Data demand to double
Growth in storage demand outpacing global trend of 50 per cent, says analyst
Demand for storage in western Europe is set to rise to 140 petabytes (PBs) in 2003 - more than double the 60PB of data generated in 2002 - and resellers could reap the rewards, according to analysts.
John McArthur, group vice president at analyst IDC, told delegates at Storage Networking World Europe in Cannes recently that such growth outpaces the global trend of about 50 per cent growth. This puts the onus on IT directors to show they are maximising existing resources.
McArthur predicted a rise in the number of independent storage consultants and value-add resellers that can advise on getting the most out of existing storage.
They will take over the suppliers' role of defining storage area network (San) systems and help end inconsistent design, implementation and management.
"There are no standard models for enterprise San deployment. Foresight in design, implementation and process reduces the management burden," McArthur said.
Paul Talbut, chairman of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) Europe, agreed that end users are looking for guidance. "The SNIA has tried to engage with end users to understand their concerns.
"We aim to consolidate the end-user voice and push their concerns back to the industry," he said.
According to McArthur, management software will become more important because the current strategy of buying more disk space will no longer work.
He said vendors should offer tools to automate onerous management tasks, help users use more of their existing storage capacity, and help users migrate data from one medium to another.
Talbut said: "Ask any user what their main issue is and they will say managing their data growth without growing their cost. Software is the key to automating this process."
McArthur told vendors they must confront the certification crisis they had created, and commit to interoperability. But he warned users that this interoperability will not happen unless they "fight for it".