Faces Of The 2016 Next-Gen 250

Living On The (Leading) Edge

Cloud computing, software-defined networking, containers, advanced cybersecurity and the Internet of things: These are the technologies that are altering the IT industry and re-defining how businesses implement and use information technology. Because many businesses rely on their IT solution providers to help make the jump to these new technologies, the channel itself is undergoing sweeping changes.

Some solution providers are ahead of the curve. The solution providers on CRN's annual Next Gen 250 list are selected through research, vendor and analyst interviews, and CRN editorial coverage. All of the companies on the non-ranked list were started in 2000 or later. Some are relatively new and were started to work with new-generation IT. Others have been around for a while and have successfully transformed themselves by adding new technologies, services and skills to their repertoire.

The following is a random sampling of the solution providers that make up this year's Next Gen 250 list. To purchase the complete list, contact Laurie Condon ([email protected]) on the East Coast and Nora Uriarte ([email protected]) on the West Coast.

10th Magnitude

Top Executive: Alex Brown, CEO

Location: Chicago, IL

www.10thmagnitude.com

Data center transformation and DevOps are at the heart of 10th Magnitude's business, a 100 percent–based cloud service provider. The company, launched in 2010, has bet big on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform and was one of Microsoft's first Gold Cloud Platform Partners. The company also works with the Chef configuration management tool.

Candoris Technologies

Top Executive: Stephan Van Der Ploog, President

Location: Annville, PA

www.candoris.com

Candoris, the Dell EMC 2016 Mid-Atlantic Partner of the Year, offers data center solutions and a range of IT, application development and Salesforce.com services. Founded in 2010, the company also provides expertise around Microsoft products and virtualization technology and staff augmentation services.

ClearScale

Top Executive: Pavel Pragin, CEO/CTO

Location: San Francisco

www.clearscale.net

ClearScale specializes in cloud professional services and is an Amazon Web Services Premier consulting partner. The company, founded in 2011, provides expertise in cloud deployment, migration, automation, application development and big data. Other vendor partners include Chef, Docker and RightScale.

CloudHesive

Top Executive: Jim Walker, CEO

Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL

www.cloudhesive.com

CloudHesive is a cloud solutions consulting and cloud managed services provider with a focus on security and system reliability, availability and scalability. Available cloud services include encryption-as-a-service, disaster recovery, data backup and retention, and Office 365. Vendor partners include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM SoftLayer, New Relic and Alert Logic.

Cloudnexa

Top Executive: Joel Davne, CEO

Location: Philadelphia

www.cloudnexa.com

Cloudnexa, founded in 2008 and an Amazon Web Services Premier consulting partner, helps businesses provision and manage IT resources, policies, security and budgets across AWS environments. Key to the managed service provider's offerings is its vNOC (network operations center) management platform.

Cloud Technology Partners (CTP)

Top Executive: Chris Greendale, CEO

Location: Boston

www.cloudtp.com

CTP not only helps its clients adopt cloud computing services, it helps businesses leverage the cloud for innovation by developing and running cloud-native big data, machine learning and Internet of Things software solutions. CTP has expertise in working with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and OpenStack platforms.

Controle

Top Executive: Kevin Barnicle, CEO

Location: Oak Brook, IL

www.takecontrole.com

Information governance in a big data world can be a monumental challenge. Controle offers IT and advisory services that help customers manage their electronic big data for compliance and litigation purposes, including data classification, archiving, e-discovery, and defensible deletion. Vendor partners include Dell EMC, Microsoft, TransVault, Titus, Recomind and Syncplicity.

CyberForce Services

Top Executive: Daniel DeFay, Owner

Location: Hartselle, AL

www.cyberforceservices.com

CyberForce Services provides small businesses with comprehensive cybersecurity services that cover computers, servers and mobile devices, as well as backup and disaster recovery solutions offered as on-premise, cloud and hybrid systems. CyberForce Services partners with My Digital Shield.

Dizzion

Top Executive: Steve Prather, CEO

Location: Denver

www.dizzion.com

Dizzion, founded in 2011, brings cloud computing to the desktop through the use of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), paired with secure endpoint, application delivery and storage services that allow users to securely access applications and data from any device, anywhere.

Elysian Technology

Top Executive: Bill Burke, Principal

Location: Merrimack, NH

www.elystech.com

Elysian, founded in 2015, begins with the principle that data is a business' most important asset and develops solutions designed to protect, manage and utilize that data. Elysian's solution portfolio includes big data analytics, software-defined storage, backup and archive, business continuity, disaster recovery, hyper- convergence and cloud computing.

Fivesky

Top Executive: Reza Pourkhomami, Founder & Managing Member

Location: New York

www.fivesky.com

At Fivesky the emphasis is on optimizing network and security infrastructure to achieve operational excellence while lowering capital and operational expenses. To do that the company, launched in 2012, designs, implements and maintains solutions utilizing next-gen technologies from vendor partners such as Nutanix, Nasuni and Panzura.

