We recently celebrated another wonderful recognition moment at Avanade: alongside Accenture, we were named Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year (for the 19th time, a record!) and the inaugural Global Business Transformation Partner of the Year for Copilot.

In addition, we were honored in every single Business Applications category we entered: winner of the Global Partner of the Year award for Dynamics 365 Sales & Customer Insights, and Finalist for the Global Partner of the Year Awards for Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Service and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain. We also gained Finalist recognition for the Global Low Code Application Development award, having won in 2023.

All this recognition is immensely gratifying, of course — but what does it really mean at the end of the day?

There’s an old saying in boxing that really resonates with me: “Training is your trophy.” That is, the process is more important than the outcome. More than any single win, it’s the many miles of roadwork and endless hours on the heavy bag, speed bag, and jump-rope that bring us true growth and meaning. This adage perfectly captures our journey at Avanade. It’s the amazing things that we get to do for our customers every day that are the real and lasting prize.

Awards certainly create a celebration moment, but the sense of satisfaction we feel repeats itself through the year when we see and hear how we’re helping clients solve some of their biggest challenges, reach exciting milestones or transform their organizations.

So much goes into these wins: It’s much bigger than simply writing a submission. Our relentless preparation and daily commitment to excellence and innovative solutions, alongside the work our teams do to maintain our strategic partnership with Microsoft are the foundations. Our close collaboration with both clients and Microsoft allow us to leverage the latest technology to provide the most advanced and reliable real-world solutions. Solutions that help clients to do what matters for them.

And that's why these awards are ultimately relevant to our clients — each win is a testament to what we can do for them, and reassurance that they’re working with some of the best in the business. It’s about our ability to drive transformation and deliver value. It’s about the success stories that we help create and the lasting impact our clients see in their businesses.

2023/2024 – a memorable year!
To wrap up, I want to take a moment to reflect on how incredible the past year has been since last year’s Dynamics 365 and Power Platform award wins. At around the same time in 2023, alongside Accenture, we were named a Leader in Everest Group’s Microsoft Dynamics 365 Services PEAK Matrix 2023 Assessment and in March this year, Forrester recognized Avanade as a Leader in the Forrester Wave: Microsoft Business Applications Services Q1 2024, describing how and why Avanade is “Known as one of the best in Microsoft Business Applications implementation services”. When looking at this recognition collectively, it’s important that we think about this as validation that we’re doing the right things for our clients, as it’s that lens through which we should be judged.

But it’s not just about awards, the last year has been seismic when you think about how the world of AI has exploded. I wonder if historically, 2024 will come to be known as the year of the Copilot! We’ve seen numerous new Microsoft Copilots launched, the Power Platform has evolved significantly, Copilot Studio is new in market (and we’ve launched a new service to help clients explore autonomous copilots with the new agentic capabilities (available through Copilot Studio), and we’ve even featured in a Microsoft case study for Copilot for Sales.

And things show no signs of slowing down – clients are increasingly coming to us for help in navigating the complexities. Microsoft continue to develop new features, and our commitment to clients is this – we make it our mission to understand the whole landscape, no matter how fast it evolves. You can trust Avanade to help you find the right ways to take advantage, the ways that meet your individual business goals.

Together with Microsoft and our clients, we look forward to many more years of partnership and shared victories! Here’s to the journey ahead and the incredible possibilities it holds.

If you’d like to learn how we can help you achieve your goals and why we’re serial winners of Microsoft Partner awards, please contact us today.