Nominee #1 – Foggy Ops
Nominated by: Gozynta Consulting
FoggyOps initially engaged with us to implement HaloPSA. As a new MSP, they asked the right questions. Their commitment to building a scalable business and applying industry best practices was clear from the start. John and his team has worked closely with us to implement a winning Strategy and scalable processes after the initial engagement had ended. From implementing their MSA, Pricing plans and structure, to working on their identity as a business and business plan, their collaboration and dedication to doing this right and investing in their future was their top priority.
Nominee response:
When FoggyOps was formed through the acquisition of an existing MSP, we brought deep technical expertise but knew we needed a strong operational and business foundation to scale. We initially found Gozynta through the HaloPSA onboarding process, but the relationship quickly grew well beyond that starting point. Brendan and his team didn’t just help us implement HaloPSA the right way — they engaged with us on the processes, pricing structures, and MSA framework that a professional services business actually requires, and eventually on our broader business strategy and identity as a company.
One of my core goals in building FoggyOps is to create a place where IT engineers genuinely enjoy coming to work — where they feel valued, not burned out or taken for granted. That kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident; it requires the right foundation, the right processes, and a clear sense of who you are as a business. Brendan and his team have been instrumental in helping us get there. The results reflect it: strong revenue growth, a team that is engaged and motivated, and clients who are genuinely satisfied with the service they receive. Gozynta didn’t just help us implement software; they helped us build a business worth being proud of.
Nominee #2 – Global Data Systems
Nominated by: Partner Development Group
When Global Data Systems (GDS) partnered with Partner Development Group (PDG), the objective was clear: turn a strong technical Microsoft practice into a more structured, measurable, and scalable Microsoft growth engine. GDS already had deep delivery capabilities across Modern Work, Security, Infrastructure, Microsoft Copilot and AI, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Purview, and CSP through Pax8. What the company needed was a disciplined partner development model that could sharpen Microsoft alignment, strengthen operational execution, and convert capability into repeatable marketplace, co-sell, and incentive outcomes.
PDG began by establishing a managed partner development rhythm with GDS, including weekly synchronization, scorecard tracking, and a structured roadmap tied directly to Microsoft priorities. Together, the teams focused on designation readiness, co-sell discipline, Marketplace optimization, MCI enrollment, and offer packaging. Rather than treating Microsoft programs as disconnected administrative tasks, PDG helped GDS organize them into a practical execution framework aligned to growth.
The results were measurable. Over five months, GDS improved its overall Microsoft partner score from 20.0% to 34.8%. Its co-sell and referral score increased from 9% to 33%, supported by active referral submissions and stronger deal registration discipline. Marketplace usage improved from 9% to 24%, with GDS maintaining an active publisher ID and live offers while continuing to build toward co-sell-ready and transactable offerings. Incentives usage also advanced from 9% to 25%, with MCI programs enrolled and active.
A major milestone was GDS achieving the Microsoft Solutions Partner designation for Modern Work with a score of 89 out of 100. PDG and GDS then shifted focus toward the next strategic target: Solutions Partner for Security. With GDS already at 60 out of 100, the remaining 10-point gap became a focused execution plan built around certifications, customer evidence, and MCI-aligned engagements such as the Cloud Security Envisioning Workshop and Data Security Envisioning Workshop.
The collaboration also strengthened GDS’s market positioning. PDG helped connect GDS’s proprietary five-phase methodology—Cyber Hygiene, Pay the Debt, Data Governance, Introduce AI, and Enablement—to Microsoft solution areas, customer demand signals, and scalable go-to-market motions. This gave GDS a clearer story for Microsoft sellers, customers, and ecosystem partners.
For GDS, the partnership with PDG has created more than incremental program progress. It has established a repeatable operating model for Strategic Microsoft Partner Development—one that turns Microsoft alignment into visible progress, stronger field engagement, and a practical path toward long-term partner growth.
Over the past year, GDS has been deliberately evolving from a traditional managed service provider into what we describe as a managed intelligence provider. By that we mean a partner that unifies the entire office environment, including users, endpoints, collaboration, security, voice, network, and cloud, and applies operational and security intelligence on top of it to anticipate risk, recommend action, and deliver measurable outcomes rather than simply close tickets. We did not step away from our MSP foundation. We built on nearly four decades of it. What materially changed is how we package and deliver work: a standardized delivery pipeline, tiered Secure Plus and Secure Plus Premium (Modern Workplace) offerings, a governance-by-design security baseline across Microsoft Defender, Entra, and Purview, and a repeatable AI-readiness methodology that carries customers from cyber hygiene through governed Copilot adoption. Hard-won engineering expertise now ships as repeatable, scalable solutions instead of one-off projects.
