Redmond Third-Party Reader's Choice Awards: The Big Grow Bigger -- Redmondmag.com

Redmond Third-Party Reader's Choice Awards: The Big Grow Bigger

Vendor consolidation is leading IT pros to favor fewer players, according to this year's annual Redmond Third-Party Reader's Choice Awards.

By Jeffrey Schwartz
10/02/2014

Some of the largest third-party IT vendors in the Microsoft ecosystem appear to be taking a bigger piece of the pie. Though large suppliers supporting key Microsoft software, services and now even hardware, have always owned the largest portion of enterprise customers' wallets, this year IT pros are showing a preference toward a concentrated number of players, according to the annual Redmond magazine 2014 Third-Party Reader's Choice Awards.

Dell Inc. stood out by far as the most favored vendor, according to this year's survey, placing in 43 of 70 categories. While that's nearly double last year's 22, it bears noting that we introduced a fourth award. In the past there was a winner and two runners up; this year there's an additional medalist, so to speak. Nevertheless, Dell dominated this year, with No. 2 Symantec Corp. showing 25 times. Dell also took top honors in 14 categories, double last year's seven.

Bolstering Dell, of course, comes on the heels of dozens of acquisitions in recent years, including its $2.4 billion buyout of Quest Software in 2012. Deal-making also has helped other big winners in this year's survey, including Cisco Systems Inc., EMC Corp., IBM Corp, SolarWinds, Cisco Systems Inc. and VMware Inc. But several players not on the acquisition bandwagon also performed consistently strong this year, including Hewlett Packard Co., Symantec and Veeam Software. Yet it appears Dell's surge this year could be the company's strong overlay in a wide variety of areas including its growing software business surrounding Windows, SharePoint, System Center, SQL Server and virtual server and cloud management, combined with its foray into new areas such as security and networking. In published reports, Dell has said it has seen healthy growth nearly one year after the company's $25 billion deal to go private.

Just like last year, we e-mailed Redmond magazine's circulation database of 100,000 readers, covering all known vendors in each category except for Microsoft to gauge what "third-party" software, hardware and services were most favored for working with and in support of Microsoft's flagship offerings. The two exceptions were in the browser and tablet categories, where we wanted to see how Internet Explorer and Surface stacked up these days.

Irrespective of who won or showed up in this year's Third-Party Reader's Choice Awards, 82 percent of the 673 respondents said they're generally satisfied with their suppliers. Only 10 percent say they're going to ditch their vendor, while 8 percent say their suppliers are difficult to do business with. Readers cited richer offerings that require less manual intervention, more responsive customer service and competitive pricing and licensing terms. When asked their biggest frustrations, respondents pointed to high maintenance fees, fine print in licensing terms, turnover and lack of customization, while several said they'd like to see improved and more consistent service levels.

Select Category:

