Ergo named Microsoft Ireland Country Partner of the Year for record fifth time in 10 years
Ergo has won the prestigious Microsoft Ireland Country Partner of the Year Award for an unprecedented fifth time in ten years, more than any other Irish company since the awards were established. The annual Microsoft awards programme recognizes partners who have demonstrated excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology; the Country Partner Award is the most prestigious, singling out the best company in a region.
The latest win is the most significant, according to Ergo CEO, John Purdy, because of the role technology will play in helping companies navigate the economic downturn. “At a time when businesses are experiencing unprecedented uncertainty, I have no doubt that the technical skills and competencies that helped Ergo to win this award will be in high demand. Over the next decade, I expect to see many more organizations building agility and resilience into their systems to make them less vulnerable to disruption,” he said. “Every organization needs to learn from the current crisis and rethink their business models.”
Aisling Curtis, Commercial Director at Microsoft Ireland, commented, “Once again Ergo has demonstrated outstanding expertise in implementing and supporting Microsoft technologies and services, and just as importantly, the skills to innovate around them to meet the different needs of our customers and ensure that together, we empower success for our customers.”
The Microsoft judges were impressed by many aspects of Ergo’s Microsoft practice, including its technical capability, its innovation coupled with the consistent upskilling of its people in competencies that enable them to take on the most complex and challenging IT projects.
Microsoft called out the incredible journey Ergo have been on to achieve market-leading maturity in Microsoft cloud migrations, operations, and application modernization. Ergo recently fulfilled rigorous and independent certification processes, to become certified as an Azure Migration Expert, elevating them to Microsoft’s Cloud Partner of Choice in Ireland. Having achieved advanced specializations in ‘Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Microsoft Azure’ and ‘Modernization of Web Applications to Microsoft Azure’, Ergo is now part of an elite group of only three Microsoft partners worldwide with two Azure advanced specializations. Ergo is also the only partner in Ireland to achieve Microsoft 365 FastTrack-ready status, which means customers are in the best-possible hands to accelerate the deployment and end-user adoption of Microsoft 365.
Microsoft received excellent feedback from customers, particularly at the discovery phase, where Ergo carries out a detailed scope of what a project involves. There was praise too for Ergo’s growing DevOps practice, the software development methodology that the Azure environment encourages. Ergo’s Azure business has also grown faster in the last year than any other Irish provider, but perhaps the biggest differentiator, according to the judges, is the focus on change management. With Modern Workplace projects, Ergo’s ability to bring employees on the journey through extensive training workshops stands out from the crowd.
A recent addition to Ergo’s Microsoft portfolio was also significant, the Microsoft Teams Rapid Enablement and Adoption Service. A direct response to Covid-19, it helps businesses quickly set up and support employees working from home with enterprise-class solutions that do not compromise on security or performance. Throughout the pandemic Ergo has run webinars around Microsoft Teams and Windows Virtual Desktop that have been attended by over 700 people.
Microsoft was also impressed by Ergo’s Make-A-Wish Ireland initiative. Ergo raises money for the charity by donating 2% of all monthly subscriptions generated by Microsoft Azure services. Make-A-Wish helps make wishes come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
