The latest edition of the bi-annual Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) Storage Index shows that as the data burden on companies continues to grow, there is a shift in focus away from data storage capacity.
The survey of more than 840 CIOs and IT directors from 21 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa concludes that with the forecast restricted growth in budgets, companies are cautious and are keen to understand and exploit existing investments before committing to more spend.
The research is in line with what customers have been saying for a long time; that the data burden is increasing yet budgets are virtually static, says Fanie van Rensburg, MD of local HDS distributor, Shoden Data Systems.
A key finding of the survey is the amount of digital information businesses will have to manage is set to grow by 30% in the next two years.
Purchasing decisions are being made on how storage can contribute to the overall business, Van Rensburg explains, rather than simply how much capacity is needed.
"Storage vendors need to react to this shift in focus and concentrate on business solutions rather than simply shifting boxes," he warns.
Reinforcing this view, the survey reveals 49% of respondents are considering the implementation of these data management technologies within the next two years and a massive increase in the planned implementations of virtualisation technologies.
Van Rensburg says an increase of 86% since 2003 is not surprising because virtualisation is a step on from storage management, aligning storage technologies with business goals.
"Virtualisation is helping address the business problem of managing terabytes and petabytes of data against a backdrop of increased regulation, worries over business continuity and the ever-increasing pressures of daily commerce," says Van Rensburg.
"The challenge is for vendors to tailor their solutions to meet the key business need of improving performance through things like reduced cost and improved quality rather than simply addressing capacity management problems."
Share
