STORAGE

According to IDC, in 2005, worldwide disk storage system revenue increased 10.5% over 2004 and is expected to continue to expand as terabyte shipments grow more than 50% annually through 2010. The disk storage system market is thriving as a result of expanding markets, desires to improve efficiencies and moves to enhance the economics of data storage. "The constant demands for storing more data is causing IT managers to look for ways to bring more efficiency to the data center with limited budgets," said Natalya Yezhkova, senior analyst for Storage System research at IDC. "These demands will increase in intensity and diversity over the next few years. "OEMs must understand the storage infrastructure development stages and emerging data intensive applications in order to meet these needs and capitalize on a thriving storage market," added Yezhkova. According to IDC's study, "Worldwide Disk Storage Systems 2005-2010 Market Forecast and Analysis: Expansion, Efficiency and Economics Driving Growth", the some of the key market dynamics to expect over the next few years include: - Worldwide disk storage system revenue will reach $29.8 billion in 2010. - Roughly two-thirds of all storage terabytes shipped in 2010 will be based on capacity-oriented disk drives. - iSCSI SAN revenue will top $5.1 billion by 2010.