2014 Virtualization 50

Virtualization Expands Into New Areas

In the last year the use of virtualization has continued to expand beyond its server roots and, more recently, virtual desktop infrastructure, into other areas of IT infrastructure such as networking and data storage. And like so many other data center offerings, developers of virtualization technologies are increasingly turning to the cloud to deliver their services.

Virtualization remains one of the hottest segments of the IT industry. Here CRN presents its annual list of the virtualization vendors -- established players and the startups – that need to be on the channel's radar.

2X Software

CEO: Nikolaos Makris

Dallas

2X Software is a leader in the virtual desktop arena with its 2X Application Server XG that provides desktop virtualization and application delivery capabilities. Recently released Version 11 offers enterprise functionality such as site management and role-based administration capabilities.

AppSense

CEO: Scott Arnold

Sunnyvale, Calif.

AppSense recently updated its DesktopNow software for virtual and physical desktop management, offering more support for heterogeneous environments. In January the vendor overhauled its North American Channel Partner Program and named 11 partners to the new Platinum tier.

Atlantis Computing

President and CEO: Bernard Harguindeguy

Mountain View, Calif.

Atlantis Computing develops virtual desktop infrastructure and software-defined storage technology. In February the company debuted its next-generation Atlantis ILIO USX in-memory, software-defined storage technology that allows customers to deploy five times more virtual machines on their existing storage systems.

Big Switch Networks

CEO: Douglas Murray

Mountain View, Calif.

Big Switch champions what it calls "Software-Defined Networking 2.0," which uses bare metal switches running the company's Switch Light software for orchestrating virtual and physical networks. Late last year the company previewed its application-aware, unified physical+virtual SDN switching fabric technology.

CA Technologies

CEO: Michael Gregoire

Islandia, N.Y.

CA is a player in the market for services automation and virtualization with offerings such as its CA LISA Service Virtualization. Service virtualization is a critical component of DevOps, the methodology for fostering collaboration between development and operations teams.

Catbird

CEO: Edmundo Costa

Scotts Valley, Calif.

Catbird develops security policy automation and enforcement software for virtual infrastructure, including software-defined networks, and private clouds. In February the company launched Catbird 6.0, a new release of its flagship product with extended support for both VMware and Microsoft hypervisors.

Ceedo Technologies

Founder and CEO: Dror Wettenstein

Netanya, Israel

Ceedo pitches its workspace virtualization technology as an alternative to traditional VDI. Its software virtualizes application deployment and management, security and portable computing. Ceedo Personal allows users to carry their Windows-based work environment on such devices as USB flash drives and mobile phones.

Cisco Systems

CEO: John Chambers

San Jose, Calif.

Cisco recently launched its Evolved Service Platform, a network functions virtualization and orchestration software system for network service carriers. Cisco also is investing heavily in its Application Centric Infrastructure software-defined networking technology from its Insieme Networks acquisition.

Citrix Systems

CEO: Mark Templeton

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Citrix plays in multiple segments of the virtualization arena with its XenServer (server virtualization), XenApp (application virtualization), XenDesktop (desktop virtualization) and XenMobile (mobile device management) software. Citrix is searching for a new CEO: to replace Templeton, who is retiring later this year.

CloudPhysics

Founder and CEO: John Blumenthal

Mountain View, Calif.

CloudPhysics applies big data analytics to help organizations better manage their virtual data centers. The vendor's Observer agentless virtual appliance collects configuration, performance and event data from VMware's vCenter and analyzes it to provide insights IT teams use to make better decisions.

DataCore

Co-Founder, President and CEO: George Teixeira

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Software-defined storage vendor DataCore markets its SANsymphony-V10 storage virtualization application. Last month DataCore added virtual SAN functionality to its product lineup with the ability to scale to 50 million IOPS and 32 petabytes of capacity across a cluster of 32 servers.

Delphix

President and CEO: Jedidiah Yueh

Menlo Park, Calif.

Delphix founder Yueh previously launched Avamar, which pioneered de-duplication technology and was sold to EMC for $165 million. With Delphix, Yueh is pioneering "agile data management" technology that accelerates enterprise applications and business intelligence by eliminating redundant infrastructure and slow processes.

