Storage-as-a-service is taking the lead over the traditional storage software market, according to a recent report from analyst IDC.

The survey of 812 firms revealed that demand for online storage services is high among businesses feeling the squeeze on budgets and IT staff levels.

With storage-as-a-service capacity expected to grow from 174 petabytes in 2007 to 2.1 exabytes in 2012, IDC said there will be many opportunities in the market.

Companies are investing in online services for backup and disaster recovery, long-term record retention, business continuity and data availability, the survey found.

Brad Nisbet, programme manager for storage and data management services at IDC, said: “As organisations continue to generate vast amounts of data and seek optimum methods to store and protect them, the growth of storage capacities delivered through storage-as-a-service offerings will outpace traditional storage architectures.”

The research also found that firms show a preference for suppliers whose focus is on online services and for those that have a strong technical background.

Paul Hickingbotham, solutions manager at storage distributor Hammer, said prospects were good. “Resellers that are involved in supplying storage-as-a-service have seen an increase in demand for it. The current credit crunch is forcing companies to look at more ways to save money on storage, so there is an opportunity.”

Lindsay Garrod, marketing manager of VAR VirtualizeIT, said: “Due to the credit crunch, contracts are
taking longer to come through as people are evaluating where money can be saved. Storage-as-a-service is definitely a driver for that.”