2015 Emerging Vendors: Meet The Up-And-Comers

The IT industry is all about innovation. And a major driver of that innovation is the legions of startups that are pushing the technology envelope in big data and business analytics, cloud computing, virtualization, security and storage.

Solution providers, of course, need to keep their fingers on the pulse of leading-edge technology in order to stay ahead of their customers’ needs.

And so we present CRN’s 2015 Emerging Vendors list, our annual roundup of up-and-coming technology vendors that have demonstrated a commitment to developing innovative new products to meet ever-changing market demands. CRN assembles this list each year to make solution providers aware of the rich array of groundbreaking products and services that are available: After all, it’s these innovative products that create opportunities for solution providers to create high-margin, cutting-edge solutions for their customers.

The class of 2015 Emerging Vendors has more than 180 companies founded in 2009 or later and actively working with channel partners in North America.

[Related: 25 Emerging Vendors You Need To Know About]

Some, such as virtualization software developer Docker and flash array storage system builder Pure Storage, are already making their presence felt (and attracting some serious venture financing). Others have only recently ’exited stealth mode’ and brought their innovative products to market.

Here we present the complete list of this year’s Emerging Vendors, organized by technology, along with a snapshot description of what each company is up to.

Big data, security, cloud computing and storage are the biggest categories, not surprisingly, but there’s also plenty of innovating going on in data center technology, virtualization, networking and VoIP, business applications and mobility.

In addition to this list in CRN, we’ve collected more details about these companies, including information about their channel programs and activities, and built an online database available at crn.com.

We’ve also created a series of slide shows on crn.com highlighting a number of emerging vendors that solution providers might not be aware of—but should be.

Not all of these emerging vendors will thrive—information technology is a tough and competitive industry. But some will succeed and grow, possibly becoming the VMware, the NetSuite or even the Google or Microsoft of tomorrow. Wouldn’t it be great to partner with some of these startups and get a piece of that growth?

Take a look at CRN’s 2015 Emerging Vendors list.

PUBLISHED AUG. 11, 2015