Media Coverages
Readers Weigh In On Management Companies To Watch
Some companies to watch suggested by industry watchers
Network/Systems Management Newsletter
By Denise Dubie, Network World
October 1, 2007 -- For many readers, Network World's series of stories on "companies to watch" seems to miss here and there when it comes to recognizing innovative vendors that address real issues in enterprise networks.
The topic came up in our online community in which readers posted the names of companies they feel would be worth watching. Among some of those listed in the forum were Apere, eG Innovations, Heroix, Netcordia, Nimsoft, Sphere Networks and XTS. While I suspect that at least a few of such posts come from the vendor public relations team, it still brings up a valid point. There are many companies worth watching, despite being more than a few years old and not as well-known as the four acro-heavy market leaders: BMC, CA, HP and IBM.
Several criteria come into play when considering companies to watch that may not be immediately obvious to customers thinking their vendor is truly one to watch. We consider the management team, what is their background? Do we have a former Tivoli Systems executive looking to build another successful start-up? We look to the customers. Has this technology been used yet and is it providing real value? We examine the technology vs. the market. Is this technology something that is in demand now? Does this vendor approach the market in a new and interesting way? And will the technology stand up to larger vendors offering similar products? And we do consider funding, which some people don't understand, but in all honesty, the money can help talented engineers get their technology into products and out of the labs and into customer networks.
And considering that I personally write just a few of these stories per year in my various beats (including IT management and automation) it is difficult to mention all worthy contenders. Add to that the fact that management technology crosses all domains of IT including security, storage, applications, LAN, WAN and the process of winnowing down the named companies gets more complex.
Forrester Research Senior Analyst Evelyn Hubbert suggested I take a closer look at Matrix42: "[This is] a company who does similar things to Altiris and Radia -- client and server configuration and change management. Established in Germany, it is trying to make it in the U.S."
Jasmine Noel, principal analyst at Ptak, Noel & Associates named a few vendors she found interesting. For instance, she says SignaCert has "the ability to validate software configuration even as the software is patched and moved around in a virtual environment, [which] significantly simplifies provisioning and compliance auditing."
Noel also pointed out GridApp, which brings data center automation capabilities to database management, and Onaro that offers storage management. She says, the companies separately "bring these silos more in line with the business service management movement that server, application and network management started."
Yankee Group Associate Analyst Vanessa Alvarez suggested I take a look at Men and Mice, which is "a small network management solution that focuses moreso on the security angle, but recently made an entry into the U.S. network management space and is also a viable solution for the midsize enterprise."
So while our formal lists of companies to watch are limited by specific selection criteria, I welcome any and all individuals to tell me the companies I should have on my radar and why.