In recognition of its performance and accomplishments as a Cisco (News - Alert) channel partner in 2008, distributor CDW Corp. has been graced with five Cisco Partner Summit awards.

The awards, which were given June 3 at Cisco’s annual channel partner conference in Boston, include Global Small Business Partner of the Year; U.S. and Canada National Small Business Partner of the Year; U.S. and Canada Theater Small Business Partner of the Year; Public Sector Mobility Partner of the Year; and Central Region Enterprise Partner of the Year.

In a release, Matt Troka, CDW's (News - Alert) vice president of product and partner management, said the awards “further validate CDW’s continued commitment to working closely with its partners to ensure that we deliver value to meet our customers’ evolving technology needs.”

“Cisco is an essential partner, as we share a dedication to supporting customers and their technology needs across all market segments – public and private, large and small,” Troka said.

CDW no doubt sold a substantial amount of Cisco equipment in 2008 – driven mainly by the fact that companies, government agencies and educational institutions continue to invest in VoIP, unified communications and conferencing systems, including the related servers, routers, gateways and other network devices required for network upgrade. As one of the largest distributors of Cisco gear, it only seems appropriate that CDW came away with these five accolades.

The objective of Global Awards is to recognize exemplary channel partners whose behavior Cisco would like other partners to model. Nominations include innovative practices, applications successes, unique programs, problem solving and sales approaches. All winners are selected by Cisco Worldwide Channels and Theater executives.

Cisco Partner Summit awards are presented at three levels: regional, theater and global. They reflect a partner’s performance within a specific technology market across several geographic regions. Theater and regional awards reflect a partner’s performance in a given region of the United States or Canada.

Founded in 1984, CDW Corp. is one of the largest companies in the United States, and currently employs approximately 6,400 workers. In 2008, the company generated sales of $8.1 billion.