Partner Development Group gave that transformation structure and proof. Through a managed partner-development rhythm of weekly cadence, scorecards, and a roadmap tied directly to Microsoft’s priorities, they helped us translate a broad technical vision into disciplined execution, align our offers to Microsoft solution areas and to Marketplace, co-sell, and incentive motions, and validate real progress. That includes Solutions Partner for Modern Work at 89 out of 100, our overall partner score rising from 20% to nearly 35% in five months, and active momentum toward Solutions Partner for Security. That discipline made us more scalable without making us less nimble, a clear example of how a strong channel relationship turns technical capability into a durable, growth-ready operating model.
Nominee #3 – Folkerson Communications
Nominated by: Intermedia
A key part of their success is their commitment to helping clients continually enhance the way they communicate. Folkerson Communications has embraced Intermedia’s UC solutions and takes an active role in learning about new capabilities, features, and services so they can bring the latest technology and greater value to their customers.
What truly differentiates Folkerson Communications is their hands-on approach. They take pride in delivering solutions that work for the customer—not just at implementation, but as the customer’s needs evolve. Their team works closely with their clients and hand-in-hand with Intermedia to address challenges, identify opportunities, and make sure customers are getting the most from their communications investment.
Their willingness to learn, collaborate, and continually introduce customers to new capabilities makes Folkerson Communications a great example of what a strong Intermedia partnership can accomplish.
Why Folkerson Communications Wins
– Customer-first mindset: They focus on delivering solutions that solve real customer communication needs.
– Commitment to innovation: They actively learn about new Intermedia features and services so their customers can benefit from the latest technology.
-Hands-on ownership: They take pride in making sure the solution is implemented correctly and delivers the expected results.
-Continuous improvement: They look beyond the initial sale for opportunities to enhance each customer’s communications environment.
-True partnership: Their team works closely with both their customers and Intermedia, creating a collaborative approach to long-term customer success.
The result: Folkerson Communications isn’t simply selling UC—they are becoming a trusted communications advisor to their customers, backed by Intermedia’s integrated communications platform and our commitment to partner success.
Folkerson Communications has been selling Premise Phone Systems for 30 years and selling hosted for 7 years. We have experienced relationships with several other hosted providers until we landed with Intermedia. We became a Customer Ownership Agent that allowed us to work very closely with our customers on the solution and implementation of projects.
We are successful with Intermedia because we are partners, they are part of our team, and we are part of theirs. Together we bring technology, quality product and solutions to our customers that help move their business forward in a competitive market. I have heard it said that my industry is becoming a commodity, I disagree. It is all about solution selling and customer service. With Intermedia, their products and agent support has been great. I would also like to point out that our Partner Account Manager, Monica Escamilla, has always been there and her support is second to none. She is awesome.
I am excited about the future of the technology that is advancing, and I look forward to a strong continue relationship with Intermedia.
Nominee #4 – Vital Technology Services
Nominated by: ThreatLocker
Vitaltech Solutions — Turning Compliance Into a Competitive Advantage
Vitaltech Solutions is redefining how managed service providers approach cybersecurity compliance by transforming it from a reactive obligation into a repeatable, high value business service. A recent engagement with a financial services organization highlights this innovation and the measurable outcomes it delivers.
The client initially faced mounting regulatory pressure tied to SEC cybersecurity expectations, rising cyber insurance scrutiny, and customer demand for proof of security maturity. At the start of the engagement, the organization had limited to virtually no formal compliance posture, no structured alignment to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), and minimal documentation to support security claims. What they did have was escalating risk—and no clear path forward.
Vitaltech recognized this was not simply a technical issue, but a business and regulatory problem. To solve it, Sean Vitale and the Vitaltech team partnered with Blacksmith InfoSec and leveraged the Blacksmith Platform to create a structured, defensible approach to both NIST CSF alignment and SEC-related compliance requirements.
The engagement began with the Blacksmith Platform’s automated gap assessment, mapping the client’s environment and processes against NIST CSF and SEC expectations. Rather than overwhelming the client with spreadsheets or abstract scores, Vitaltech used Blacksmith’s risk prioritized roadmap to focus on the controls that would deliver the greatest regulatory and risk reduction impact.
Early in the project, Vitaltech used the Blacksmith Platform’s policy templates and built in framework mappings to rapidly complete the client’s entire policy suite. All required policies were finalized, reviewed, and formally accepted—cutting months off what is traditionally a painful and slow manual process. With governance and documentation completed first, Vitaltech was able to immediately pivot to control remediation tied directly to compliance requirements.
Within approximately one quarter, the client moved from nearly zero compliance maturity to almost 75% alignment with NIST CSF and SEC related expectations. Vitaltech implemented meaningful security improvements, including stronger access controls, encryption, and improved endpoint and device posture. Following initial remediation efforts, critical and high severity security gaps dropped by at least 50%, with continued improvement ongoing.
