CRN's 2017 Products Of The Year

Products Of The Year

Judging for the 2017 Products of the Year went directly to those who work with the offerings to solve problems for customers. To start, CRN editors selected five product finalists among 20 top technology categories for the IT channel. We then asked solution providers to determine a winner based on how the products rate on technology, revenue and profit opportunities, and customer demand.

After a survey that netted more than 4,000 responses, here are the winners and finalists for each category.

DESKTOPS

LENOVO THINKCENTRE M910z ALL-IN-ONE

WINNER: OVERALL

With the ThinkCentre M910z, Lenovo has designed an all-in-one PC that's got the sort of horsepower and other key features that businesses demand, but at an affordable price point (starting at just above $700). The PC is available with up to a seventh-gen Intel Core i7-7700 processor, up to 32 GB of RAM, and a 23.8-inch touch-screen display with an adjustable stand.

"Lenovo's done a nice job with it," said Josh Boyd, founder and CEO of Nashville, Tenn.-based Computer Pros -- pointing to the touch screen, the adjustable stand, and the space-saving all-in-one form factor as major benefits. The M910z also features a tool-less design, Boyd said, meaning that the hard drive and memory can be replaced more easily.

DESKTOPS

APPLE iMAC UPDATE

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: TECHNOLOGY

Upgrades to Apple's iMac line this year include a brighter display, seventh-generation Intel processors, and more RAM options -- up to 32 GB for the 21.5-inch models and 64 GB for the 27-inch. Certain iMac models will also offer discrete AMD Radeon Pro graphics.

DESKTOPS

DELL PRECISION 5720

Finalist

Dell's Precision 5720 is an all-in-one touch-screen PC that's ideal for multi-tasking. The 27-inch, 4K display is paired with massive power from an Intel Xeon processor and 32 GB of RAM, along with a highly adjustable stand and a premium speaker system.

HP ELITEONE 800 G3 ALL-IN-ONE

Finalist

The third generation of HP's EliteOne 800 features a 23.8-inch touch-screen display (with an anti-glare option), up to 32 GB of RAM, HP's self-healing Sure Start technology, optional AMD Radeon graphics, and an all-in-one form factor.

MICROSOFT SURFACE STUDIO

Finalist

An all-in-one PC in the Surface line, the Surface Studio features a 28-inch touch display and is aimed at creative professionals. Adjusting the display all the way downward lets users work in drawing board mode with the included Surface Pen.

ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE

SPLUNK ENTERPRISE 6.5

WINNER: OVERALL

The latest release of Splunk's flagship platform, Splunk Enterprise 6.5, includes improvements to its analytics capabilities, which make it easier to create machine learning models for IT,

security and business use cases. The new release also simplifies data preparation and expands data analysis to a broader range of users. The company "continues to execute and establish the Splunk platform as the No. 1 fabric for machine data. [Enterprise] 6.5 is a testimony to that," said Jim Kinney, CEO of Indianapolis-based Kinney Group. "My personal belief is that machine learning is an absolute freight train coming at all industries, and Splunk has done a superb job at weaving machine learning into their platform."

ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE

PUPPET ENTERPRISE 2017.2

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

Puppet rolled out Enterprise 2017.2 with new capabilities including package inspection, which gets users up and running with automation more quickly by uncovering packages that ought to be managed automatically. Another new capability, visual orchestration workflows, let users orchestrate deployments of infrastructure and applications from inside Puppet Enterprise's web user interface.

ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE

HPE ONEVIEW 3.1

Finalist

In tandem with launching its latest server platform, Gen10, Hewlett Packard Enterprise debuted OneView 3.1 to better support Gen10 servers in software-defined infrastructures. HPE OneView 3.1 helps the Gen10 servers provide composable storage capabilities, while also improving firmware management.

ORACLE NETSUITE ERP UPDATES

Finalist

New features in Oracle's NetSuite ERP software include improved automation for global financials, simplified revenue recognition and billing, more flexible services resource planning, and improved optimization in supply chain management. Ultimately, the features enable users to scale their operations with greater efficiency.

SAP HANA 2

Finalist

The newest edition of SAP's in-memory database, SAP HANA 2, offers an array of enhancements around data management, analytical intelligence and application development. Key improvements include new processing engines for many types of data, as well as upgraded machine-learning capabilities for business analytics and data discovery.

ENTERPRISE STORAGE

NETAPP AFF A700s

WINNER: OVERALL

With NetApp's AFF A700s all-flash storage arrays, features include an NVMe fabric-ready clustered architecture that runs the NetApp ONTAP storage operating system. The AFF A700s supports 15-TB SSDs as well as 32-GB Fibre Channel and 40-GB Ethernet connectivity options. Customers can connect the arrays to public clouds including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud. "NetApp's data fabric story with customers moving to the cloud is very, very powerful. You can have an all-flash solution on-premise, and then have that data moved between clouds," said Michael Thomaschewski, chief technology officer of hybrid infrastructure at Calgary, Alberta-based Long View Systems. "With the [A700s], NetApp just continues to scale their product line."

