For Immediate Release

GroundWork Open Source Solutions Receives IBD Network's Under the Radar Innovation Award

Venture capitalists and technology executives name leading open source IT management solution provider among companies poised for growth

Emeryville, CA—November 22, 2004—GroundWork Open Source Solutions, Inc., a leader in open source-based IT management solutions, announced that it was awarded the Under the Radar Innovation Award by IBDNetwork, a community of VCs, CEOs and other executives from private and public companies.

IBDNetwork’s advisory board evaluated more than 1,000 companies across five categories—including enterprise management, security, communications, digital home and “companies to watch”—inviting just 40 companies to attend the Under the Radar event. Of the 40, GroundWork was one of only five companies to receive the prestigious Under the Radar Innovation Award based on its robust technology solutions, market opportunity and unique value proposition. It competed against seven other companies in the “Companies to Watch” category, winning based on three criteria: the business problem the companies solves, the company’s unique value proposition and its unfair advantage in the market.

A leader in open source-based IT management solutions, GroundWork provides an open source platform that enables enterprises to effectively monitor their network and application infrastructures at a fraction of the cost of commercial software alternatives. GroundWork Monitor, the company’s flagship product, leverages the functionality of Nagios, an open source IT monitoring tool, and transforms it into an enterprise-ready IT management solution by adding functional enhancements as well as deployment services and ongoing support. 

“We’re happy to receive the Under the Radar Innovation Award,” said Robert Fanini, CEO of GroundWork. “We strongly believe that open source IT management represents a large and untapped market opportunity.  It is further validating to know that leading VCs from Mohr Davidow, Intel Capital and Selby Venture Partners selected GroundWork as the top company to watch from a variety of strong business candidates.”

“The IBDNetwork community members are typically company ‘forecasters’ that need to understand new market opportunities and trends in order to help plan their companies’ strategic initiatives,” said Debbie Landa, CEO of IBDNetwork. “IBD Network created the Under the Radar event as an opportunity for promising companies like GroundWork to share their technology and business model to investors and potential strategic partners in a unique, interactive format that includes feedback.”

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About GroundWork Open Source Solutions

Founded in 2003, GroundWork Open Source Solutions, Inc. provides turn-key, open source-based IT infrastructure management solutions to medium and large corporations. GroundWork enables information technology management to leverage the flexibility and low cost of open source tools to achieve enterprise-level availability, performance and operational efficiency at 20 percent of the cost of commercial software.

About IBDNetwork

Founded in September of 1999, IBDNetwork (www.ibdnetwork.com) is the first membership-based organization to accelerate deal making. IBDNetwork explores the business side of technology through events and newsletters that cover the latest innovative technology, partnerships, company growth, business models and investment strategies. IBDNetwork’s community is comprised of VCs, CEOs, and VPs of business and corporate development from both private and public companies—typically the company “forecasters” that need to understand new market opportunities and trends to help plan their companies’ strategic initiatives.