ANZ Organisations to Invest in Storage Solutions due to Growing Volumes of Data, Says IDC
NORTH SYDNEY - A recent IDC study points to the growth in storage requirements by organisations in Australia and New
Zealand, compounded by unprecedented growth in the volume of data to be managed and a quantum leap in complexity. The
storage solutions market in Australia and New Zealand was valued at A$1,804 million in 2001.
IDC defines storage solutions as hardware, software and services as they relate to the storage opportunity. Within this
market, storage software contributed 10%, storage hardware accounted for 60% and storage services accounted for 30% of
total storage solutions spend. Looking forward IDC forecasts storage solutions in Australia and New Zealand will grow at
a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% to reach A$2,433 million by 2006.
IDC has observed declining margins in storage hardware, as well as customer demands for complete storage solutions.
Responding to these trends, it is logical that vendors shift their emphasis exclusively from hardware to incorporate
software and services as part of delivering a storage solution to the market.
The real value of the storage resource is expected to be gained from a network storage infrastructure in which
integrated storage software enables users to organise and access the information contained in the storage resource, said
Graham Penn, IDCs Director of Storage Research, Asia/Pacific.
To achieve this goal, IDC expects there to be strong demand for professional services associated with the design,
implementation and review of network storage solutions, he added.
The nature of the storage environment has changed radically in recent years. With the growth of data within many
organisations accelerating, the infrastructure implications and operating costs of the growth in storage is becoming
apparent.
In virtually every organisation within Australia and New Zealand, it is becoming more evident that data is a key
corporate asset. Maintaining its availability, integrity and security is now a critical business issue, and this
realisation is resulting in strong growth in demand for storage solutions, commented Mr. Penn.