Symbol Technologies PartnerSelect Program Earns Five-Star Rating from VARBusiness Magazine

Symbol Technologies, Inc. , The Enterprise Mobility CompanyTM, today announced that it has been recognized by VARBusiness magazine as one of North America's top information technology (IT) vendors for the breadth and depth of channel partner program offerings it provides to the value-added resellers (VARs) of its enterprise mobility solutions. The Symbol received a Five-Star Rating, the highest award, reflecting the robustness of Symbol's channel partnering program.

Symbol's PartnerSelect channel program received the coveted five-star rating in the magazine's tenth annual Partner Programs Guide survey, appearing in the March 15, 2004 issue of VARBusiness.

Robert C. DeMarzo, VARBusiness' editorial director, notes that the comprehensive channel through which Symbol brings its products to market is critical to providing the proper IT strategies and solutions to corporations and institutions in a wide variety of vertical markets. "Through its expertise, a good channel adds value to Symbol's products, ensuring proper, cost-effective implementation of technologies needed to drive business forward," he adds.

Launched in May 2003, PartnerSelect is designed to help channel partners increase both revenue and profitability by establishing an authorized channel to sell Symbol's mission-critical mobility solution products and services, while strengthening Symbol's position as the enterprise mobility market leader. The Symbol PartnerSelect program has delivered demonstrable results consistent with the Company's channel-centric sales model. At the beginning of 2003, 40 percent of Symbol's business was flowing through the channel; by the end of 2003, that number had increased to 55 percent--a 37.5 percent increase. Symbol's goal is to see as much as 75 percent of its business flowing through partners by the end of 2004.

"We are pleased that the Symbol PartnerSelect program has been rated a Five-Star program by VARBusiness," Jan Burton, Symbol vice president of worldwide channels, said. "In less than a year, the Symbol PartnerSelect program, and our channel-centric sales model, has made a significant impact on Symbol's business, as well as the relationships we have with our value-added channel partners."

To determine the most robust vendor-partner programs and to determine those with a five-star ranking, VARBusiness invited IT vendors to submit their descriptions of their channel partner programs between November 2003 and January 2004. The programs were scored on breadth and depth of program elements within each program. Results were tabulated by Answers Research, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based market research and consulting firm.

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