CRN’s 2024 Products Of The Year
CRN staff compiled the top partner-friendly products that launched or were significantly enhanced over the past year and then turned to solution providers to choose this year’s winners.
And The Trophies Go To…
The CRN 2024 Products of the Year awards honor the leading partner-friendly IT products as selected by the solution providers that develop solutions and services around these products and bring them to their customers.
CRN editors selected finalists in 30 technology categories from products that were newly launched or updated between September 2023 and September 2024. The categories range from mainstay channel products in enterprise networking, enterprise storage and SD-WAN to products in newer technology areas such as application performance/observability, artificial intelligence architecture and AI PCs.
We then asked solution providers to rate the products based on three subcategories: technology, revenue and profit, and customer need. Products with the highest overall score (the average of the three subcategory scores) in each product category was named the winner.
What follows are the winners, subcategory winners and finalists for 2024.
Application Performance and Observability
Winner Overall: IBM Instana Observability
IBM Instana Observability automatically discovers, maps and monitors all services and infrastructure components, providing complete visibility across an application stack. It continuously captures every trace, detects changes in real-time, and provides detailed insights to automate root cause detection and problem resolution. Instana’s approach to observability includes built-in automation, application and infrastructure context, and AI-powered intelligent actions.
IBM Instana Observability scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Dynatrace Unified Observability Platform
Finalist: Datadog Observability Platform
Finalist: Grafana 11
Finalist: New Relic Observability Platform
Finalist: Splunk Observability Cloud
Artificial Intelligence: AI PCs
Winner Overall: Acer TravelMate P4 14
The Acer TravelMate P4 14 laptop for business professionals is an AI-ready business laptop with Microsoft Copilot, TravelMate Sense, and PurifiedVoice with AI Noise Reduction. The product harnesses the power of the Intel Core processor with built-in vPro Essentials hardware security and Intel Unison phone integration capabilities.
The Acer TravelMate P4 14 scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology and for revenue and profit.
Subcategory Winner – Customer Need: HP EliteBook 1040 G11
Finalist: Apple MacBook Pro
Finalist: Dell Latitude 7455
Finalist: Lenovo ThinkPad 14S Gen 6
Finalist: Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro
Artificial Intelligence: Infrastructure
Winner Overall: Supermicro AS-4125GS-TNHR2-LCC
The Supermicro AS-4125GS-TNHR2-LCC is designed for large-scale and cloud-scale compute tasks in AI, high performance computing, AI/deep learning, and deep learning/AI/ML development. The rackmount, liquid-cooled server runs on Nvidia H100 GPU processors.
The Supermicro AS-4125GS-TNHR2-LCC scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Dell PowerEdge R760xa
Finalist: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3
Artificial Intelligence: Productivity Suites
Winner Overall: Gemini For Google Workspace
Google Gemini is an AI-powered assistant that helps with a variety of tasks including writing, coding, research, data analysis and design. Gemini is integrated into Gmail, Docs and Sheets.
Gemini for Google Workspace scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: Microsoft Copilot
Big Data
Winner Overall: HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric Software
Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric Software is a platform for data-driven analytics, machine learning and AI workloads. It serves as a secure data store and provides file storage, NoSQL database, object storage and event stream capabilities. The product reduces data silos with a unified data lakehouse, and centrally manages and governs data while accessing it directly where it resides.
HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric Software scored highest overall in this product category, highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Cloudera Open Data Lakehouse
Finalist: Databricks Data Intelligence Platform
Finalist: Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform
Finalist: Snowflake Data Cloud
Finalist: Starburst Galaxy
Business Applications
Winner Overall: SAP S/4HANA
S/4HANA is SAP’s flagship ERP (enterprise resource planning) business application suite that provides finance, accounting, procurement, supply chain, production and employee management capabilities. The software uses AI and machine learning to analyze operational data and automate routine business tasks.
SAP S/4HANA scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: Epicor ERP
Finalist: Oracle NetSuite
Finalist: Microsoft Dynamics 365
Finalist: Sage Intacct
Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
Winner Overall: MicroStrategy ONE
MicroStrategy ONE is a cloud-based, AI-powered business intelligence system that turns raw data into actionable insights. The software provides an array of role-based analytical capabilities and offers no-code, low-code and pro-code options for infusing analytics into business operations.