Category	Platinum	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Network and Infrastructure Management
Network and Systems Management	Cisco Prime LAN Management Solution	SolarWinds Network Management Software	Oracle Enterprise Manager	IBM Tivoli NetView
Applications Performance Management	Server & Application Manager SolarWinds Inc.	TIE: Foglight Dell Inc. IBM Tivoli Monitoring/Tivoli Composite		HP Applications Management Services
Systems Performance Management	Server & Application Monitor SolarWinds Inc.	Operations Manager Hewlett-Packard Co.	OpenManage Systems Management Tools Dell Inc.	IBM Tivoli Business Service Manager
General Network Monitoring Tool	Syslog Analyzer Collector Cisco Systems Inc.	Network Topology Mapper SolarWinds Inc.	OpenManage Network Manager Dell Inc.	ipMonitor SolarWinds Inc.
Remote Monitoring Management/IT Control Management	PacketTrap Dell Software	N-central N-able by SolarWinds Inc.	Kaseya Platform	GFI MAX RemoteManagement
Mobile Device Management Provider	VMware Inc. (AirWatch)	Citrix Systems Inc.	BlackBerry Ltd.	IBM Corp.
Bandwidth/Traffic Monitoring	NetFlow Traffic Analyzer SolarWinds Inc.	WhatsUpGold Ipswitch Inc.	Observer Network Instruments	ScriptLogic Dell Inc.
Web Usage Monitor	Barracuda Web Filter	WebWatcher Awareness Technologies	GFI WebMonitor	SurfControl Web Filter Websense Inc.
Asset Management	HP Asset Manager	Desktop Authority Management Suite Dell Software	Kaseya Discovery & Inventory	TIE: CA IT Asset Manager Symantec Asset Management Suite
License Management	Dell KACE Software Asset Management Solution	Symantec Asset Management Suite	Tivoli License Compliance Manager IBM Corp.	TIE: CA IT Asset Manager Remedy IT Asset Management BMC Software Inc.
Compliance Tool	Change Auditor Dell Inc.	Log & Event Manager SolarWinds Inc.	vCenter Configuration Manager VMware Inc.	Compliance Management Platform NetIQ Corp.
SQL Tool	Toad DBA Suite for SQL Server Dell Software	LiteSpeed for SQL Server Dell Software	SQL Admin Toolset Idera Inc.	Zero Impact SQL Monitor SQL Power Tools Inc.
SharePoint Tools/Services	Webtrends Analytics for SharePoint	Site Administrator for SharePoint Dell Inc.	Syncplicity Connector for SharePoint EMC Corp.	Change Auditor/Quick Apps Dell Inc.
Software Distribution	Symantec Deployment Solution	Tivoli NetView Distribution Manager IBM Corp.	Desktop Authority Management Suite Dell Inc.	Acronis Snap Deploy
Installation and Deployment
Software Packaging	ChangeBASE Dell Inc.	WinINSTALL Scalable Software Inc.	InstallShield/ AdminStudio Flexera Software LLC	Smart Pacakager Scalable Software Inc.
Imaging Software	Symantec Ghost Solution Suite	Acronis True Image	Hard Disk Manager Suite	Symantec Client Management Suite
Migration Tool	Migration Manager Dell Software	Symantec Deployment Solution	Symantec Client Management Suite	Acronis Snap Deploy
Administration Tools
Server Migration Tool	vSphere vMotion VMware Inc.	vCenter Converter VMware Inc.	Symantec Server Management Suite	Migration Manager Dell Software
Group Policy Manager	Symantec Control Compliance Suite	Group Policy Administrator NetIQ Corp.	Active Administrator Dell Software	Netwrix Auditor
Disk Defragmentation and Drive Monitoring Tool	Acronis Disk Director Suite	Netwrix Disk Space Monitor Netwrix Corp.	Diskeeper Condusiv Technologies Corp.	Acronis Disk Director Server
Remote Client Management and Troubleshooting Solution	LogMeIn Pro	Symantec Client Management Suite	Desktop Authority Dell Software	Veeam ONE Monitor
Network Automation/Batch Processing Tool	Network Automation Hewlett-Packard Co.	N-central N-able, a Solarwinds Company	Kaseya Virtual System Administrator	AutoMate Help Systems LLC (Formerly Network Automation Inc.)
Scripting Tool	VI Toolkit for Windows VMware Inc.	PowerGUI Dell Software	Desktop Authority Dell Software	PowerShell Plus Idera Inc.
Patch Management	Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance	Tivoli Endpoint Manager for Patch Management IBM Corp.	Desktop Authority Dell Software	Patch Manager LANDesk
Application-Conflict Testing Tool	Desktop Authority Dell Software	Application Conflict Management Raynet GmbH	WinINSTALL Scalable Software Corp.	InstallShield/AdminStudio Flexera Software LLC
Hardware-Based Firewall	Cisco ASA 5500 Series	Dell SonicWALL Next Generation Firewall	Barracuda Spam Firewall	Cisco PIX Series
Security
Software-Based Firewall	Symantec Endpoint Protection	Kaspersky Internet Security	Endpoint Security Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.	Deep Discovery Trend Micro Inc.
Security Auditor	Symantec Control Compliance	Enterprise Reporter Dell Software	McAfee Policy Auditor Intel Corp.	Security Explorer Dell Software
Intrusion Detection System	Cisco Catalyst Intrusion Detection System	Symantec Sygate Enterprise Protection	BIG-IP Application Security Manager F5 Networks Inc.	McAfee Network Security Manager Intel Corp.
Intrusion Protection System	Sourcefire Next-Generation IPS Cisco Systems Inc.	Baracuda Web Application Firewall	Unified Threat Management Sophos Ltd.	McAfee Host Intrusion Prevention Intel Corp.
