Products Of The Year 2024: The Finalists
CRN staff compiled the top partner-friendly products that launched or were significantly updated over the last year. Now it’s up to solution providers to choose the winners.
Products Of The Year
The CRN annual Products of the Year awards recognize the leading partner-friendly products, launched or significantly updated over the last year, as selected by the solution providers who bring these products to customers.
The finalists, more than 160 products spanning 30 technology categories, were selected by the CRN staff. Those products have gone into a survey of solution providers who are judging the products according to technology, revenue and profit, and customer need criteria.
The Product of the Year winners will be announced on CRN.com on Dec. 2 as well as be published in the December issue of CRN.
Click ahead for a look at the finalists in each category.
Jump to a category:
*Application Performance and Observability
*Artificial Intelligence: AI PCs
*Artificial Intelligence: Productivity Suites
*Artificial Intelligence: Infrastructure
*Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
*Data Protection, Management and Resiliency
*Edge Computing and Internet of Things
*Power Protection and Management
*Security – Cloud and Application Security
*Security – Email and Web Security
*Security – Endpoint Protection
*Security – Identity and Access Management
*Security – Security Operations Platform
Application Performance and Observability
As more applications run in hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud environments, maintaining application performance has becoming a more complex task. Application performance management and observability tools help IT organizations maintain the health, performance and user experience of business applications, according to market researcher Gartner. Such tools are used by IT operations managers, site reliability engineers, cloud and platform teams, application developers and software product owners.
Datadog Observability Platform
Dynatrace Unified Observability Platform
Grafana 11
IBM Instana Observability
New Relic Observability Platform
Splunk Observability Cloud
Artificial Intelligence: AI PCs
Everyday information workers and consumers are adopting the rapidly growing number of AI applications, copilots and other AI-driven software to improve their productivity and creativity. That’s fueling demand for personal computers with specialized processors, hardware and software to handle AI tasks. Global AI PC unit shipments are expected to exceed 43 million this year, according to market researcher Gartner, and soar to more than 114 million in 2025.
Acer TravelMate P4 14 (AMD)
Apple MacBook Pro (M3)
Dell Latitude 7455 (Qualcomm)
HP EliteBook 1040 G11 (Intel)
Lenovo ThinkPad 14S Gen 6 (Qualcomm)
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro (Intel)
Artificial Intelligence: Productivity Suites
Copilots, AI-powered assistants and other AI-based productivity software have become the most popular vehicle for users to tap into the power of artificial intelligence technology. These tools can help with everyday tasks including writing and editing documents, generating images, conducting research, automating repetitive tasks and more. AI productivity software, along with AI PCs, are the products that are bringing AI capabilities to the masses.
Microsoft Copilot
Google Gemini
Artificial Intelligence: Infrastructure
Businesses and organizations are rapidly expanding their use of AI. Building, deploying and running AI and machine learning applications, however, takes a lot of compute horsepower and the ability to process huge amounts of data. That’s boosting demand for powerful AI hardware in data centers and the cloud. Systems that support AI initiatives are expected to provide high levels of performance and scalability.
Dell PowerEdge R760xa
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3
Supermicro AS-4125GS-TNHR2-LCC
Big Data
Data volumes continue to explode and the global “datasphere” – the total amount of data created, captured, replicated and consumed – is growing more than 20 percent a year and is expected to reach approximately 291 zettabytes in 2027, according to market researcher IDC.
But wrangling all that data is a major challenge for businesses and that’s fueling demand for a range of big data tools to help businesses access, collect, manage, move, transform, govern and secure data.
Cloudera Open Data Lakehouse
Databricks Data Intelligence Platform
HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric Software
Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform
Snowflake Data Cloud
Starburst Galaxy
Business Applications
Business applications, including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and financial management software, are the operational backbone for many businesses and organizations. ERP applications are the tools they use to automate and manage their business processes including accounting and finance, HR, supply chain and procurement, manufacturing, and more.
Epicor ERP
Oracle NetSuite
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Sage Intacct
SAP S/4HANA
Syspro ERP
Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
Many businesses and organizations are deriving huge value and competitive advantages from data generated by their own IT systems, collected through customer transactions and acquired from outside sources.
