Data Centers Considered Strategic Asset for Growing Number of Enterprise Organizations

FRAMINGHAM, MA--(Marketwire - Sep 12, 2011) - IDG Enterprise -- the media company comprising CFOworld, CIO, CIO Executive Council, Computerworld, CSO, DEMO, InfoWorld, ITworld and Network World -- releases the results from the 2011 Data Center Survey, examining data center planning, technologies impacting investments, challenges, as well as factors considered when evaluating vendors.

The survey, completed by more than 1,700 IT and security decision-makers from a range of industries, shows that Data Center investments are an important focus for organizations, with 28% of overall IT budgets being spent in this area. This number is forecasted to remain consistent over the next two years, however overall Data Center investments are even higher. Security executives and budgets are also involved in securing the Data Center, a top concern. In fact, 51% of security respondents said that IT and security splits the Data Center security investment, resulting in even more organization dollars being allocated to this technology.

The decision-making process for Data Center investments and strategy is lead by IT executives, including CIOs (65%), CTOs (64%) and IT/networking management (64%). As Data Centers become a significant IT priority (67%), IT decision-makers are focused on preparing for challenges that may arise. The top concerns over the next twelve months include, security (36%), storage (28%), risk management (24%), operational costs too high (23%) and availability (22%).

Key findings include:

• Virtualization is the most significant technology/trend impacting Data Center investments in the next twelve months, including server virtualization (48%), storage virtualization (37%) and desktop virtualization (34%).
• While the majority of participants own and operate their own Data Centers (58%), an additional third (33%) outsource some, and 9% outsource all Data Center equipment and operations.
• Organizations still have physical Data Center consolidation to do (19% say a significant amount and 40% say a moderate amount). However, enterprise organizations have even more work to do with 23% saying they have a significant amount of consolidation left and 48% said a moderate amount.
• Ability to meet security requirements (83%), support & service (83%) and integration to existing infrastructure (80%) lead the list of important factors when evaluating data center technology vendors.

"As enterprises continue to struggle with an increasing amount of data, IT and security decision-makers are challenged with finding secure solutions that can deal with the its scale while also focusing on developing predictive analytics that will capitalize on its untapped value," said Bob Melk, SVP/group publisher, IDG Enterprise. "The focus on the Data Center opens opportunities for vendors to lead the pack by offering solutions that are critical during the vendor evaluation process, including security and support and service."

To receive the complete study results contact Bob Melk at bmelk@idgenterprise.com.

About IDG Enterprise
IDG Enterprise, an International Data Group (IDG) company, brings together unique editorial brands (CFOworld, CIO, CIO Executive Council, Computerworld, CSO, DEMO, InfoWorld, ITworld and Network World) to serve the information needs of our technology and security-focused audiences. As a digital-centric media company we serve our reader and advertiser audiences with award-winning content and community, driving conversation and conversion, across our entire portfolio of awarding-winning, websites, events, magazines, products and services. In addition, the CIO Executive Council, a peer advisory service, brings together the nation's top CIOs, as well as provides community and leadership development tools for their staffs.

Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.