The 5 Best-Selling IT Operations And Networking Vendors Of Q2 2019

From slight revenue bump-ups to impressive sales growth through the channel, IT operations and networking software vendors had an overall solid second-quarter, according to market research firm NPD Group.

Moving And Shaking

The second quarter of 2019 proved fruitful for some of the largest vendors in the IT operations and networking software arenas, according to market research and business solutions firm The NPD Group, which tracks monthly sales data from the largest distributors and resellers in North America.

Nearly every vendor on Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD’s list this time around posted sales gains, with some slight wins and other vendors, such as IBM and Cisco, registering impressive revenues thanks to their channel partners. The Q2 2019 market was dominated once again by software powerhouses VMware and Microsoft, but other players, like Google, are also starting to give the incumbents a run for their money.

Here are NPD's top ranking of the top five networking and IT operations vendors that sold the most IT operations and networking software during the second quarter.

Source: The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Total Indirect B2B, IT Operations and Networking based on adjusted dollar sales for three months ending June 2019.

5. Google

Google's operations and networking software sales through the channel stayed mostly flat during the second quarter, according to NPD. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company posted $88.7 million in sales during 2018's Q2 and $90.1 million during the second quarter of 2019, a 1.6 percent difference year-over-year.

Google has been working hard to boost sales through the channel and is harnessing partners to help it go after more enterprise business.

4. IBM

Big Blue showed a big jump in sales year-over-year in operations and networking software sales, climbing up 15.9 percent from June 2018 to June 2019. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM sold $141.9 million in systems through the channel during Q2, up from $122.4 million in the same period a year ago, according to NPD. IBM offers several cloud and hybrid analytics and management platforms aimed at improving efficiency and reducing cost.

3. Cisco Systems

San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco posted the most growth of all the vendors during the quarter with an impressive 49.9 percent bump-up in sales during the second quarter. Cisco sold $198.9 million in systems through the channel during the quarter, topping its year-ago total of $132.7 million. The tech giant's growth put an impressive $57 million buffer between itself and closest competitor IBM, NPD found.

Cisco has a host of networking, management, and operations software in its arsenal. The company has been pushing its intent-based networking system and strategy as of late.

2. VMware

VMware's NSX network virtualization platform is one of the leading products in the operations and networking software space, and it likely is part of the reason why VMware still finds itself at the top of the pack in second place during Q2 2019.

However, VMware did register a 15.8 percent decline during 2019's second quarter. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company sold $324.6 million in operations and networking software revenue in Q2 2019, compared to $385.4 million in revenue from the same period a year ago, according to NPD.

1. Microsoft

With a variety of data center management, infrastructure monitoring and operations management platforms, Microsoft found itself squarely in first place with the highest operations and networking software revenues during the second quarter of 2019, thanks to the channel.

While the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant did post a very slight, .1 percent decrease in sales during Q2 2019, Microsoft pulled in $459.4 million through the partners during the quarter, according to NPD. The company booked $460.0 million a year prior. The total put a $135 million distance between Microsoft and VMware, the second-place finisher during 2019's second-quarter, according to NPD.