Suddenly in Silicon Valley, makers of enterprise technology—the largely unseen equipment and software that companies use to do everything from keep the books to run their websites—are the up-and-comers. Never mind the speculative business models of consumer Net companies such as Facebook (FB) and Zynga (ZNGA), says MobileIron Chief Executive Bob Tinker: “We sell software to people who give us money. It’s a pretty traditional model.”
They’re not offering traditional technology, however. Rather than Dell (DELL) servers, Cisco Systems (CSCO)routers, and EMC (EMC) storage systems that have dominated corporate info tech for decades, companies such as Arista Networks (networking gear), FireEye (security), and Coraid (storage) make a new generation of products—mainly software—to help large companies quickly roll out Internet services and deal with the soaring data traffic that results.
They’re not offering traditional technology, however. Rather than Dell (DELL) servers, Cisco Systems (CSCO)routers, and EMC (EMC) storage systems that have dominated corporate info tech for decades, companies such as Arista Networks (networking gear), FireEye (security), and Coraid (storage) make a new generation of products—mainly software—to help large companies quickly roll out Internet services and deal with the soaring data traffic that results.