More Storage Options Making Decisions Harder?

By Greg McNevin

October 1, 2008: According to new analysis from Frost and Sullivan, there has been a radical shift in the way enterprises store, manage and protect data in order to cope with the exponential growth in data volumes, and while there are many innovative solutions available, more choice is not making life easier.

Titled Advances in Enterprise Storage Systems and Techniques, the new research has found that the emergence of innovative technologies, combined with significant industry collaborative efforts is widening the boundaries of enterprise storage and keeping the market dynamic.

It says that these storage solutions are expected to help enterprises maintain business continuity by enhancing storage, consuming lesser power, and providing customised solutions for various application sectors, depending on their business requirements.

However, that said it adds that only a handful of storage vendors can currently offer a comprehensive storage solution that enables compliance with standards, reduced downtime, cost containment, and provision of customised offerings.

Coupled with this, the dynamic nature of the industry and continual barrage of new innovative solutions that improve performance, simplify complex management tasks, and increase availability of heterogeneous storage resources are actually making life difficult for end users.

F&S say that the multitude of offerings that are currently available leaves end users unable to make a quick decision. This paralysis of choice can leave enterprises deferring their purchase decision by five to six years to fully understand the intricacies of the solutions – a veritable lifetime in the industry.

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