25 Emerging Vendors You Need To Know About

The Ones To Watch

This year's edition of the CRN Emerging Vendors list has more than 180 companies. And they all have something going for them, whether it's ground-breaking technology, visionary leadership, devotion to a channel strategy, or some combination of those and other qualities.

We've picked 25 here that we think the channel should especially be aware of. Some offer particularly unique, innovative technologies that have the potential to remake the segment of the IT industry in which they compete. Others we've selected because of their devotion to the channel. Many are just a year or two beyond their start -- a few are just getting off the launch pad and barely on anyone's radar -- while some are more established and already upsetting the status quo.

Who knows where they'll be tomorrow.

Alation

Redwood City, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Satyen Sangani

Startup Alation exited stealth in March, debuting its enterprise data-accessibility platform that helps people more easily find, understand, use and govern their data for making faster and better decisions.

Alation said its platform combines elements of machine learning with human insight to capture information about what the data describes, where it comes from, who's using it and how it's being used. The company's key executives and technologists came from Oracle, Google, Apple and other IT companies.

Aspenta

Atlanta

Top Executive: CEO Walid Moneimne

Aspenta is a mobile network operator and Internet-of-Things technology developer enabling connectivity for machine-to-machine devices. The vendor's product portfolio includes consumer and business applications, such as fleet tracking and logistics management software, a customizable and scalable IoT platform, remote gateways, and global roaming voice, data and M2M SIM cards.

Aspenta is well-positioned to help VARs in the potentially explosive IoT market as businesses seek ways to connect with -- and collect data from -- huge numbers of devices. Aspenta is actively searching for solution provider partners to implement its connected devices and machine-to-machine technologies, offering a way to convert their businesses to a services-based, recurring revenue model.

AtScale

San Mateo, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Dave Mariani

Getting information out of the Hadoop big data platform can be a challenge. AtScale developed the AtScale Intelligence Platform, which allows commonly used business intelligence tools to access data stored in Hadoop clusters. The company came out of stealth mode in April.

AtScale's technology works by providing a semantic layer between Hadoop and business analytics tools, turning Hadoop into an OLAP (online analytical processing) server. That allows users to tap into Hadoop data for multidimensional analysis without the need for IT to develop custom code or move data into separate data stores or legacy BI systems.

Cloud4Wi

San Francisco

Top Executive: President and CEO Andrea Calcagno

Cloud4Wi develops a Wi-Fi engagement platform that works alongside guest Wi-Fi systems at retail stores, coffee shops, restaurants and other venues. Used with a cloud platform and web applications, the Cloud4Wi system leverages its analytics capabilities to deliver marketing and advertising messages to increase customer loyalty and retention.

In May, the company unveiled Fogsense, a small Internet-of-Things Wi-Fi device that provides businesses with presence analytics and location-based services, improving customer engagement in realtime.

CognitiveScale

Austin, Texas

Top Executive: CEO Akshay Sabhikhi

CognitiveScale's cloud-based technology goes beyond traditional big data analysis by making sense of what's known as dark data, unstructured information that usually goes uncollected and unanalyzed, such as employee or payroll files, online customer reviews and social postings.

The startup's technology uses a cognitive computing layer to infuse the analysis process with greater intelligence -- the more information the application collects, the smarter it gets. The technology was created by a number of former IBM employees who played a role in developing that company's Watson supercomputer project.

Confluent

Mountain View, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Jay Kreps

Confluent offers a data platform, based on the Apache Kafka open-source messaging system, for collecting, managing and analyzing streaming data in realtime -- a major challenge in the worlds of big data and the Internet of Things.

Confluent was launched in September 2014 to provide technology and services that help businesses adopt and use Kafka. The company was co-founded by Jay Kreps, Neha Narkhede and Jun Rao, who created Kafka while working at LinkedIn. Confluent raised $24 million in Series B funding earlier this month.

CrowdStrike

Irvine, Calif.

Top Executive: President and CEO George Kurtz

CrowdStrike is a developer of next-generation endpoint security technology and services focused on identifying advanced threats and targeted attacks. The cloud-based CrowdStrike Falcon Platform uses execution profiling and predictive security analytic capabilities to identify unknown malware, detect zero-day threats and prevent damage from targeted attacks in realtime.

