Spicies Awards Recognize IT Professionals and Technology Brands Making a Difference in the World of IT

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - Oct 11, 2012) - Spiceworks™, Inc., the world's largest IT community, today announced winners of the fifth annual Spicies Awards. The Spicies recognize IT professionals and technology vendors in the Spiceworks Community who have gone above and beyond to help their peers and customers solve problems and stay informed. More than 2.2 million IT professionals and 1,200 technology companies are part of the Spiceworks Community.

This year's Spicies Awards honor IT professionals in three different categories -- Hero, Innovator and Champion. Winners were selected by Spiceworks and represent community members who have steered peers down the right path and helped promote Spiceworks to new IT pros everywhere, all while keeping their environment running in tip-top shape.

The 2012 IT professional award winners are:

• Jay6111 has been given the Hero award, which recognizes the IT pro who has helped peers in need by sharing their experiences and answering their most pressing questions.  
• Bernard Welmers has won the Innovator award honoring those who have provided the product feedback and unique suggestions needed to make Spiceworks the world's most-used network management application. 
• Darren Schoen is this year's Champion award winner. The award highlights the community member who has tirelessly promoted Spiceworks' can-do spirit to fellow IT pros around the world.

In addition to honoring the contributions of IT pros, the 2012 Spicies Awards also recognize representatives from technology brands who have gone out of their way to make the Spiceworks Community the largest of its kind. This year's winners were chosen by IT professionals in the community in three categories -- Artist, Advisor and Guardian. They include:

• Calen Holbrooks of Microsoft has been named this year's Artist award winner. The Artist exemplifies how technology partners can engage with IT pros in ways that are authentic and honest, making them feel like a person, not a prospect. 
• Katie Drucker of Unitrends has been given the Advisor award, which honors the go-to resource for straight-talk, practical insight and the nitty-gritty technology details IT professionals need to do their jobs.
• Priscilla@HP from HP has won the Guardian award recognizing the technology partner that's always there for the IT professional in need, whether they're experiencing a support issue or just need a little help configuring their latest purchase.

2012 Spicies Award winners were honored at SpiceWorld Austin on October 10, 2012. More information on this year's winners may be found on the Spiceworks blog.

About Spiceworks
Spiceworks connects 2.2 million IT professionals with more than 1,200 technology brands to simplify how IT professionals discover, buy and manage nearly $400 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Tenaya Capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Shasta Ventures and Austin Ventures. For more information visit http://www.spiceworks.com. 

Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spiceworks. Connect with Spiceworks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spiceworks. Search for available career and networking opportunities on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/companies/spiceworks. 

Spiceworks is a trademark and Voice of IT is a registered trademark of Spiceworks, Inc. All other names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.