Credit: Channel Asia / IDG
TECHNICAL
This award recognises excellence in the form of technical and engineering expertise, honouring deep domain knowledge in relation to technology products, solutions and services. This candidate has provided business value through specialised skills and competence, spanning technical, pre-sales and support roles.
Finalists:
- Meiriza Loebis - Abyor International
- Alejandra Alcantara - Amazon Web Services
- Jina Park - Cisco (Singapore)
- Sarah Quinto - Cisco (Philippines)
- Ee Laine Koh - Commvault
- Min Fang - Google Cloud
- Nawiya Innoom - ISS Consulting
- Pratthana Suppradith - Palo Alto Networks
- Linette Mananghaya - Sophos
- Arpaporn Skunkittiyut - Microsoft
- Weiman Kow - VMware
Highly Commended: Arpaporn Skunkittiyut - Microsoft
Winner: Alejandra Artiguez - Amazon Web Services
Alejandra wins this award for demonstrating outstanding cloud security expertise and leadership, blending deep levels of technical and business acumen to enhance customer and partner go-to-market strategies across Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Since joining AWS in August 2018, Alejandra has completed 230+ engagements across 100+ customers, guiding CISOs and businesses through different cloud migration stages through hands-on technical engagement and strategic guidance.
ENTREPRENEUR
This award recognises an enterprising candidate with a risk-taking mentality, honouring excellence in launching new ventures, products or services. This individual has a proven background in building innovation from the ground up, evident through converting market-leading ideas into viable business offerings.
COUNTRY:
Finalists:
- Enki Rahmawati - Abyor International (Indonesia)
- Maria Eva Kalaw - Cisco (Philippines)
- Atitaya Surapunthu - Cisco (Thailand)
- Nadia Alatas - Cybertrend Data Academy (Indonesia)
- Elisa Indriasari - Digimaster Inovasi Cemerlang (Indonesia)
- Seema Mishra - Pinkstripes (Singapore)
- Anissa Sharmanti - Crayon (Indonesia)
- Cherilyn Tan - Tessaract Technologies (Singapore)
- Khwanta Sudsaeng - The Prodigy (Thailand)
- Jenny Diamzon Santos - Westcon Group (Philippines)
Highly Commended: Seema Mishra - Pinkstripes (Singapore)
Winner: Cherilyn Tan - Tessaract Technologies (Singapore)
Cherilyn wins this award for building Tessaract Technologies, a Singapore-based start-up designed to transform the legal sector through the introduction of AI and data analytics, reducing the need for manual documentation while enhancing customer experience levels and response rates.
Despite holding no background in law, Cherilyn -- who is also CEO of the Asia Law Network -- is now developing plans to expand regionally with the aim of ensuring more than 50 per cent of professional firms deploy tessaract.io, with a specific focus on Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
REGIONAL:
Finalists:
- Bhavika Thakkar - AspireNXT
- Fidi Putri - Cisco Meraki
- Deborah Wong - Cisco
- Camy Ooi - Citrix
- Rachel Ler - Commvault
- E-Vonne Loh - HP
- Joey Lim - Lark
- Kerry Islin - ServiceNow
- Lily Chia - Zscaler
Winner: Joey Lim - Lark
Joey wins this award for leveraging an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset to enhance Lark’s in-market suite of offerings and solutions, supported by expansion beyond SMEs and start-ups and strategic alliances across Southeast Asia.
In addition to pioneering the launch of new applications and products, Joey has also embraced influencer marketing in the Philippines and Indonesia, leveraging a traditionally B2C approach to generate more than one million sign-ups in over 18 months.
GRADUATE
This award recognises a standout graduate candidate who has leveraged apprenticeship programs to start a career within the ICT industry. Open to all roles and responsibilities, this individual has made an immediate and positive impact on the business through providing a fresh perspective and high levels of professionalism. Note: This award is open to candidates involved in a graduate program between 2018-2021.
Finalists:
- Michelle Teo - Cisco
- Violet Lim - Delaware Consulting
- Ragini Verma - Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Sophia Yap - HP
- Xu Ying - Microsoft
- Kimli Ng - Telstra
- Yoomi Oh - VMware
Winner: Sophia Yap - HP
Sophia wins this award for spearheading the launch of the first HP Virtual Showroom in Southeast Asia, partnering with Lazada and Intel from concept development, product allocation and program execution. With a goal of engaging Gen Z and millennial demographics, Sophia was a key driver in taking the HP retail experience into people’s homes through immersive and personalised experiences, driving 100,000 unique visitors within two weeks of going live.