Earlier this month, CrowdStrike landed $100 million in Series C funding, some of which the company plans on investing in its growing channel program.

DataGravity

Nashua, N.H.

Top Executive: CEO Paula Long

After several years of development, DataGravity exited stealth last year with its "data-aware" Discovery Series storage systems that help IT managers and line-of-business users store, protect, search and govern their data. At the core of the system is the DataGravity Engine that analyzes data as it's ingested.

DataGravity sells 100 percent through the channel, and the company continues to ramp up its DataGravity Partner Network program for resellers.

FinalCode

San Jose, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Gord Boyce

Security technology startup FinalCode offers what it describes as the ultimate means to secure sensitive files anywhere inside or outside a corporate network. Based on the patented CryptoEase technology, FinalCode provides user-defined and corporate policy-enforced file security with granular controls and the ability to remotely delete files.

FinalCode works with applications, file storage, devices, cloud and content management systems, and across all communications channels. File security is available as Software-as-a-Service, virtual appliance or hybrid offerings through the company's network of authorized partners.

Hexis Cyber Solutions

Hanover, Md.

Top Executive: President Chris Fedde

Hexis Cyber Solutions provides advanced cybersecurity technology and services that help businesses and government agencies defend against cyberthreats. The company's HawkEye products include realtime endpoint sensors, network detection and threat analytics technology for automated threat detection and response.

The company's Hexis Cyber Solutions HawkEye partner program recruits value-added resellers and integrators who are focused on enterprise customers, especially in such industries as energy and critical infrastructure, telecommunications, retail, financial services, health care and government.

Infrascale

El Segundo, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Ken Shaw

Infrascale calls itself the complete data protection platform for enterprises and MSPs. The startup offers hybrid cloud business continuity and IT disaster recovery management systems that deliver backup, disaster recovery, file sharing and data archiving services with military-grade security. The systems protect physical and virtual servers, workstations and even mobile devices.

Infrascale's sales grew 50 percent in 2014, and as of early this year the company had more than 1,000 solution provider partners with 250,000 customer companies.

Interana

Menlo Park, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Ann Johnson

Interana develops technology to help businesses analyze streaming data in realtime. The company's analytical software works with clickstream data and other "events-based" information to help users answer questions about how customers behave and how products are used. The goal is to provide actionable business intelligence for nontechnical users.

Interana was founded in 2013 and just exited stealth mode in October 2014. The company raised $20 million in Series B financing in January.

Nasuni

Natick, Mass.

Top Executive: President and CEO Andres Rodriguez

Nasuni provides cloud network-attached storage (NAS) systems that combine on-premise hardware and software with cloud storage running on Microsoft Azure. The company said its offering costs 40 percent less than typical NAS and data-protection systems.

Nasuni follows a 100 percent channel model with its Nasuni Partner Connect program. In May, the company won a Codie Award for best cloud infrastructure from the Software & Information Industry Association.

Pneuron

Nashua, N.H.

Top Executive: President and CEO Simon Moss

This startup has developed the Pneuron Distributed Platform, a unique integration and development system that connects IT, applications, data sources, analytics and processes throughout a distributed organization. The platform includes elements of service-oriented architecture, distributed computing, business-process management and data ETL (extract, transform and load) technologies.

Pulse Secure

San Jose, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna

Pulse Secure, Juniper Networks' mobile security division spin-off, develops access and mobile security systems for enterprises and service providers. The vendor provides a SSL virtual private network, unified network access control, workspace virtualized application containerization on mobile devices and other mobile security products.

In June, the company rolled out the new Connect Now channel partner program as it seeks to establish itself as a stand-alone mobile security provider. It also named Ramakrishna, a former Citrix executive, as the company's CEO.

Saratoga Speed

San Jose, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Sharad Mehrotra

Saratoga Speed builds next-generation all-flash storage arrays that the company said offer extreme capacity and extreme performance. The systems combine the extensibility of an Intel/Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform with hardware purpose-built to accelerate flash storage.

