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Technology

Govts buck trend for data storage growth decline

By Kelly Ng | 15 June 2009

Enterprise disk storage revenue fell 18.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year as a willingness to pay to store information has fallen, a global study by IDC Research has found However government storage spend is still growing, claims tech giant IBM.

According to Liz Conner, an analyst at IDC, growth in demand for storage capacity fell to 14.8 per cent this quarter, the lowest since 2002. Although enterprises need more storage, they are not willing to pay for it, she said.

Tightening budgets push large enterprises towards cheaper systems designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Sales revenue from entry-level storage systems, which cost below US$15,000, increased by 9.9 per cent.

While the market saw an overall decline, government storage spend is still increasing, IBM told FutureGov.

Growth is being driven mainly by government stimulus programmes. For example, the Chinese government recently invested US$600 billion in information infrastructure projects. “Another area where government is spending more on storage is in healthcare,” said Francois Vazille, Director, Storage Platform, IBM Growth Markets.

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