing SS&C Blue Prism to customers, on a global level! With so many inspiring Partners out there winning a SS&C Blue Prism Partner Excellence award will mean the recipient, in all categories both regional and global, has delivered something truly special.

We’ve had a fantastic turn out this yeah and I hope to see many of our winners and runners up back again next year! Will we top 106 entries in 2024, we’ll have to wait and see…

What advice would you give to other companies looking to organize a successful Partner awards event?

We know our Partner program Partner Engage, is admired by many vendors, and is well received and highly respected by our Partners. Indeed, we have been industry recognised and have received many accolades for the Partner Engage Program. I can’t think of a better way to recognise our Partners annually other than through the annual Partner Excellence Awards and would strongly encourage companies that currently do not offer this form of partner recognition to consider doing so.

Surprisingly it is not an expensive extravagant event from a cash budget consumption basis, however to host and fulfil a high quality award event does take a lot of time, you need the right people within the organisation aware, involved, engaged early and it does need a long runway from start to finish. I recommend factoring in six months from event launch to award ceremony with the key stakeholders internally being available on a regular basis to ensure success.

Kristiina Raisanen, EA to the Chief Partner Strategy Officer

Ensuring the Partner Awards submissions and Judging process runs smoothly for the 4th year in a row is Kristiina!

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you came to work at SS&C Blue Prism? 

I have been a career executive assistant working and supporting c-suite executives and their respective global teams in NYC since 1999. Starting at Blue Prism 4 years ago was a fantastic introduction to the world of Intelligent Automation. This was a departure from my artistic background in the beauty / advertising industry. But I've remained within the familiarity of event coordination and travel, while exploring the scope of what this role demands. I’m inspired by the team around me, whose excellence was built on the leadership of Linda Dotts, a dedicated, intelligent, and kind leader who continues to drive us towards success.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when organizing the event, and how did you overcome it? 

The main challenge of organizing such a large awards program is the work life balance! We put so much time and effort into delivering the award ceremony our Partners deserve, the size of this task can seem daunting. But it’s always worth it when we get to see our Partners' smiles, their success stories are shared and it’s great to see  the pride our Partners have in their own achievements. It’s a win win for everyone!

Claire Hewitt-Tecim, Director of Partner Program Communications

 Claire, has been involved with the awards program for the last 5 seasons and is the project and communications lead.  

What do you enjoy most about working at SS&C Blue Prism? 

I joined in 2018, what was supposed to be a 6-month stint became permanent and I’ve enjoyed working here for over 4.5 years now! I have had a long career undertaking numerous roles in marketing and communications for different industries and organizations, but I have really enjoyed the flexible working that Blue Prism offers, and the varied and interesting projects I’m involved with which also allow me to draw upon my project planning and creative side. In my Partner Program Communications role, I not only get to work within the incredible Partner Program & Success team, but I also collaborate with colleagues across the organization to ensure that our partners are kept up to speed on all things Blue Prism.  

What do you hope readers take away from this interview and the upcoming partner awards event?

I hope it shines through just how proud we are at SS&C Blue Prism of our partner ecosystem; we can’t wait to shine the spotlight on them and celebrate their accomplishments! Our annual partner award program takes a huge amount of time and effort to plan and execute, but the results are so worth it. Each year the response from our partners is so impressive, it’s a real privilege to be involved, and I hope the readers of this blog are inspired to tune into the awards ceremony on June 8 to discover more, or even participate next year by submitting an entry.

Michael Marchuk, Partner Advisory Director

The 4th and final member of this small but dynamic team is Michael, who also has the very important role of Ceremony host and producer! 

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in their career and looking to follow a similar path to yours?

The advice I give to everyone starting their career in technology is to be very flexible with your career expectations and path. Technology evolves and changes very quickly and presents new opportunities. Make sure that you’re always looking at the business benefits that technology provides, no matter how cool and interesting the technology itself may be. Businesses aren’t interested in the technology itself, but in the outcomes that the technology provides to their customers, like more personal interactions or better service. As you grow in your career, there will be a time when you will need to decide whether you take the technical route or the managerial route. Both are equally challenging and rewarding, but only your personality and inner drive will help you decide the course when you come to that fork in the road.  Stretch yourself and don’t stay too comfortable, since the world is changing so quickly.  It’s an exciting journey and I’ve enjoyed growing into the roles that I’ve held over my career. 

What was the most rewarding aspect of organizing the event, and what impact do you hope it will have on your partners?

I think the SS&C Blue Prism Partner Excellence awards event really helps our partners show off their amazing work to those who would not normally see it.  Customers get a first-hand look into the benefits that our partners create using the SS&C Blue Prism technologies, but the awards program provides the opportunity to tell the bigger story of how these partners are really helping our customers achieve the outcomes that are driving their businesses and supporting their customers.  I hope that other partners will get inspired by these stories to be able to connect with one of their customers and create the same impactful results that can be showcased during the next awards program. 

So, who will be the winners? Tune in to find out - Register today!

You’re all invited to join us on June 8 at 10 am ET / 3 pm BST / 7.30 pm IST for our Partner Excellence Awards Ceremony. Reserve your virtual seat to see who will take home a coveted trophy, invite your colleagues, customers and prospects along too.

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