The company's array systems are targeted for high-performance block storage and file systems, and can be used to host high-performance databases and applications. Saratoga Speed's go-to-market strategy is primarily channel-oriented, and the startup is actively recruiting solution provider partners.

The Sixth Flag

Raleigh, N.C.

Top Executive: CEO and Co-Founder Pete Kofod

The Sixth Flag, which just launched earlier this year, offers highly secure, HTML-rendered Desktop-as-a-Service solutions that are specifically designed to serve the remote enterprise user. Users can access their applications from any desktop PC, laptop or tablet computer, while system administrators can manage the configuration and software installed on the desktop.

Skyport Systems

Mountain View, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Stefan Dyckerhoff

Skyport Systems develops hyper-secured infrastructure, an engineered hardware, software and service stack that ensures the security of mission-critical IT and corporate assets through tight integration of compute, security, virtualization and policy management.

In July the startup launched the SkySecure Partner Program for resellers, managed security service providers and systems integrators. The program gives partners access to the company's on-site/on-demand product evaluation program and provides partners with deal registration, sales and technical training materials, and a library of marketing resources.

SolidFire

Boulder, Colo.

Top Executive: CEO Dave Wright

SolidFire manufactures scale-out, all-flash storage systems designed for next-generation data centers. The systems deliver high performance for applications in multitenant environments, such as those delivered by cloud service providers.

In June, SolidFire added new specialization tiers to its Cloud Builder Partner Program that recognize partner expertise in such areas as virtualization, OpenStack, Agile infrastructure and "master cloud builder." Partners include resellers, systems integrators and distributors.

StarMobile

Atlanta

Top Executive: President and CEO Todd Fryburger

StarMobile offers a codeless, cloud-based development system that businesses use to transform any packaged on-premise or cloud application or custom-built software into a mobile application. The platform supports any mobile device. In April, the company said the StarMobile platform even supports the Apple Watch.

Trifacta

San Francisco

Top Executive: Adam Wilson

Making big data accessible and usable is a major challenge for many businesses. Trifacta develops technology that's used to transform raw, complex data into clean and structured formats for analysis. Trifacta calls the process "data wrangling."

In May, Trifacta struck an alliance with Salesforce.com through which Trifacta's software is integrated with Salesforce Analytics Cloud, the cloud application company's data visualization tool. That allows business users to prepare raw data in Hadoop and deliver it to Salesforce Analytics Cloud for analysis.

Twistlock

San Francisco

Top Executive: CEO Ben Bernstein

Twistlock is developing technology for securing containers, providing control of, and visibility into, applications running in Linux containers. As container technology from Docker and other vendors become more pervasive in the data center, the need to secure those containers is seen as a growing challenge.

In May, Twistlock landed $2.5 million in seed funding to continue its Israel-based development work.

Vapor IO

Austin, Texas

Top Executive: CEO Cole Crawford

Vapor IO, which just emerged from stealth in March, offers a "hyper modular" data center system designed to run in compact, big-city data centers. The systems include hyper-collapsed server racks along with management and analytics software needed to power data centers.

The startup is betting that the data centers of the future, including those powering the Internet of Things, will be compact, geographically dispersed and intelligent. Such data centers will be located in denser urban areas on the edge of major networks and have smaller footprints than most data centers today.

vArmour

Mountain View, Calif.

Top Executive: CEO Timothy Eades

VArmour is among a new generation of security technology vendors that are moving security into the data center, in contrast to the traditional focus on perimeter security. As more virtualized and cloud IT assets operate in a world without perimeters, the old way of securing IT processes, applications and infrastructure doesn't cut it.

In July, vArmour struck a deal with converged infrastructure provider Nutanix to provide workload security to private cloud systems.

Vijilan Security

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Top Executive: CEO Rogerio Reis

Vijilan offers managed security services that solution providers and managed solution providers can "white-label" to deliver 24/7 security monitoring, detection and response services to their customers. The services are based on a combination of proprietary and commercial security technologies. Vijilan has a 100 percent channel business model.