ENTERPRISE STORAGE

DELL EMC VMAX 950F

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: CUSTOMER DEMAND

The VMAX 950F, Dell EMC's new flagship in all-flash enterprise storage, offers up to 4 petabytes of effective flash capacity across up to eight nodes. It also features a 68 percent increase in performance to as high as 6.7 million IOs per second, with 150-GBps bandwidth and a 30 percent improvement in response time.

ENTERPRISE STORAGE

HPE 3Par 9000 SERIES

Finalist

For the 3Par 9000 Series, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has added the 3Par StoreServ 9450, which provides all-flash performance to scalable and multitenant environments. HPE said the 3Par 9450 offers an 80 percent boost in performance over previous 3Par systems, with close to 2 million IOPs at less than 1 millisecond of latency. It scales to up to 6 petabytes of capacity.

IBM DS8884F

Finalist

IBM's latest DS8884F offering is based on the IBM Power Systems server and features 99.9999 percent availability, along with FICON connectivity for mainframe environments and Fibre Channel connectivity for non-mainframe mission-critical systems.The DS8884F scales from 6.4 TB to 154 TB of flash capacity, and comes with 256 GB of DRAM cache and 32 Fibre Channel and FICON ports.

PURE STORAGE FLASHARRAY//X

Finalist

Pure Storage's FlashArray//X targets high-performance web-scale applications and data analytics, thanks to a new native NVMe controller, new in-house-designed DirectFlash NVMe flash storage modules, and new DirectFlash software designed to manage NVMe storage. Available options include 2.2-TB and 9.1-TB DirectFlash modules.

GENERAL-PURPOSE SERVERS

HPE PROLIANT DL380, GEN10

WINNER: OVERALL

The 10th-generation version of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's popular server, the ProLiant DL380, incorporates the latest in storage and memory technologies -- with key components including HPE's new persistent memory. The technology combines standard DRAM along with NAND flash memory, a microcontroller, and an integrated battery on a module that fits in a standard memory slot. And unlike the first generation of persistent memory, which was available in 8-GB modules, the version in the Gen10 servers is available in 16-GB modules. "With persistent memory, you can scale high-performance computing type of workloads much more effectively than ever before," said Dan Molina, chief technology officer of San Diego-based Nth Generation Computing. "The performance benefits have been radically improved thanks to this persistent scalable memory."

GENERAL-PURPOSE SERVERS

LENOVO THINKSYSTEM SN550

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

Lenovo's ThinkSystem SN550, a blade server that is expandable and designed to run a wide variety of workloads, runs on Intel's new Xeon Scalable processors and SAS/SATA and NVMe disk drives. The SN550 is intended for private or hybrid cloud deployments, or for consolidating older servers into a single blade.

GENERAL-PURPOSE SERVERS

CISCO UNIFIED COMPUTING SYSTEM M5

Finalist

The latest generation of Cisco's flagship Unified Computing System server line includes blade and rack servers, an enhanced UCS Director, Intel's Xeon Scalable processors, and a Workload Optimization Manager -- as well as the ability for customers to run multiple different types of architectures on the system.

DELL EMC POWEREDGE, 14TH GENERATION

Finalist

Key features of Dell EMC's 14th-generation PowerEdge servers include scalable business architecture (for meeting the needs of numerous workload requirements), intelligent automation (via expanded APIs and a new OpenManage Enterprise console), and integrated security. Performance enhancements come in part from a massive increase in the amount of NVMe storage included.

SUPERMICRO ULTRA A+

Finalist

Supermicro's newest line of A+ servers runs on new AMD Epyc processors, and sports high-capacity memory, several networking and expansion options, as well as all-flash NVMe support. The line is led by the Ultra A+, a dual-socket unit with DDR4 memory and seven PCIe 3.0 slots.

HYBRID CLOUD

IBM CLOUD FOR VMWARE

WINNER: OVERALL

IBM Cloud for VMware enables extension of VMware environments to the SoftLayer public cloud, an integration that marks a major hybrid cloud offering for VMware's technology. IBM's offering simplifies provisioning through the IBM Marketplace; adds migration, automation and management capabilities; and integrates billing so partners don't need to obtain separate licenses. "IBM started with VMware before AWS, and as a result has a bit of a head start in terms of maturity," said Clayton Weise, director of cloud services at Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Key Information Systems.The management offered by IBM Cloud for VMware is "really the key," Weise said. "It becomes a matter of treating that cloud as an extension of your own data center. That's an area that public cloud has pretty much lacked completely."

HYBRID CLOUD

DOCKER ENTERPRISE EDITION

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

Docker's latest version of its enterprise container service adds sophisticated policy control and automation features, while also introducing support for IBM z Systems mainframes. The new release ultimately makes it easier for IT teams to modernize workloads at scale with container-based architectures.

HYBRID CLOUD

CITRIX CLOUD UPDATES

Finalist

Recent updates to the Citrix Cloud offering include the ability to manage the XenApp Essentials and XenDesktop Essential services (which are native to Microsoft Azure) from within the platform. The offering also now features integration with XenMobile device management and app management, and with the NetScaler Gateway Service.

RED HAT CLOUD SUITE UPDATES

Finalist

The latest release of the Red Hat Cloud Suite adds an enterprise-friendly container application offering, based on the popular Kubernetes orchestration platform, while also introducing more flexible virtualization options and adding IT automation capabilities through an integration with Red Hat's Ansible platform.

