Meet the Best of Interop ITX 2017 Finalists

Searching for innovative technologies? Look no further. We are thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2017 Best of Interop ITX awards. The awards recognize IT products and services from Interop ITX exhibitors that break new ground across a number of fields.

These finalists are making significant technological advancements in five critical areas of IT: cloud, data & analytics, DevOps, infrastructure, and security. They are advancing the industry with cutting-edge approaches to new problems or by devising better ways to tackle existing problems.

Finalists were chosen based on a number of factors, including technical impact on their specific market segment, innovation compared to the competition, and how they address the needs of Interop ITX attendees. A panel of judges -- including IT practitioners, analysts, and award-winning editors -- studied dozens of submissions and whittled the list down to these products.

This year's awards are different from past in that we've adjusted the product categories to focus on the most critical facets of IT. In addition, in most categories we're offering two awards – one for a product by an industry veteran, and one for a product by an emerging vendor. We want to recognize both the established companies that have long contributed to the growth of the IT industry as well as new, promising companies.

The judges will get in-depth briefings from the finalists before choosing the winners, which will be announced Thursday, May 18 at 12:45 pm at the Interop ITX Business Hall. Attendees are invited to attend; they also can check out the finalists and winners in the Business Hall.

(Image: focal point/Shutterstock)

Cloud

Cloud computing long ago passed the evaluation stage for most businesses. It's now an integral part of enterprise IT. Our cloud category highlights innovations cloud orchestration, troubleshooting, and cloud security.

The finalists are:

Cisco Catena

@ciscoDC

Portnox CLEAR

@portnox

Viptela Fabric

@Viptela

NetBeez BeezKeeper

@NetBeez 

(Image: bluebay/Shutterstock)

Data & Analytics

In enterprise today, data and analytics play a key role in getting a leg up on the competition. As a result, this year's Best of Interop features a data & analytics category to recognize products that are leading the charge in this increasingly vital area.

The finalists are:

Cisco Catena

@ciscoDC

ExtraHop Addy

@ExtraHop

ThousandEyes Internet Outage Detection

@thousandeyes 

(Image: Deedster/Pixabay)

DevOps

The DevOps movement continues to gain steam as companies focus on increased efficiency by improving communication and collaboration between application developers and IT operations. This year's Best of Interop awards recognize products that help to advance DevOps in the enterprise.

The finalists are:

Cisco iCAM (Intelligent Comprehensive Analytics and Machine Learning)

@ciscoDC

Cisco PLB (Pervasive Load Balancing)

@ciscoDC

(Image: TechnoVectors/Shutterstock)

Infrastructure

IT infrastructure is changing quickly with traditional networking and storage architectures giving way to software-defined technologies, cloud, and automation. In this rapidly evolving landscape, we recognize products that help enterprises adapt to the new era of infrastructure.

The finalists are:

Cisco Catena

@ciscoDC

Pluribus Adaptive Cloud Fabric

@pluribusnet

Samsung PM1643 32TB Solid State Drive

@SamsungUS

128T Networking Platform

@128technology

(Image: Verticalarray/Shutterstock)

Security

High-profile breaches and the escalating sophistication of cyberattackers have made security a priority for business leaders. Our security category includes a range of software options for protecting digital assets.

The finalists are:

Cisco iCAM

@CiscoSecurity 

Portnox CORE

@portnox

Versive Security Engine

(Image: igorstevanovic/Shutterstock)