Storage Capacity, Costs and Performance Top Complaints of Tech Management

A survey revealed the most common storage challenges facing IT professionals today – and it’s no surprise that meeting capacity and performance demands, and containing costs, top the list of complaints.

Nearly 200 people responded to the survey, conducted by ioFABRIC Inc. on Spiceworks, Inc., the social and professional network for tech workers.

IT pros said their biggest frustrations by far are capacity limitations (34%) and high costs (29%), followed by delivering appropriate performance (15%).  

“It is a constant conflict between rapid growth in data, and keeping up in terms of storage space, backup capacity, and resources,” said the technology manager at a Statesville, NC manufacturing company.

“Budget restrictions require us to use equipment long beyond normal life cycles,” said a technical support specialist at a Colorado nonprofit.

“The biggest conflict is bandwidth limitations, and almost always hitting peak when it’s under mass usage,” said a technician for a California public school district. “It greatly disrupts workplace action due to the strain.”

Concerns about capacity, performance, and costs are driving users to software-defined storage, because one of its major benefits is extending the capability of existing storage, and adding performance and capacity without excessive costs.

Indeed, nearly half (48%) said extending the life of their current storage investment would help solve their problems. One-third (33%) doubted this would be of use, and the rest (nearly 18%) said maybe or somewhat.

“Anything to save money and extend the life of our equipment reduces stress,” said the director of IT for a small network of New England hospitals.

“I would rather get newer equipment with larger capacities and more processing power than try to extend the life of my existing SAN,” said the network manager for a South Florida social service organization.

“Somewhat. I have about a thousand other problems right now, but extending the life of my existing storage would solve at least one of those problems,” said the systems administrator for a Midwestern agricultural equipment retailer.

“While some of these issues are evergreen – increasing capacity and performance, within budget – the interest in maximizing their current infrastructures shows that most users are not motivated to perform major upgrades now, which is good news for software-defined storage,” said ioFABRIC CEO and co-founder Steven Lamb. “Fortunately those who are hoping to upgrade will find a software-defined approach enables them to add newer technologies like flash arrays or cloud storage easily and without risk or downtime.“