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NetWorld+lnterop offers wares to fill your every networking need ... even those you never knew you had. These offerings range from the sublime to the slightly ridiculous, so to help you find the cream of the new crop, our Best of lnterop awards team invited vendors to submit their top products for evaluation (for details on how we select winners and a list of judges, see "Judgment Day at lnterop," below).
This year, 124 vendors submitted 172 products for consideration in 10 categories: Enterprise Network Infrastructure, Network Applications Software, Network Servers & Peripherals, Convergence Technology, Wireless Technologies, Networked Storage, Network Test & Measurement, Network Management, Performance Enhancement and Security. Our judges performed a competitive analysis, rating each entry on factors from general and key distinguishing features to price. We evaluated how the product advances the state of the art for networking, weighed the strength of the business case for purchase and implementation and chose finalists in each category.
Then the fun started. Front-runners were put on the hot seat as judging teams dug into the nitty-gritty of each product. After these face-to-face meetings, the judges convened to discuss the merits of each qualifier and selected a winner in each category. There were also two special awards: Best Start-Up, given to the outstanding product from a company less than two years old, and the coveted Best of lnterop Grand Prize.
Enterprise Network Infrastructure 3Com Corp. NJ90 Network Jack (www.3com.com)
The NJ90 is a four-port, 10/100 switch packaged into a wall jack, giving new meaning to the term small footprint. It multiplies the capacity of cramped wiring closets by a factor of four while eliminating the disruption, cost and time involved in running and terminating new cable. The icing on the cake: a retail price of $99.
Enterprise Network Infrastructure Finalists: EmergeCore Networks
IT-100 "IT in a Box" (www.emergecore.com), Sprint SprintLink Frame Relay (www.sprint.com)
Network Applications Software Computer Associates International CleverPath Portal (www.ca.com)
CleverPath's Information In Action program lets organizations add high-octane knowledge management and business intelligence to their CleverPath Portal applications by welding business metrics into the dashboard. The portal features...