VMWARE CLOUD ON AWS

Finalist

With VMware Cloud on AWS, VMware-based software-defined data center workloads are able to run natively on Amazon Web Services. Customers can run applications across vSphere-based private, public and hybrid cloud environments using their existing VMware software and tools -- and access a full range of storage, database and analytics services.

HYPER-CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE

HPE SIMPLIVITY 380

WINNER: OVERALL

Hewlett Packard Enterprise's SimpliVity 380 integrates the SimpliVity OmniStack software that HPE acquired this year to unify compute, storage services and networking in a single HPE ProLiant DL380. The HPE SimpliVity 380 offers a full suite of traditional IT functions including WAN optimization, unified global VM-centric management, data protection, cloud integration, built-in backup, and disaster recovery. The offering is a "game-changer" in part thanks to "its ability to optimize data from the very first I/O," said Dan Molina, chief technology officer of San Diego-based Nth Generation Computing. "When the first byte of data gets created, it's already being optimized by using data compression and data deduplication. For many other products, that's an after-thought."

HYPER-CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE

NUTANIX XI CLOUD SERVICES

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

Nutanix's Xi Cloud Services extends data center services to the cloud via the company's Prism centralized data center infrastructure management software. The offering provides a variety of cloud services, such as Xi Cloud Disaster Recovery, leveraging Nutanix's hyper-converged infrastructure technology.

HYPER-CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE

CISCO HYPERFLEX 2.5

Finalist

In version 2.5, Cisco's HyperFlex Systems received a range of new capabilities including high-capacity all-flash nodes, native replication of clusters, and new management options. The high-capacity all-flash nodes are coupled with support for 40-Gbps UCS fabric networking, in order to expand customer choice and deliver higher application performance.

DELL EMC VXRAIL 4.0

Finalist

For VxRail 4.0, Dell EMC has outfitted the hyper-converged appliance with a massive number of new configurations for greater flexibility around use cases. VxRail 4.0 also provides twice the amount of flash storage and as much as 40 percent greater CPU performance than the previous version.

SCALE COMPUTING HC5150D

Finalist

Scale Computing's HC5150D hyper-converged appliance is aimed at enabling resource-heavy workloads such as large file storage and data warehousing, due in part to the use of a large amount of hybrid flash storage (77 TB per node) for increased speed and efficiency.

I NTERNET OF THINGS

AWS GREENGRASS

WINNER: OVERALL

Amazon Web Services launched its Greengrass software to serve as a critical tool for enhancing edge computing capabilities for Internet of Things devices. Greengrass allows developers to write Lambda code that can run straight from devices and is built for offline operation. This means that IoT data will continue to be processed even when connectivity to the cloud is temporarily unavailable. Greengrass is thus a key enabler of use cases such as home automation, where there must be a guarantee that data is going to be processed. "You still need that local interaction between devices to take place, even in the face of internet connectivity issues," said Tolga Tarhan, founder and chief technology officer of Irvine, Calif.-based Sturdy Networks. "I think Greengrass will play a significant role in the next year of projects we're doing."

INTERNET OF THINGS

CISCO CONTROL CENTER 7.0

Finalist

Cisco rolled out Control Center 7.0 as a multi-tier platform that addresses the need for greater flexibility and includes enhanced analytics, automation and security. Control Center 7.0 also now supports the management of IoT devices across cellular, NarrowBand IoT and LTE-M networks.

HPE EDGELINE SERVICES PLATFORM

Finalist

Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Edgeline Services Platform aims to help partners better manage and control industrial connected systems and networks, including IoT devices, at the edge. The platform enables partners to deliver applications and services at the edge for connected operational technology devices, which include industrial control systems such as programmable logic controllers.

INTEL COMPUTE CARD

Finalist

Intel's Compute Card is targeted at bringing the power of connectivity to virtually any product. The 5mm-thick Compute Card has an array of features that provide a simplified design for customers and is equipped with a standardized I/O interface to support multiple devices.

MICROSOFT AZURE IOT EDGE SERVICE

Finalist

Microsoft's Azure IoT Edge service provides new edge analytics capabilities to help enable developers to move their computing needs to Windows and Linux devices. The service utilizes an array of Microsoft offerings including Azure Machine Learning, Stream Analytics and the Azure IoT Hub.

LAPTOPS

LENOVO THINKPAD X1 CARBON

WINNER: OVERALL

With the fifth generation of Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon, key upgrades include the reduction of the bezel around the display, meaning that this is a 14-inch laptop display on roughly the size

of a typical 13-inch laptop. Lenovo also has made the new X1 Carbon 6 percent lighter than the previous model, at 2.5 pounds, while battery life has been boosted to 15.5 hours from 11 hours previously. "It's super light, super fast, durable. Everyone seems to love it," said Kevin Lenard, business development manager at Norwalk, Conn.-based Vernon Computer Source. The latest X1 Carbon is also reasonably priced compared with other high-performance laptops on the market, and especially ideal for highly mobile executives looking for a portable and powerful laptop, Lenard said.

