Here are a few short articles on the storage biz. Not directly related to ADIC, but noteworthy in that to should bod well for them as more and more data needs to be held. Looks like EMC is a save bet.
Survey: Big Databases Keep Getting Bigger
By Rick Whiting, InformationWeek
Jan 29, 2001 (8:30 AM)
URL: techweb.com
Telecom companies SBC Communications Inc. and Telstra Corp., their databases bulging with more than 10 terabytes of raw data, have topped a survey of the world's largest data warehouses and online transaction-processing databases, respectively. But companies that won high honors in the contest, conducted by market research firm the Winter Corp., said there are neither garlands nor glory in the daily work of maintaining very large databases.
SBC's 10.5-terabyte data warehouse running on an NCR Corp. (stock: NCR) Teradata system contains marketing, finance, and network infrastructure data. It has doubled in size every year since it was started in 1993.
"Obviously, the bigger they become, the more complex they get," said Rolf Hanusa, SBC (stock: SBC) principal technical architect. Tasks such as database backup and change control become challenges that can only be met by "a combination of good processes and good people to manage those processes," he said.
The Winter survey, results of which were released last week, has become an industry benchmark in defining just how big is big. Among its findings: The number of databases with more than 1 terabyte of data has more than doubled since the last survey in 1998, president Richard Winter said. And 17 percent of the participating companies expect their databases to increase tenfold during the next three years.
ComScore Networks Inc., Reston, Va., isn't surprised. "As fast as I can add capacity, our data warehouse eats it up," said engineering vice president Ric Elert.
ComScore's 2-terabyte data warehouse, which runs on Sybase Inc. (stock: SYBS) software and collects data on Web-surfer behavior, is the largest data warehouse running on Windows NT, the survey found. Elert is adding 143 Gbytes of raw data to the data warehouse every week. There may even be larger databases out there than the survey reveals. Some companies that operate huge databases and view customer data as a strategic weapon, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc., didn't participate in the voluntary survey this year.
EMC Expanding Share Of Storage Market
By Kim Renay Anderson, TechWeb News
Jan 26, 2001 (10:14 AM)
URL: techweb.com
Despite increasingly aggressive efforts to crack its stranglehold on the storage sector, EMC Corp. continues to leave its competitors far behind and is actually expanding its market share, a new study has found. The research firm IDC found that EMC's 2000 revenues now account for 26.1 percent of the overall storage market, up from 24.4 percent the year before. On the flip side, rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (stock: HWP); IBM Corp. (stock: IBM); and Sun Microsystems Inc. (stock: SUNW) saw their cut of the pie reduced last year.
The IDC study released Friday noted a particular surge in the portion of the SAN market the Hopkinton, Mass., company controls based on revenue -- up to 30.9 percent in 2000 from 18.8 percent in 1999.
At the same time, Sun, Palo Alto, Calif., had 13.6 percent of the SAN market last year; in 1999, it collected 26.3 percent of the SAN revenue.
Of EMC's leading competitors, only IBM outpaced its 1999 numbers, with 8.9 percent of the market last year over a 2.6-percent cut the previous year, according to the IDC analysis.
To many market observers, EMC's continuing dominance in creating and maintaining disk and tape storage services isn't all that surprising, even in the face of an increasing number of shots across its bow from a formidable array of rivals.
The market for computer data storage is expanding rapidly, and experts say EMC's market savvy gives the company a leg up.
The IDC report comes on the heels of an EMC fourth-quarter earnings announcement that -- in stark contrast to many of the other tech companies being battered by the slowing economy -- met expectations and promised a strong year ahead.
Those projections are still very much attainable, according to some market experts.
Jack Scott, an analyst at the Evaluator Group in Denver, said he believes that not only will EMC (stock: EMC) reach its stated 2001 revenue goal of $12 billion, but could well exceed it.
William Hurley, analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston, said the IDC findings reflect EMC's approach to the market, both in the quality of its products and its attention to customer service. And it has made good choices when it comes to creating new partnerships or buying businesses.
"They've made acquisitions that have been logical, fitting into the strategy for the company," Hurley said. "SOFTWORKS Inc. and CrosStor Software Inc. are examples of EMC's acquisitions that just make sense."
Mark Fredrickson, an EMC spokesman, said that the addition of CLARiiON to the company's product line has been a contributing factor to keeping it ahead of the pack.
"EMC continues to spend more money on research and development to add to our product lead, particularly on the software side," he said.
Jim |
