By Isabelle Chan, ZDNet Asia

In the years following the dot-com bust in 2000, technology companies continued to face challenging times. Corporate IT buying slowed as the global economy dipped into a recession. The Sep. 11 terrorist attacks and SARS outbreak which followed, shook investor and consumer confidence. Consumer spending in the affected countries dropped, crippling businesses across the globe.

To stay afloat, companies downsized and outsourced non-core functions to remain profitable. Although companies were forced to do more with less, corporate IT budgets did not shrink completely. Businesses just got smarter about how they implemented IT and focused on ensuring every new IT tool met their business objectives.

Today, finally, there are strong indications that the IT market is picking up. But for most buyers, the purchasing decision hasn't become any easier, especially with the fast-consolidating tech sector. To help businesses make well-informed buying decisions, ZDNet Asia has identified a list of top 50 vendors that are doing financially well, have a proven track record, and are firmly committed to the Asian market. The main industry categories considered for this index are: systems, storage management, software infrastructure, business applications, networking and communication, security, services and Internet services.

After weeks of grueling research, we're proud to reveal ZDNet Asia's Top Tech 50 companies. These tech companies emerged with the best overall scores based on six judging criteria.

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