IT managers split on spending plans

IT managers split on spending plans

IT professionals are split on their spending plans for data storage over the next 12 months as businesses further exploit the opportunities offered by cloud computing, according to a survey.

More than four in 10 quizzed by technology website V3 said they planned to spend the same or more on storage facilities during 2014 as they did last year. But the same proportion – 41 per cent – said they did not see any need to invest in newer equipment, such as converged storage, which has both computer hardware and storage components in one place. The technology has been developed to make access to information more efficient.

The report also found that budget cuts were an issue for just over half of those questioned, who highlighted this as a priority for their departments in the year ahead. However, this figure was down from previous V3 surveys.

Overall, the safety of the cloud as a storage technology remains businesses’ biggest priority in the next 12 months. Three in five IT professionals said data privacy was top of their concerns for 2014, while the same number said they would be focusing on improving their back-up services to ensure company information stored in the cloud remained safe.

Analysts described the spending plans for new storage services as ‘worrying’, claiming that businesses which fail to invest now will be creating problems for themselves in the future.

Clive Longbottom, from analysts Quocirca, told V3: “If you haven't started planning for what that means to you, you're going to be under performing in what's going to start being mainstream by the end of this year. You have to sit down with your business and ask what are the desired outcomes for 2015 and start planning for what that means for your whole IT infrastructure.”

Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.