Businesses analyze data to gain insights about markets, their customers and their own operations. They are using the data to fuel digital transformation initiatives. They are even using it to support new data-intensive services or packaging it into data products.
Amazon Redshift
Domo Data Experience Platform
Google Cloud BigQuery
MicroStrategy ONE
Qlik Sense
Salesforce Tableau
Data Protection, Management and Resiliency
Data is the lifeblood of the modern enterprise. Data that’s lost or unavailable, either due to system failure, a disastrous event like a fire or earthquake, human error or a cyberattack, can cause major disruptions.
Data resilience and protection systems and services help businesses protect and maintain access to data, and identify, detect, respond and recover from data-destructive events.
Cohesity Data Cloud
Commvault Cloud Powered by Metallic AI
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance
HYCU R-Cloud
Rubrik Security Cloud
Veeam Data Platform
Edge Computing and Internet of Things
Efforts to bring applications and data processing closer to data sources is driving the proliferation of local edge servers and IoT devices. That, in turn, is driving demand for products to better manage and support increasingly distributed computing networks.
The global market for edge computing hardware, software and services is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.7 percent to $111.3 billion by 2028, according to Markets and Markets.
Eaton iCube
HPE Edgeline
IBM Edge Application Manager
Red Hat Device Edge
Scale Computing Autonomous Infrastructure Management Engine (AIME)
Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Micro Data Center R-Series
Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure
Hybrid cloud infrastructure combines cloud-based (often Infrastructure-as-a-Service) resources with on-premises/private cloud IT systems, working together and sharing applications and data to provide businesses with the flexibility and scalability they need to support distributed business workloads and processes. A report from Allied Market Research says the global hybrid cloud market was $96.7 billion in 2023 and will reach $414.1 million by 2032.
Dell Technologies Apex Hybrid Cloud
HPE GreenLake
IBM Hybrid Cloud
NetApp Hybrid Cloud
Nutanix Hybrid Multicloud
VMware Cloud Foundation
MSP Platforms
Managed services have been one of the fastest growing segments of the IT channel as more businesses, organizations and government entities rely on MSPs to manage their IT infrastructure and end-user systems.
That’s boosting demand for MSP platforms, including the remote monitoring and management tools, professional services automation systems and other tools that MSPs rely on to do their jobs.
Atera
ConnectWise Asio Platform
HaloPSA
Kaseya 365
N-able Cloud Commander
Syncro Platform
Networking – Enterprise
Networking hardware, including routers, switches, hubs and bridges, have long been a mainstay of the channel. Today channel companies offer networking solutions and services that span data center and cloud networks, campus LAN and WAN, Network-as-a-Service, network management and automation, and network security systems.
Cisco Networking Cloud
HPE Aruba Networking Enterprise Private 5G
Juniper AI-Native Networking Platform
Nile NaaS
Prosimo AI Suite for Multi-Cloud Networking
Networking – Wireless
Wireless networks are key to making computing, communications and collaboration ubiquitous whether in the home, throughout offices and other workspaces, in manufacturing and industrial plants, and across large venues such as conference facilities and sports stadiums. Wi-Fi 7 is the seventh generation of wireless technology offering faster speeds and improved connectivity and capacity.
Extreme Networks AP5020 universal Wi-Fi 7 access point
Fortinet FortiAP 441K Wi-Fi 7 access point
HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi 7 access point
Zyxel Wi-Fi 7 access point
Power Protection and Management
Power protection and management systems and appliances are a critical component for protecting critical IT infrastructure and keeping data centers up and running in the event of extreme events. The product category includes technology for monitoring and managing power usage, protecting IT systems against electricity surges, and providing backup in the event of power failures.
CyberPower PFC Sinewave 1U UPS
Eaton 9PX 6kVA Lithium-Ion UPS
Schneider Electric Easy UPS 3-Phase 3M Advanced
Vertiv Liebert GXT5 Lithium-Ion UPS
Processors – CPUs
CPU semiconductors are the processing engines that power servers, laptop and desktop PCs, and mobile devices. Intel was long-dominant in the CPU space, but rival AMD has developed highly competitive products in recent years. Apple, meanwhile, has been developing its own “silicon” for its Mac, iPad and iPhone devices.
