In-Depth
The 2011 Redmond Readers Choice Awards
Your picks for 2011's best Windows IT products in a wide variety of categories.
If there's one commodity that exists in massive abundance, it's hype. That's as true in the technology industry as it is in any other facet of life. Magazines, blogs, Web sites and social media constantly trumpet the next big product, idea or service.
The Redmond Readers Choice Awards (RCAs) are different. Here, you, the reader, strip away the marketing speak, can the press releases and brush off vendors' well-turned phrases in favor of the bottom line. The RCAs aren't about what's cool or hip or might be big a year or five years from now. They're about what works right now, what makes your job easier and what you use to help you navigate the daily minefield of working in IT. The RCAs are the anti-hype. They're reality, pure and simple.
Again this year, you've chosen your favorite products in a large number of categories. We've brought back our Triple Crown (three-time winners), Grand Slam (four-timers) and Five-Star Award (five-time winners) designations for products that take home honors year after year. And we've introduced new categories that branch the awards out into the popular realms of SharePoint, user-activity monitoring and Exchange hosting.
As always, though, you've done the important work here, choosing the products you like best (take a bow, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager) and stripping away the gloss to reveal which vendors are serving your needs and the products on which you're relying.