LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - Nov. 4, 2008) - Betfair is delighted to announce the winners of its Technology Suppliers of the Year Awards for 2008.

To maintain market leadership and create a platform for international growth, Betfair exploits technology to enhance the customer experience, underpin innovation and achieve operational efficiency. Having created an IT infrastructure for which there is no blueprint, Betfair looks for suppliers that are flexible enough to meet tough technology challenges and deliver business value. Through the Technology Suppliers Awards, Betfair recognises the organisations that have demonstrated an understanding of Betfair business goals and creative culture.

"Betfair partners with suppliers that support continued business innovation, agility and rapid international growth," says Tony Rigby, Betfair IS Director. "The winners of these awards understand the value of this partnership. They work with us to consistently provide the best, most efficient, most responsive betting exchange and games portfolio."

Categories and Winners

- Hardware supplier of the Year - Avaya

-- Availability and reliability is essential for an excellent customer experience. Betfair must be confident in the resilience of its customer support infrastructure and for this reason, has awarded Avaya its Hardware Supplier of the Year Award for its S8700 & S8720 Communication Manager servers. The partnership with Avaya has delivered zero unplanned downtime over the past year, resulting in an exceptional level of reliability for Betfair's 24/7 contact centre operations across the UK and Malta.

-- "Avaya is delighted to receive this award from Betfair. The security, stability and resilience of Avaya's systems are a key factor for many companies, and we know that they choose Avaya's systems to underpin their mission-critical operations. We look forward to a continuing partnership with Betfair." - Buddie Ceronie, Vice President, Avaya UK, Ireland and South Africa.

- Software Supplier of the Year - Microsoft BI (Proclarity, SQL Server 2005, Excel 2007)

-- A rigorous selection process led to the implementation of Microsoft's suite of Business Intelligence products to optimise the value of Betfair's Data Warehouse. The application has already transformed the speed and efficiency with which users can analyse business performance and drill down into detail. The use of a familiar tool such as Excel 2007 to report directly from BI data has made this a valuable planning and reporting investment for analysts and non-analysts alike.

"It is with great pleasure that we accept the Betfair Software Supplier of the Year Award. At Microsoft we are committed to broadening the reach of BI by providing businesses like Betfair with familiar software to help them identify trends, explore data, and pinpoint what is driving corporate performance. It's really great to see Betfair recognising that the smart money is on Microsoft BI solutions to improve efficiency, and ultimately, set themselves apart from the competition." - Bruce Lynn, Head of UK Server Business Group, Microsoft UK

- Hosting provider of the Year - Engineering IT S.p.A., Italy

-- Betfair's hosting strategy is continually evolving to support its programme of rapid international expansion. Engineering IT S.p.A has demonstrated business understanding and flexibility, supporting continual changes to requirements during Betfair's entrance into the Italian market. Engineering IT S.p.A, acquired Atos Origin during this process and both companies delivered high levels of support and intelligence when resolving issues.

-- "Engineering IT wants to thank Betfair for this recognition. The award is an incentive for us to continue delivering high quality IT services helping Betfair to grow in the Italian market and if possible, in other countries. We look forward to a successful 2009 and to a long and productive relationship." - Antonio Buonora, Service Management Director, Managed Operation, Engineering IT S.p.A.

- Reseller of the Year - Insight Direct UK

-- Insight has "gone the extra mile" to meet challenging delivery deadlines and establish a comprehensive understanding of Betfair's technology and working ethos. With Insight attaining the Cisco Gold Partner status, this relationship is set to progress further.

-- "Insight is delighted to be recognised by Betfair as Reseller of the Year. I believe this is testament to our 'trusted advisor' vision, whereby our expertise in Networking solutions and the strength of our supply chain have enabled us to genuinely add value to the Betfair partnership. It goes without saying that we are looking forward to a successful 2009 with Betfair, as we strive to help them enhance their business performance through innovative technology solutions." Angelo Di-Ventura, Managing Director of Insight UK.

ABOUT BETFAIR:

Betfair is the world's biggest online betting community and pioneered the first successful betting exchange in 2000. Driven by cutting-edge technology, Betfair enables customers to choose their own odds and bet even after the event has started. The company now processes 5 million transactions a day from its 2 million registered customers. In addition to sports betting, Betfair offers a portfolio of innovative products including casino, exchange games and poker.

Betfair has twice been named the UK's 'Company of the Year' at the Confederation of British Industry's Emerging Business Awards and remains one of the only betting companies to win a Queen's Award for Enterprise, being recognised for Innovation in 2003 and most recently for International Trade in 2008.

Betfair currently employs over 1,350 people, principally in London, Malta and Tasmania. The company is a licensed betting operator in the UK, and holds licenses in Australia, Germany, Austria, Italy and Malta.

Betfair Poker:

Betfair Poker was launched in 2005 and operates on its own platform. It is the exclusive online sponsor of the World Series of Poker Europe event. Betfair Poker also sponsors the winner and runner-up from the WSOPE 2007 event (Annette Obrestad and John Tabatabai) as well as online poker pro Sorel Mizzi. For more information, visit www.betfairpoker.com.

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