Stoke Poges, Bucks, UK - 1 November, 2004 -
Signs that the runaway growth of data being stored by organisations
might be coming under control are revealed in new research published
today in the latest edition of the Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index.
The new research, which is conducted biannually among a sample of 840 IT directors in 21 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), suggests that technology is finally taming the data deluge that has been swamping organisations in recent years.
"What the latest Hitachi Index is showing", commented John Taffinder, Executive Vice President, Hitachi Data Systems EMEA, "is that IT directors are looking for, and increasingly finding, solutions to the large amount of under-utilised storage within their networks.
"The results show", he continued, "that storage management technologies - which give IT directors much greater control over their storage environment - are fast approaching universal deployment. This is the most likely explanation for the fact that the number of IT directors expecting data growth over the next 12 months has moderated from 75 percent to 67 percent.
"Other evidence from the Hitachi Data Systems Index confirms that what underlies the change is more likely to be technological than economic, with IT directors also reporting that the pressure to reduce operating costs is actually declining as a driver for their storage investment decisions."
The march towards technological solutions is highlighted in several Index findings. The Index shows that the number of IT directors who believe they have storage management technology already in place has risen from 58 percent to 70 percent in the current Index and, factoring in the future implementation plans anticipated, this number is predicted to reach 90 percent within 24 months.
Looking to specific aspects of storage management technologies, the Index shows that scepticism about achieving open standards in storage - which enable equipment and software from different suppliers to interoperate freely - is waning rapidly. The number of IT directors who are not confident about open standards being achieved within the next 24 months is down to just 23 percent now from a figure of 38 percent when the first Index was compiled. The optimists now total 47 percent, up from 29 percent in the original Index and from 39 percent since the last Index alone.
There has also been a sudden jump in the latest Index among the number of IT directors for whom storage virtualisation - the ability to pool any storage device from any vendor into what appears to be a single storage device managed from a central console - is the number one storage technology priority. This figure is up from six percent of the sample, where it has been static since the Index began, to 10 percent, with completed virtualisation implementations up from seven percent to 15 percent over the same period.
This survey was conducted as part of the latest 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index', a six-monthly survey of corporate technology trends across the EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) region. A total of 840 anonymous, independently-conducted interviews were completed with corporate IT directors in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE and the UK. The Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index is available for download at: /products/storage-software/
Hitachi Data Systems leverages global R&D resources to develop storage solutions built on industry-leading technology with the performance, availability and scalability to maximise customers' ROI and minimise their risk. By focusing on the customer's perspective as we apply the best hardware, software, and services from Hitachi and our partners, we uniquely satisfy our customers' business needs.
With 2,800 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts business through direct and indirect channels in the public, government and private sectors in over 170 countries and regions. Its customers include more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2003 (ended March 31, 2004) consolidated sales totalled 8,632.4 billion yen ($81.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.
Shirley Virando, Hitachi Data Systems
+44 (0) 1753 618682, shirley.virando@hds.com
© 2004, Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trade names, trademarks, and service marks used herein are the rightful property of their respective owners.
Research data reproduced from this document must be sourced to the 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index'
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