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The TOM 100: Networking

The 100 Networking brands buyers and AI notice first. Index data updated July 2026.

Rank Brand Top of Mind Top of Model Composite Score
1 Arista 65.9 85.0 75.4
2 Juniper 67.5 75.0 71.2
3 Cisco 74.8 60.0 67.4
4 Fortinet 48.4 68.3 58.4
5 HPE 37.2 68.3 52.7
6 Cato 33.7 71.7 52.7
7 Palo Alto 35.2 68.3 51.8
8 Zscaler 33.4 65.0 49.2
9 Cloudflare 33.3 63.3 48.3
10 NVIDIA 33.3 61.7 47.5
11 Packet Pushers 1.1 91.7 46.4
12 Kentik 14.1 78.3 46.2
13 Packet Pushers Interactive 1.8 90.0 45.9
14 Netskope 26.8 63.3 45.1
15 ipSpace.net 3.9 85.0 44.4
16 KrebsOnSecurity 0.3 88.3 44.3
17 Equinix 10.3 78.3 44.3
18 Extreme 30.9 56.7 43.8
19 Wireless LAN Professionals 0.6 86.7 43.7
20 NetBox 1.6 83.3 42.5
21 The CTO Advisor 0.3 83.3 41.8
22 Aviatrix 11.8 70.0 40.9
23 Dell’Oro Group 1.0 80.0 40.5
24 Network to Code 7.6 73.3 40.4
25 CoreSite 0.7 80.0 40.4
26 NetCraftsmen 0.6 80.0 40.3
27 Megaport 5.5 75.0 40.2
28 Have I Been Pwned 0.3 80.0 40.2
29 Illumio 1.9 78.3 40.1
30 Catchpoint 3.0 76.7 39.9
31 Mellanox 9.2 70.0 39.6
32 Cilium 0.6 76.7 38.7
33 Versa 13.9 63.3 38.6
34 Marvis 3.8 73.3 38.6
35 ZPE Systems 0.4 76.7 38.6
36 IP Fabric 1.8 75.0 38.4
37 Forward Networks 1.6 75.0 38.3
38 Nile 16.6 60.0 38.3
39 Infoblox 1.1 75.0 38.0
40 Garland Technology 0.3 75.0 37.7
41 ZK Research 1.6 73.3 37.5
42 Aryaka 9.7 65.0 37.3
43 Apstra 0.6 73.3 37.0
43 BatFish 0.6 73.3 37.0
43 Gartner 0.6 73.3 37.0
46 Isovalent 0.5 73.3 36.9
47 LogicMonitor 8.8 65.0 36.9
48 SpaceX 0.4 73.3 36.9
49 Black Hills Information Security 0.3 73.3 36.8
49 Grafana 0.3 73.3 36.8
49 Risky Business 0.3 73.3 36.8
52 Akamai 13.5 60.0 36.7
53 Dell 18.3 55.0 36.7
54 Network Automation Forum 1.2 71.7 36.4
55 Gigamon 1.1 71.7 36.4
56 QTS Data Centers 0.8 71.7 36.2
57 Jeff Doyle and Associates 0.4 71.7 36.1
58 Terraform 0.3 71.7 36.0
59 PacketFabric 1.6 70.0 35.8
60 Nautobot 2.9 68.3 35.6
61 Celona 1.0 70.0 35.5
61 Zabbix 1.0 70.0 35.5
63 Enterprise Management Associates 0.8 70.0 35.4
64 Cradlepoint 0.6 70.0 35.3
65 Digital Realty 2.3 68.3 35.3
66 Zayo 0.5 70.0 35.3
67 Duo 0.4 70.0 35.2
68 EfficientIP 0.3 70.0 35.2
68 TrustedSec 0.3 70.0 35.2
68 Vertical Systems Group 0.3 70.0 35.2
71 Nokia 20.3 50.0 35.1
72 Google 13.4 56.7 35.0
73 NETSCOUT 1.6 68.3 35.0
74 Splunk 7.8 61.7 34.7
75 UXI 1.1 68.3 34.7
76 BackBox 1.0 68.3 34.7
77 Energy Sciences Network 0.9 68.3 34.6
78 Ciena 12.4 56.7 34.5
79 Forrester 0.8 68.3 34.5
80 WireGuard 0.4 68.3 34.4
81 Ordr 0.3 68.3 34.3
82 FS.com 1.7 66.7 34.2
83 Itential 6.3 61.7 34.0
84 Obkio 0.8 66.7 33.7
85 Fastly 12.4 55.0 33.7
86 Forescout 0.6 66.7 33.6
87 Amazon 8.9 58.3 33.6
88 ExtraHop 0.5 66.7 33.6
89 Exoprise CloudReady 0.4 66.7 33.6
90 CyberArk 1.3 65.0 33.1
91 F5 2.7 63.3 33.0
92 Red Hat 4.3 61.7 33.0
93 BigPanda 0.9 65.0 32.9
93 Nicira 2.5 63.3 32.9
93 Prisma Access 0.9 65.0 32.9
96 Twingate 0.7 65.0 32.9
97 CBT Nuggets 0.6 65.0 32.8
98 Colt 0.6 65.0 32.8
98 Keysight 0.6 65.0 32.8
100 Armis 0.3 65.0 32.7