RISING STAR
This award recognises a standout candidate rising up through the ranks within the ICT industry, acknowledging significant advancement during the early stages of her technology career. This individual is growing in stature and importance through demonstrating outstanding business acumen, deep market expertise and high levels of professional integrity. Note: This award is open to candidates with eight years or less experience within the ICT industry.
-- presented by Tian Beng Ng - Senior Vice President and General Manager of Channels APJ, Dell Technologies
COUNTRY:
Finalists:
- Agatha Armadhea Vashti - Abyor International (Indonesia)
- Preety Vatvani - Cloudera (Singapore)
- Danica Pai - Logicalis (Vietnam)
- Sarah-Ann Yong - Microsoft (Malaysia)
- Kana Mizuoka - New Relic (Singapore)
- Dr Fairoza Amira Binti Hamzah - STMicroelectronics (Malaysia)
- Michelle Bautista - Tata Consultancy Services (Philippines)
- Eileen Chong - Westcon Group (Singapore)
- Araline Lee - World Wide Technology (Singapore)
- Kek Hwee Bian - VMware (Singapore)
Winner: Dr Fairoza Amira Binti Hamzah - STMicroelectronics (Malaysia)
Dr Fairoza wins this award for demonstrating outstanding leadership in driving forward AI and machine learning adoption in Malaysia, underpinned by pioneering work in the field of data science. As the creator and figurehead of Women in AI Malaysia, Dr Fairoza has built a 600-member strong community to nurture AI talent across the country, supported by ewfforts to driving AI and policy innovation at a government level.
REGIONAL:
Finalists:
- Anna Green - Amazon Web Services
- Lynette Lim - Cisco
- Natsuki Hamakawa - CrowdStrike
- Claudia Seah - Rackspace Technology
- Opal Piyaporn Kijtikhun - Senna Labs
- Maggie Chan - ServiceNow
Winner: Natsuki Hamakawa - CrowdStrike
Natsuki wins this award for effortlessly transitioning from a retail career in Japan to excelling in cyber security sales management in Singapore, stepping out of her comfort zone to achieve four promotions in five years.
After creating a training manual for current and future sales leaders based on her own experience and expertise, Natsuki has been awarded as ‘APJ Manager of the Quarter’ for the three consecutive quarters, driving growth across sales revenue, pipeline generation and deals closed.
SHINING STAR
This award recognises an established candidate with a strong record of achievement, acknowledging excellence in spearheading company initiatives and driving strategic change. This individual is a consistent high performer who regularly achieves standout business results and continues to assume increased levels of seniority within the organisation. Note: This award is open to candidates with eight years or more experience within the ICT industry.
PARTNER:
Finalists:
- Indrani Chandrasegaran - Accenture
- Zoe Shang - AvePoint
- Netra Prabhu - Capgemini
- Jutharat Jirasathienporn - ISS Consulting
- Herryanti Herman - Mitra Integrasi Informatika
- Wynthia Goh - NCS
- Annie On - NTT Data
- Sunita Bottse - SuperNap
- Geraldine Kor - Telstra
- Jayalakshmi Rao - Virtusa
- Ang Sze Pheng - World Wide Technology
Highly Commended: Wynthia Goh - NCS
Winner: Sunita Bottse - SuperNap
Sunita wins this award for raising the quality level of the data centre industry in Thailand through an unrivalled commitment to high standards, government collaboration and deep levels of certification. As CEO of SuperNap, Sunita is taking a lead role in supporting the advancement of Thailand 4.0 through up-skilling and ecosystem partnerships, evident through achieving Tier IV certification and striking alliances with local carriers and cloud providers such as Cisco to meet economic and environmental goals.
