Data Center Directions Survey Results

1
Data Center Directions Survey Results

• James M. Connolly
• Executive Editor, TechTarget
• Kate Evans-Correia
• Senior News Editor, TechTarget

2
About the Survey

• Conducted by Web form, April-May 2004
• E-mail invitations sent to members of several
  TechTarget sites
• 157 surveys completed
• Articles on the results will be published on
  TechTarget sites

3
Demographics
4
Who Took the Survey
5
How many employees/users are served by your data
center (s)?
6
Which best describes the role Windows Server will
play in your data center in the next two years?
It already dominates our data center and will
continue
It's coming on fast
It's fine for apps, but other platforms form the
core of our infrastructure
It isn't a real player in our data center
7
Please Rate Your Confidence in Windows Server
2003s Ability to Meet Your Data Centers Needs
(5 represents very confident)
1
2
3
4
5
8
Selected Comments From Respondents Scoring WS
2003 Poorly

• Windows isnt a stable computing environment.
• MS is more interested in winning and destroying
  the competition vs. producing a good product.
• Windows has neither stability nor security.
• Lack of reliability.
• Its Microsoft.

9
Selected Comments From Respondents Who Scored WS
2003 Positively

• Win NT has generally been a reliable platform.
• The security features of the new OS.
• Unplanned downtime has been kept to a minimum
  for our 2000 and NT servers, so 2003 should be
  more stable.
• Applications are being written for this
  environment more than for others.

10
What percentage of data center processing is
based on Linux today?
Less than 10
10-29
30-49
50-69
70-89
90 or more
Don't know
11
Looking ahead a year what percentage of your data
center processing will be base on Linux in
mid-2005?
12
What is your companys strategy for on-demand
computing?

• Were making great use of it to support growth
  and peak periods of demand (5.1)
• Were using it on a limited basis (11.5)
• Were planning for it but havent made the move
  yet (15.3)
• Weve considered it but decided that it isnt the
  route for us (19.7)
• We havent considered it yet (41.4)
• Dont know (7)

13
The greatest challenges you face in managing your
data center?

• Data security (24.8)
• Budget cuts (22.9)
• System performance/ optimization (22.9)
• Backup/recovery (21.7)
• E-mail growth/spam (21)

• Cost justifying infrastructure spending (18.5)
• Demands from end-user departments (18.5)
• Upgrading existing platforms (16.6)
• Storage growth (15.3)
• Enterprise systems and net management (14.6)

14
The Least Challenging Issues

• Cost-effective buildings/space management
• Physical security
• Enabling outsourced data center operations
• Environmentals/power/cooling
• Blade/brick servers
• (All score less than 5)

15
Which emerging technologies promise value to your
company? (Five-point scale)
16
Questions?