Japan Storage Services 2008-2012 Forecast and 2007 Analysis

This IDC study (which is a translation of the Japanese report IDC #J8110112) divides the storage service market into four segments, namely, "consulting", "implementation/construction service", "management/operation service" and "maintenance service", and analyzes the market performance in 2007 (actual), and 2008-2012 (forecast). IDC also classifies storage service vendors into three groups based on business type, namely IT vendors, storage hardware/software vendors and independent systems integrators (SIs), and analyzes their business trends. In addition, this study also looks at the storage service businesses of major vendors in Japan.

"Until recently, only a limited number of vendors in the Japan market have been able to profit from storage professional and maintenance services. This is beginning to change, as it is now easier for vendors and SIs to charge for these services. This is because customers have started to see the value of using such services and have started to engage external expertise to manage their increasingly mission-critical data systems. Many users are in the process of implementing systems for compliance, business continuity, and power conservation. Demand for storage services will continue to increase as a result," notes Yasusuke Suzuki, research manager, Storage systems, IDC Japan.