With the Open Source Conference (OSCon) and IDG's LinuxWorld show in the rearview mirror of 2008, it is clear that open source is no longer just a trendy conversation.
What has happened is a clear evolution of a community that has grown up and produced intelligent, cutting-edge technologies with an eye on making computing faster, smarter and cheaper for corporate users. Companies like Openmoko are challenging the mobile device market with its notion that users should control what applications are installed. Others like XAware and SnapLogic are opening up data integration possibilities, and still more are tangling with virtualization, databases, and trading systems. Along with a company accurately called Untangle, the companies' point is to make computing less complex.
The decision is no longer a question of open source, but about what product is best at solving computing problems regardless of how it was built.
Here is a look at 10 companies to watch.
Company name: Kickfire
Founded: June 2006
Location: California, US
What does the company offer? Analytics appliance based on MySQL featuring the industry's first SQL chip.
Why is it worth watching? Kickfire combines software and hardware to create fast database query performance using the MySQL database. Also provides data warehousing and reporting features lacking in MySQL. The SQL chip moves query processing to a single powerful chip.
How did the company get its start? The company's founders saw current instruction-centric von Neumann architecture as inefficient for processing large data volumes so they sought to minimize the operation set and maximize the data throughput. A key was having an open architecture available via MySQL.
How did the company get its name? A combination of "kickstart" and "fire" was used to convey a new approach in the database market.
CEO and background: Raj Cherabuddi, CEO/president/co-founder. He also was the founding CEO of Sanera Systems, which eventually was bought by McData. He also served as lead architect for Sun's UltraSPARC IIIi processor.
Funding: Series A funding of US$10.75 million and Series B at US$20 million backed by Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, The Mayfield Fund and Pinnacle Ventures.
Who's using the product? Kickfire is in beta with interest coming from marketing, telecommunications and software service providers, network management, retail, media and government organizations.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. - White PaperView this webcast and discover the drivers for changing network design practices, why many organisations are changing their approach to network architecture and how enterprises should be moving forward with open architecture multi-vendor network solutions. Register now and learn how your business can maximize the business value of the enterprise network.
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- White PaperJoin Lee Benjamin, a Microsoft Exchange MVP and Ryan Shipkowski, network administrator for Matthews, to discuss the process and ROI of implementing an email archiving solution, with emphasis on a case study from Matthews International.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
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Click here for more information.
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CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II 05 October, 2007 06:00:00
For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders. - +
CIO Live Podcast #78: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires 28 September, 2007 17:34:25
For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders. - +
CIO Live Podcast #77: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part III 21 September, 2007 07:00:00
Part three in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance. - +
CIO Live Podcast #76: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part II 14 September, 2007 07:00:00
Part two in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance. - +
CIO Live Podcast #75: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part I 07 September, 2007 07:00:05
Part one in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
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SOA What? Why You Need SOA Governance Framework 04 December, 2008 08:32:00
Adopting services oriented architecture (SOA) in your enterprise without thinking through IT governance can cause something like the Gold Rush in the 1800s; extreme rates of growth and minimal law and order which produce unexpected outcomes. - +
The Myth of Cloud Computing 04 December, 2008 08:25:00
Why the rapid spread of virtual technology is becoming a security riskWhy the rapid spread of virtual technology is becoming a security risk. - +
Who Pushed Vendors Toward Better Security? 04 December, 2008 09:38:00
Hint: It had something to do with pressure from customers and government agencies, writes Oracle CSO Mary Ann DavidsonHint: It had something to do with pressure from customers and government agencies, writes Oracle CSO Mary Ann Davidson. - +
CPO & CISO: A Comprehensive Approach to Information 04 December, 2008 08:42:00
GE CPO Nuala O'Connor Kelly advocates greater CPO/CISO cooperation to place the right value on information assets.GE CPO Nuala O'Connor Kelly advocates greater CPO/CISO cooperation to place the right value on information assets. - +
Virtually every Windows PC at risk, says Secunia 04 December, 2008 08:00:00
Almost all PCs scanned by patch tool have an unpatched app; 46% have 11-plus.More than 98% of Windows computers harbor at least one unpatched application, and nearly half contain 11 or more programs at risk from attack, a Danish security company said Wednesday.
F-Secure: Growth In Internet Crime Calls For Growth In Punishment 05 December, 2008 13:00:00
International researchers gather in Sydney to preview the clever web 05 December, 2008 09:48:00
Borderless corporate networks to shift focus to secure content management in Australia in 2009 04 December, 2008 16:06:00
IDC Says Asia/Pacific Excluding Japan IT Market Will Remain The Bright Spot... 04 December, 2008 15:04:00
MySpot SOS "Panic Button" Smartphone Application could save lone worker lives 04 December, 2008 13:34:00
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Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Enterprise Planning
No matter how good its products or innovative its services, no organization can perform to its full potential without an adequate planning structure in place. Discover how this can be done by reading on.
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