Network Infrastructure

The Most Influential Companies In IT Today

A look at 60 companies providing the strongest vision, market leadership and technology innovation.

January 9, 2004

2 Min Read

The truth is out there.

To hunt through time dimensions, down application alleys, deep inside data resources, it takes intelligence not unlike that held by the X-Files' Mulder and Scully to discover what truths must be known. Corporate governance, performance management, process management, 360 degree views of customers: all of these urgent goals and more rely on excellence in intelligence, integration, infrastructure, and collaborative business.

Welcome to the sixth annual Intelligent Enterprise Editors' Choice Awards. To end each year and begin the next, we take stock of our research, coverage, product reviews, and discussions with the Intelligent Enterprise community. Our mission is to highlight 60 companies providing the strongest vision, market leadership, and technology innovation to our readers in their quest to align IT with business objectives and light up their enterprises with brilliance: in other words, to establish an intelligent enterprise.

We present the Editors' Choice Awards in two parts:2004 Companies to Watch. Four lists highlighting 12 leading companies in each, divided into Intelligence, Integration, Infrastructure, and Collaborative Business — what we see as the four "pillars" critical to an intelligent enterprise.

The Intelligent Enterprise Dozen. Our super list of the 12 most influential companies enabling the intelligent enterprise, distilled after great deliberation from the full list of 60.Business intelligence solution providers dominate this year's Dozen. While most of the industry battled through a persistently tough economy, BI was relatively hot. The reason: BI holds the promise of extracting value out of existing resources so that decision makers can bring greater efficiency and efficacy to their business. Integration software providers are also well represented; excellence in middleware for data, application, and business processes has become paramount.

The choices are always tough — and always kick up strong debate. In the New Year, we look forward to hearing which IT solution providers you think should be on the list. We know the truth is out there.