Dell

CEO: Michael Dell

Round Rock, Texas

Dell offers a range of virtualized server and data storage systems for its data center customers. The vendor's servers, such as the PowerEdge line, and storage systems, such as the Dell Compellent SC8000, are integrated with virtualization platforms such as VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer.

Egenera

President and CEO: Pete Manca

Boxborough, Mass.

Egenera develops cloud management and data center infrastructure technology for managing physical, virtual and public cloud systems. In January the company debuted a new release of its Egenera Cloud Suite, including PAN Manager and PAN Cloud Director, with support for Microsoft Hyper-V.

EMC

CEO: Joseph Tucci

Hopkinton, Mass.

EMC is a top provider of data storage, cloud and virtualization technology, enterprise security tools, and big data and analytics software. The company is looking beyond its legacy hardware with its ViPR software-defined storage technology and plans to turn its VNX storage array into a virtual array.

Embotics

CEO: Michael Torto

Ottawa, Ontario

Embotics develops virtualization and cloud management software, including the vendor's flagship vCommander platform with virtual machine life-cycle and capacity management. In August the company outlined plans to move to a 100 percent channel sales model.

Ericom Software

Founder and CEO: Eran Heyman

Closter, N.J.

Ericom pitches its PowerTerm WebConnect desktop virtualization and application delivery software as an alternative to Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop. The company's recently debuted AccessNow 3.1 with HTML5 browser technology eliminates the need to install software on end-user devices.

Hitachi Data Systems

CEO: Jack Domme

Santa Clara, Calif.

Hitachi Data Systems develops virtual storage technology such as the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform G1000. In April HDS debuted its Continuous Cloud Infrastructure architecture, including the Storage Virtualization OS, laying the groundwork for future software-defined storage technology development.

Hewlett-Packard

CEO: Meg Whitman

Palo Alto, Calif.

Hewlett-Packard has aggressively expanded into various aspects of virtualization with such products as HP StoreVirtual Storage and ConfiguredSystem for Virtualization servers. In February HP took aim at Cisco with the launch of its HP OpenNFV network virtualization product.

HotLink

Founder and CEO: Lynn LeBlanc

Santa Clara, Calif.

HotLink develops virtualization management technology, such as its SuperVisor product that lets VMware vCenter natively support hypervisors from Microsoft, Red Hat and Citrix. In February, HotLink added software-defined networking to HotLink DR Express, its VMware vCenter plug-in for Amazon Web Services data protection.

Infinio

Co-Founder and CEO: Arun Agarwal

Cambridge, Mass.

Infinio launched its Infinio Accelerator storage performance tools for virtual environments in November. In March the company debuted version 1.2 of the software with support for VMware vSphere 5.5.

Intigua

CEO: Shimon Hason

Newton, Mass.

Intigua calls itself the first company to virtualize the IT management stack for private and public clouds, offering its automation management platform that virtualizes tools for IT management, configuration, provisioning and security. Recently the company added support for OpenStack and Amazon Web Services.

Juniper Networks

CEO: Shaygan Kheradpir

Sunnyvale, Calif.

Juniper is a player in the market for network functions virtualization technology with the Contrail controller it debuted last year and in software-defined networking. In February the company unveiled a line of SDN technologies for the service provider market.

Liquidware Labs

Co-Founder and CEO: David Bieneman

Alpharetta, Ga.

Liquidware Labs was winner of VMware's prestigious Technology Innovator Partner of the Year award. The desktop virtualization power's channel sales were up 102 percent in 2013. Look for a big Liquidware kick in desktop virtualization deployments as a result of Windows XP end of life.

Microsoft

CEO: Satya Nadella

Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft continues to make steady gains climbing the data center ladder with Hyper-V. It has gotten high marks for major new Hyper-V product functionality and features. In late 2013 the company rolled out a new certification program aimed at VMware Certified Professionals.

Nasuni

Founder and CEO: Andres Rodriguez

Natick, Mass.

