IE Index

Possible Contenders

The editors have begun pondering selections for the 2003 Editors' Choice Awards. While we aren't making any promises ... here's a preview of some companies newly on our radar that have caught our interest.

The Dozen

Kxen Inc. (www.kxen.com)
Ever heard of Vladimir Vapnik? Kxen believes that the time is right for the application of his theories to solve data mining and predictive modeling problems that are hitting a wall with more commonplace methods. Lots of attributes, lots of data, and business users who are not expert in data mining and statistics are the "givens" that Kxen likes to work with. If successful, the company could change the game for strategic, data-driven applications.

Panorama Software Systems Ltd. (www.panoramasoftware.com)
Behind the scenes, Panorama has been a key player in the BI arena. Microsoft acquired the company's OLAP technology in 1996. A 1998 agreement with Cognos Inc. to resell Panorama's front-end tool NovaView didn't work out and was dissolved in 2001, freeing the company to move forward on its own. Aiming for installations that need to support massive numbers of users, good reviews have made Panorama a company to watch.

ProClarity Corp. (www.proclarity.com)
Nothing is sadder than watching the promise of BI collapse into shelfware after users couldn't master the technology. ProClarity is determined to mold its solutions around business users' skill sets so that they can immediately become productive. The company is finding fans particularly in the high-growth, small-to-medium business market.

Companies to Watch

INTELLIGENCE

Insightful Corp. (www.insightful.com)
Formerly MathSoft Inc.'s Data Analysis Products Division, Insightful is hardly a new company, but it's new to us. Its analytic software, including Insightful Miner and the venerable S-Plus statistical modeling solution, is known for its completeness, user interface, and extensibility.

Sightward Inc. (www.sightward.com)
Sightward's customer analytics solution is about as "black box" an approach as we've seen. Designed for line-of-business managers, the Sightward System culls predictive scored lists from customer databases, making the modeling process transparent to the user. The company guarantees improved ROI.

SpotFire Inc. (www.spotfire.com)
Analytic technology that supports bioinformatics will be a likely commercial success in the coming years. SpotFire is in the thick of that action; its DecisionSite product is receiving attention for its innovative "visual" approach to knowledge discovery. The company plans to advance beyond its life sciences beachhead when the timing is right.

INTEGRATION

Attunity Inc. (www.attunity.com)
Attunity tackles legacy systems in the emerging field of enterprise information integration, providing tools for Web-enabling back-end apps, integrating supply chains, and hooking up data-intensive processes of every description.

Cape Clear Software Inc. (www.capeclear.com)
Since its 1999 debut, Cape Clear has been a solid Web services presence with open standards-based integrated development tools and a focus on reducing the costs of software integration and development.

Platform Computing Inc. (www.platform.com)
Platform has made significant progress in promoting distributed computing and resource sharing across heterogeneous enterprise environments with its toolkits. The company has major alliances with grid computing pioneers such as IBM, HP, and Sun Microsystems, as well as U.S. agencies and key vertical vendors.

INFRASTRUCTURE

AmberPoint Inc. (www.amberpoint.com)
With Web services picking up steam, AmberPoint (formerly Edgility) is one of the first to deliver technology that lets enterprises manage, monitor, and upgrade these services. With Sun and Forte veterans at the helm, strong partnerships with IBM, BEA Systems Inc., and Sun, and impressive financial backing, we predict this company has the "right stuff."

Curl Corp. (www.curl.com)
Although founders such as Stephen A. Ward, the late Michael L. Dertouzos, and Timothy Berners-Lee give Curl credibility, its novel approach to delivering rich client capabilities for the Web-enabled enterprise that are complementary to Java and Microsoft .Net is what made us take notice. Early adopter Siemens AG has already seen gains in faster development, reduced server and bandwidth consumption, and increased end-user development.

F5 Networks Inc. (www.F5.com)
Despite being David to Cisco Systems Inc.'s Goliath, F5 Networks is gaining ground with its integrated portfolio of Web optimization products such as BIG-IP 5000 — named Network Computing's Infrastructure Product of the Year. The level of intelligence and control it gives enterprise assets can make even an IT sophisticate drool.

COLLABORATIVE COMMERCE

Day Software Holding AG (www.day.com)
The Communique Unify product combines enterprise content management, portals, active middleware, and business process automation (in a product that runs in any J2EE application server), sectors that analysts predicted would converge in 2003-4.

Formation Systems Inc. (www.formationsystems.com)
Flagship product Optiva, which marries product innovation to the supply chain, is selling very well. Formation named former i2 Technologies Inc. executive Daniel Keelan as president and CEO.

Manhattan Associates Inc. (www.manh.com)
Its growth in the extended supply chain execution market and consistent performance propelled this company in 2002 to a market cap almost double that of i2 Technologies Inc. and Manugistics Group Inc. combined.

RedPrairie Corp. (www.redprairie.com)
When 25-year-old McHugh Software International changed its name to RedPrairie in May, it also launched the "RedPrairie Approach" and put its money where its mouth is, with a shared risk/reward sales model.

Yantra Corp. (www.yantra.com)
A leader in the hot new "adaptive logistics management" category, along with close competitors Viewlocity Inc. and Celarix Inc., Yantra has an impressive list of high-profile customers, partners, and investors.

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