The top 10 tech startups for 2008

Hot tech startup: Xangati

Founded: 2005

Tech breakthrough: Rapid problem identification technology gathers information on all IP end points and applications by tapping into flow information from Cisco's NetFlow, or similar protocols, to create behavioral profiles.

Business problem addressed: Reducing the amount of time for IT support to diagnose network problems.

What the technology does: Typical network management packages offer a bottom-up view, from the network to the user. Xangati has turned that paradigm on its head, offering a top-down view, from the user to the network. That's significant because a slowdown affecting only one or a few users often goes unnoticed by IT, which is instead getting a broad view of network performance. Xangati can be used alongside Hewlett-Packard's OpenView or IBM's Tivoli to provide a more granular view in a dashboard.

How the technology works: Effectively, Xangati is an appliance with its own IP address. Rather than gather network information through probes or software agents, Xangati taps into data produced by routers and switches using the Netflow (or similar) protocol. The appliance discovers all IP end points and applications running on them and profiles the end point, including desktops, servers, storage devices, and networked handhelds such as the BlackBerry. The information is put into a database, which then creates a profile of baseline performance over time. Xangati compares the baseline to real-time performance and notifies administrators of problems. The software creates fixed identities, including dynamic ones, for clients.

Forward spin: "Emerging technologies, such as VoIP and video in various forms, are creating new challenges for network management," says Xangati CEO Alan Robin. His company is working to add problems related to those new technologies to its diagnostic arsenal.