Nasuni offers technology that virtualizes data storage infrastructure and delivers it as a service via public clouds. Last month Nasuni won a patent for its multisite access technology for connecting to a single namespace in the cloud from any number of locations.

NComputing

CEO: Raj Dhingra

Santa Clara, Calif.

NComputing competes with Citrix, VMware and others with its vSpace Virtualization Platform for desktop and application virtualization. In February the company debuted NComputing oneSpace, technology that unifies and securely delivers applications and files to mobile devices.

Netuitive

President and CEO: Nicola Sanna

Reston, Va.

Managing IT system performance in virtualized environments can be tricky. Netuitive's management software, which uses predictive analytics technology to monitor mission-critical apps, provides IT managers with a complete view of virtual and physical IT environments.

Neverfail

CEO: Martin Mackay

Austin, Texas

Neverfail develops business continuity software for managing disaster recovery capabilities for both physical and virtualized systems. The company launched its Neverfail IT Continuity Architect software in October and followed that up with release 1.2 in April.

Nexenta Systems

CEO: Tarkan Maner

Santa Clara, Calif.

Nexenta's software-defined data storage products include the NexentaStor appliance that works with virtualized servers, and NexentaConnect that optimizes virtual desktop infrastructure deployments on legacy shared storage or converged infrastructure.

Nuage Networks

Founder and CEO: Sunil Khandekar

Mountain View, Calif.

Nuage Networks is a software-defined networking venture backed by Alcatel-Lucent. The company develops a virtualized services platform for rapidly connecting virtual machines to a network, helping organizations quickly deploy cloud services. The company launched in early 2013.

Nutanix

Founder and CEO: Dheeraj Pandey

San Jose, Calif.

Nutanix is an emerging leader in the converged infrastructure arena with its Nutanix Virtual Computing Platform that combines server and storage capabilities in one appliance. This month the company launched its Nutanix Per Desktop Program to more cost-effectively deliver infrastructure services to VDI desktops.

Parallels

CEO: Birger Steen

Renton, Wash.

Parallels provides software for hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. In February the company offered its Parallels Cloud Server virtualization technology for Hewlett-Packard's Moonshot servers. And in January it unveiled Parallels Automation support for Microsoft's Azure Pack.

Pivot3

CEO: Ron Nash

Austin, Texas

Pivot3 develops the vSTAC virtual desktop converged storage appliances. Nash, an executive at Pivot3 investor InterWest Partners, was named the company's CEO: in November shortly after the vendor received $14 million in a new round of funding.

Red Bend Software

CEO: Yoram Salinger

Waltham, Mass.

Mobile virtualization technology has become critical as companies grapple with the security and management implications of the BYOD trend. Red Bend's vLogix Mobile for Mobile Virtualization makes for easier mobile device management and improved security.

Red Hat

President and CEO: Jim Whitehurst

Raleigh, N.C.

Red Hat has become a force in the virtualization arena in recent years, challenging VMware with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for server and desktop virtualization. Red Hat recently took a big step into software-defined storage with a deal to acquire Inktank for $175 million.

RES Software

CEO: Klaus Besier

Radnor, Pa.

RES Software is changing how IT departments deliver virtualization technology with a "consumerization of IT" friendly approach. The company recently announced RES IT store, an app store-like self-service model that has resulted in a 25 percent reduction of IT service tickets.

Riverbed

CEO: Jerry Kennelly

San Francisco

Riverbed specializes in application performance infrastructure to provide what it calls "location-independent computing,’ a way users and customers can access data at near-wire speed from anywhere, with technologies to accelerate WAN, storage, networking and applications. The vendor recently brought its network performance monitoring and diagnostics system to private clouds and software-defined data centers with the debut of its Cascade Express 460 Virtual Edition.

SimpliVity

CEO: Doron Kempel

Westborough, Mass.

SimpliVity calls itself "the data virtualization company" with its OmniCube converged infrastructure that combines server and storage capabilities into a single x86-based system. And the company's 100 percent indirect sales model makes it a channel favorite. In October SimpliVity debuted a set of VDI products that leverage the vendor's OmniStack technology to virtualize end-user computing environments.