MicroStrategy ONE scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit. It tied with the highest scores for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Amazon Redshift
Subcategory Winner – Customer Need: Domo Data Experience Platform (tie)
Finalist: Google Cloud BigQuery
Finalist: Qlik Sense
Finalist: Salesforce Tableau
Data Protection, Management and Resiliency
Winner Overall: Veeam Data Platform
Veeam Data Platform data protection and management software is used by businesses to protect, backup, recover and manage their data across on-premises, hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The system protects data across a range of physical servers, cloud instances, applications and virtual machines.
Veeam Data Platform scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: Cohesity Data Cloud
Finalist: Commvault Cloud Powered by Metallic AI
Finalist: Dell PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance
Finalist: HYCU R-Cloud
Finalist: Rubrik Security Cloud
Edge Computing/Internet of Things
Winner Overall: Scale Computing Autonomous Infrastructure Management Engine (AIME)
Scale Computing AIME provides the AI orchestration and management functionality within SC//HyperCore and significantly reduces the effort required to deploy, secure, manage and maintain IT infrastructure - including edge computing and IoT systems.
Scale Computing AIME scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Red Hat Device Edge
Finalist: Eaton iCube
Finalist: HPE Edgeline
Finalist: IBM Edge Application Manager
Finalist: Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Micro Data Center R-Series
Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure
Winner Overall: NetApp Hybrid Cloud
NetApp Hybrid Cloud combines public and private clouds, on-premises data centers and edge locations to run distributed workloads including web and content hosting, application development, data analytics and containerized applications.
NetApp Hybrid Cloud scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: IBM Hybrid Cloud
Finalist: Dell Technologies Apex Hybrid Cloud
Finalist: HPE GreenLake
Finalist: Nutanix Hybrid Multicloud
Finalist: VMware Cloud Foundation
MSP Platforms
Winner Overall: Kaseya 365
Kaseya 365 is a subscription-based service for MSPs that provides the core functions needed to manage, secure, backup and automate endpoint devices. The company recently introduced Kaseya 365 User to protect user data and identities in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace environments.
Kaseya 365 scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: N-able Cloud Commander
Finalist: Atera
Finalist: ConnectWise Asio Platform
Finalist: HaloPSA
Finalist: Syncro Platform
Networking – Enterprise
Winner Overall: Cisco Networking Cloud
Cisco Networking Cloud is Cisco’s AI-native platform built for the global area network that provides unified management, automation, and operational simplicity and security by converging and connecting fragmented on-premises and cloud networks.
Cisco Networking Cloud scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: HPE Aruba Networking Enterprise Private 5G
Finalist: Juniper AI-Native Networking Platform
Finalist: Nile NaaS
Finalist: Prosimo AI Suite for Multi-Cloud Networking
Networking – Wireless
Winner Overall: HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi 7 Access Point
HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi 7 access point networking devices provide AI-ready, high-performance and secure connectivity for enterprise applications, edge IT and IoT devices. HPE Aruba says the Wi-Fi 7 access points provide up to 30 percent more capacity for wireless traffic than competing products.
HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi 7 access point scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: Extreme Networks AP5020 universal Wi-Fi 7 access point
Finalist: Fortinet FortiAP 441K Wi-Fi 7 access point
Finalist: Zyxel Wi-Fi 7 access point
Power Protection and Management
Winner Overall: Eaton 9PX 6kVA Lithium-Ion UPS
Eaton touts the 9PX 6kVA Lithium-Ion UPS as ideal for enterprise IT, edge deployment and light industrial applications. It features remote firmware upgrades and integration with leading hyperconverged infrastructure and virtualization platforms.
The Eaton 9PX 6kVA Lithium-Ion UPS scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit and for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Vertiv Liebert GXT5 Lithium-Ion UPS
Finalist: CyberPower PFC Sinewave 1U UPS
Finalist: Schneider Electric Easy UPS 3-Phase 3M Advanced
Processors – CPUs
Winner Overall: Intel Core Ultra Series
Intel describes its Core Ultra processors as its premier processor line for desktop systems and mobile devices for enabling AI experiences such as copilots, productivity assistants, text and image creation, and collaboration.
