Predicting Storage Growth for 2004 and Beyond, Part 2

The amount of new storage capacity installed each year is growing almost 80% annually, according to IDC. And companies across the globe are on the lookout for technologies to help them manage and store the ever-increasing amounts of information flowing in and out of their networks.

“Automating management without input from the system's real users will create a system that doesn't serve its customers.” — John Lallier, FalconStor

With the volume of data soaring and new regulations requiring that it be kept safe and secure, storage users will have to navigate a rapidly changing landscape in coming years. In this, the second part of a series on storage trends, we examine storage management and archiving, among other issues.

To keep pace with the booming storage capacity, IDC predicts that storage managers will have to become 60% more efficient each year, as measured in gigabytes per storage manager, or companies will have to increase the percentage of IT staff devoted to storage management tasks.

One of the major issues facing companies is whether users will be able to automate storage management without having to use dedicated storage management teams.

Some companies are responding to the growing demands with systems that are simpler to install and manage.

"Many of the large manufacturers continue to produce systems that require days, weeks, or longer to learn how to operate and support," says Diamond Lauffin, senior vice president at Nexsan Technologies. "Fortunately, for end users, there are companies that have eliminated the 'black magic' and are producing systems that are brain dead to implement."

Zophar Sante, marketing vice president at SANRAD, agrees. "It's really up to storage system vendors to supply the industry with easy and simple storage automation tools as part of their solution," he says. "I think you'll find that new storage infrastructure products entering the market have built-in automation tools so that complex integration is not required."

John Lallier, vice president of technology at FalconStor, still sees the need for a strong storage management team.

"A management team requires not only people with knowledge of the storage hardware and software, but also people with knowledge of the data that's being stored," Lallier says. "Automating management without input from the system's real users will create a system that doesn't serve its customers."

Page 2: Email Archiving, Virtualization Are Hot-Button Issues