The suspense is over, and 20 companies are celebrating their successes in this year's Software Satisfaction Awards, which were handed out at a glitzy ceremony in London on Thursday night.

"This is the third annual Software Satisfaction Awards dinner - and I'm really proud to see that we have created an annual gathering where the industry can come together as one to celebrate its collective achievements," Sift Media's technology editor John Stokdyk told the 300+ audience.

More than 5,600 people participated in this year's Software Satisfaction survey covering 19 categories of accounting & finance, HR & training, and customer management applications. This is more than double the amount of votes collated last year.

"This is an impressive achievement in tough economic times," said Stokdyk. "Let's see if the industry can continue this trend into 2009."

The winners in the HR & training categories were as follows:

Mid-range software - Octopus

Enterprise software - Softscape Apex

Payroll software - Payroll Manager from Moneysoft

Talent management software - SuccessFactors' ULTRA

Learning management systems - Raptivity from Harbinger Knowledge Products

Congratulations to all prize winners. More coverage will follow in the days to come and a brochure setting out the results in each category will be available shortly from the Software Satisfaction Awards website.