Intel Core Ultra Series scored highest overall in this product category and highest for customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: Apple M3
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: AMD Ryzen Pro 8040 Series
Finalist: AmpereOne
Finalist: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
Processors – GPUs
Winner Overall: Nvidia H200
With its higher performance and expanded memory bandwidth and capacity, Nvidia’s H200 Tensor Core GPU is a popular processor for GenAI and high-performance computing workloads. Nvidia says the H200 also offers improved energy efficiency and lower TCO than the earlier H100.
The Nvidia H200 scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: AMD Instinct MI300X
Finalist: Intel ARC A570M
Public Cloud Platforms
Winner Overall: Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is one of the industry’s leading cloud platforms that provide services for building, running and managing cloud applications. The platform’s wide range of services include compute, storage, analytics and networking capabilities.
Microsoft Azure scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology and customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
Finalist: Amazon Web Services
Finalist: CoreWeave Cloud
Finalist: Google Cloud Platform
Finalist: Snowflake Data Cloud
SD-WAN
Winner Overall: HPE Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN is a software-as-a-service wide area network that provides secure connectivity and data access for hybrid work environments. Features include secure access service (SASE), a single management interface for observing and controlling the WAN and SASE, real-time monitoring and virtual WAN capabilities.
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit.
Subcategory Winner – Technology, Customer Need: Extreme Networks Extreme Cloud SD-WAN
Finalist: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Finalist: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Finalist: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Finalist: Zscaler Zero Trust SD-WAN
Security – Cloud and Application Security
Winner Overall: SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security provides cloud security, threat detection and response for servers, virtual machines and containers. Part of SentinelOne’s Singularity platform, Singularity Cloud Security works across private and public clouds, including AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology and customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
Finalist: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security
Finalist: F5 Distributed Cloud Services Web Application Scanning
Finalist: Orca Cloud Security Platform
Finalist: Tenable Cloud Security
Finalist: Wiz Cloud Security Platform
Security – Data
Winner Overall: IBM Guardium Data Protection
IBM Guardium Data Protection protects sensitive data in the cloud and in on-premises systems. GDP automatically discovers and classifies sensitive data across an enterprise and provides data activity monitoring and analytics, near real-time threat response workflows, and automated compliance auditing and reporting.
IBM Guardium Data Protection scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit.
Subcategory Winner – Technology, Customer Need: Zscaler Data Protection
Finalist: ForcePoint ONE Data Security
Finalist: Proofpoint Information Protection
Finalist: Rubrik Security Cloud
Finalist: Wiz DSPM
Security – Email and Web Security
Winner Overall: Mimecast Advanced Email Security
Mimecast Advanced Email Security is a comprehensive, cloud-based email security system that guards email from a range of cyberattacks including spam, viruses and malware. Capabilities include threat intelligence and protection, data leak prevention and secure messaging.
Mimecast Advanced Email Security scored highest overall in this product category and highest for revenue and profit.
Subcategory Winner – Technology, Customer Need: Cloudflare Application Security
Finalist: Abnormal Security Platform
Finalist: Akamai API Security
Finalist: Barracuda Email Protection
Finalist: Proofpoint Threat Protection
Security – Endpoint Protection
Winner Overall: Sophos Intercept X
Sophos Intercept X takes a comprehensive, prevention-first approach to security that Sophos says blocks threats without relying on any single technique. Intercept X provides endpoint detection and response cybersecurity using a wide range of tactics to stop ransomware, breaches, data loss and other advanced threats from impacting end users.
Sophos Intercept X scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology and customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR
Finalist: Huntress Managed EDR
Finalist: SentinelOne Singularity XDR
Finalist: ThreatLocker Protect
Finalist: Trend Micro Trend Vision One
Security – Identity and Access Management
Winner Overall: CyberArk Workforce Identity
CyberArk Workforce Identity is a SaaS-delivered system to simplify identity and access management across enterprise systems. The product provide unified workforce and B2B access and identity management within a single offering.
