Global storage software market on the increase

EMC and Veritas lead the way in terms of revenue and market share but NetApps is gaining ground

The global storage software market grew by 14.9 per cent to $2.1bn in the first quarter of 2005, with EMC and Veritas leading the pack, according to analyst IDC’s latest report.

The Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker reported that during Q1 this year the market achieved its sixth consecutive quarter of double digit year-on-year growth.

Mirroring IDC’s previous storage software tracker, EMC again claimed the crown, with $625m in revenue, which represented a 30 per cent market share. It was closely followed by Veritas, which reported a 21.4 per cent market share and revenue of $445m.

Rhoda Phillips, research manager for storage software at IDC, said: “Continued customer spending on software for data protection, storage resource management and compliance have helped to drive this positive start to the year.”

However, the biggest increase in year-on-year revenue growth came from Network Appliance (NetApps), which saw figures leap by 61.1 per cent to $139m in sales, and a 4.8 per cent increase in its market share.

In August, NetApps bucked a recent trend for poor financial results and reported a turnover of $358.4m for Q1 2004. It attributed part of the growth to its reseller sales, which grew by three per cent to 46 per cent of revenue from indirect channels.

However, a recent Goldman Sachs report discovered that EMC was more popular than rival vendors in the enterprise space, with half of all IT managers choosing EMC kit.

Mickey Bharat, data solutions manager at Clarity Distribution, said: “We see EMC sales a lot more than others, and these figures are mirrored in the channel. Veritas isn’t catching up EMC and is losing opportunities.”