You can implement all the cloud platforms you want, but without applications, cloud computing is just another IT model diagrammed on a white board. It's the cloud software, after all, that people use to get work done – everything from managing corporate finances, to hiring a new employee, to processing a customer order. Cloud computing is leveling the competitive field: Established application vendors have fielded cloud versions of their products while a new generation of start-ups is challenging their dominance of the application arena. Here’s 20 cloud computing software vendors we think solution providers should have on their radar screens.

Stay tuned for the rest of CRN's 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors and check out last year's top cloud computing vendors.