U.S. Storage Software Support Services Market Spending to Reach $820 Million by 2008, IDC Reveals

Business Wire, June 22, 2004

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- The storage software support services market has undergone rapid change in recent years. As this market has emerged, the services provided around storage software have also changed and matured. A new IDC storage software support services vendor analysis reveals that U.S. spending will increase by a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1% to $820 million by 2008. Issues such as market consolidation, increasing multi-vendor complexity, and customer demand for critical support services are all shaping the competitive landscape of this industry.

"Many software vendors are becoming more aware of the need to make technical support services a strategic part of their business in order to maintain customer satisfaction," stated Christine Tenneson, program manager in IDC's Network Lifecycle Services and Software and System Support Services research program.

The study identifies market trends and gives recommendations to vendors to differentiate, lead, and gain share in the rapidly growing storage software support services marketplace. Some actions to consider include:

--Build supportability into products

--Expand high-end support offerings

--Provide sales with a services-specific incentive

--Certify your channel support partners

--Investigate closer partnerships with other storage vendors

The firms whose services are benchmarked and profiled in this study include BMC, CommVault, Computer Associates, EMC, Executive Software, Fujitsu, IBM Tivoli, Legato, StorageTek and VERITAS.

This new IDC study, U.S. Storage Software Support Services 2004-2008 Forecast and Analysis: Competitive Analysis, 2004 (IDC #31340), analyzes and profiles 10 storage software support firms that IDC believes are leaders based on an overall consideration of revenue, thought leadership, innovation, and service offerings. In addition, the study identifies several market trends and gives recommendations to vendors to differentiate, lead, and gain share in the rapidly growing storage software support services marketplace.

To purchase this document, call IDC's sales hotline at 508-988-7988 or email sales@idc.com.

About IDC

IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

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