10 Emerging Cloud Vendors You Need To Know About
Stratospheric
Startups developing cloud computing technology and services make up a hefty number of the companies on this year's CRN list of emerging vendors. That's not so surprising given that cloud computing continues to evolve even as it reshapes the IT industry.
Spending on cloud computing infrastructure and platforms is expected to grow at a 30 percent CAGR between 2013 and 2018, in contrast to a 5 percent annual CAGR for overall enterprise IT, according to Goldman Sachs.
So which companies are best positioned to capture a share of all that? Certainly big, established companies like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft are. But it's a good bet that some of these nimble startups will thrive as well. Here's 10 you might not have heard of -- but probably should get to know.
2nd Watch
Seattle
Top Executive: CEO Doug Schneider
2nd Watch provides a range of tools, services and expertise that help businesses migrate enterprise workloads to the public cloud, including Amazon Web Services Infrastructure-as-a-Service, to help reduce IT costs and complexity. 2nd Watch, an AWS partner, has 75,000 instances from hundreds of customers under its management.
In addition to providing managed cloud and migration services, 2nd Watch offers workload solutions in a range of vertical industries including financial services, insurance, life sciences, retail, consumer packaged goods, and media and entertainment.
BetterCloud
New York
Top Executive: CEO David Politis
Through its application dashboard, BetterCloud provides critical insights, automated management and data security for cloud office platforms, including Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365.
In March BetterCloud raised $25 million in Series D financing.
Cirrity
Atlanta
Top Executive: CEO Steven Vinananza
Cirrity is a leading channel-only cloud services provider that uses high-availability Cisco systems to offer Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Desktop-as-a-Service, and cloud-based backup and disaster recovery services, all combined with a focus on security and compliance.
In early July Cirrity announced that solution providers Emerging Technology Integrators, Prosis Hawaii, SBS Security Services and Tener Technologies had all joined Cirrity's partner program through Comstor, with which Cirrity signed a distribution alliance in April.
CliQr Technologies
Santa Clara, Calif.
Top Executive: CEO Gaurav Manglik
CliQr develops the CloudCenter hybrid-cloud application migration and management system that allow businesses to move, manage and secure applications from on-premise or cloud systems to any private, hybrid or public cloud.
CliQr raised $20 million in Series C funding in April.
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.
In April CognitiveScale formed a health-care business unit focused on collecting and analyzing unstructured health-care data in electronic medical records, including lab and imaging reports, physician notes, medical devices data and streaming social data feeds.
ComputeNext
Bellevue, Wash.
Top Executive: Sundar Kannan
ComputeNext is a cloud service broker that's changing how businesses search, discover, procure and provision cloud infrastructure through a multicloud marketplace. The company's Global Cloud Marketplace is a platform that can be white-labeled by IT resellers, distributors, telecommunications companies and service providers.
ComputeNext was named to the inaugural CRN Cloud Partner Program Guide in 2014.
OneLogin
San Francisco
Top Executive: CEO Thomas Pedersen
OneLogin is a cloud-based identity and access management system that allows organizations to secure all applications for users across all devices. The technology is pre-integrated with more than 4,000 applications, enabling IT to securely tie directory infrastructure to business applications, providing centralized access control.
In March the company said that its year-old channel program already accounted for 40 percent of new sales opportunities. The company is now recruiting for the "second wave" of its Global Channel Partner Program, complementing its U.S.-based partners with additional security-focused resellers and partners in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
ProfitBricks
Cambridge, Mass.
Top Executive: CEO Achim Weiss
ProfitBricks, an Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider, aims to beat competitors Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google on price for comparable cloud services running any workload. The company says it can offer the lower price because its custom virtual servers don't force users to overbuy compute resources.
German-American ProfitBricks (it's also headquartered in Berlin) claims to beat its competitors with workloads that are 40 percent to 80 percent cheaper than the big three. The company also runs cloud computing reseller and referral partner programs, which it modestly calls "the cloud's richest partner programs."
The Sixth Flag
Raleigh, N.C.
Top Executive: CEO 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 systems administrators can manage the configuration and software installed on the desktop.
SkyKick
Seattle
Top Executives: Co-CEOs Evan Richman and Todd Schwartz
SkyKick provides cloud management software for IT solution providers. The company offers tools for monitoring and managing customer Software-as-a-Service applications, migrating their IT systems to the cloud, and backing up and restoring their data.
SkyKick has become particularly well-known for providing Microsoft partners with the tools and services they need to help customers adopt Microsoft Office 365. In June the company raised $10 million in new financing, bringing its total funding to $17.2 million.