Beyond risk reduction, the project uncovered outdated and vulnerable technologies that were no longer necessary. By modernizing and eliminating this legacy infrastructure, the client is now saving approximately $6,000 per month, turning security improvement into direct operational savings.
What makes this engagement award worthy is its repeatability. By combining advisory expertise with the Blacksmith Platform’s automation and reporting, Vitaltech has built a scalable compliance service model that can be deployed across regulated clients. This approach positions Vitaltech not just as an MSP, but as a trusted compliance and risk advisory partner—demonstrating true innovation and excellence in service delivery.
Sean and his team are always looking for new ways to engage with their clients to be better IT providers and partners and have leveraged Blacksmith not only to get their clients compliant, but also to get better visibility into their clients line of business systems and suppliers to help them find cost savings and better vendors.
VTS is honored and excited to receive this nomination. We would be happy to head to Dallas in October for the opportunity to potentially receive an award.
Vital Technology Solutions started working with ThreatLocker over four years ago. The Zero Trust mindset has been around for some time, but it was really starting to gain momentum in our region around that period. Ransomware was reaching new highs and receiving enough media coverage that most business owners had at least heard of it by then. VTS had only dealt with a couple of true ransomware attacks at that point, but we could see the writing on the wall.
I went to a few different expos and was exposed to a couple of different options offering similar risk mitigation. In the end I chose to go with ThreatLocker and have never looked back.
It took us some time to get ThreatLocker deployed, mainly because we wanted to understand exactly how it worked before deploying it to our customers. We found that ThreatLocker provides a truly impressive white-glove experience with training and deployment, including bi-weekly and then monthly check-ins with our account rep and a technical specialist.
Together, we reviewed what was going on in our tenant, and they began training my team and me on the proper way to manage the platform while also adapting to the way we do things. This was unexpected, but it ended up being extremely successful. Our ThreatLocker team helped keep us from making easy mistakes and made sure we were notified if changes we were making could potentially have a negative impact on our customers.
For all of these reasons, our experience with ThreatLocker has been outstanding and has helped us strengthen security for our current customers. Having the confidence to successfully deploy this level of security with minimal customer impact allows VTS to stand out in our region as a trusted and desirable security partner.
Thank you again for the opportunity and for considering Vital Technology Solutions for this nomination.
Nominee #5 – tekrescue
Nominated by:
PhinSecurity
https://www.phinsecurity.com/tekrescue-uncut-phinatic-phin-security
tekRESCUE’s relationship with Phin Security centered on improving security awareness training without adding significant administrative overhead or creating a negative experience for end users.
The MSP partnered with Phin in November 2022 and incorporated the platform into its broader cybersecurity offering for small and midsized businesses. At the time of the case study, tekRESCUE had 35 clients, more than 260 active users and four administrators using the platform.
The company wanted a training approach that emphasized education and positive rein
forcement rather than punishment, embarrassment or heavy reliance on scores and leaderboards. It also wanted content that users would find relevant and memorable enough to influence day-to-day security behavior.
tekRESCUE integrated Phin into its onboarding process, including a welcome call that explains expectations around security awareness training and phishing simulations. According to the case study, implementation was straightforward and end-user resistance remained low.
The relationship also focused on keeping management requirements light for tekRESCUE staff. With four administrators using the platform, the company reported that ongoing administration required relatively little attention compared with more time-intensive security awareness programs.
Overall, the relationship centered on making security awareness training easier for tekRESCUE to manage while giving clients a more approachable way to participate in ongoing phishing and security education.
Key results
- 76.9% reduction in phishing clicks for one client, even while tekRESCUE increased the number of phishing simulations
- 99.9% estimated client satisfaction with the training, according to tekRESCUE
- More users reporting suspicious emails instead of clicking
- Greater leadership engagement with security awareness
- Low administrative burden for tekRESCUE staff
- Security awareness training that supports sales conversations with new clients
FlexPoint
https://www.getflexpoint.com/customer-stories/tekrescue
FlexPoint and tekRESCUE’s relationship centered on improving billing efficiency, reducing manual administrative work and giving customers more direct control over payments.
According to the case study, tekRESCUE reported a 75% improvement in accounting efficiency and 20 hours saved per month. The company also automated more of its recurring billing and payment collection, which reduced the amount of time staff spent monitoring routine invoices and allowed more attention to problem accounts.
The platform also changed how payment information was handled. Customers could enter and store credit card or banking information directly and access invoices and upcoming payments through a self-service portal, reducing some of the manual handling by tekRESCUE staff.
The relationship also included ongoing product feedback. tekRESCUE shared requests and workflow suggestions with FlexPoint, and some of those ideas were later reflected in product updates.
FlexPoint also supported short-term financing options for tekRESCUE clients without requiring staff to manually track the additional monthly payments.
Overall, the relationship focused on automating back-office processes while giving tekRESCUE more flexibility in how it manages billing and customer payments.