DISTRIBUTOR:
Finalists:
- Marrian Lontoc - Crayon
- Rachel Velasquez - Rhipe
- June Chua - Tech Data
- Jesse Yeoh - Westcon Group (Malaysia)
- Lilian Ong - Westcon Group (Singapore)
Winner: Rachel Velasquez - Rhipe
Rachel wins this award for delivering industry-leading Marketing-as-a-Service offerings to enhance the digital value proposition of the partner ecosystem, resulting in improved connection and reach with end-users across Asia Pacific.
Built in the Philippines for 10 countries region-wide, Rachel tracked and analysed information from over 2000 partners and 300,000 provisioned licenses, delivering targeted Microsoft, VMware and Zimbra campaigns to support strategic customer investment conversations, driving 43% year-on-year growth in the process.
VENDOR (COUNTRY):
Finalists:
- Patricia Tan - BitTitan (Singapore)
- Angeline Ong - Cisco (Singapore)
- Fanly Tanto - Cloudera (Indonesia)
- Alicia Joseph - Commvault (Malaysia)
- Doreen Goh - Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Singapore)
- Mee Mee Hong - HP (Malaysia)
- Juliana Cen - Microsoft (Indonesia)
- Millie Yong - Microsoft (Malaysia)
- Karine Lim - Microsoft (Singapore)
- Chanikarn Pronanun - Microsoft (Thailand)
- Emily Ng - Oracle (Singapore)
- Rebecca Gan - ServiceNow (Singapore)
- Jett Ching - Sophos (Philippines)
- Sasivimon Wasuwanich - Veeam Software (Thailand)
Winner: Fanly Tanto - Cloudera (Indonesia)
Fanly wins this award for positioning Indonesia as the fastest growing market in Asia Pacific for Cloudera, breaking into new sectors, adding prominent customer logos and expanding local headcount by 40 per cent. In demonstrating standout leadership during the pandemic, Fanly championed accelerated and enhanced customer experience, supported by deepened alliances with leading partners such as Mitra Integrasi Informatika, Mastersystem Infotama and NTT Indonesia.
VENDOR (ASEAN):
Finalists:
- Siew Khim Ong - Aruba Networks
- Farah Darlina - Cisco
- Angie Ong - Citrix
- Aileen Tang - Commvault
- Kaylee Fung - Google Cloud
- Dr. Jasmine Begum - Microsoft (Malaysia)
- Sona Jain - Microsoft (Singapore)
- Supaporn Vacharanarumol - Palo Alto Networks
- Verena Siow - SAP
- Kristine Adeline Dacanay - Schneider Electric
- Prachi Shah - Software AG
- Katrina Tirante-Uy - Vertiv
Winner: Verena Siow - SAP (Singapore)
Verena wins this award for demonstrating standout leadership in driving continued business growth and expansion, while smashing glass ceilings as the first female Singaporean to run SAP across Southeast Asia.
Having previously led Indochina operations, Verena spearheaded double-digit year-on-year growth across both on-premises and cloud bookings for seven consecutive quarters, balancing corporate goals with employee development as a ‘Best Company to Work for in Thailand’.
VENDOR (ASIA PACIFIC):
Finalists:
- Pamela Ong - ESET
- Seet Yan Lin - Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Joanne Pei Lee Wong - LogRhythm
- Sojung Lee - SolarWinds
- Ji Hye Choi - VMware
- Emy Lun - Zscaler
Winner: Sojung Lee - SolarWinds (Singapore)
Sojung wins this award for transforming channel engagement during a challenging COVID-19 period, heightening partner and distributor focus to accelerate market momentum across Asia Pacific. Motivated by a desire to cultivate stronger interpersonal customer relationships, Sojung reinvented go-to-market strategy through piloting SolarWinds Blitz Day, a quarterly program dedicated to accelerating sales pipeline - now rolled out globally in recognition of regional success.
ACHIEVEMENT
This award recognises a standout candidate who has delivered an unrivalled contribution to the ICT industry, evident through outstanding professional and personal achievements. This individual has earned a reputation as an esteemed thought leader following a distinguished career as both a business leader and role model for aspiring executives. Note: This award is open to candidates with 25 years or more experience within the ICT industry.
