Marathon Technologies announced that it has been named as a finalist for the "Best of Tech·Ed 2008 IT Professional Awards" in the virtualization category by Penton Media's Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine. Marathon was awarded the distinction for developing everRun VM, the first fault-tolerant, high availability software for server virtualization. everRun VM addresses one of the major factors that has limited the broader adoption of server virtualization -- a lack of simple and effective high availability technology for virtual environments.

"We are thrilled to be named a finalist for the Best of Tech·Ed 2008 IT Professional Awards," said Gary Phillips, president and CEO of Marathon Technologies. "Given all of the innovation that is happening in the virtualization market, it is significant that the judges understood the importance and value of everRun VM for IT professionals looking to gain the benefits of server virtualization across a much broader range of applications."

The Best of Tech·Ed 2008 Awards recognize companies who offer innovative products in the industry. The judges reviewed more than 220 products and services submitted for the contest and chose 29 finalists.

"Choosing from such a wide variety of outstanding entries is a challenge every year, and the quality of this year's entries was particularly high," said Karen Forster, group editorial and strategy director for Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine. "The products selected as finalists clearly provide innovative solutions and strategic importance to the market, are competitively advantageous, and provide exceptional value to customers."