LAPTOPS

APPLE MACBOOK PRO

Finalist

The recent MacBook Pro update is the lightest and thinnest version of Apple's workhorse laptop yet, and adds Intel's seventh-generation Core processors for boosted performance. The MacBook Pro also includes the Touch Bar, a touch-sensitive display strip with controls that adapt to whichever app is being used.

DELL XPS 13

Finalist

Dell's updated XPS 13 laptop adds Intel's seventh-gen Core processors along with technology for smoother Wi-Fi connections. Its 13.3-inch display barely has a bezel on the top and sides, making it a laptop that feels small and highly portable overall while still providing plenty of screen space.

HP ELITEBOOK x360

Finalist

Along with a foldable touch-screen display, key features of HP's EliteBook x360 include long battery life (up to 16.5 hours on a charge), a range of work-friendly ports, HP's self-healing Sure Start technology, and a thickness of just 0.59 of an inch.

SAMSUNG NOTEBOOK 9 PRO 15

Finalist

Samsung's latest update to the Notebook 9 Pro 15 brings in a touch-screen display and 360-degree hinge, as well as the inclusion of a digital pen (the S Pen). The laptop also has a seventh-gen Intel Core i7 processor, AMD Radeon 540 graphics, and up to 11.5 hours worth of battery life.

MIDRANGE STORAGE

HPE NIMBLE CLOUD VOLUMES

WINNER: OVERALL

Nimble Storage, now owned by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, this year debuted its storage service Nimble Cloud Volumes that is aimed at making it easy for customers to switch between multiple clouds. Nimble Cloud Volumes is a block solution that allows businesses to use multiple clouds without getting locked into any of them, since the data itself is not stored on a public cloud. Instead, data is stored on Nimble flash storage and tied to Microsoft Azure or AWS, allowing applications on the public clouds to access the data quickly. "The multi-cloud approach makes sense combined with on-premise, but going back and forth between multiple clouds can get very expensive," said Dan Molina, chief technology officer of San Diego-based Nth Generation Computing. "With Nimble Cloud Volumes, you can quickly copy your data to the cloud, move it to another cloud provider, or back on-premise without any costly data egress charges. More and more customers are interested in that approach."

MIDRANGE STORAGE

DELL EMC NEXT-GENERATION UNITY

Finalist

For the latest updates to the Unity all-flash midrange array, Dell EMC released four models that take advantage of new CPU and memory capabilities. They offer 16 times the storage density, with up to 80 15.3-TB SSDs, and a 30 percent performance improvement over the previous generation.

NETAPP FAS2650

Finalist

NetApp's FAS2650, a hybrid flash system aimed at small enterprises and midsize businesses, features a major boost to speed, responsiveness and capacity -- thanks in part to its ability to integrate NetApp's NVMe-based Flash Cache intelligent caching capabilities.

NEXSAN NEXT-GENERATION UNITY

Finalist

Nexsan's recently released version of Unity provides performance improvements of as much as 40 percent, thanks in part to leveraging Intel's Xeon Processor E5 v4 and increased memory. The latest Nexsan Unity also includes more-flexible configurations with Server Message Block 3.0 support.

TEGILE T4600

Finalist

Tegile Systems' T4600 flash-driven storage array includes a variety of persistent memory options along with improved performance and density. The T4600 also offers access to Tegile's cloud-based IntelliCare Operations Center, for easier storage and management of data across persistent memory classes.

NETWORKING

CISCO CATALYST 9000

WINNER: OVERALL

This year, Cisco launched its Network Intuitive platform, an intuitive networking system that anticipates actions, stops security threats, and continues to evolve and learn. In tandem with Network Intuitive, Cisco debuted the new Catalyst 9000 series of switches. The series aims to deliver unmatched security, programmability and performance with custom ASICs and software layers. "Making the ASIC re-programmable to introduce new features is really [Cisco switches] evolving into a complete hardware and software solution," said Greg Stemberger, technical director for the NextGen networking practice at Chantilly, Va.-based Iron Bow Technologies. "You may have to update to new software, but a new software stack on a switch is much less intrusive than ripping out switches. It's more bang for your buck, for a longer lifespan."

NETWORKING

HPE ARUBA 8400 CORE SWITCH SERIES

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

HPE Aruba's 8400 Core Switch Series, powered by the new ArubaOS-CX operating system, brings modern dynamic software capabilities to the enterprise network. The new switches provide advanced automation and software intelligence. In addition, the switches are purpose-built for the changing traffic patterns that are created by mobile and cloud business applications.

NETWORKING

RUCKUS ZONEFLEX R610

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: TECHNOLOGY

The ZoneFlex R610 from Ruckus Wireless is an indoor access point based on the 802.11ac Wave 2 standard, which aims to provide solid Wi-Fi connections even for high-density environments. Key verticals for the access point include education settings, such as K-12 classrooms and university lecture halls.

NETWORKING

ARISTA 7160 SERIES

Finalist

Arista Networks recently introduced a new series of data center switches, the Arista 7160 Series, available in three models that all feature 25/100 GbE ports. The platform aims to deliver operational consistency and automated efficiency through Arista's EOS (Extensible Operating System) and CloudVision software.

