A Tight-Rope Walk: Explosive Data Growth and IT Budgets
What are your data storage needs for the next 3 years? Most trend reports show that data storage use has increased by 400-500% over the past three years, driven by an explosion of unstructured data – images, audio, video, etc.
It is true that storage costs are going down – but not proportionally to increased growth. Storage costs have been declining at a rate of about 37% annually – a linear trend. Data requirements are increasing at near exponential rates.
The real consideration has less to do with the last three years and much more to do with the next three. There is no reason to think that this dramatic increase in data has reached a peak. There are new tech phrases emerging that will dramatically increase our use of data over the next three years. “3D printing”, “Internet of Things”, “Data Lakes”, “4K video surveillance” are just some technology trends that will have impacts on big data. If we let our imaginations run a bit wild, what may emerge around virtual reality, the now-mapped human genome, voice-interactive systems, holographic imaging? Probably more storage!
While the explosive growth of data is incredibly fascinating to observe, it is a tremendous challenge, and a source of great anxiety, for those who manage and maintain the IT infrastructure that is so important to the organizations that employ us. Constantly walking the line between the right capacity and the budget is somewhat of a tight-rope walk.
What is needed is a storage foundation that is scalable, flexible, reliable, fast and affordable. Tiered storage for specific data types and the ability to take advantage of cloud technologies as needed, is critical to storage design success. What is needed is a partner who can help you navigate the ever-changing world of storage to meet the ever-changing world of data. Comport has been advising on technology solutions since 1982 – the year Seagate introduced a break-through 19MB PC hard drive for only $5,950!
