NEWPORT BEACH, CA, Sep. 23, 2009 (Marketwire) --

NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 09/23/09 -- GTDC SUMMIT -- The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) today announced the winners of its 2009 Rising Star Awards in recognition of outstanding U.S. sales results through GTDC member distributors. GTDC members represent more than $100 billion in annual worldwide sales to IT resellers, retailers and solution providers that serve end customers ranging from small-and-mid-size businesses to large enterprises as well as home consumers.

The Rising Star winners, announced at the GTDC Summit awards dinner last night, were selected based on U.S. revenue or market share growth over the past year, as reported by market research company The NPD Group in its Distributor Track® service. This year's Rising Star Award categories and winners are:

               $500 Million+
Based on highest year-over-year market share growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Cisco                 Gold
     HP                    Silver
     Lexmark               Bronze

        $100 Million - $500 Million
Based on highest year-over-year revenue growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Sharp                 Gold
     ASUS                  Silver
     NetApp                Bronze

        $15 Million - $100 Million
Based on highest year-over-year revenue growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Check Point           Gold
     Philips               Silver
     McAfee                Bronze

    $15 Million+ Software Vendor Category
Based on highest year-over-year revenue growth

     Company               Rising Star Ranking
     -------------------   -------------------
     Red Hat               Gold
     IBM                   Silver
     VMware                Bronze

GTDC Summit Today

The GTDC Vendor Summit conference -- the industry's premier gathering of IT distribution leaders, channel executives and research analysts -- continues today with a broad range of panels, presentations and breakout sessions focused on key trends, issues and opportunities. Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini is the featured keynote speaker this morning, and Aruba Networks President and CEO Dominic Orr addressed attendees at last night's Rising Star Awards dinner. For more information on the Summit and other GTDC events, go to http://gtdc.org/events.htm.

Rising Star Awards Methodology

Sales results for Rising Star award winners are based on actual U.S.