The 7 Best-Selling IT Operations And Networking Software Vendors In Q1 Of 2018

Nearly every vendor on the NPD Group's IT operations and networking software list registered sales gains. Here's how the top seven vendors stacked up.

Powerhouse Vendors Dominate Market

The market for IT operations and networking software was relatively flat in the first quarter with top vendors selling about $1.40 billion in systems through the channel during the period compared to $1.06 billion in the same period a year ago, according to The NPD Group.

Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD tracks monthly sales data from the largest distributors and resellers in North America.

Nearly every vendor on NPD's list registered very slight sales gains, and the market was dominated by software powerhouses VMware and Microsoft, which outpaced other players -- including Red Hat, IBM, Cisco, Citrix and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise -- by wide margins.

Here are the seven vendors that sold the most IT operations and networking software in the first quarter.

Source: The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Total Indirect B2B , IT Operations & Networking based on adjusted dollar sales, Jan-March 2018 vs. Jan-March 2017, Sales are adjusted for 5wk Jan. 2018 vs. 4wk Jan. 2017.

7. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise

Although small, HPE's Q1 year-over-year sales increase was one of the bigger increases registered by operations and networking software vendors during the quarter, according to NPD's data. The Palo Alto, Calif., vendor sold $44.5 million in systems during the quarter compared to $34.2 million in the same period a year ago. HPE has a variety of operations and networking software, including products from its Aruba networking business, like AirWave, and its Intelligent Management System product.

6. Citrix

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix sold about $51.8 million in operations and networking software during the quarter, besting its year-ago total -- $47.6 million -- by a small margin, according to NPD's data. Citrix focuses its efforts on software-defined networking with its NetScaler platform, a cloud-focused system that stresses flexibility, programmability, and scalability, and can be integrated with any SDN offering.

5. Cisco Systems

With a host of networking and operations software in its arsenal, Cisco sold about $97.3 million in systems through the channel during the quarter, according to NPD. That tops its year-ago total of $77.6 million by a small margin and puts a great deal of space between it and its next-closest competitors, Citrix and HPE. While the San Jose, Calif., networking behemoth has a variety of management tools in its stable, it is lately spending a lot of time promoting its DNA Center platform, which manages its intent-based networking system.

4. IBM

Although it showed only a slight decline, IBM was nevertheless the only vendor in NPD's list to register a year-over-year slide in operations and networking software sales. The company sold slightly less than $97 million in systems during the quarter, down from about $102 million in the same period a year ago. IBM offers several cloud and hybrid analytics and management platforms aimed at improving efficiency and reducing cost.

3. Red Hat

Open source power Red Hat sold about $114 million in operations and networking software in the first quarter, according to NPD. That's a small increase over the nearly $108 million it sold in the same period a year prior, and good enough to land it in the No. 3 spot in NPD's ranking. The Raleigh, N.C., company develops a wide variety of tools, automation and management platforms for cloud and infrastructure deployments.

2. Microsoft

With a variety of data center management, infrastructure monitoring and operations management platforms, Microsoft pulled in nearly $358 million through the channel during the first quarter, according to NPD. The company booked about $287 million a year prior. The total puts some distance between Microsoft and Red Hat, but isn't enough to best VMware, which NPD ranks as the top performer in the quarter.

1. VMware

VMware's NSX network virtualization platform is an industry powerhouse, and likely contributed significantly to the company's nearly $423 million in operations and networking software revenue in the first quarter. That bests the company's $370 million in revenue from the same period a year ago, according to NPD's data, and plants VMware firmly in the No. 1 position.