The TOM 100 shows the rankings.

Your free Snapshot shows the why.

Get your brand's full 8-signal breakdown behind both scores and the same breakdown for your category's top 3, so you can see exactly where the leaders are winning. Free, even if you're not in the TOM 100.

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Networking category definition

The TOM Index defines Networking as brands whose core offering is the infrastructure and software that connects people, devices, sites, and clouds: switching, routing, wireless, SD-WAN, and the edge and secure-connectivity services (including zero trust and SASE) that manage and protect that connectivity.

We score brands here on how clearly buyers and AI systems recognize them as a networking and connectivity authority, not on adjacent capabilities. A brand with a strong networking portfolio may also appear in Infrastructure or Cybersecurity where it competes meaningfully in those categories.

Category reality

In Networking, visibility is shaped by narrative consistency and committee-wide clarity. Networking decisions touch more stakeholders than almost any other infrastructure category, and every one of them has an opinion.

Even when OEMs bundle networking into broader platform pitches, the buying motion behaves differently: broader stakeholder set, higher change-risk sensitivity, and faster default to familiar behavior when clarity is missing.

Brands win the shortlist early when they show up clearly tied to a specific network reality: campus, branch, WAN, SD-WAN, secure connectivity, and core operability, not just capability.

If your brand is easy to understand and easy to defend internally, you make the shortlist. If it is not, the committee defaults to a name they already know.

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How your brand gets evaluated

Networking shortlists form before formal evaluations begin, in peer conversations, AI-mediated searches, and internal alignment meetings where your brand either has a clear identity or it does not. Here's what's shaping those impressions:

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Subcategory Placement: Can AI accurately place you in the right segment? SD-WAN, campus networking, network modernization, secure connectivity? Imprecise placement means wrong comparisons and missed shortlists.

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Persona Recognition: Does your message reach network engineering, IT ops, security, CIO, and procurement, the full committee, or only the technical evaluator?

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Shortlist Surfacing: When a network team researches options, are you surfaced as a distinct, credible choice, or described generically alongside every other vendor?

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Side-by-Side Evaluation: When the committee compares you to category leaders, do your differentiators hold, or do you get compressed into a generic summary?

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Leadership Visibility: Are your leaders visible beyond the technical community? Executive confidence matters when a non-technical stakeholder needs to justify the decision.

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Narrative Consistency: Is your story consistent across every stakeholder who will encounter it differently, from the network engineer to the CFO?

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Operational Proof: Are uptime, manageability, and operational simplicity visible and believable, not just claimed?

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Security Adjacency: Can you credibly speak to security without AI systems reclassifying you as a security vendor, blurring your category identity?

Perspectives shaping what's next