Microsoft Emphasizes Cloud Solutions with 2021 Partner of the Year Awards

Accenture, Capgemini and Ernst & Young prevailed in multiple categories of this year’s Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. Microsoft’s new channel chief, Rodney Clark, revealed the company’s annual awards ahead of the company’s Inspire partner event.

The big winner was Accenture, paired with Avanade, which came out on top in seven of this year’s 56 subcategories. Avanade, which provides consulting and systems integration services using Microsoft’s core platforms, is a subsidiary of Accenture born in 2000. Both Avanade and Accenture expanded the venture with the formation of the Microsoft Business Group two years ago.

While Accenture/Avanade and other global integrators picked up a sizable number of trophies, most of the winners are lesser-known partners.

Microsoft’s Rodney Clark

“Our partners have shown amazing agility and creativity in building solutions based on Microsoft technology across the intelligent cloud to edge, all while adapting to these changes themselves,” Clark noted in a blog announcing this year’s awards.

Overall, Clark says 4,400 partners from 130 countries earned nominations for this year’s awards. Microsoft added a new category called Social Impact, recognizing partners for inclusion, sustainability and community response. The other five categories include Azure, Business Applications, Modern Workplace and Security, Industry (verticals) and Business Excellence.

To see who won in each of the six core categories in Microsoft’s Partner of the Year Awards, check out our slideshow above.