Storage effectiveness requirements drive computing into the cloud

Those are the findings of a survey of 875 organisations by the organiser of Storage Expo, which also notes that green concerns were last on the list at just 7%. Jon Collins, service director of Freeform Dynamics, says, “This … confirms a trend we have seen in other studies – that organisations are prioritising effectiveness over efficiency when it comes to setting policy and making purchasing decisions.” He notes that, with data storage volumes still growing at more than 50% per annum, storage effectiveness is key – and hence IT managers’ attention turning to cloud computing. Claire Sellick, Storage Expo 2008 event director, urges IT directors and managers to come along to the National Hall, Olympia on the 15th October at 11.30am. “One of our keynote sessions, led by Jon, includes senior executives from six of the leading storage companies in the world discussing their interpretation of the drive for efficient architecture. “They’ll be exploring the hype around cloud computing and emerging technologies that may radically change the way business operates. Key challenges addressed in the session will include reducing storage costs, growing storage with your needs and understanding the rise of cloud computing amongst other things.” Other companies represented in the session include: HP, Pillar Data Systems, Double- Take Software, Hitachi Data Systems, NetApp and EMC2.