EXTREME NETWORKS WING AP 7612

Finalist

The WiNG AP 7612, an enterprise-grade indoor access point from Extreme Networks, offers strong 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi connectivity and easy installation in a wall plate form factor. Extreme Networks is targeting a number of key verticals for the access point, including hospitality settings such as hotel guest rooms.

POWER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND TOOLS

APC BY SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC LOCAL EDGE CONFIGURATOR

WINNER: OVERALL

With APC's Local Edge Configurator software tool, partners can quickly and accurately plan and design edge solutions for customers. The custom solutions can include a rack, one or more single-phase UPSes, power distribution units (PDUs), physical security, and software. The solutions proposed by the Local Edge Configurator can also be saved as a template for easy reuse. The tool is both easy to use and powerful, said Sean Powers, director of sales at Bedford, N.H.-based RTM Communications. "If you're going out and talking to a small client, and you want to build a rack UPS and PDU design, this makes it fast," Powers said. "You can do everything right in that one tool."

POWER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND TOOLS

EATON VISUAL POWER MANAGER

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

Eaton's Visual Power Manager software simplifies day-to-day management of power distribution units. Features include a visual display of a data center's power infrastructure, so that affected equipment can be identified quickly, as well as easy deployment of the software itself.

POWER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND TOOLS

DATAPROBE IBOOT CLOUD SERVICE

Finalist

The iBoot Cloud Service from Dataprobe enables users to more easily access and control their iBoot-G2 and iBoot-G2+ units. The service provides a single sign-on cloud portal, featuring access to all registered iBoot units and real-time updating of unit statuses.

TRIPP LITE NETCOMMANDER-AXS IP KVM SOFTWARE

Finalist

Tripp Lite's software, which is downloadable for free, enables access and control of NetCommander-AXS IP KVM switches. Features include automatic discovery of compatible KVMs and PDUs and the ability to power on/off the outlets of connected Tripp Lite PDUs.

VERTIV TRELLIS POWER INSIGHT UPDATES

Finalist

Vertiv's Trellis Power Insight application provides centralized monitoring and control of UPS systems and networked servers, with capabilities including alarms, automated actions and notifications. Among the new features in the latest version is the ability to perform controlled server shutdown using the software.

PRINTERS

XEROX ALTALINK C8055 COLOR MFP

WINNER: OVERALL

A key part of Xerox's massive product launch this year was an array of new AltaLink multifunction printers, which are targeted at midsize to large workgroups. Among them is the AltaLink C8055 Color MFP, which features simple installation, mobile and cloud connectivity, and multiple layers of security (such as data encryption and disk overwrite). "It's been very popular with our customers," said Josh Justice, president of La Plata, Md.-based Just-Tech. The AltaLink C8055 Color MFP "has a large tablet interface that makes it easy to do copy, print, fax, and scan functions. Customers also really like the mobile print enablement," Justice said. Overall, "it's a big step up in technology," he said.

PRINTERS

EPSON WORKFORCE ENTERPRISE WF-C20590

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: TECHNOLOGY

One of Epson's newest A3 inkjet multifunction printers, the WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590, features print speeds of up to 100 pages per minute for simplex printing. The MFP also includes a simpler design than comparable laser printers, enabling it to be serviced less frequently.

PRINTERS

BROTHER INKVESTMENT MFC-J5930DW

Finalist

Aimed at small businesses, Brother's INKvestment MFC-J5930DW specializes in offering lower ink costs. That's due to INKvestment Super High-yield cartridges, which provide 3,000 black-ink pages for less than $30, or 1,500 color pages for less than $20.

DELL S3845CDN

Finalist

The S3845cdn is a color multifunction laser printer that comes with an emphasis on easy management. The MFP was introduced alongside new software, OpenManage Printer Essentials, that offers quicker printer setup and more-efficient fleet monitoring for businesses. Features include better tracking of toner depletion and proactive firmware updates.

HP A3 PAGEWIDE PRO 777Z

Finalist

Part of HP's major launch of A3 multifunction printers, the PageWide Pro 777z was designed with an emphasis on security, low-cost printing, and fast speeds. Features include instant notifications of security issues, while the 777z can print up to 65 pages per minute for both color and black-and-white.

PUBLIC CLOUD

GOOGLE CLOUD SPANNER

WINNER: OVERALL

One of the newest moves to bolster Google's enterprise cloud platform is Cloud Spanner, a globally distributed database service that offers the consistency of SQL with the horizontal scaling capacity of NoSQL. It's the same database that powers Google's AdWords and other services. Cloud Spanner is "absolutely amazing" because it "does things that the IT industry has been trying to figure out for a really long time," said Simon Margolis, director of Google Cloud Platform at Los Angeles-based SADA Systems. "It gives you the best of both worlds -- a traditional relational database structure with the benefits of a NoSQL database. Google is the only place to use technology like this."

PUBLIC CLOUD

AMAZON ELASTIC COMPUTE CLOUD UPDATES

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: TECHNOLOGY

Recent enhancements to Amazon Web Services' Elastic Compute Cloud include the next generation of its Memory Optimized and Compute Optimized instances, featuring updated storage and processing technologies. In addition, AWS rolled out Elastic GPUs for bringing improved graphics acceleration to Elastic Compute Cloud instances.

