SD Times 100: 2004 — Recognizing Leadership & Innovation
Industry awards are always fascinating to judge, to contemplate, to examine.
By SD Times News Team
May 15, 2004 —
Some awards are based on fixed numerical rankings, the best-known of which might be the Fortune 500. Others are subjective polls by the members of an organization, such as the 76-year-old Academy Awards, produced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The SD Times 100 awards, now in its second year, falls somewhere between the Fortune 500 and the Oscars. The judges-the editors and writers of the newspaper-draw upon their knowledge of industry trends, developer needs, emerging technologies, market positions and recent innovations to determine the current leaders of the software development industry.
This approach, focused on leadership and innovation, makes the SD Times 100 truly reflective of the companies that are making the biggest wave and the biggest difference to developers today, and are most strongly influencing the future direction of platforms, tools, run-times and other emerging aspects of software development.
Because the SD Times 100 doesn't focus on numbers-market share, market capitalization, new products announced, number of patents-we can look at the real thought leaders, as well as those who are driving the industry through sheer strength of investment and market dominance.
A big company can demonstrate that it's still on top of the game and setting a broad industry agenda. A small company gaining traction on a great idea can displace a larger, deeply entrenched player that's seemingly stuck in neutral gear.
When examining awards of this sort, or like the Fortune 500, it's always revealing to see who's new on the list, such as Open Source Development Labs, Novell and the Web Services Interoperability Organization.
It's even more revealing to see who's not on the current list. Found on last year's SD Times 100, but not on this year's, are 27 companies and organizations. In some cases, companies fell off the list because they were acquired, such as TogetherSoft or Rational. In other cases, we felt they failed to either lead or innovate. There is no overall top prize at the SD Times 100. The awards aren't ranked, so there's no equivalent to a Fortune 1 company or an Oscar-winning "Best Picture" that can serve as first among equals.
Yet if we were to recognize a single entity, it would likely be a company that many would prefer instead to ignore: The SCO Group.
It's been a long ride for Caldera, which bought the SCO name and UnixWare assets from the Santa Cruz Operation in 2001. While the company burbled about intellectual property in 2002, last year it exploded onto the scene with its inflammatory lawsuits. The challenges against the legitimacy of open-source software, and demands that enterprise Linux users buy UnixWare licenses, sparked fevered debate, potentially dampening the industry's enthusiasm.
Will SCO succeed? Will it drive enterprise buyers to Sun's Solaris, Microsoft's Windows or SCO's UnixWare? Do its IP lawsuits protect innovation, or stifle it? Many questions, few answers. Let's see if it's on next year's SD Times 100. For now, though, let's see who else is worth mentioning for this year's SD Times 100.
Modeling & Design
Telelogic AB
Continues to lead in modeling, with compelling offerings from its Doors and Tau product families; recent moves more tightly integrate its modeling, requirements management and architecture tools.
Borland Software Corp.
Popular TogetherSoft tools gain visibility in Borland product line.
Compuware Corp.
OptimalJ shows how to meld modeling, code generation, app testing.
Embarcadero Technologies Inc.
ER/Studio, DT/Studio updates at top of app, data modeling space.
IBM Corp., Rational Division
Despite new Big Blue focus, Rose XDE maintains broad user base.
I-Logix Inc.
Extends modeling through embedded apps, test-based development.
Interactive Objects GmbH
ArcStyler plays to growing awareness of Model Driven Architecture.
Magic Software Enterprises Ltd.
iBOLT merges modeling, portals, business process management.
MetaMatrix Inc.
Continues lonely mission to leverage OMG’s Meta Object Facility.
Popkin Software Inc.
Architecture, model tools scale for big, big, big requirements, projects.
Components & Libraries
LogicLibrary Inc.
Close collaboration with Microsoft Corp., plus updates and professional services, has increased the visibility and realizable business value of reusable software assets within larger enterprises.
ComponentOne LLC
Suites, VS.NET bundles offer developers a lot of bang for zero bucks.
