Features - Enterprise Data Insights:

SURVEY: RESELLERS, END USERS DISAGREE ON FUTURE OF STORAGE

A new survey of data storage end users and resellers reveals a wide disparity in their opinions on the future of networked storage. However, both sides agree that despite increased interest in alternate media, tape is and will continue to be the predominant medium for storage.

The survey was conducted jointly by Qualstar Corporation, a leading manufacturer of automated tape storage solutions, and Corry Publishing, publishers of Integrated Solutions and Business Solutions magazines. The survey was conducted online October 7 through 18, 2002. Participants were drawn from Corry's subscriber lists, and were asked to participate on an anonymous basis.

By an overwhelming margin of almost four-to-one, end users who have chosen a backup and archive storage strategy have selected tape to protect their corporate-critical information, even as the amount of data they need to defend grows rapidly. Almost two-thirds said that they expect their data to grow between 200 and 500 percent in the next two years. A similar number also said reliability is the largest factor in their continued use of tape, followed by price and performance.

Those findings are borne out by a concurrent survey of storage resellers. More than half of the resellers said a clear majority of their clients rely on tape as their primary backup storage medium. More than two-thirds said their tape-based sales have either held firm or increased in the last 12 months, a significant figure given the current decline in IT spending.

While resellers are certain about their customers' choice of tape as the primary backup and archive storage media, there is significant uncertainty about exactly how storage will be architected. When asked what they thought would serve as their company's primary architecture three years from now, more than one-third of the end user respondents (35.5%) said they were undecided. Network-attached storage was chosen by 27.4%, followed by Fibre Channel-based SANs (15.1%), direct-attached storage (12.4%) and IP-based storage area networks (8.6%).

"There is considerable confusion in the market today, because of competing technologies and multiple formats, and that is reflected in the survey results," said Bob Covey, Qualstar's vice president of marketing. "But both end-users and resellers are clear on one point: tape has been and will continue to be the preferred technology for protecting the information that keeps business in business."

Other key findings from the surveys include:

• 38 percent of end-users said they store more than one terabyte;
• More than three quarters of end users report that they perform a full backup at least once a week; two thirds perform incremental backups every day;
• More than 60 percent of resellers predict that tape usage among their customers will remain at current levels or grow in 2003.

"The responses from resellers and end users confirm what we have known for a long time. An enterprise storage solution requires a range of supporting technologies, with tape playing an integral role," said John Clifton, group publisher of Integrated Solutions and Business Solutions magazines. "The survey validates the message of our magazines, demonstrating that our readers are educated and knowledgeable about tape's importance in the storage marketplace," he added.

About Qualstar Corporation

Founded in 1984, Qualstar Corporation is a leading manufacturer of automated tape libraries used for backup, archival storage, data protection and storage management applications. Its TLS-Series libraries are well known throughout the world for rugged, Simply Reliable designs yielding years of trouble-free operation. Qualstar Tape Libraries are sold, installed, and supported worldwide by selected Original Equipment Manufacturers, Value Added Resellers, and Systems Integrators. More information is available from Qualstar's Web site at www.qualstar.com, or by phone at 805-583-7744.

Contact: Bob Covey of Qualstar, 805-583-7744, covey@qualstar.com.