•   European IT Excellence Awards deadline extended

(London, 8 January 2010) Azlan, Microsoft, Motorola and Ness Technologies have joined IBM, Flexera Software and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) in sponsoring the third European ISV Convention, run by IT Europa and being held at The Tower Hotel, London on 25th February 2010.

"It is great to have such notable sponsors for the only event that address the issues that Independent Software Vendors and developers face as they trade across the European market," commented Alan Norman, Managing Director of IT Europa. "ISVs and application developers from many countries across Europe have already registered as delegates and we are well ahead of expectations on numbers at this stage. What seems to be attracting them is the strong content and the format of the event where they have lots of opportunities to network with sponsors and other delegates."

Meanwhile, in view of the prolonged freeze and holiday period, IT Europa has extended the deadline for entries to the European IT Excellence Awards 2010 to the 23rd January. "Following requests from IT companies right across Europe, who have been struggling to get their entries together in time for the European IT Excellence Awards, we have extended the entry deadline by a further week," commented John Chapman, Editorial Director at IT Europa.

"The extended festive season and the current arctic conditions across Europe means that companies have found it difficult to get their entries together for our deadline. We obviously want to give all these organisations the opportunity to enter so have added the extra week. At the inaugural European IT Excellence Awards event we had entries from 38 different countries across Europe and we are keen to maintain this enthusiasm. These are the only pan-European awards for the IT channel open to companies of all sizes."

The European ISV Convention 2010 has been designed to build upon the success of the first two conventions, which were staged in Brussels and Frankfurt in February 2007 and 2008 respectively, and is expected to attract leading ISVs from all over Europe. The convention will feature a high-level conference programme with leading industry speakers addressing the challenges and opportunities facing ISVs in Europe. Specific topics this year will include the impact of Cloud Computing, Business Process Re-engineering and Data and Content Management on software and solution development and delivery, new business models such as SaaS, strategies for growth, collaboration and cooperation.

The European IT Excellence Awards 2010 Excellence Awards have been designed to recognise and reward excellence in solutions provided by European IT and Telecoms Channels. The awards will bring together leading ISVs, Solution Providers and Systems Integrators from across Europe to demonstrate their ability to provide IT solutions for their customers.

Both events will take place at The Tower, a Guoman Hotel, London, on 25 February 2010. ISVs wishing to attend the convention and vendors or service providers interested in sponsorship opportunities can find further information at www.isvconvention.com. ISV participation is by invitation and is free of charge to qualifying delegates. ISVs and Solution Providers wanting to enter the awards can find further information at www.iteawards.com