Backup, Replication Spur Storage Software Sales

The pulse of the storage software market is beating strong and steady, thanks to sales of replication and backup software used to satisfy compliance regulations and avert data loss from disasters.

The market grew 10 percent year over year to $2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2005, according to research firm IDC.

The backup and archiving space, which IDC said constitutes roughly one-third of the storage software market, rose 12.7 percent.

IDC analyst Laura DuBois said backup software sales were again spurred by regulatory compliance rules such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley, which require corporations to save data and make sure it is protected and unaltered.

Customers also purchased backup and replication software, which grew 16.8 percent, as fail-safe options in the event of natural disasters, she said.

“The market’s drawn by compliance, by IT governance, increased focus in solutions to address natural and human disasters and to counter threats against any kind of attack,” DuBois said.

Thanks to all of its software acquisitions over the years, as well as a solid reputation and improving services offerings, EMC led the market with 29.1 percent revenue in Q3 2005.

The Hopkinton, Mass., information systems vendor grew sales 6. 2 percent to $621 million in Q3 2004. DuBois said EMC’s purchase of Legato has helped EMC significantly in the backup and archiving segment, where it lags only Symantec.

In the overall storage software market, Symantec came in No. 2 at 20 percent, thanks to its purchase of backup software leader Veritas Software. Symantec reaped $427 million in sales for Q3, but it is unclear how much growth, if any, it had in the quarter: Veritas was just integrated.

DuBois said she could see EMC gain on Symantec due to its archiving strategy and successful information lifecycle management (ILM) plans for corralling data and managing it from its creation until its destruction.

IBM finished in the third position with 9.4 percent share, growing 12.5 percent year-over-year to $201 million. Network Appliance grew a whopping 42.5 percent to $148 million and a 6.9 percent share.

DuBois attributed NetApp’s growth to the advanced replication functionality in its Ontap operating system.

HP rounded out the top five storage software sellers, with 6.7 percent of the market on $143 million in sales.

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com