Technology's Hottest: The Hottest Companies of 2004
by John Buell, Editor-in-Chief
July 2004

Every year there is always an interesting nugget or two of information that can be gleamed from Start magazine's Hottest Companies of the year awards issue and this year is no exception.

Last year, for example, product-lifecycle management was the topic de jour. This year there really isn't one particular solution that stands out. Rather, the theme this year appears to be focusing on technology solutions and what manufacturers need and how these Hot companies fill that need. According to Start readers, what manufacturers need the most is access to information from which to make the best possible business decisions. Simply, this could have come from an enterprise-resource management firm, a supply-chain management vendor, or even a plant-floor company.

Regardless, what was significant this year is the fact that 17 of the 40 companies, or 40.2%, named as hot this year are returning winners compared to 10 out of 30 winners the previous year, or 33%. The number of companies that received an unanimous decision by the editors was six, doubling last years' three.

The fact that more companies appeared hot again this year, could be another indicator that the economy in general and manufacturing in particular is showing signs of real life. Manufacturing continues to be picking up steam as productivity is on the rise and employment figures are also showing signs of growth. Though it hasn't fully replaced what was lost since 2001, manufacturers are hiring and that's always a good economic indicator that the market is rebounding.

Another good indicator that things are continuing to improve is the number of companies that submitted entries to our Hottest Companies awards—nearly 100, which indicates that there are many companies who are feeling more comfortable about touting their revenue and employment figures for the past couple of years.

This year there is a good mix of companies that are either best-of-breed, offering a distinct solution or are enterprise vendors that have a solid stable of products. All of the companies that have been named Hot, Up & Coming, or Keep An Eye On are certainly noteworthy and worth sharing with Start readers. We hope you will enjoy learning about this years' winners in our annual awards issue.

Blue Agave Software
Cambridge, Mass.
www.blueagavesoft.com

Blue Agave is playing a major role in connecting manufacturers and retailers. Its Active Performance Management solutions leverage retailer-provided sales and inventory information in realtime to allow manufacturing companies the ability to proactively identify developing supply and demand mismatches.

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