Thanks to the explosion in data and the imminent certainty of compliance
regulations, even small and medium businesses (SMBs) are being forced to
spend more on storage.
Research firm IDC said it expects 2006 to be a breakout year for storage
among SMBs, fueled by the proliferation of broadband and local area networks
(LAN) that can drive storage needs to new heights.
Regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and SEC 17a-4 will contribute to the increase in storage spending, too.
IDC analyst Ray Boggs said this trend is a combination of two forces:
capacity challenges and compliance regulations.
“SMBs have just been throwing more storage at their capacity challenges, and
that will continue to be the case for many, especially with the growth of
e-mail archives,” Boggs said. “But there is the other piece, the compliance
piece, that is encouraging more ‘adult supervision’ of storage in general.”
The analyst said mid-sized and small companies are starting to appreciate
that they need a more comprehensive approach to
storage — something better managed.
Boggs said this is a change in perspective, noting that companies have
historically viewed storage as a dull necessity that wouldn’t help them
grow.
“But now there is a clear understanding of the risk — maybe I won’t grow
and triumph because I have an effective storage approach, but I also won’t
go broke because I failed to put into place the data storage and recovery
resources I needed before disaster struck.”
Vendors have taken note of this defensive rather than offensive investment.
A growing number of storage manufacturers have been crafting storage
products and services.
IBM,
HP and
Dell
have historically been among those vendors creating hardware and software
for SMBs.
Recognizing that SMBs would play a larger part of the burgeoning storage
customer base, EMC has recently stepped up its efforts in that sector. The company’s “Making Storage Simple”
strategy caters to the low end of the market.
There are some differences between what small companies and medium
businesses require, according to Boggs.
For one, small businesses devote the largest share of disk storage to e-mail
and digital content. But medium businesses allot most of their disk storage
for backup and recovery. IDC also found that medium firms have the same
requirements as larger firms for backup and recovery.
In that vein, small businesses will look to boost storage capacity over the
next year, while improving disaster recovery tops the wish lists of medium
companies.
IDC also found that while small businesses rely on internal disks for
storage, medium-sized firms will increase their storage area network (SAN)
capacity in the next 12 months. SAN
complex and expensive than other forms of storage.
