| Symantec 2008 State of the Data Centre Report |
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Page 1 of 2 Symantec Corp. released the findings of its 2008 State of the Data Centre report. The second annual study found that data centre managers are caught between two conflicting goals: more demanding user expectations and higher levels of performance while reducing costs. The report also found that data centre staffing remains problematic, servers and storage continue to be underutilized and disaster recovery plans are out of date. Finally, the respondents indicated that, while they are pursuing green data centre initiatives, they are doing so primarily based on cost benefits. “This research confirms what we are seeing in the field,” said Rob Soderbery, senior vice president of Symantec’s Storage and Availability Management Group. “Attention has turned to initiatives that will drive immediate cost reduction, rather than longer term ROI-driven programs. Storage has been a primary focus of these initiatives as the demand for capacity continues to rise, despite economic challenges.” Doing more for less Of those surveyed, 75% reported user expectations are rising gradually or rapidly. Furthermore, 60% of respondents saw meeting the service levels demanded by the organization to be more difficult or much more difficult to meet. Only 10% saw service levels to be easier to meet. Nonetheless, when asked to identify their key objectives for the year, reducing costs was by far the most frequently mentioned goal. In fact, reducing costs was mentioned by more companies than the next two objectives of improving service levels and responsiveness combined. The key initiatives data centres are pursuing to “do more with less” include automating routine tasks (mentioned by 42% of respondents), cross-training staff (40%) and reducing data centre complexity (35%). Staffing remains a big issue According to the study, staffing remains a crucial issue with 36% reporting that they are understaffed while only 4% reported being overstaffed. Furthermore, 43% say finding qualified applicants is a big or huge problem. |
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