So what gives? Is that rosy crystal ball dimming?
Not exactly. Many financial experts predict an uptick in spending this year. Some analysts, such as Alex Henderson of Smith Barney, say growth will be up "strongly." In a recent client note, Henderson says a field survey of "enterprise-focused resellers and distributors" indicates the full year 2004 could bring 15 percent to 50 percent growth in IT sales overall.
While not specifically commenting on the storage market, Henderson quotes one of his field sources as saying, "SAN and disaster recovery continue to [be] strong."
But the jury's out on the degree to which storage networking will rise with the rest of IT. There may be a temptation to raise expectations too high, particularly after such a long downturn.
Another analyst thinks it's a safe bet that storage networking will rise with the general IT tide, though he can't say by how much. "Security, SANs, voice over IP, and wireless -- that is, WiFi -- are the highest priorities in terms of enterprise spending budgets," says Shaw Wu of AmTech Research.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
