Last year's position : Not Placed

At last, a man and company proud to keep the '.com' in their name (besides another example close to home) - and with good reason. salesforce.com now claims to be larger than all other ASPs combined. It has brought a hosted model for companies, many of them SMEs, for whom investing in expensive sales force automation (SFA) and CRM software isn't an option.

Benioff, its founder, has been its guiding light, and, as one panellist put it: "When it floats, it will probably be the turning point for the tech industry." Also known for his social responsibility.