Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners of the 2006 Microsoft� Partner of the Year Awards. The awards recognize Microsoft Registered, Certified and Gold Certified partners that delivered exemplary solutions for their customers during the past year. Award winners were chosen from a group of finalists from around the world. Winners were announced at Microsoft�s Worldwide Partner Conference 2006, the company�s premier annual event for industry partners, held this year in Boston. In addition, Microsoft announced the winners of the Global Enterprise Services and Technology Partner of the Year, Global ISV Partner of the Year, Customer Experience, and Winning Customer awards.

More than 2,400 entries were submitted by partners worldwide; the award winners were selected from a group of finalists based on their dedicated use of Microsoft technologies to provide solutions for their customers� needs. Finalists for each category were chosen from defined regions of the world: Asia-Pacific; Canada; China; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Latin America; Japan; and the United States.