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Navantis Inc.

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2013 Steve Awards for Women in Business

Company: Navantis Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada
Company Description: Navantis combines strategy, design and technology to help our clients realize new opportunities and solve business challenges. Founded in 1998, Navantis is Microsoft's Canadian Partner of the year in 2012, named by Branham Group as one of Canada's "Top Movers & Shakers", ranked by CDN one of Canada's top 100 Solution Providers and awarded 4 Channel Elite Awards from CDN in 2012
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year in Canada

Nomination Title: Susie Ibbotson, Marketing & Corporate Communications Executive

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):

Susie Ibbotson and her accomplishments aren’t new to the IT Channel so it’s no surprise that in the past year she has raised the bar again. After being honoured by CDN Magazine as one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Women in the IT Channel late last summer, she joined the Navantis team and has been instrumental in growing the brand and influencing record breaking 40% growth in marketing, lead generation and sales.

Educating new and existing clients on solutions that will provide a real answer to their business challenges is one of Susie’s specialties and it’s something people not only need but are asking for. With this in mind, Susie established the Navantis Expert Series, created to solve real business problems using thought leadership through technology.

The series kicked off with a BYOD event. BYOD, or Bring your Own Device, is one of the hottest challenges IT teams face as demand grows from their employees. Gartner has predicted that by 2014 "90% of organizations will support corporate applications on personal devices". Susie pioneered the Canadian BYOD Event, providing education and roadmaps for corporate IT enabling any computing device, smartphone or tablet into their business without worrying about IT setup, support and security.

As a result of Susie’s first class strategy and vision, Navantis has realized double-digit growth and been recognized with multiple awards in the past twelve months. This has included Branham Group as one of Canada's "Top Movers & Shakers" for double digit growth, by CDN one of Canada's top 100 Solution Providers and 4 Channel Elite Awards for innovation. Navantis also received the 2011 Microsoft Canada "Choice" Partner of the Year Award and 2012 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year (Canada) Award. Redmond Partner Channel named Navantis Microsoft’s most competent Partner in Canada of 2000+ competitors. Most recently Navantis was named a finalist in 7 Canadian Impact Awards Categories – more than any other partner in Canada.

In July 2012 Microsoft welcomed 16,000 international partners to Toronto. Susie played a key role in orchestrating events and meetings designed to foster global relationships.

In addition to her day job, Susie remains active in a variety of volunteer roles helping members of the industry connect and reach their personal and business goals. Susie sits on the IAMCP Board as the VP of Membership & Communications. Since her appointment last year membership has doubled. She is currently working to launch a Channel Leader Association in conjunction with Fawn Annan, CEO if IT World Canada.

In the past year Susie has implemented programs to help young mothers transition back to the workforce with confidence. She is known and respected as a mentor and coach for a wide range of professional women.

Susie leads by example; courageous, competent, committed, innovative and passionate about her role as a trend setting marketer, business leader, role model and Mom. She treats everyone she meets with dignity and respect, has a positive energy that is contagious and a work ethic everyone should take note of.

Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 100 words):

Forging relationships and crafting the message is Susie's domain, and she loves what she does. With over 15 years of growing businesses through intelligent B2B and B2C marketing for the likes of non-linear creations, Cyberplex, IT World Canada, Cybermation and Xwave, she's highly skilled in the planning and execution of national and global marketing programs that work.

At Navantis Inc., Susie’s unique vision has influenced substantial y/y growth in marketing lead generation and sales. Her passion and her mission are clear - help clients solve their business challenges and build the Navantis brand. And that’s exactly what she’s doing.