GO2

Top Executive: Travis Ehst, President

Location: Springfield, PA

www.go2tech.com

Go2 provides a broad range of IT solutions and services including VoIP, telecommunications and carrier services, managed IT services, Web services, security and surveillance, and disaster recovery. Vendor partners include Masergy Communications, RapidScale, IntelePeer and Lightower Fiber Networks.

Invenio IT

Top Executive: Dale Shulmistra, President

Location: New York

www.invenioit.com

Working under the motto "When system downtime isn't an option," Invenio IT's core expertise is in business continuity services, combined with services in data recovery and IT security. The company deploys and manages business continuity solutions that incorporate leading-edge data backup and protection technology from Datto.

iTexico

Top Executive: Anurag Kumar, Chairman and CEO

Location: Austin, TX

www.itexico.com

iTexico offers full life-cycle mobile application development services covering architecture, experience design, web development, application testing and quality assurance. The company has a development and delivery center in Guadalajara, Mexico. It works with such development tools as Appcelerator Titanium and Alloy, Xamarin and IBM Worklight.

iTi Communications

Top Executive: Scott Bartlett, Partner & Senior Systems Engineer

Location: Charlotte, NC

www.iticommunications.com

iTi Communications develops and deploys next-generation solutions in cloud infrastructure, collaboration, security, borderless networks and managed services. The company's extensive list of vendor partners includes Cisco, VMware, Microsoft, Nimble Storage, Veeam, Meraki and LabTech Software.

Mosaic 451

Top Executive: Mike Baker, Principal

Location: Phoenix, AZ

www.mosaic451.com

Mosaic 451's core focus is on advanced cybersecurity services, protecting and maintaining critical IT infrastructure for the U.S. government and for finance, energy and education companies and institutions. Mosaic 451's security, network and DevOps solutions and services incorporate technology from Carbon Black, Fortinet, Splunk and Infoblox.

Nology

Top Executive: Brendon Liner, VP of Business Development

Location: Minneapolis

www.nologynetworks.com

Nology Networks, founded in 2009, provides IT and cloud services that it either fully manages for businesses, leaves the management to the client, or something in between. The solution provider's broad range of services cover cloud file sync and storage, cloud servers and desktops, hosted applications, collaboration, data backup, email, and managed security and compliance.

Nortpoint

Top Executive: Maciej Kalkowski, CEO

Location: New York

www.nortpoint.com

Nortpoint, founded in 2015, supplies a broad range of IT services including 24/7 monitoring, IT administration and support, hosting and infrastructure, software development and consulting.

Omnificent Systems

Top Executive: Dave Philistin, CEO

Location: Cave Creek, AZ

www.omnificentsystems.com

Omnificent Systems offers managed IT services, cloud computing, virtual desktop, network security and business continuity solutions. The company recently introduced its OSCloud line of private, public and hybrid cloud managed services. Microsoft is a major vendor partner, with its Azure platform and Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility Suite applications, while VMware's vCloud Air is also in Omnificent's technology portfolio.

REAN Cloud

Top Executive: Sri Vasireddy, President

Location: Henrdon, VA

www.reancloud.com

A Premier Amazon Web Services consulting partner, Rean Cloud provides business, technical and DevOps cloud consulting and managed services. In addition to AWS, Rean Cloud's vendor partner roster includes Chef, Splunk, DBmaestro, Docker and CloudFabrix Software.

Relus Technologies

Top Executive: Mark Metz, CEO

Location: Norcross, GA

www.relus.com

Relus Technologies develops IT solutions with a focus on data center transformation and cloud enablement, combined with the delivery of top IT talent. Relus excels in working with leading-edge cloud and big data technology from such vendors as Ansible, CloudCheckr, Datadog, ExtraHop, Looker and Puppet Labs.

SiteREADY

Top Executive: Ryan Clarke, CEO

Location: Tampa, FL

www.SiteREADY.com

SiteReady offers a unique set of professional services, working with IT managers on the one hand and architects, contractors and real estate managers on the other when constructing workspaces for clients. SiteReady helps select, design and implement IT solutions, incorporating them within the larger building project.

Stratum Technology Management

Top Executive: Ryan Trimberger, CEO & Co-Founder

Location: Sugar Land, TX

www.stratum-tech.com

Stratum provides a broad range of professional, cloud and managed IT services (the latter covering OS platform, database, network, desktop, system configuration and operations management). The company touts its deep expertise in Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, and lists Datadog and Chef among its vendor partners.

VPLS Solutions

Top Executive: Ted Mektrakarn and John Minnix, Co-Founders

Location: Orange, CA

www.vplssolutions.com

VPLS is a technology solution provider and systems integrator that owns and manages a large, private, carrier-grade network and five data centers it uses to provide clients with public, private and hybrid cloud services. The company's top technology partners include Brocade Communications, Palo Alto Networks and VMware.

WrightCore

Top Executive: Scott Byers, President & CEO

Location: Franklin, TN

www.wrightcore.com

WrightCore's expertise covers IT infrastructure, cloud computing, data center, business consulting, project management, managed services, staffing, and procurement and logistics. Strategic partners include VMware, Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft and Cisco.