Going to the DoDIIS Conference? Here are some “must see” technologies

The Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems (DoDIIS) conference is held once a year by the Defense Intelligence Agency technology leadership team. This is an incredible event full of information-packed presentations and social sessions. One of its greatest features is a expo floor with 100′s of technologies available for demonstrations and evaluations.

That great feature has become so popular and there are so many tech firms there that it has become impossible to see them all during the conference. Because of our background in technology in this field we are frequently asked which firms and technologies should be focused on during the event and have prepared a list below of our recommendations.

First a word on our methodologies: We continually scour a wide variety of sources to track emerging technologies. Our methods include scouring the internet, interacting with venture capital firms, attending conferences and soliciting inputs at our web properties. This process enables us to maintain a list we call the “Disruptive Technologies List” at CTOlabs.com. In general, if a firm is on that list and at DoDIIS, we recommend you check them out. But we also ran a survey asking our readers for input and nominations and used that to flesh out the list below. After evaluation of over 300 inputs we categorized our top picks below.

Please let us know your thoughts on the list. Did we leave any hot tech out that should have been here?

After you check out the firms at DoDIIS we would appreciate feedback on how we did. Were these firms worth focusing on?

Must See Technologies at DoDIIS

Note, we limited this list to firms that we believe will be demonstrating technologies at the DoDIIS conference. Our source of information on that is NCSI’s website for the event, and is reproduced here for your reference.

The premise of the list? You absolutely cannot visit all the technologies at the expo floor, there are just too many. So how do you know which to visit? Our recommendations, by category, are below:

Analytical Tools:

• Kapow: This firm shows up in multiple categories on this list and is definitely a “must see” for its ability to enable analysis and also for its ability to reach any data anywhere, without knowledge of or existence of an API to reach the data.
• Datameer: They enable “Big Data” use by any analyst in the enterprise. Think “user self-service” for Big Data. Their powerful tool and great GUI is a “must-see”
• Thetus: Their interface can be the one way into many other tools and their models are of critical importance in many mission sets.
• WebTas by ISS: A fantastic suite of tools that continues to evolve in service to critically important missions. A demo of their seamless data availability and integration capabilities will be well worth your time.

Big Data:

• Cloudera: They provide an interoperable stack of capabilities around Hadoop and also a suite of management tools that make cluster management an enterprise-grade activity.
• Datameer: Another firm that shows up in multiple categories on the list, Datameer is a “Big Data” firm.
• Kapow: A key capability is enabling access to data and enabling enterprises to bring it all back for use in other Big Data tools. A “must-see” for the Big Data expert.
• Digital Reasoning: Focus on the complex task of making sense out of massive volumes of unstructured text within the US Government Intelligence Community.

Cloud Computing:

• NJVC: Some of the most powerful thought leaders in enterprise cloud computing work at NJVC, which means a conversation with these guys will be well worth your while.

Communications:

• Akamai: Incredibly smart technologists enabling enhanced communications and data security capabilities. Users of Akamai do not go down due to network issues or even hostile DDoS.

Infrastructure:

• Cloudera: Providing the foundation for Big Data architecture with their “Cloudera Distribution including Apache Hadoop (CDH)”
• Kapow: Belongs in any infrastructure that needs access to data.
• Adobe: Now a wide variety of capabilities from desktop to server to integration into office suites.
• HP: The full stack of software required to run an enterprise.
• VMware: Not just virtualization anymore, but full platform as a service, infrastructure as a service and data as a service. Be sure to ask them about Gemfire.
• Xsigo: Dramatically improving the connectivity between servers, storage and networks.
• Commvault: Their Simpana capability is a unified approach to data management including dedupe, encryption, archiving, backup.

Mobile:

• Fixmo: Has enabled enhanced security and mobile risk management for RIM, Apple and Android devices. Configuration management, secure provision of enterprise apps, and ability to control access from afar.

Security:

• Splunk: There are many loggers, SIEMs, and analytics tools on the market; but none of them can do everything Splunk can do as well as Splunk does it. Their capabilities are in use at enterprises from across the federal space. Why? You can find bad guys faster. Their capability is incredible making these guys a “must see” during DoDIIS.
• Fixmo: By reducing overall mobile risk enterprise security is significantly enhanced.
• Cleversafe: Seek them out at the Lockheed Martin booth, since Cleversafe and Lockheed Martin have formed a strategic alliance for active, archive, data security and related capabilities. Carahsoft will also have Cleversafe info.

Services:

• Carahsoft: They make life easier for any government IT professional by providing information, market research and important data for buying decisions. They also organize great events. Give them your contact info. When it comes time to buy, they make it so easy.
• Berico: Dramatic, mission focused services producing applications and solutions. I don’t know what they will be showing at DoDIIS, but whatever it is you should rush to see it.

Visualization:

• Sitscape: This capability belongs in every watch center. Period. Don’t believe me? Go see their demo and tell me if you have seen anything else that can do what they do.
• Qbase-MetaCarta: An important part of any infrastructure for its enablement of geospatial display of data. Result: much better visualizations.
• Thetus: Powerful models for analysis and fantastic visualizations of results.
• Kapow Katalyst: Its ability to automate website access makes it an essential part of any mission requiring agility. It can capture data, create new custom workflows, and encapsulate any application in an API.

The list above are the ones we recommend you focus on at DoDIIS. We examine and evaluate and point to more info on many other firms that will not be at the event and make it easy for you to find them at our CTOlab.com disruptive IT directory. For more reading dive into the following categories at the directory:

Analytical Tools | Big Data | Cloud Computing | Communications | Data | GreenIT | Infrastructure | Mobile | Security | Services | Storage | Visualization

Original post