Storage will make the biggest impact of any technology in the 2010’s
Think I’m crazy? Think again.
Information and energy drive today’s world. The internet has re-invented life and work for the digitally enabled parts of the world, and the electrical grid and gas-powered transportation systems are what make our physical economy go round.
Batteries and bytes will change the world
Storage is the prime enabler of both of these infrastructures. And storage innovations for both will revolutionize both of these infrastructures over the next few years.
Energy storage is better known as fuel. Conventional energy media - coal and gas – are finally giving way (partly) to more efficient media. Notably, battery technology is at an inflection point, poised to transform automobiles and (yet again) information technology.
The U.S. government is even considering a Sematech-like consortium to collectively catch up on battery manufacturing capability.
Information storage is also going through a media transition. Solid state flash is finally ready to stand with disk drives and tape. In the next decade, the new storage media ecosystem will transform personal and business computing in ways we can’t even know today.
Information doesn’t get the headlines that software or processors or networking does, but none of these technologies would be usable without today’s storage technology. More than ever before, information is the mother of all technology, and storage is where that information resides.
You can live forever digitally for a “nominal price”.
Here’s another contributor to the growth of content in the world: information immortality.
nEternity is offering to keep your digital life – photos, music, your blog – alive and available online forever – independent of your domain or the photo sharing service you’re using.
nEternity may or may not take off. More significant is the trend it points towards: the extension of the lifetime of digital data. Businesses will continue to lengthen their data’s life from here on.
The rules for data retention are changing as digital copies are increasingly the only copies that exist. This will create a new set of businesses focused on extending the life of digital records beyond the current technology on which they are stored. It makes today’s digital archives look downright transitory.
And you thought those backup tapes were troublesome…
Storage Station noted that Gartner and IDC are seeing about 10% growth in storage revenue in the third quarter of 2008. That’s pretty recent evidence that storage continues to resist macroeconomic momentum.
While it’s clearly not a boom time given the layoffs announced by EMC, Pillar, WD, Hutchinson and others, it’s a relatively positive trend.
Used to be that IT was all about processing. Today servers, storage and networking are the three legs of the data center stool. They’re the Mind, Stomach and Voice of the digital body of business.
The smartest of the big players in all three spaces will look for ways to corner them all.
I’ve posted on this trend frequently because the effect on storage surpasses the network transformation Cisco sees coming.
Cisco will be temporarily touching the bytes of content as they move around, but where will they come to rest? The storage industry will need to step up to the plate to ensure this wave of new content has a place to land.
Counter-cyclical trends boost “value” storage companies now and later
My buddy in Sales is seeing an interesting trend. Some second-Tier storage vendors are doing relatively well right now, as long as some amount of credit remains available for them. Sales are holding steady, even increasing.
Why is that? Their customers don’t have money to spend of course, but their data continues to grow. They have to do something, so they’re foregoing expensive and service-contract-laden storage from the top Acronym vendors for cheaper storage systems that get them over the hump.
It makes sense if you think about it. McDonald’s is reaping a minor windfall right now from diners foregoing sit-down restaurants. People have to eat somewhere.
This could become more than a cyclical setback for the Big Guys if customers develop a taste for storage fast food.
Seagate’s CEO Bill Watkins and Marketing SVP Pat King on the Wild West of storage
Chris Meilor listened in as Seagate CEO Bill Watkins and Marketing SVP Pat King talked about Seagate’s plans for home NAS, SSD, hybrid storage and more at a recent press event. It’s a good read – check it out here.
Chris refers to the consumer storage market as the Wild West, but that moniker could easily be used to describe the storage market in general. Dramatic change is underway across the spectrum, from the largest corporations overwhelmed with petabyte growth and data on the loose to the Dawning of the Digital Consumer.
The storage industry is exciting (and always has been) for those who work in it. It’s becoming more relevant and entertaining to those outside of the industry as content and its storage matter like never before.
External storage is the Rubbermaid of the digital content world
Sales for external drives should grow over the next 12 months.
How, you might ask, can any consumer electronics category expect growth this year, given economic uncertainties and a consumer spending freeze? It’s not because they look cool or have new features:
Consumers will delay new PC purchases.
Consumers will continue to buy and create new content (DVDs and iTunes gift certificates will be low-cost but still fun gifts for recession-weary givers).
Consumers will run out of space on their computers.
Consumers can now get a roomy external drive for less than $100.
Personal content growth is being driven by trends that are mostly recession-proof. External drives are the electronic equivalent of the storage containers we all regularly buy when our physical stuff overflows at home.
External storage will shift from a “that’s cool” accessory to a “keep my stuff organized” staple for many consumers.
