Storage software recovery gathers pace in Q1

IDC research reveals big-name manufacturers posting solid numbers to drive market growth

Race for the prize: Symantec aside, all the market's leading vendors posted competitive Q1 figures

IBM and EMC were the big winners as the storage software market posted robust growth in 2010's opening quarter.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker reveals first-quarter global sales of the technology rose by 7.2 per cent annually to $3bn (£2.1bn). The research house claimed the growth can be attributed to projects that have been postponed since late 2008 finally coming to fruition. Data protection and recovery was one of the market's highest growth areas, enjoying a 10.6 per cent year-on-year sales spike.

EMC strengthened its position as the market's leading vendor, posting an annual sales increase of 13.7 per cent. The Massachusetts manufacturer's quarterly revenue of $696m gave it a 23 per cent slice of the market, up 1.3 points on Q1 2009.

Second-placed Symantec was the only big-name vendor to see Q1 sales drop annually. The security giant's first-quarter revenue was down by 0.5 per cent to $528m, while market share slipped 1.3 points to 17.5 per cent.

Third-placed IBM grew sales by 11 per cent to $430m, while its market share swelled by half a point to 14.2 per cent. NetApp claimed fourth place after retaining the 8.3 per cent chunk of the market it held a year ago. The vendor's sales were up 8.1 per cent to $252m.

The recently renamed CA Technologies snagged fifth spot, with sales up by 7.2 per cent year on year to $117m. CA's market share was steady at 3.9 per cent. Close behind, HP enjoyed an impressive quarter, with revenue growing by 8.7 per cent to $105m and market share marginally up to 3.5 per cent.

IDC's programme vice president for storage software Laura DuBois said: "The gains in the storage software market in the first quarter of the year were the result of overall growth from many of the leading vendors as well as the weak performance in Q1 2009 due to economic conditions during that period.

"However, market demand for storage solutions has clearly returned, with five of the top six vendors showing positive growth year on year. Another quarter of growth will be a strong indicator that the storage software market is in recovery."