Top Five Technology Companies You May Have Never Heard About

If you work in the Information Technology business, it would be a sure bet that you have at some point done business with Cisco, HP, IBM or Microsoft. They are the giants and it is inevitable that you will need their products and services to run your business. However, even these IT titans have limitations and as technology continues to evolve, the need for specialized products and services is growing. Specifically, there is a high demand for security and turnkey solutions. If you are noticing this demand here are five technology companies that you should get to know.

IXIA – Founded in the late ’90s, IXIA has variety of testing and network visibility products. If you are searching for an optimal way to complete user acceptance testing or stress testing your applications, you may want to check out their BreakingPoint product line. The IXIA BreakingPoint also comes in handy when conducting bake-offs between multi-vendor platforms, and if you wish to test your security strength. Another impressive product line from IXIA is their network visibility switch. Using these switches you can aggregate traffic from multiple networks, set filters, and then forward it to a desired endpoint. Ultimately, this will enable you to build a distributed packet capturing solution or integrate traffic flows to better manage security vulnerability detection. Overall, IXIA has done a nice job in strategically packaging its products and services.

Fireeye – If the growing cyber security threat is something you are concerned about, you may want to check out Fireeye. Their philosophy to security defense takes an adaptive approach and claims to detect and resolve security breaches within minutes. Fireeye also focuses on the ‘who’ rather than the ‘what,’ because threats can be common but attackers are not. This could not be further from the truth because the attackers you should be concerned with are very intelligent, well-funded and mean business to break through your defense lines. For example, let’s say an attacker attempted to use a standard malware to disable their target’s computer systems. If the attacker took a head-on approach, the malware would likely be mitigated via an endpoint protection product. However, if the attacker decided to break up the malware into smaller unfamiliar pieces and have the pieces reassemble into a malware behind the defense lines, the attacker would likely be more successful in wreaking havoc. These are the sophisticated approaches that are being taken by attackers today and they are very persistent. If you need a second look at your adaptive security defenses, you may want to look into a product like Fireeye.

Nutanix – Are you looking to enhance your virtual data center solutions? If so, you are not alone and the Nutanix Xtreme Computing Platforms are worth a look to fulfill your needs. Marketed as the hyperconverged infrastructure, Nutanix combines server computing, storage and SAN into a single box. As a result, datacenter footprint is minimized and management is simplified. Speed and performance do not seem to be an issue with the Nutanix NX platform either. In a certain test scenario, the Nutanix NX-3050 (midsized model) cloned and booted up 200 VM images in under 30 minutes; that’s about 6.67 images per minute. Better, faster and cheaper–Nutanix seems to have all three covered.

Bloom Energy – Clean, low cost and efficient energy, is there such a thing? That’s what Bloom Energy strives to accomplish with the use of hydrocarbon fuel. With the Bloom Energy Saver you can run your own power plant and utilize the energy more effectively. Or you can emulate eBay and run your data center on the Bloom technology addressing both environmental and economic concerns. CenturyLink, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are also jumping on the bandwagon to use this alternative power source. This seems like the logical choice for those who want to avoid the use of diesel-powered generators that can be a more costly investment, since they are not used often. Whether you are an environmentalist at heart looking to reduce carbon emissions or wanting to save on energy cost through alternative fuel, Bloom Energy may be a creative solution in solving both criteria.

Nexum – With its headquarters in Chicago, this value-added reseller specializes in cyber security and networking. They also provide training in security, networking and partners with other IT professional development and learning services that cover a vast array of technology disciplines. Nexum brings a fresh viewpoint to cyber security and can be consider a connoisseur of technologies as they continuously bring the best-in-breed products into their resale portfolio. Nexum states that they “mean security.” Sounds like they are in the right line of business provided their list of partners, solutions and services.

These are my top five IT companies that you may have never heard about, but they are worth considering if their technology sweet spot is something you are looking for. Whether you need assistance with a specific problem or are looking to enhance your IT services, these five outfits may be able to help.