-- presented by Kathy Chen - Vice President of Channel APJ, Citrix
Finalists:
- Vicki Batka - Cisco
- Siew Foong Wong - Cloud4C Services
- Sucheta Baxi - Dell Technologies
- Yee May Leong - Equinix
- Chu Thi Thanh Ha - FPT Software
- Megawaty Khie - Google Cloud
- May Lee - Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Fiona Lee - HP
- Joan Yeo - IBM
- Tracy Quah - Informatica
- Chankaew Chantima - ISS Consulting
- Mary Rose dela Cruz - Stratpoint Technologies
- Vijaya Pandya - Tata Consultancy Services
- Belinda Jurisic - Veeam Software
Winner: Vicki Batka - Cisco (Singapore)
Vicki wins this award for consistently championing the channel ecosystem across Asia Pacific, stepping up to ensure the execution of Cisco’s ‘Perform and Transform’ strategy to almost 20,000 partners region-wide. As a pioneering channel leader and diversity advocate, Vicki has continually balanced driving market growth with guiding aspiring female leaders, in a standout career spanning three decades.
D&I CHAMPION – Company
This award recognises the standout company in driving diversity and inclusion (D&I) across all aspects of the business, spanning employees, customers and key stakeholders. This organisation has gone beyond a surface-level commitment through the introduction of policies and programs to meet D&I goals, evident through targeted initiatives, strong leadership and clearly defined deliverables. Note: This award is open to all aspects of diversity and inclusion (gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation etc)
Finalists:
- Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise
- Cisco
- Cloudera
- Equinix
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- HP
- IBM
- Microsoft
- NTT Data
- World Wide Technology
Winner: Microsoft
Microsoft wins this award for creating a deeply inclusive culture spanning multiple markets in Asia Pacific, underpinned industry-leading initiatives such as DigiGirlz, APAC D&I Council and Microsoft APAC Enabler program.
Backed by strong executive leadership initiation and sponsorship, the DigiGirlz program continues to empower girls across every ASEAN country, notably Thailand through inspiring female students to take on roles related to science and technology.
Microsoft is also continuing to hold senior leaders accountable by tying a portion of compensation packages directly to diversity progress, with the move increasing manager adoption of inclusive practices through targeted training sessions, learning / feedback solutions and toolkits.
D&I CHAMPION – Individual
This award recognises an influential individual who actively drives diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives beyond their current job responsibilities through mentoring and thought leadership across the ICT industry. This candidate acts as a role model for aspiring executives, cultivating diverse teams to drive change both internally and externally. Note: This award is open to all aspects of diversity and inclusion (gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation etc)
COUNTRY:
Finalists:
- Leong Jia Hui - BitTitan (Singapore)
- Huong Nguyen - Cisco (Vietnam)
- Ean Na Teoh - Dell Technologies (Malaysia)
- Christine Yoong - Google Cloud (Singapore)
- Carine Ng - Microsoft (Singapore)
- Jean Chua - NTT Data (Singapore)
Winner: Christine Yoong - Google Cloud (Singapore)
Christine wins this award for going above and beyond to champion talent and drive D&I standards during a 10-year career spanning Southeast Asia, US and UK markets.
Christine has founded Inspire Yourself - a non-profit aimed at empowering Malaysian youths - The Steps - a career mentoring platform connecting female mentors to Singaporean and Malaysian university students seeking to live and work in the US and UK and Jota.ai - a customer engagement tool for businesses.
Now at Google Cloud, Christine is once again setting the market place, running the vendor’s technology partnerships program in Southeast Asia while spearheading diversity initiatives as part of Women@ and #IamRemarkable.
REGIONAL:
Finalists:
- Ulrike Agostin - Cisco
- Leanne Taylor - Citrix
- Tejaswini Tilak - Equinix
- Heng Huey Lih - Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Sowjanya Reddy - HP
- Sirikanlaya Nakprasit - NTT
- Ashwini Krishnamurthy - Palo Alto Networks
- Anila Fredericks - Telstra
Highly Commended: Heng Huey Lih - Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Winner: Leanne Taylor - Citrix (Singapore)
Leanne wins this award for challenging conventional thinking by looking at D&I beyond just the targets, aligned to the belief that any successful initiative must speaker louder than statistics.
As an executive sponsor of the Women Inspiration Network and an active member of Women in Tech Mentorship program at Citrix, Leanne personally guides mentees within the Citrix community to tackle the challenges faced when climbing the corporate ladder, with a specific focus on helping aspiring female leaders build confidence.
