David Kenney was headed into a conference room to pitch his software to a prospective client when he saw a pair of smug-looking representatives from a big rival, Adobe, strolling out. But Kenney wasn't worried. "We jumped in and did a live demo and said, 'For $200,000 we can do what we're showing you today.'"

He won the sale for his small company, Efficient Forms, whose software automates the process of filling out forms for companies such as big insurers. Over the past 18 months it has snagged some 300 insurance clients away from such giant competitors as Accenture and Microsoft. "You get the jaw dropping. Then they say, 'You mean you're telling me this little company can do this?'" Kenney says. With just 40 employees, Efficient Forms (efficientforms.com) rang up $3 million in sales last year, and Kenney expects to top $7 million for 2006.

He attributes much of his success to a piece of technology known as a virtual private network, or VPN. It is a secure remote Internet connection that enables two or more parties to communicate in encrypted fashion regardless of location. Kenney says that VPN is necessary to prove to large companies that their communications and information will be secure. -Alessandra Bianchi