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Technology

Storage is top priority for Asia's CIOs

By Amelia Kwok | 10 December 2008

A survey of CIOs, conducted by Hitachi Data Systems has found that 88 per cent of them agreed that storage remains a top priority. The survey also discovered that across the Asia Pacific region, IT is embedded closely in all business operations, which make leveraging IT efficiently a critical task.

The survey was conducted when senior IT representatives of top enterprises across Asia Pacific attended the Hitachi Data Systems Asia Pacific CIO Summit at Cebu, the Philippines, in early November 2008.

Several key findings raised valuable insights on the synergy between the business and the technology environment. Improving operational effectiveness (86 per cent) and reducing cost of infrastructure (74 per cent) are the most popular factors that determine IT spending. Improving competitive position and value-added service from vendors trailed at 64 per cent and 52 per cent respectively as deciding factors for an organisation’s IT spending.

Amidst the instability in the money markets, 57 per cent of the CIOs stated that they would not reduce their storage investments. Managing costs (69 per cent) and allocation of storage resources (52 per cent) remain the most critical tasks to be achieved in the uncertain economic climate, while a centralised approach to business is the single-most important factor that defines business success according technology decision-makers.

Also, building a convincing business argument to justify storage investments (52 per cent) and doing more with current assets (50 per cent) were two most sought after needs from a technology vendor, going into 2009.

“In these uncertain economic times, the reality is IT budgets will continue to get scrutinised, even though data continues to grow rapidly and expectations on service levels continue to increase on IT. Companies require a value-added storage solution that can improve their operational efficiency while reducing total infrastructure costs,” said Ravi Rajendran, Vice President and General Manager for ASEAN, Hitachi Data Systems.

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