Hard Data On The Backup Paradigm Shift

As technologists, we all sort of know that traditional tape-oriented backup is rapidly being supplanted by newer forms of disk-based backup, usually in conjunction with data deduplication.

But quantifiable data on the size and speed of this trend is notoriously hard to find.

This latest result from TheInfoPro helps to frame just how quickly this trend is moving.

Before We Get Started ...

OK, I know that the press release is the usual vendor-oriented showcasing, but if you can look beyond that, there are some fascinating nuggets to contemplate.

The major headline that jumped out at me was the implementation stats in the Fortune 1000.

From Q3'08 to the end of Q4'09, implementation rates jumped from 24% to 40%.  Now, please keep in mind that this is a percentage of the sample group that's doing anything at all with dedupe backup.

Beyond that, the statistic doesn't capture subsequent implementations and expansion of initial implementations.  Perhaps that useful stat is in their paid-for version -- I don't know.  But my experience tells me that -- yes -- that too would be a surprisingly large number.

The second interesting finding (at least from my perspective) is that dedupe backup  makes the top ranks of top storage initiatives and priorities.  Right up there with "virtualization" and 'tiered storage".

Based on this data, I could make a strong case that (a) backup isn't dead, and (b) neither is tiered storage, for that matter :-)

EMC Didn't Do Too Badly Either

We got some nice kudos from the survey for being "most in use", "most considered", "most exciting technology" and so on.  All very gratifying to read about.

Disclaimer -- this survey speaks to the Fortune 1000, and not the rest of the marketplace, which is quite considerable -- although I think we're doing quite well there as well :-)

The Bottom Line

This survey reinforces a basic premise that many of us would agree with -- that the move is on to replace tape-oriented backup schemes with newer forms of information protection.

Is tape dead, as some might suggest?  No, not really -- although its role is certainly changing fast in the storage hierarchy.  

Is backup dead, as others might suggest?  No, not really -- but how it's done is certainly changing fast.

Who said this storage stuff was boring?

Comments

[W. Curtis Preston]

Of course you top the market in the "in use" category. First, you've been selling Avamar for a while and doing quite well against the competition. I don't know what the percentage you have of the source dedupe market, but I wouldn't be surprised if you're leading it. Then you went and bought the hands-down leader in the target space. Between those two moves, of course you own the market.

And backup is SO far from dead. Every time I think we've "fixed" it, something like server virtualization comes along and breaks it again.