10 Start-ups to Watch in '09

What it offers: FactFinder, software that helps IT manage application performance and availability when a company uses VMware virtual servers.

Why we're watching it: FactFinder automatically details all components and processes an application connects to and depends on, following an application through physical and virtual environments and detecting performance problems. With virtualization gaining adoption in both large and small businesses, this capability will become ever more crucial. The BlueStripe technology works only with VMware, but the company plans to add support for Citrix Systems and Microsoft virtualization products. BlueStripe's technology is promising, but the vendor may find it difficult to cut through the widespread hype about virtualization. For example, the most recent VMworld conference attracted more than 200 sponsors and exhibitors. (View a slide show on 10 ways to get blazin' apps.) 

How the company got its start: By making visible the relationships among applications and their underlying physical and virtual infrastructures, the founders hoped to alleviate common concerns about moving business applications onto virtual machines.

How the company got its name: The founders attended rivals Duke University and the University of North Carolina, so they placed the colleges' team colors (two shades of blue) in the company's logo.

CEO: Chris Neal, a co-founder, was vice president of field operations at Wily Technology. While there, he helped guide the company through a major growth period culminating in Wily's 2006 acquisition by CA.

Funding: $5 million in one round, closed December 2007, from Trinity Ventures.

Who uses its product: Square 1 Bank, among other companies in the financial, insurance and telecom industries.