It's one thing for me to sit upon the Pedia throne and wax philosophical about the coolest test and measurement technologies and the savviest vendors in the space. But it's an entirely different story when telecom professionals -- the folks in the trenches who actually use the technologies every day -- start talking about which products and services are the best and which vendors live up to the hype and which ones... well, don't.

That story will be told in an upcoming survey and Market Leadership Study from Heavy Reading that will look at how telecom professionals view the test and measurement vendors and technologies on the market today. We've developed the study using vendors, products and services found in Testapedia.

Besides serving as an announcement that telecom professionals are about to lay bare their feelings on all things test and measurement, this story serves as an invitation to any T&M vendor that wants the chance to be included in the survey.

The survey itself will break T&M vendors into 11 categories, all of which are highlighted below. We've also included a breakdown of the vendors that are in each of those categories as they stand today. However, in the spirit of fairness -- and to ensure that we aren't missing anything -- we're giving any T&M vendor the opportunity to reach out and let us know if it should be included in the survey.

Another quick note: We're aware that Keysight has acquired Ixia, but because the acquisition is so new, each of the companies are listed separately because their names and product lines currently are thought of independently.

Currently, the 11 categories for the survey are:

Top 20 T&M Vendor

1. Anritsu
2. Cetecom
3. Cobham
4. EXFO
5. GL Communications
6. Ixia
7. Keysight Technologies
8. National Instruments
9. Netrounds
10. NetScout
11. Polaris Networks
12. PRISMA Telecom Testing
13. Radcom
14. Rohde & Schwarz
15. Spirent Communications
16. Tektronix
17. Teledyne Lecroy
18. VeEX
19. Veryx Technologies
20. Viavi

Fixed Network Testing

1. Anritsu
2. EXFO
3. GL Communications
4. Ixia
5. Packet Data Systems
6. Radcom
7. RAD Data Communications
8. Spirent Communications
9. VeEX
10. Viavi

Communications/Network Testing

1. Cobham
2. EXFO
3. GL Communications
4. Ixia
5. Netrounds
6. Packet Design
7. Spirent Communications
8. VeEX
9. Viavi
10. Virtual Instruments

Device Testing

1. Cetecom
2. Cobham
3. GL Communications
4. Ixia
5. Keysight
6. National Instruments
7. NetScout
8. Polaris Networks
9. PRISMA Telecom Testing
10. Rohde & Schwarz
11. Tektronix
12. Teledyne Lecroy
13. VeEX
14. Veryx Technologies
15. Viavi

Service/Product Testing For Quality & Standards Conformance

1. Cobham
2. Empirix
3. EXFO
4. Fluke Networks
5. Hermon Laboratories
6. Ixia
7. Netrounds
8. Packet Design
9. Radcom
10. Viavi

Monitoring

1. Cisco
2. InfoVista
3. Ixia
4. Nectar
5. Netrounds
6. RAD Data Communications
7. RG System
8. Ruckus Wireless
9. SevOne
10. Spirent Communications

Mobile Testing

1. Anritsu
2. Cetecom
3. Ixia
4. Keysight
5. National Instruments
6. NetScout
7. Polaris Networks
8. PRISMA Telecom Testing
9. Radcom
10. Rohde & Schwarz
11. Spirent Communications
12. Teledyne Lecroy
13. Tektronix
14. VeEX
15. Viavi

SDN Assurance

1. Accedian
2. Centina Systems
3. EXFO
4. Global Edge Software
5. HPE
6. Ixia
7. Netrounds
8. Nuage Networks (Nokia)
9. Packet Design
10. Spirent Communications

Security Solutions Testing

1. Check Point Software
2. Corero Network Security
3. Ericsson
4. FireEye
5. FourScout
6. HPE
7. IBM
8. Iris Network Systems
9. Ixia
10. Synopsys

NFV Assurance Testing

1. Aricent
2. Centina Systems
3. Criterion Networks
4. EXFO
5. Global Edge Software
6. Netrounds
7. Radcom
8. Tektronix
9. Veryx Technologies
10. Viavi

Virtual Probe (vProbe) Testing

1. Bridge Technologies
2. EXFO
3. InMon
4. Intel
5. Radcom
6. Spirent Communications
7. Tektronix
8. Teledyne LeCroy
9. Veryx Technologies
10. Viavi

More than 750 companies and 900 products are now listed in Testapedia, making it the telecom industry's most comprehensive resource for all things related to testing and measurement. Some 2,600 test and measurement professionals also are now registered with Testapedia, giving them access not only to vendor and product information but also to the latest industry news and research from Heavy Reading.

To get your company listed in Testapedia, go to the Get Listed tab on the site. To join the growing ranks of the virtualization community and get access to executive summaries of Heavy Reading's research, go to the Register Now tab.

To have your company considered for this survey, email [email protected].

— Denise Culver, Director of Online Research, Heavy Reading