Developer Express Inc.
Continues as premier supplier for VS.NET and Borland shops.
Dundas Software Ltd.
Solves data visualization problems with graphs, charts, diagrams.
Infragistics Inc.
Evolving components into new markets, such as Longhorn, Tablet PC.
N Software Inc.
Industrial solutions for industrial challenges like IPv6, SSL, SSH, EDI.
Software FX Inc.
Demonstrates that one charting system can span Java, COM, .NET.
Syncfusion Inc.
Essential goes beyond presentation to add source-level debugging.
Trolltech AS
QSA scripting boosts value of Qt framework in multi-platform world.
Visual Numerics Inc.
IMSL adds math, stats functions, deploys to new chips and platforms.
Test & Performance
Actional Corp.
Web services management extended through Watchdogs, portals.
AutomatedQA Corp.
Enhanced TestComplete innovates in regression, unit, performance testing.
Compuware Corp.
DevPartner eases QA/test across Windows, Java, 64-bit and beyond.
IBM Corp., Rational Division
Broad set of test tools targets bigger applications, large enterprises.
Mercury Interactive Corp.
Best-regarded tool set for load-testing and monitoring Web apps.
Parasoft Corp.
Automated Error Prevention methodology sparks industry debate.
Quest Software Inc.
Takes biggest-picture view of J2EE enterprise app performance.
Segue Software Inc.
Vast array of server test tools, services focus on every app detail.
Wily Technology Inc.
Introscope leads in tracking, remediating app and infrastructure issues.
Tools & Environments
Altova Inc.
Upgrades to XML Spy and new apps refreshed leading XML tool set.
Apple Computer Inc.
Look for other dev tool makers to follow where Apple’s Xcode leads.
BEA Systems Inc.
WebLogic Workshop continues as top visual J2EE app builder.
Borland Software Corp.
C#Builder all but flopped, but Enterprise Studio for Java still rules.
Intel Corp.
Source for benchmark-busting C++ compilers for Windows, Linux.
JetBrains Inc.
IntelliJ IDEA promotes refactoring, takes Java world by storm.
Macromedia Inc.
Studio MX brings rich client applications into developers’ suite spot.
Microsoft Corp.
For many reasons, Visual Studio remains the must-have .NET dev tool.
SlickEdit Inc.
Eclipse plug-in helps popular code editor grow into full-fledged IDE.
Collaboration
CollabNet Inc.
SourceCast bottles a mature system grown in the open-source world.
IAM Consulting Corp.
Leads in promoting JXTA peer-to-peer technology—even more than Sun.
IBM Corp., Rational Division
ClearCase is still clear winner for many change management users.
Merant Inc.
PVCS family remains the industry’s change-management flagship.
MKS Inc.Buffed-up Integrity
Solution eases management of big development projects.
Perforce Software Inc.
Straightforward technology, affordable price win many SCM friends.
Seapine Software Inc.
Tighter integration builds strong bug-tracking, SCM, testing solution set.
Telelogic AB
New Doors features make gathering requirements truly collaborative.
VA Software Inc.
Updated SourceForge packages best practices for team development.
Deployment Platforms
JBoss Inc.
Two years ago, the company was an obscure open-source developer eclipsed by Apache; today, it has the hottest J2EE app server in town, zooming from zero to 60 with happy customers and new investment.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
Chip maker's AMD64 architecture rocked, roiled 32-bit, 64-bit worlds.
Apple
Computer Inc.
A serious enterprise contender thanks to Panther, Java and Xcode.
BEA Systems Inc.
WebLogic 8.1 builds on strength with service-oriented architecture (SOA).
IBM Corp.
Enhanced WebSphere and Java/Linux on T-Rex big iron define leader.
Macromedia Inc.
JRun, Flash Remoting embed technologies deep within data center.
Microsoft Corp.
Despite legal woes, fends off competitors with .NET Framework 2003.
Novell Inc.
Forget NetWare: Now a Linux powerhouse with a powerful agenda.
Oracle Corp.
