Back in 2000, 93 new storage companies were launched with a first round of funding; in 2007 only five new storage companies were launched. Given the lack of funding, the flow of new ideas and invention suggests that we are now in a period of re-invention rather than invention. Data centers are consolidating their oversupply of storage devices by undertaking extensive virtualization projects.

IT executives identify security, data classification, virtualization, email management, tiered storage and VTLs as their more pressing storage priorities. High on the storage 'to-do' list is addressing underutilized resources, particularly for non-mainframe systems, where storage management capabilities lack those of mainframe systems.

Read this executive summary to learn more about what storage managers are keen on in the coming year and discover what the emerging storage technologies could be in the future.