SolarWinds

President and CEO: Kevin Thompson

Austin, Texas

SolarWinds develops and sells a wide range of system, network, security and database management tools, including the Virtualization Manager software for managing and troubleshooting the performance of virtual machines throughout an IT system. The company's IT management software is fueling big sales gains. In the fourth quarter, SolarWinds reported 32 percent year-over-year sales growth to $97.1 million. For 2014, the company expects 22 percent to 25 percent sales growth to up to $420 million. More than 425 of the Fortune 500 now use SolarWinds' software.

Teradici

President and CEO: Dan Cordingley

Burnaby, B.C.

The company's secure PC-over-IP technology is changing the face of desktop virtualization. The popular technology is part of Amazon Web Services' desktop-as-a-service offering. Teradici was No. 12 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50. The company has a strategic relationship with Amazon and VMware under which the companies jointly develop PCoIP technology.

Tricerat

Co-founder, president and CEO: John Byrne

Owings Mills, Md.

Tricerat says its mission is to simplify the lives of IT administrators. Simplify Printing TX, its flagship product, is a BYOD printing solution that allows users to print from any smartphone or virtual desktop device to any printer. The company's Simplify Monitoring software is used for monitoring XenApp and XenDesktop deployments.

Unidesk

President and CEO: Don Bulens

Marlborough, Mass.

Unidesk offers breakthrough technology for simplifying virtual desktop infrastructure deployments. The company posted a whopping 240 percent increase in sales in 2013 with its customer base growing to 580. Unidesk was also named a "Major Player" in researcher IDC's worldwide client virtualization 2013 vendor analysis. The company recently launched UniDesk 2.6 that supports VMware Horizon 6, VMware Virtual SAN and VMware ThinApp.

Unitrends

CEO: Mike Coney

Columbia, S.C.

Unitrends develops backup and disaster recovery technology for physical, virtual and cloud computing environments. The company recently debuted Release 7.4 of its software with improvements in data retention and replication, and the ability to transform physical Windows systems into virtual machines. In October 2013 Insight Venture Partners acquired Unitrends for an undisclosed sum.

VDIworks

President and CEO: Saad Hussain

Austin, Texas

VDIworks is a leading developer of virtual desktop and cloud computing software. In December the company launched VDI Pro, a virtual desktop delivery platform with high-end management features for deploying cloud-hosted VDI or desktop-as-a-Service. The software supports HTML5 clients and is integrated with the XenServer Hypervisor.

Veeam Software

President and CEO: Ratmir Timashev

Baar, Switzerland

Veeam is a leading provider of VMware backup and virtualization management software. In April the company added its 100,000th customer and reported 56 percent first-quarter revenue growth. The company has more than 20,000 channel partners. The company recently released the Veeam Management Pack v.7 for System Center, adding support for Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization system, allowing IT administrators to monitor Hyper-V and VMware's vSphere using a single System Center console.

Verdasys

President and CEO: Kenneth Levine

Waltham, Mass.

Verdasys develops the Digital Guardian agent-based data loss prevention platform that uses behavior-based data to protect against insider threats and external attacks. The technology supports virtualization systems from VMware, Citrix and Microsoft.

Virtual Bridges

CEO: Sam Cece

Austin, Texas

Virtual Bridges's VERDE 7 desktop-as-a-service platform is quickly gaining traction in government and education markets. Last month the company debuted its Bridgepoint virtual workloads management software, for desktops and servers, based on the OpenStack platform.

Virtustream

CEO: Rodney Rogers

Bethesda, Md.

Virtustream is a cloud provisioning and infrastructure-as-a-service company that develops the xStream cloud management system. Tthe company recently began offering a fully virtualized SAP HANA managed service for production SAP environments.

VMware

CEO: Pat Gelsinger

Palo Alto, Calif.

The company that started the virtualization revolution is upping the ante with its move into storage with VSAN and its aggressive expansion into end-user computing with its $1.17 billion acquisition of enterprise mobile management security high-flyer AirWatch.