AMD Ryzen Pro 8040 Series
Intel Core Ultra Series
AmpereOne
Apple M3
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
Processors – GPUs
Graphics processing units or GPUs are a specialized processor originally developed to accelerate the performance of computer graphics. But they are increasingly being designed into IT systems for high-performance computing tasks such as data science and AI applications. Nvidia has been a pioneer in developing GPUs for a broad range of applications, but rivals Intel and AMD have been expanding their GPU product portfolios.
AMD Instinct MI300X
Intel ARC A570M
Nvidia H200
Public Cloud Platforms
Public cloud platforms provide organizations with an alternative to building and managing their own IT systems and data centers. Public cloud operators also offer their own portfolios of cloud products and services such as application hosting, data storage and analytics. The value proposition is that cloud services reduce capital spending for businesses and provide more flexibility by allowing them to scale IT usage up or down as needed.
Amazon Web Services
CoreWeave Cloud
Google Cloud Platform
Microsoft Azure
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
Snowflake Data Cloud
SD-WAN
SD-WAN is a software-defined approach to managing and optimizing the performance and security of wide area networks that connect users to applications and cloud platforms. SD-WAN benefits include improved performance and connectivity, enhanced security, simplified management and lower operating costs.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Extreme Networks Extreme Cloud SD-WAN
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Zscaler Zero Trust SD-WAN
Security – Cloud and Application Security
The rapid growth of cloud computing has created new security challenges for businesses and organizations as they adopt and utilize distributed IT infrastructure and applications that lie both within and outside of the corporate firewall. Cloud and application security technologies provide a range of capabilities including protection against internal and external threats, identity and access control, and network visibility and management.
CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security
F5 Distributed Cloud Services Web Application Scanning
Orca Cloud Security Platform
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security
Tenable Cloud Security
Wiz Cloud Security Platform
Security – Data
Protecting data has become a top priority for with the proliferation of ransomware attacks and other cybercrimes. The media is filled with headlines of businesses, hospitals, insurance companies, government entities and other organizations who find themselves blocked from accessing their own critical data or discover that their data has been stolen and is for sale on the Dark Web.
Data security tools provide a range of functions to accomplish their task including data encryption, user authentication and controlling access to data, monitoring data in real time to detect and respond to unusual activity, manage compliance with data governance requirements, and more.
ForcePoint ONE Data Security
IBM Guardium Data Protection
Proofpoint Information Protection
Rubrik Security Cloud
Wiz DSPM
Zscaler Data Protection
Security – Email and Web Security
Email and other internet communications are perhaps the most common vector for cybersecurity attacks including spam, phishing, malware delivery and system takeover.
Email security products, including antivirus/antimalware tools, spam filters, authentication and encryption systems, are a key component of a business’s overall IT security strategy. Web security tools help prevent attacks against websites.
Abnormal Security Platform
Akamai API Security
Barracuda Email Protection
Cloudflare Application Security
Mimecast Advanced Email Security
Proofpoint Threat Protection
Security – Endpoint Protection
Businesses can be most vulnerable through the endpoint devices (desktop PCs, laptops, smartphones) employees use for everyday work, along with embedded devices, IoT and other edge computing systems. This is especially true with today’s post-pandemic hybrid work practices where many of these devices now sit outside of corporate security perimeters.
Products in this technology category include antivirus and antimalware tools, endpoint protection platforms, and endpoint detection/response and extended detection/response software.
CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR
Huntress Managed EDR
SentinelOne Singularity XDR
Sophos Intercept X
ThreatLocker Protect
Trend Micro Trend Vision One
Security – Identity and Access Management
Businesses use identity and access management tools, backed by related policies and processes, to manage digital identities and control access to corporate IT systems and data. IAM tools, a foundational cybersecurity technology for zero trust IT initiatives, are key to identifying, authenticating and authorizing users – including employees and trusted business partners – while protecting against unauthorized access.
