Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

NEW! Top 10 Storage Startups to Watch

Winter: The wind howls. The snow flies. And around the world, a fresh crop of storage startups struggles toward the light.

You got it. Once again, we at Byte and Switch have readied a list of the storage startups we think are most watchable.

These are companies we've been watching ourselves, as part of our self-appointed mission to identify key up-and-comers. As we've done for two years now, we present this as an entirely fresh list. And we intend to follow up later to see how we did. (Check out our hindsight self-reviews of the first and second startup lists we did.)

As ever, the new list comprises notable newbies with a range of innovative bids for storage managers' attention -- and purchase orders. We think they possess each of the following key attributes:

  • A really interesting gamble or a creative take on an important storage or storage-related problem;
  • Current impact, demonstrated in getting new funding, launching new products, or adding significant partnerships sometime within the last 18 months;
  • Solid initial backing in the form of an angel round, spinoff support, or an official venture round;
  • Partnerships, customers, or contracts in place that prove they're more than vaporware.

Meeting all these criteria isn't easy. But the storage market continues to expand with customers' burgeoning data, and those customers are willing to pay for tools and technologies that save them money in capital costs, operational fees, and environmental expenses. So there's room for companies with the right ideas to get a toehold, in spite of macroeconomic conditions.

  • 1