**Editor’s Note:

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for our recent list of “Top Partners: The Best of the Best,” featuring channel partners recognized by numerous companies in the industry.**

The ASCII Group Inc., a membership-based community of independent MSPs, VARs and solution providers, recently announced the winners of its annual ASCII Cup, Top Contenders and Esteemed Noble Partners.

The awards are bestowed annually to a technology company that has shown outstanding channel goodwill and a commitment to helping ASCII members grow their revenue and serve their customers more effectively. Winners are voted upon by ASCII members at regional events, and the Cup and awards were presented at the ASCII Success Summit in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 19.

ASCII jokes that the humble beginnings of the ASCII Cup are unknown; some say it was discovered after packing up the last box of the final Comdex show, while others think it was discovered in the secret tunnels under a certain campus in Redmond. Some even believe it has been handed down by the Knights Templar.

Regardless of its origins, the ASCII Cup has power, ASCII said in keeping with its riff. As the legend goes, those who are bestowed to guard it will prosper from its keeping. Those who drink from it will flourish from its power.

The 2013 winners of The ASCII Cup, Top Contenders and Esteemed Noble Partners were announced at a private gathering, but ASCII did not name those companies for this blog.