More Redundancies, Worries About Security And A RapidlyChanging Market... It's No Fun Being A European ITDirector In 2003
Stoke Poges, Bucks —26 February 2003 —More than half of European IT directors expect further redundanciesat their company this year. Almost two thirds admitted lying awakeat night worrying about security or downtime and 50% already knowthey're going to have to change the direction of their IT strategyin the next two years. It really is hard work being an IT Directorat the moment as figures from Hitachi Data Systems European StorageIndex have found.
The independent research, which questioned 570 IT Directorsacross 12 European countries, also found that despite the generaldoom and gloom in the IT sector, the need to store electronicinformation will continue to fuel growth in demand for data storagetechnology. Businesses on average are expecting to hold 16% moredata on their systems in the next year, with a third of companiessaying they will increase the spending on storage as a percentageof the overall IT budget.
The research highlights that the key drivers for this growth arethe understanding amongst companies that they need to be able torecover from disasters quickly and have information available tostaff and customers at all times if they are to be successful.These issues are also driving the adoption of new storagetechnologies, such as using software to manage the way informationis stored and accessed, and developing secure ways to hold moreinformation at various locations.
John Taffinder, Executive Vice President, EMEA at Hitachi DataSystems says, `The role of IT storage has grown in stature andvalue to the point where it is now firmly in the limelight and anissue of concern for most organisations. Unfortunately for manybusinesses storage has become a point of pain rather than afulfilled need that allows organisations to focus on their keybusiness issues. It's not surprising that the results of thissurvey show sleepless nights for IT Directors. But hopefully thesame results can also shed light on the way to provide the mostuseful and relevant storage solutions for the future.'
The full findings of the Hitachi Data Systems European StorageIndex are available as a white paper at http://www.eu.hds.com/pdf/eu_storage_feb_2003.pdf or by emailing Shirley Virando at info.eu@hds.com.
Notes to editors
The `Hitachi Data Systems European Storage Index' is third partyresearch, commissioned and owned by Hitachi Data Systems. Datareproduced from the Hitachi Data Systems European Storage Index'must be sourced as such. Findings are based on 570 IT directorinterviews, covering Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and theUK.
Hitachi Data Systems is committed to enabling organizationsworldwide to exploit the full potential of information. Byfollowing and deploying our TrueNorth™ strategy, we providecustomers with a broad range of storage solutions to simplify,protect and optimize their information infrastructures. Ourofferings include centralized and distributed storage systems andsoftware, professional services, complemented by best-of-breedproducts through channel partners and industry alliances.
With 2,700 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts businessthrough direct and indirect channels in the public, government andprivate sectors in over 170 countries and regions. Its customersinclude more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. For moreinformation, please visit our Web site at www.eu.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leadingglobal electronics company, with approximately 320,000 employeesworldwide. Fiscal 2001 (ended March 31, 2002) consolidated salestotaled 7,994 billion yen ($60.1 billion). The company offers awide range of systems, products and services in market sectors,including information systems, electronic devices, power andindustrial systems, consumer products, materials and financialservices. For more information on Hitachi, please visit thecompany's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com.
Contacts: PR
Shirley Virando, Hitachi Data Systems, + 44 (0) 1753 618682,shirley.virando@hds.com
© Hitachi Data Systems isregistered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademarkand service mark of Hitachi, Ltd.
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