December 28, 1999 Web posted at: 12:57 p.m. EST (1757 GMT) by Network World Staff

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(IDG) -- The roster of elite network companies remains fairly consistent year after year, with stalwarts such as AT&T, Cisco, MCI WorldCom and Microsoft unquestionably grabbing seats on our "10 Most Powerful Companies in Networking" list.

Still, some jockeying goes on to fill out the last third or so slots. See how companies rated among the Network World staffers, analysts and other industry followers who vote on this power 10. Then take a look at how the same companies ranked among the 250 readers who participated in our annual Powerometer poll. You'll note some interesting disparities.

AT&T

The real stars here are AT&T's wireless and outsourcing businesses, both rocketing up more than 40% in 1999. For all of the hullabaloo over MCI WorldCom's grab for Sprint PCS, AT&T's wireless portfolio is triple the size of Sprint's. And in 1999, AT&T Solutions, the outsourcing and managed-network unit, brought on such diverse businesses as AlliedSignal, McDermott International, brokerage firm A.G. Edwards and drugstore chain CVS.

But big wins in the enterprise market aren't enough. Armstrong must boost performance from his mass consumer and business transport sectors, and he's fighting key personnel defections. Business services President Bob Annunziata, who had run Teleport - the alternative local carrier AT&T bought in 1998 - left last spring to head Global Crossing. Consumer chief Leo Hindery, who had been No. 2 at TCI, bolted in September just as AT&T began the massive job of converting its cable plant into two-way Internet and telephony facilities.

So far, TCI is contributing about $1.4 billion per quarter in extra revenue but not a dime in profits. Sometime in 2000 AT&T will have to increase revenue for cable-modem service instead of ordinary cable TV if its bet on competing with the local telcos is to contribute to AT&T's 21st century leadership.

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Cisco

Cisco continues to play a key role in shaping and delivering the Internet economy. As more users take advantage of the Internet for business and commerce, the more dependent they become on Cisco for providing the infrastructure.

Indeed, if customers vote with their dollars, Cisco wins by a landslide. Cisco announces at least four new customers every month. Having already sewn up the enterprise market, nearly all these latest contracts are in the fast-growing service provider realm.

Dell

In the burgeoning storage arena, Dell moved into the high-end of the market with the introduction of a 4-terabyte disk drive. And the company made its first-ever acquisition by buying Convergenet, which makes a magic black box that lets any server attach to any type of storage.

Besides delivering solid products, Dell rolled out a set of service programs aimed at helping customers implement and install its hardware. Two multibillion-dollar equipment and technology deals with IBM bolstered its portfolio.

IBM

The company might have sold off its switching and routing patents to rival Cisco, but it remains a market leader in SNA and token-ring technologies, and it does nothing these days except talk about the networked world of business.

Big Blue is actively pushing to make its mainframes, midrange and PC servers all Internet friendly. Meanwhile, its massive storage division has been refocusing itself to become a major storage-area network player.

IBM boasts the largest services organization in the world, with a heavy focus on e-commerce and SNA-to-IP migration. In software, IBM is second in volume only to Microsoft, spearheading work on Java, business intelligence, data mining and XML.

Intel

The company has bought its way into hot product areas, such as virtual private networks via the Shiva acquisition and Gigabit Ethernet switching through its XLNT buyout. Intel's goal is to provide small and midsize companies with key network products, running the gamut from network interface cards to routers.

Then came the Internet services assault. Who could have imagined Intel moving into the ISP business? But indeed, it has.

In September, the company announced the creation of the Intel Online Services division for Web hosting. Out of the starting block, Intel Online Services was running with two operational Internet services centers (at least three others are planned) and providing collocation services to customers.

MCI WorldCom

MCI WorldCom's year has been yet another one full of acquisitions as the company solidifies its position as one of the largest service providers in the country and rounds out its portfolio with wireless networks and services.

The combined entity, which will simply be called WorldCom, will include four frame relay and ATM networks, two national ISP networks, two long-distance voice networks and multiple local voice networks scattered throughout the country. And most importantly, MCI WorldCom will be getting Sprint's crown jewel, a digital wireless network that reaches more than 280 markets in all 50 states. Sprint PCS is the largest personal communications services network and a huge win for MCI WorldCom.

Microsoft

Need we say more about Microsoft's power than did U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson?

In November, the judge declared the company a monopoly in the operating system market as part of his findings in the government's antitrust suit against the software giant.

That's a federal mandate on Microsoft's strength. Although, in due time, it's a mandate that may eventually help weaken the company.

Nortel Networks

For Nortel Networks, 1999 will go down in history as the year in which its market value reached $100 billion. Surely that places the company in the big leagues, as if it wasn't already there. Granted, Nortel has had its difficulties in the enterprise market. But it is the only router vendor in sight of Cisco, and the company is getting tougher by the day. In early November, Nortel slashed prices on its enterprise access routers. Customers shopping around will find the Nortel routers at half the list price of comparable Cisco products.

Novell

Novell pushed hard in 1999 to secure dominance in the directory market. Its most recent manifestation of that thrust was the mid-November announcement of eDirectory, targeted at dot-com ventures, and Novell Directory Services Corporate Edition, an eDirectory-based application tailored for use within the corporate firewall. The backing of big-name users such as CNN is a definite plus.

Sun

Powerhouse Sun reshaped itself this year as an Internet enabler, capping the transition by forging an alliance with Lucent to build a network infrastructure for supporting next-generation 'Net business applications.

As part of the deal, Lucent will spend $500 million over the next seven years on Sun servers and Solaris operating system licenses. It'll be using those products in a new wireless network and for optical networking. Additionally, Sun and Lucent will jointly market network systems for e-business to enterprise users and service providers.