PUBLIC CLOUD

MICROSOFT ARCHIVE BLOB STORAGE

Finalist

Microsoft said new Archive Blob Storage will serve as the lowest-cost storage option for the company's Azure public cloud. Blob Storage is a cold storage offering, intended to preserve data that's so rarely accessed that in the past it might have been discarded.

ORACLE BARE METAL CLOUD SERVICES

Finalist

Bare Metal Cloud Services enables customers to run their Oracle databases in the cloud with comparable performance, availability, and security to an on-premises deployment. The Infrastructure-as-a-sSrvice offering combines bare-metal and virtualized servers, and is also well-suited for cloud-native applications or batch computing.

VIRTUSTREAM HEALTHCARE CLOUD

Finalist

Dell Technologies' enterprise cloud arm, Virtustream, debuted its Healthcare Cloud to enable cloud hosting of key health-care applications. The platform provides a hosting environment that's compliant with HIPAA and HITECH, provides high availability, and can be used in tandem with both on- and off-premises managed services.

SECURITY: CLOUD AND APPLICATION

FORCEPOINT CASB UPDATES

WINNER: OVERALL

Forcepoint's Cloud Access Security Broker solution targets security risks created by file sharing and use of cloud applications, with the goal of safeguarding crucial cloud-stored data and intellectual property. New capabilities include analysis of user behavior as well as the characteristics of the application that's being used -- for instance, providing analysis of what data, device and location is being accessed. Meanwhile, a new dashboard provides reporting on employee behavior and the potential business impact of the user's current account permissions. In a time when there are "so many individual point products" in security, Forcepoint's addition of CASB is part of bringing "multiple products on a single platform that are best-of-breed in each area," said Jeremy Wittkop, chief technology officer of Greenwood Village, Colo.-based InteliSecure. "That's a winning strategy for the client."

SECURITY: CLOUD AND APPLICATION

APPTHORITY MOBILE THREAT DEFENSE UPDATES

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: CUSTOMER DEMAND

The release this year of Appthority's Mobile Threat Defense platform integrates it with the company's security research, to automatically update with new mobile threats. The release also expands threat detection and remediation through the Appthority MTP Mobile App, while adding policy customization options.

SECURITY: CLOUD AND APPLICATION

NETSKOPE THREAT PROTECTION UPDATES

Finalist

The latest release of Netskope's Threat Protection offering adds ransomware detection and recovery, with the capability of scanning cloud services for signs of a ransomware attack such as unauthorized encryption. The solution then allows users to remediate the effects of an attack without having to pay the ransom.

SKYHIGH NETWORKS CASB PLATFORM UPDATES

Finalist

Skyhigh Networks extended its Cloud Access Security Broker platform this year to secure custom applications, as well as the use of public cloud platforms. The CASB offering now provides security, compliance and governance for public cloud users and for custom applications that are running in a Platform-as-a-Service or public cloud.

SYMANTEC CLOUD SECURITY PLATFORM

Finalist

Recent additions to the Symantec Cloud Security Platform bring together the Symantec and Blue Coat Systems portfolio, including the integration of data loss prevention with cloud-delivered web security services. Other capabilities include a new malware analysis service and a new universal policy for web security service.

SECURITY: ENDPOINT

SOPHOS INTERCEPT X

WINNER: OVERALL

With Intercept X, which offers advanced endpoint protection, Sophos provides capabilities including blocking of ransomware and signature-less threat detection. Among the new features added recently is ransomware protection for Windows servers, along with prevention of attacks that target the master boot record and volume record. Intercept X is "saving our customers left, right and center" said Michelle Drolet, president and CEO of Framingham, Mass.-based Towerwall. "A lot of other third-party technologies say they work, but don't really. Intercept X has been solid since it came out." The product, Drolet added, has "definitely increased our Sophos sales and revenue, and it's helped protect our customers."

SECURITY: ENDPOINT

CROWDSTRIKE FALCON UPDATES

Finalist

CrowdStrike Falcon -- which brings together next-gen anti-virus with endpoint detection, response and managed threat hunting -- has received significant enhancements this year with a number of new modules. Those include CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for behavioral analytics-based anti-virus replacement, and CrowdStrike Falcon Discover for monitoring of privileged user accounts and application usage.

CYLANCEOPTICS

Finalist

CylanceOptics uses artificial intelligence for endpoint detection and response capabilities, including root cause analysis of threats, threat hunting, increased visibility, and incident response. Data is stored locally and encrypted, meaning it doesn't require any significant investment in terms of on-premises server infrastructure.

KASPERSKY ENDPOINT SECURITY FOR BUSINESS UPDATES

Finalist

The latest release of Kaspersky's Endpoint Security for Business improves corporate cybersecurity efforts with simplified protection and management of mobile devices, better hard drive encryption capabilities, and leveraging of machine-learning algorithms for threat detection.

MCAFEE ENDPOINT SECURITY 10.5

Finalist

McAfee's Endpoint Security 10.5 release includes capabilities such as behavioral analytics, Real Protect pre- and post-execution technology, advanced threat protection, Dynamic Application Containment anti-ransomware technology, and endpoint detection and response.

