Aside from playing the tuba, guest blogger Rich Baldry is also a product manager for our web security solutions based in our Vancouver offices. Over to you Rich..
On Wednesday night I had the great honour of representing Sophos at the British Columbia Technology Industry Awards gala dinner, where the Sophos Web Appliance was given the 2009 Technology Impact Award for Excellence in Product Innovation.
Although our product has won a number of awards on various national and international stages, this one means a lot to me and the team behind the product.
The Web Appliance was conceived and developed by a very talented team of people based here in Vancouver, BC.
Although very much a part of the global Sophos family, we like to think of ourselves as a distinct unit, bringing a different culture and set of experiences to the overall mix.
When we set out to build the product we wanted to greatly simplify the process of allowing users to safely take advantage of all the good things the Web has to offer their businesses.
In order to do this we really had to go back to first principles in areas like UI design, policy models and hardware development.
It's fantastic for everyone at Sophos Vancouver to be recognised on home turf by the local technology industry for their ability to create truly innovative ideas and turn them into a successful product.
BC has a number of very advanced, forward-looking companies in areas like renewable energy, aerospace technology, computer gaming and wireless communications - so to be chosen from amongst that kind of peer group is particularly flattering.
Congratulations to everyone at Sophos in Vancouver - you all played a part in making this product a success.
Thanks also to the many people across the global Sophos family who by selling, supporting, engineering, analyzing, storing, packing and despatching appliances have all contributed.
Here's to many more awards in the future!
