ARMONK, N.Y., Feb 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the winner of its inaugural Beacon Laureate Award, created to recognize a Business Partner which has consistently demonstrated exemplary achievement in a single Beacon Award category. IBM Business Partner Sirius Computer Solutions was selected for the award for its outstanding achievements in the category of technical excellence.

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"It is with great pleasure that I recognize Sirius with the highest honor a Business Partner can receive at IBM," said Mark Hennessy, general manager, IBM Global Business Partner and Midmarket. "We are very appreciative of the resources the Sirius team dedicates to IBM and our mutual clients, from acquiring deep skills and knowledge of IBM technology to the collaborative working relationship Sirius has with our company."

As a winner of the IBM Beacon Award for technical excellence the past three years, Sirius has continued to compete at the highest level - showcasing their skills and expertise to help deliver innovative solutions for its clients. Their strong commitment to developing skills provides employees compensation through the attainment of certain levels of sales and technical skills related to IBM offerings. It is Sirius' investment in acquiring deeper skills and knowledge of IBM technology that has translated into consistently high revenue attainments while at the same time achieving excellent client satisfaction.

"The collaboration with Sirius has been a tremendous asset to help us build our brand awareness among an even more empowered consumer," said Mike Corey, Director of IT and eCommerce, Paragon Sports. "Sirius has been involved in every aspect from navigation to seeing which items are being viewed most often and most importantly, which ones are purchased the most and in turn, helping Paragon Sports deliver an enhanced shopping experience for consumers."

"We are honored to be recognized by IBM as the first recipient of an IBM Beacon Laureate Award." said Joe Mertens, Sirius president and CEO. "Our continued investments in IBM technology skills and implementation capabilities reflect the 'Overall Technical Excellence' we've built over the last three decades. Our national teams of certified and experienced professionals enable us to help our clients meet and exceed their business objectives with innovative technology solutions across the entire data center."

The Beacon Laureate Award and 27 additional Beacon Award winners were announced at the IBM PartnerWorld Leadership Conference 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. More than 1,500 Business Partners and IBM executives from around the world attended the conference.

Media contact:
Lizette Kodama
IBM Media Relations
Cell: 646-675-0750

SOURCE IBM