SECURITY: NETWORK

PALO ALTO NETWORKS PAN-OS 8.0 UPDATES

WINNER: OVERALL

Recent updates as part of Palo Alto Networks' PAN-OS 8.0 adds upgrades across cloud security, multi-method threat prevention, management at scale, credential threat prevention, and integrations with complementary vendors. All in all, Palo Alto Networks added more than 70 new features with the operating system update, in what it called "the biggest launch in the history of the company." At Kansas City, Mo.-based Fishtech, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder Chuck Crawford said the PAN-OS 8.0 updates represent an "increase in stability and integration" for the platform. In particular, he said the platform's integration with VMware'" software-defined networking offering, NSX, is "huge" for Palo Alto Networks partners. PAN-OS 8.0, Crawford said, enables partners to "take advantage of virtual environments without having to completely recreate the wheel."

SECURITY: NETWORK

SOPHOS XG FIREWALL

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: REVENUE AND PROFIT

Sophos has ramped up the capabilities in its XG Firewall line by adding Sophos Sandstorm for zero-day ransomware and targeted threat protection, Secure Web Gateway policy enforcement, and dynamic application traffic identification. The security vendor also extended its Security Heartbeat connection with the XG Firewall, restricting traffic to and from endpoints with irregular activity.

SECURITY: NETWORK

CISCO ENCRYPTED TRAFFIC ANALYTICS

Finalist

Cisco boosted its network security portfolio this year with the launch of Cisco Encrypted Traffic Analytics, which solves a growing challenge in security around threats hiding in encrypted traffic. By utilizing Cisco's Talos cyber intelligence and machine learning to analyze metadata traffic patterns, the network can identify the fingerprints of known threats even in encrypted traffic.

FORESCOUT COUNTERACT UPDATES

Finalist

ForeScout Technologies this year unveiled enhancements to its flagship CounterACT system, including a new user interface and customized classification of devices. The classification works for IoT, OT, mobile and virtual endpoints. In addition, ForeScout debuted enhancements around scale and resiliency for the platform.

FORTINET FORTIOS 5.6

Finalist

FortiOS 5.6 expands Fortinet's Security Fabric to include more products, including the company's switches, access points, analyzer, and sandbox solutions. The OS also includes a new user interface, security recommendations, expanded visibility, and an open API ecosystem.

SECURITY: WEB, EMAIL

SONICWALL EMAIL SECURITY 9.0

WINNER: OVERALL

With version 9.0 of SonicWall's Email Security offering, the company has integrated the product with its Capture Advanced Threat Protection Service for improved detection of ransomware and other zero-day threats. Email Security 9.0 also includes enhanced anti-spam, anti-virus, and anti-spoofing capabilities, along with better support for Office 365. SonicWall's move to integrate its Email Security product with its other security offerings is a big win for partners and customers, said Michael Goldstein, president and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based LAN Infotech. What SonicWall is providing, he said, amounts to a "full, multi-layer setup" for security, which ties together the latest security information from different sources. "They're gathering data from all these other products they have in that space," Goldstein said.

SECURITY: WEB, EMAIL

BARRACUDA WEB SECURITY GATEWAY UPDATES

Finalist

The latest release of Barracuda's Web Security Gateway brings upgrades such as improved SSL scanning performance and better policy configuration capabilities for Chromebooks. The product also integrates with Barracuda's Advanced Threat Detection offering to enhance protection against targeted cyberattacks.

MENLO SECURITY ISOLATION PLATFORM UPDATES

Finalist

Menlo Security's most recent updates to its Security Isolation Platform bring in capabilities around email threat protection -- with a focus on stopping threats in the form of malicious links and attachments, as well as preventing credential theft.

MIMECAST INTERNAL EMAIL PROTECT

Finalist

The latest version of Mimecast's Internal Email Protect offering adds new capabilities to combat threats from internally generated emails -- which are necessary to protect against social engineering and CEO spoofing attacks, as well as compromised accounts or insider threats.

PROOFPOINT DIGITAL RISK DEFENSE

Finalist

Proofpoint recently launched its Digital Risk Defense product to protect against phishing threats, with capabilities to stop attacks from such sources as fraudulent web/email domains, which can lead to social engineering and visual spoofing attacks. The solution also protects against threats from fraudulent mobile apps and fraudulent social accounts.

SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS

LENOVO THINKPAD X1 TABLET

WINNER: OVERALL

Lenovo's second-generation ThinkPad X1 Tablet retains the most unique feature of the first generation -- the ability to attach external modules for additional functionality. One of them is the Presenter Module, which lets you use your tablet as a projector, while the Productivity Module adds five hours of battery life. The tablet also comes with a sturdy detachable keyboard, a variety of port options, a fingerprint reader, and a bright 12-inch display. The latest X1 Tablet is "a phenomenal product" all around, with the projector module as a key differentiator for users such as salespeople, said Josh Boyd, founder and CEO of Nashville-based Computer Pros. With options for an Intel Core i7 processor and up to 16 GB of RAM, "you can really get a nice workhorse there, having all that power in tablet form," Boyd said.

SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS

MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: TECHNOLOGY

The successor to the Surface Pro 4, the Surface Pro tablet retains the same 12.3-inch form factor but offers a number of improvements. Especially notable is the battery life: Microsoft is promising 13.5 hours of battery life on a charge for the device, a big leap over the nine hours that the Surface Pro 4 had promised.

SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS

APPLE IPAD PRO

Finalist

Apple's latest update to the iPad Pro line introduces a 10.5-inch model to replace the previous 9.7-inch version, with minimized bezels around the display to keep the overall size the same. Both the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch models also come with a speedier processor and faster graphics performance.

SAMSUNG GALAXY BOOK

Finalist

A major upgrade for the Galaxy Book over past Samsung 2-in-1s is the keyboard cover, with deeper keystrokes and backlit keys. The 12-inch tablet also features a seventh-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a Super AMOLED FHD+ screen.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE8

Finalist

Highlights of Samsung's Galaxy Note8 include a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED display screen with minimal bezel, as well as a digital pen housed in the phone itself. The device also features easy split-screen usage via a new feature called App Pair, along with Samsung's first ever dual-camera setup.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING

VMWARE NSX 6.3

WINNER: OVERALL

Part of a push by VMware to bring software-defined networking to a wider range of environments, NSX 6.3 features enhanced security and automation capabilities. NSX 6.3 now integrates with vCloud Air Network, making it a more suitable offering for hosting partners. NSX 6.3 also scales far better and offers a significant performance boost in multi-tenant environments compared with earlier versions. Greg Stemberger, technical director for the NextGen networking practice at Chantilly, Va.-based Iron Bow Technologies, said NSX 6.3 represents "the continued expansion of NSX being a production-ready solution, that more and more customers can safely consume and adopt." The product, Stemberger said, is "attacking use cases that are resonating with customers around security, automation, multi-datacenter business continuity."

SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING

VELOCLOUD SD-WAN UPDATES

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: CUSTOMER DEMAND

VeloCloud's Cloud-Delivered SD-WAN solution provides assured application performance, secure and available hybrid networks, and zero-touch WAN automation. Recently added capabilities include resource-aware clustering for on-premises environments,

edge activation solutions for public cloud environments, and cloud security integrations with vendors such as ForcePoint and Symantec.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING

BIG SWITCH NETWORKS BIG MONITORING

FABRIC 6.0

Finalist

Big Monitoring Fabric 6.0 is the latest version of the network packet broker monitoring offering from Big Switch Networks. The offering delivers capabilities including a 160G bandwidth service node, packet masking capabilities, and dynamic virtual machine monitoring to allow VM-to-VM traffic visibility.

CISCO ACI UPDATES

Finalist

Cisco's Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) offering is based on the company's Nexus 9000 switches and its Application Policy Infrastructure Controller. The offering recently extended key elements, such as unified security policy and single-pane-of-glass management, into the three largest public cloud services -- AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

VERSA CLOUD IP PLATFORM

Finalist

SD-WAN specialist Versa Networks recently beefed up the capabilities of its Cloud IP Platform by adding new security functions, local branch networking, and the ability to host third-party virtual network functions. The enhanced platform now enables organizations to virtualize and software-define the entire branch and WAN with reduced complexity.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED STORAGE

MICROSOFT STORAGE SPACES DIRECT UPDATES

WINNER: OVERALL

Microsoft calls Storage Spaces Direct, a software-defined storage rival to VMware's vSAN, "the foundation for our hyper-converged story." A component of Windows Server 2016, Storage Spaces Direct leverages standard servers and local-attached drives to provide low-cost software-defined storage, which rates highly on both availability and scalability. Key features include caching and erasure coding, and Storage Spaces Direct offers strong performance by working in tandem with hardware advances such as NVMe drives. Michael Thomaschewski, chief technology officer of hybrid infrastructure at Calgary, Alberta-based Long View, said Storage Spaces Direct's technology around data portability is a winning concept -- and he's looking forward to seeing what Microsoft does with the product down the road. "I think there's a lot of promise there," he said.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED STORAGE

VMWARE VSAN 6.6

SUBCATEGORY WINNER: TECHNOLOGY

VMware's vSAN 6.6 release is the first to include native hyper-converged infrastructure security, and is also the first version to be optimized for Intel's Optane 3D XPoint NVMe storage technology. The release adds an assortment of new analytics and site protection features, as well.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED STORAGE

DATACORE SANSYMPHONY UPDATES

Finalist

DataCore's SANsymphony provides an inexpensive option for pooling physical storage across multiple servers to build a private storage cloud. The software helps solution providers and managed service providers turn standard x86 servers into high-density direct-attach storage devices, which can be pooled with storage arrays and presented as a private storage cloud.

DELL EMC SCALEIO UPDATES

Finalist

The latest version of the Dell EMC ScaleIO software-defined block storage solution adds inline compression and improved snapshot capabilities to increase efficiency, while also boosting performance and reducing latency in tandem with Dell EMC's 14th-generation PowerEdge servers.

HEDVIG DISTRIBUTED STORAGE PLATFORM 2.0

Finalist

Hedvig's Distributed Storage Platform Version 2.0 spans any workload, cloud and storage tier, and includes native integration with Docker Datacenter, OpenStack, Kubernetes, and Mesos for cloud orchestration and automation. The offering is based on the company's Universal Data Plane, which guarantees data locality and service availability across clouds.