In what must be one of the rarest events in the global business world, retail giant Woolworths Limited hosted a dinner last month to thank its IT suppliers for their contribution to the success of the company and to hand out awards to its most outstanding suppliers.

The lucky winners for the year were:

Resourcing: TATA Consultancy Services Limited

Infrastructure: EMC Global Holdings Company (Australian Branch)

Consulting, Research and Training: Gartner Australasia Pty Ltd and IBM Australia Ltd

Services: W.W. Wedderburn Pty. Limited

Enabling Software: Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Limited

Application Software: Eagle Datamation International Pty Limited

TATA Consulting Services Limited was awarded the prize for overall IT Supplier of the Year.

Steve Bradley, Woolworths chief logistics and information officer, said: "We are grateful to the IT industry and how our IT suppliers have worked with us to solve problems of growth and upgrade systems in ways that minimise disruption to our business particularly in our stores and distribution centres. For our customers this means better service and a better shopping experience."

Dave Serretta, guest and Woolworths account manager from EMC Global Holdings said: "The overwhelming impression created was extremely professional and re-enforced our sense of being a valued business partner. Clearly Woolworths is a leader in terms of IT supplier relationships."