CyberArk Workforce Identity scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: Ping Identity PingOne for Workforce
Finalist: Okta Workforce Identity Cloud
Finalist: Microsoft Entra ID
Finalist: OpenText NetIQ Identity Manager
Finalist: SailPoint Identity Security Cloud
Security – Managed Detection and Response
Winner Overall: Huntress Managed Identity Threat Detection and Response
With Huntress Managed Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR), formerly MDR for Microsoft 365, Huntress threat experts monitor and respond in real time to critical security threats such as suspicious login activity, privilege escalation attempts, and email tampering and forwarding.
Huntress Managed Identity Threat Detection and Response scored highest overall in this product category.
Subcategory Winner – Technology: SentinelOne Singularity MDR
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Sophos MDR
Subcategory Winner – Customer Need: Arctic Wolf MDR
Finalist: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete Next-Gen MDR
Finalist: ThreatLocker Cyber Hero MDR
Security – Network
Winner Overall: Cisco Hypershield
Cisco Hypershield is a distributed security architecture that protects networks, applications and workloads in data centers and cloud environments. Hypershield features an AI-native rules engine, autonomous segmentation and distributed exploit protection.
Cisco Hypershield scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Fortinet FortiGate (tie)
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (tie)
Subcategory Winner – Customer Need: Fortinet FortiGate
Finalist: Sophos XGS Firewall
Finalist: ThreatLocker CyberHero MDR
Finalist: WatchGuard ThreatSync+ NDR
Security – Security Operations Platform
Winner Overall: Arctic Wolf Security Operations
Arctic Wolf Security Operations, renamed Arctic Wolf Aurora Platform in November 2024, is built on an open XDR architecture and is a cloud-based platform that offers a range of services to protect against cyberthreats including managed detection and response, incident response, threat intelligence, managed risk, managed security awareness and a security operations warranty.
It scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM
Finalist: Google Security Operations
Finalist: Microsoft Sentinel
Finalist: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSIAM 2.0
Finalist: Splunk Enterprise Security
Security – Security Access Service Edge
Winner Overall: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE
Palo Alto Networks describes Prisma SASE as a complete AI-powered SASE solution that combines network security, SD-WAN and autonomous digital experience management in a single service. It incorporates the Zero Trust Network Access 2.0 architecture.
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Zscaler Zero Trust SASE
Subcategory Winner – Customer Need: Fortinet FortiSASE
Finalist: Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Finalist: Cisco Secure Access
Finalist: Netskope One SASE
Storage – Enterprise
Winner Overall: NetApp AFF C-Series
The NetApp AFF C-Series storage array platform offers all-flash storage for data centers. The product is designed to provide economical, high-density storage for tier 1 and tier 2 data center workloads and to unify storage environments.
NetApp AFF C-Series scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology and customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Pure Storage FlashArray//E
Finalist: Dell PowerStore
Finalist: HPE Alletra Storage MP
Finalist: Infinidat SSA Express
Finalist: Quantum ActiveScale Z200 Object Storage
Storage – Software-Defined
Winner Overall: Pure Storage Purity
Pure Storage Purity software unifies, manages and protects data in data centers, the cloud or at the edge. Capabilities include data management (including AI-driven array operations, monitoring, analysis and optimization), data replication, data mobility, data reduction, data encryption, disaster recovery and high availability.
Pure Storage Purity scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology, revenue and profit, and customer need.
Finalist: DDN Infinia
Finalist: Dell PowerFlex
Finalist: HPE GreenLake for Block Storage
Finalist: IBM Software-Defined Storage
Unified Communications and Collaboration
Winner Overall: RingCentral RingCX
RingCentral RingCX is an AI-powered, omnichannel contact center system that combines voice, video and more than 20 digital channels in a single platform. Capabilities include intelligent virtual agent integration, analytics and reports, outbound dialing and agent scripting.
RingCentral RingCX scored highest overall in this product category and highest for technology and customer need.
Subcategory Winner – Revenue and Profit: Intermedia Unite
Finalist: Cisco Webex
Finalist: Microsoft Teams
Finalist: Nextiva Unified Customer Experience Platform