Smart Card/Biometric/Two-Factor Authentication	RSA SecureID EMC Corp.	Defender Dell Software	DigitalPersona Pro	DigitalPersona Online
Spam/Content Filters	Barracuda Spam Firewall	Dell SonicWALL Email Security	Symantec Messaging Gateway	Symantec Mail Security
Anti-Virus Tool	Symantec Endpoint Protection	McAfee Total Protection McAfee Inc. Intel Corp.	Kaspersky Anti-Virus	AVG AntiVirus Business Edition AVG Technologies
Anti-Spyware Tool	Symantec Endpoint Protection	AVG Antivirus AVG Technologies	Kaspersky Anti-Virus	McAfee Total Protection Intel Corp.
Activity Monitoring	GFI WebMonitor	Proofpoint Enterprise Governance	ObserveIT Enterprise	Spectator 360 SpectorSoft Corp.
Active Directory Provisioning/Administration	Spotlight on Active Directory Dell Software	NetIQ Directory and Resource Administrator	ADManager Plus ManageENgine, a division of Zoho Corp.	LDAP Admin Tool Professional LDAPSoft Corp.
Identity Access/SSO Software	Enterprise Single Sign-On Dell Software	CA IdentityMinder	IBM Security Identity and Access Manager	RSA Identity and Access Management EMC Corp.
Storage and Backup
Backup Software	Symantec Backup Exec	Veeam Backup & Replication	Symantec NetBackup	Acronis True Image
Storage Management Software	OnCommand Data Management Software NetApp	Foglite for Storage Management Dell Software	Storage Essentials Hewlett-Packard Co.	Symantec CommandCentral Storage
Clustering/Failover	vSphere Fault Tolerance VMware Inc.	Symantec Cluster Server	EMC AutoStart	Symantec Storage Foundation High Availability
ADC/Load Balancers	NetScaler VPX Citrix Systems Inc.	Barracuda Load Balancer ADC	BIG-IP F5 Networks Inc.	Brocade ADX Series
Training and Certification
Exam Prep Vendor	Cisco Press	Kaplan IT Learning	CBT Nuggets	PrepLogic
Online, Disk or Instructor-Led Training	Global Knowledge Training LLC	CBT Nuggets	Cisco Press	Kaplan IT Learning
Microsoft Certification-Based Boot Camp	Global Knowledge Training LLC	TIE: CBT Planet Real MCSE Bootcamps ATG Learning		Certification Camps
Application Virtualization	ThinApp VMware Inc.	XenApp Citrix Systems Inc.	vWorkspace Dell Software	ZENworks Application Virtualization Novell Inc.
Virtualization
Virtual Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery	Veeam Backup & Replication	Symantec Disaster Recovery Advisor	Symantec System Recovery Server Edition	Dell AppAssure Replay VRA
Virtual Management/Optimization	eG VM Monitor for VMware eG Innovations	Veeam Management Pack for System Center	Virtualization Manager SolarWinds Inc.	IBM Systems Director
Storage Virtualization and Management	NetApp Data ONTAP 8/V-Series Systems	Network Storage Server FalconStor Software Inc.	Emulex HBAs	SANsymphony-V DataCore Software
Virtualization Training Vendor	Global Knowledge Training LLC	NetCom Learning	Intense School and InfoSec Institute	LiveAmmo
Virtual Server	vSphere VMware Inc.	ESXi VMware Inc.	XenServer Citrix Systems Inc.	VMware Server
Virtual Server Add-Ons	Veeam Backup & Replication	Dell AppAssure Replay Hyper-V	Acronis Backup Advanced	Veeam ONE Monitor
Virtual PC	VMware Workstation	Parallels Virtuozzo Containers	Pano System Pano Logic
VDI Solution	VMware View	XenDesktop Citrix Systems Inc.	Parallels Virtuozzo Containers	vWorkspace Dell Software
SaaS-Based APM provider	Compuware Corp.	CA Technologies	BMC Software Inc.	AppDynamics
Service, Hosting Cloud Providers
Identity and Access Management as a Service Provider	McAfee Cloud Identity Manager Intel Corp.	VMware (TriCipher) MyOneLogin VMware Inc.	Symantec O3 Symantec Corp.	Okta
Cloud Management Tool	vCloud Automation Center VMware Inc.	Cisco Intercloud	CloudPortal Business Manager Citrix Systems Inc.	Cloud Manager (formerly enStratus) Dell Software
E-Mail Hosting Provider	Rackspace U.S. Inc.	Hewlett Packard Co.	AT&T Inc.	AppRiver
Universal Communications Hosting Provider	Verizon Communications Inc.	AT&T Inc.	CenturyLink Inc.	Dimension Data plc
SaaS-Based Application Provider (Non-Microsoft)	Google Inc.	Salesforce.com Inc.	LogMeIn Inc.	Oracle Corp.
PaaS Provider (Non-Microsoft)	Google Inc.	IBM Corp.	Dell Boomi	Oracle Corp.
IaaS Provider	Amazon Web Services Inc.	Google Inc.	Dell Inc.	IBM Corp.
Managed Services/Hosting Provider	GoDaddy Operating Co. LLC	Rackspace U.S. Inc.	CenturyLink Inc.	FiberCloud Inc.
SharePoint Cloud/Hosting Provider	Amazon Web Services Inc.	SharePoint 360 Inc.	Rackspace U.S. Inc.	Network Solutions LLC
Infrastructure Hardware
Server Manufacturer Provider	Dell Inc.	Hewlett-Packard Co.	IBM Corp.	Cisco Systems Inc.
Storage Hardware	Dell Inc.	EMC Corp.	Hewlett-Packard Co.	IBM Corp.
Clients
Thin-Client Device Provider	Dell Inc.	Hewlett-Packard Co.	Google Inc.	Igel Technology
Windows PC Vendor	Dell Inc.	Hewlett-Packard Co.	Lenovo	Asus
Windows Tablet Provider	Microsoft	Samsung Electronics	Dell Inc.	Lenovo
Web Browser	Chrome Google Inc.	Firefox Mozilla	Internet Explorer Microsoft	Safari Apple Inc.

About the Author

Jeffrey Schwartz is editor of Redmond magazine and also covers cloud computing for Virtualization Review's Cloud Report. In addition, he writes the Channeling the Cloud column for Redmond Channel Partner. Follow him on Twitter @JeffreySchwartz.

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