CyberArk Workforce Identity
Ping Identity PingOne for Workforce
Okta Workforce Identity Cloud
Microsoft Entra ID
OpenText NetIQ Identity Manager
SailPoint Identity Security Cloud
Security – Managed Detection and Response
Many businesses and organizations, especially SMBs, lack in-house cybersecurity expertise. Many turn to managed detection and response (MDR) providers for outsourced services that monitor clients’ IT systems, endpoints, networks and cloud environments on a 24/7 basis and respond to detected cyberthreats. MDR offerings generally combine cybersecurity teams, advanced threat detection tools and security operations center functions.
Arctic Wolf MDR
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete Next-Gen MDR
Huntress MDR for Microsoft 365
SentinelOne Singularity MDR
Sophos MDR
ThreatLocker Cyber Hero MDR
Security – Network
Businesses face multiple challenges to keep their network infrastructure secure and operational. Potential threats include distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, network-based ransomware, insider threats and password attacks, to name a few.
Securing corporate networks, meanwhile, has become all the harder with the move to remote work and the increasing use of cloud applications.
The specific technology components of a sound network security strategy include firewalls, SASE (secure access service edge) systems, network access control technology, antivirus and antimalware software, intrusion prevention systems, and tools for cloud, application and email security.
Cisco Hypershield
Fortinet FortiGate
SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge
Sophos XGS Firewall
ThreatLocker CyberHero MDR
WatchGuard ThreatSync+ NDR
Security – Security Operations Platform
Security Operations links security and IT operations teams to improve an organization’s cybersecurity posture across IT systems, networks and applications. SecOps software incorporates tools and processes to provide a unified approach to cybersecurity to help identify security threats and vulnerabilities, reduce risks and respond more quickly to security incidents.
Arctic Wolf Security Operations
CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM
Google Security Operations
Microsoft Sentinel
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSIAM 2.0
Splunk Enterprise Security
Security – Security Service Edge
Security Service Edge are cloud-based security systems that provide secure user access to the web, cloud services and SaaS applications. SSE is a component of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platforms that combine network and security services into a single cloud-based system – a critical concept for managing today’s multi-cloud environments and hybrid workforces. SSE capabilities include access control, threat protection, data security, security monitoring, and usage governance policy enforcement.
Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Cisco Secure Access
Fortinet FortiSASE
Netskope One SASE
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE
Zscaler Zero Trust SASE
Storage – Enterprise
Data volumes continue to explode and the global “datasphere” – the total amount of data created, captured, replicated and consumed – is growing more than 20 percent a year and is expected to reach approximately 291 zettabytes in 2027, according to market researcher IDC.
That data, of course, must be stored somewhere. While more data is being stored on cloud platforms, many businesses and organizations maintain on-premises data storage systems – either standalone or as part of a hybrid system – for a number of reasons including data security and governance and reduced internet costs.
Dell PowerStore
HPE Alletra Storage MP
Infinidat SSA Express
NetApp AFF C-Series
Pure Storage FlashArray//E
Quantum ActiveScale Z200 Object Storage
Storage – Software-Defined
Software-defined storage technology uncouples or abstracts storage management and provisioning from the underlying hardware. One benefit is that pools of physical storage resources can be managed as a single system, helping to reduce costs compared to traditional storage area network (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS) systems.
DDN Infinia
Dell PowerFlex
HPE GreenLake for Block Storage
IBM Software-Defined Storage
Pure Storage Purity
Unified Communications and Collaboration
Unified communications (including Unified Communications as a Service) integrates VoIP, instant messaging, video conferencing and other communication capabilities through a single interface. UCC has taken on increased importance with more employees working from home and other remote locations.
UCC is a long-time channel mainstay with solution providers implementing, maintaining and operating UCC systems. The global UCC market is expected to reach $141.6 billion by 2027, according to Markets and Markets.
Cisco Webex
Intermedia Unite
Microsoft Teams
Nextiva Unified Customer Experience Platform
RingCentral RingCX