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Hybrid storage uptake in SA cautiously optimistic, survey finds

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 28 Jun 2019
Just over a third of local firms participating in the survey have already deployed a hybrid storage solution.
Just over a third of local firms participating in the survey have already deployed a hybrid storage solution.

With data being the new oil, managing a comprehensive data storage infrastructure is becoming a serious challenge for local companies, reveals ITWeb’s 2019 Hybrid Storage Survey.

The survey was conducted online by ITWeb in partnership with Aptronics and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to examine how South African organisations approach their data storage requirements.

Close to 60% of the respondents said they are using both in-house and cloud storage; 12% exclusively use cloud; and 29% store their data on-premises.

Just over a third (38%) of local firms participating in the survey have already deployed a hybrid storage solution, while 21% said they are planning to do so. Almost a quarter (23%), however, are indecisive.

Hybrid storage is a flexible storage system designed with a blend of flash-based solid state disk and hard disk drives, to provide high performance and simplified storage management at an affordable price.

According to the survey results, the main reasons for considering a hybrid storage solution are: better disaster recovery prospects (34%); improved scalability (31%); and lower costs (17%).

When it comes to predominantly used storage technology, just over a third of respondents (36%) chose hybrid storage configurations; hard drives came second at 29%; and flash-based solid state drives third, at 14%.

Do you keep your data stored on-premises or in
the cloud?
Do you keep your data stored on-premises or in the cloud?

Backing it up

With 31% of respondents admitting their company has experienced a storage-related outage in the past year, the survey notes managing a comprehensive data storage infrastructure is critical. However, only 12% reported that the storage outage impacted their business.

An overwhelming majority (87%) reported they are confident in their ability to fully recover data in the event of data loss.

When asked to provide an estimation of their data growth volume over the next 12 months, nearly half (43%) expect a 10% to 30% increase, while just over a fifth (21%) expect a growth rate of between 30% and 40%.

Have you deployed, or are you planning to deploy a hybrid storage solution?
Have you deployed, or are you planning to deploy a hybrid storage solution?

Performance trumps cost

The top three most important considerations when choosing a storage brand according to respondents, are performance (83%), reliability (80%) and cost (77%).

Almost a third say they are “very satisfied” with the level of support provided by their current storage vendor; while 65% are just “satisfied”; and about 7% are not happy and will most probably be looking for change.

What is the main reason why you would consider a hybrid storage solution?
What is the main reason why you would consider a hybrid storage solution?

Who responded?

The 2019 ITWeb/HPE and Aptronics Hybrid Storage Survey ran for 14 days on ITWeb during April, and 120 respondents completed it.

Almost 70% of those are decision-makers – 20% are C-level executives, while a further 49% are at mid-management level.

While 40% are from IT companies, the remainder are from a wide range of industry sectors, including finance and insurance (13%); telecoms (7%); healthcare (5%); public sector (5%); retail and wholesale (5%); and professional services (4%) industries.

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