While others were talking about grids, Oracle actually did something about them.
Sun Microsystems Inc.
Late with J2EE updates, but lower software pricing raised the bar.
Database & Data Access
MySQL AB
Being responsive to customers pays off, as the updated database engine continues to challenge the established enterprise software giants while entrenching itself into application-specific deployments.
Ascential Software Corp.
Innovative thinking redefines fast solutions for extract-transform-load.
DataDirect Technologies Inc.
Hot solutions for high-performance data access to 64-bit, ADO.NET.
Embarcadero Technologies Inc.
DBArtisan, PerformanceCenter lead in database testing, security.
iAnywhere Solutions, a Sybase Company
SQL Anywhere Studio advances cross-platform management, synchronization.
IBM Corp.
Extends top-ranked DB2 with Stinger technology, which ties to .NET.
Microsoft Corp.
Windows stack built atop SQL Server 2000, plus OLAP and reporting.
Oracle Corp.
Leading solutions scale from appliances to grids, clusters and beyond.
Pervasive Software Inc.
Found everywhere with highly secure, auditable, embeddable SQL.
Sleepycat Software Inc.
When less is more, tiny Berkeley DB is faster, more reliable than ever.
Embedded & Mobile
AppForge Inc.
Crossfire presents portable alternative to Microsoft’s mobile runtime.
ARM Ltd.
Microprocessor architecture emerging as de facto mobile standard.
Green Hills Software Inc.
RTOS maker boosts SuperTrace Probe with Time Machine analysis tool.
Metroworks
Every platform has its CodeWarrior; no other IDE has such scope.
Microsoft Corp.
.NET Compact Framework, SmartPhone started gaining traction.
PalmSource Inc.
Hardware company spinoff deftly handled tricky BeOS migration.
QNX Software Systems Ltd.
Expanded range of Neutrino RTOS targets broadens platform appeal.
Sun Microsystems Inc.
Branding, tools, updates propelled J2ME into mobile mind share.
TimeSys Corp.
Years of tenacity paid off with JSR 1 Real-Time Java, JTime SDK.
Integration & Middleware
Sonic Software Corp.
An early leader in Java-based message queuing, the company had technological success with the Enterprise Service Bus and set the pace for the rest of the integration infrastructure industry.
Actional Corp.
Orchestration, proxy server enable serious Web services deployments.
BEA Systems Inc.
WebLogic Integration, Liquid Data combine diverse apps, data.
ClientSoft Inc.
Pioneer in direct mainframe consumption of Web services.
DataPower Technology Inc.
Innovative XML accelerators, security appliances cut development time.
Fiorano Software Inc.
Solution formerly known as Tifosi leads in SOA-based integration.
InterSystems Corp.
New Ensemble integration suite is both straightforward and scalable.
SpiritSoft Ltd.
Prime mover in Enterprise Service Bus and Java messaging servers.
TIBCO Software Inc.
Enterprise Reference Architecture defines SOA best practices.
WebMethods Inc.
New Fabric integration approach extends reach of Web services, SOA.
Influencers
The SCO Group Inc.
The company’s legal assaults on IBM and Linux users dominated 2003’s tech headlines and shook up the open-source
community. No other IT topic inspires such fervent debate, fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Apache Software Foundation
Shows leadership beyond Web services with Ant, Axis, Avalon.
Eclipse Foundation
New independence from IBM increases its Java, Linux dominance.
Java Community Process
Continues to set the Java industry specifications, but still Sun-centric.
Open Source Development Labs Inc.
New consortium hired Linus Torvalds, emerged as standard-bearer for Linux.
O'Reilly Media Inc.
Powerful advocate influencing Java, Mac OS X, Perl, PHP, Python.
Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley
Even more than HIPAA and Y2K, their act may drive IT investment.
OASIS
Continues to grow in industry influence as owner of key XML specs. Web Services Interoperability Organization WS-I Basic Profile started breaking down Web services barriers.
W3C
While seemingly marginalized, remains central to Web standards.
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