Nemertes Research Announces 2011 PilotHouse Awards; 24 Technology Vendors Recognized

Aug. 2, 2011 - PRLog -- Amelia Island, FL – Aug. 2, 2011 – Nemertes Research announced the top providers of information technology products and services during the Navigator360 Summit here yesterday.

The PilotHouse awards are based on ratings from about 2,000 IT professionals who use the products and services. Some of those IT leaders also provided details on what they like and dislike about the products and services as part of Nemertes’ 2011 Communications & Computing Benchmark. Participants rated their providers on a 1-to-5 scale on value, technology, and customer service in 22 technology areas.

Nemertes has gathered product ratings for eight years, formalizing it into the PilotHouse program four years ago. The Nemertes’ PilotHouse Awards have become the ultimate validation of vendor performance because they are a direct reflection of IT decision-makers’ first-hand experience with products and services.

“Year after year, the PilotHouse research helps us document strengths, weaknesses, and improvements of vendors in a variety of emerging and vital technology areas,” says Robin Gareiss, Nemertes’ executive vice president and senior founding partner. “The feedback and ratings helps IT professionals with their vendor selections, and the awards showcase vendors who rise to the top in highly competitive markets.”

PilotHouse Awards recognized providers that received the highest overall average scores. Some technology segments have both Market Leaders and Market Challengers, a reference to their market presence. Market Leaders typically are a small group of vendors that together comprise a large percentage of the overall market and high visibility. Market Challengers typically are a larger group of vendors that together comprise a smaller percentage of the overall market, in terms of number of customers.

The awards include the following vendors, with their overall score noted:

Nemertes Research 2011 PilotHouse Awards

Application Delivery Optimization (ADO)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Cisco (4.19)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Juniper Networks (3.93)

Carrier Ethernet Services
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Comcast Corporation (4.14)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): AT&T (4.11)

Data-Center Colocation
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): IBM (4.28)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Digital Realty Trust (4.24)

Data-Center Firewalls
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): IBM  (4.49)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Cisco (4.34)

Hosted Voice-Over IP
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Verizon (4.15)

Internet Access Services
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Masergy Communications (4.37)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): AT&T (4.06); Verizon (4.06)

IP Contact Centers
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Siemens Enterprise Communications (4.20)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Avaya Inc. (4.11)

IP Telephony
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): ShoreTel Inc. (4.32)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Avaya Inc. (3.96); Cisco (3.96)

MPLS Services
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): MegaPath (4.37)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Verizon (4.24)

Managed Firewall / IDS / IPS
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Hewlett-Packard (4.41)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Dell SecureWorks (3.92)

Managed Internet Services
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Verizon (4.25)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Qwest (soon to be CenturyLink) (4.20)

Managed IP Telephony
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Hewlett-Packard (4.52)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): IBM (4.40)

Managed Router Services
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Sprint Nextel (4.34)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): AT&T (4.24)

SIP Trunking Services
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): AT&T (4.39)

Servers for Virtualization
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Hewlett-Packard (4.30)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Cisco (4.23)

Small Branch Firewalls
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): SonicWALL, Inc. (4.47)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Barracuda Networks, Inc. (4.28)

Software as a Service: Office
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Microsoft (4.38)

Storage for Virtualization
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Oracle (4.38)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): IBM (4.36)

Unified Communications
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Siemens Enterprise Communications (4.27)
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): Cisco (4.17)

Virtual Desktops
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): IBM (4.18)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): VMWare, Inc. (3.91)

Wireless LANs
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): D-Link Corporation (4.22)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Motorola (4.14)

Wireless Voice & Data Services
- Top Provider (Market Challengers): T-Mobile (4.18)
- Top Provider (Market Leaders): Verizon (4.02)

About the PilotHouse Awards
Nemertes’ PilotHouse Award program recognizes companies in a variety of technology markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in technological innovation, customer service, and value.

PilotHouse Awards are based 100% on the experiences of IT-decision makers.  No vendors sponsor this research.  

About Nemertes Research
Nemertes Research is a research-advisory and strategic-consulting firm that specializes in analyzing and quantifying the business value of emerging technologies. You can learn more about Nemertes Research at our Website, http:// www.nemertes.com.