"[Centralised storage] is largely a desirable state," Penn told ZDNet Australia. "The problem is a lot of people don't understand and can't quantify the benefits because they have no idea of the current costs."
Penn said that, based on IDC's recent research findings, businesses need to understand two main things about storage.
"First, users need to understand storage can become more than a cost, it can become a resource that will generate revenue in its own right, and can give a good return on investment," said Penn. "For example, the worlds largest retailer Wal Mart has a database of over 150 terabytes, and they continually do data-mining. It manages stock systems, competitive differences, and they are even feeding in the weather forecasts. They have data flowing out of that system to every store, it's given them a real competitive advantage."
The second thing businesses need to understand is that to enter the world of e-business you need a very structured storage resource, according to Penn. "If you have chaos at the back-end you have chaos up front," he said, citing problems of employees on different operating systems and other aspects of non-compatibility.
A recent IDC report cited the primary concern for storage managers as anti-disaster measures such as prevention and remedial actions. Anti-disaster measures rated highest of a series of concerns (3.71 out of a possible 5), while backup efficiency rated 3.44, and improvements in system reliability rated 3.32. The next two, both rating 3.09, were efficiency of investment in storage and handling of increased data loads.
