Analyst Profile Detailed
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Doug Chandler
Research Director, Infrastructure Services
Team:
Infrastructure
Storage
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Doug Chandler is research director for IDC's Infrastructure Services research group. Mr. Chandler provides insight and analysis for IT professionals, investors, resellers, distributors, ISVs, OEMs and services firms. He delivers forecasts and analyses on storage services segments including storage-related consulting, integration, management and support services. He also focuses closely on the managed storage and online storage services markets, as well as data center-focused professional services. In addition to his research responsibilities, Mr. Chandler provides custom research and consulting for IDC clients on industry trends, product and service offering requirements, and marketing strategies.
Mr. Chandler launched IDC’s storage services research seven years ago. His research has been quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, BusinessWeek and Investor’s Business Daily, and he presents regularly at industry events. He has worked in the IT industry for 20 years, first covering the storage industry in 1988 as an editor at PC Week. Mr. Chandler received his M.S. in Reporting on Science and Medicine from Boston University.
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Frequently Asked Questions
| Why are we seeing more storage companies getting into professional services? |
There are a number of reasons for this. First, there’s an opportunity when we look on the demand side. Customers recognize that storage is much more of a strategic issue than it used to be. Plus, they’re adding capacity so rapidly that it outstrips their ability to manage it internally, in many cases. The result is that many customers are looking for help at the strategic level—storage architecture and planning—as well as at the tactical level—data backup assistance, for example. Meanwhile, on the supply side, many storage vendors are seeing their product sales growth slipping, as storage hardware becomes commoditized, so they’re looking for other ways to drive revenue. In addition, there’s the issue of account control, where you don’t want a third-party servicing your equipment.
| | What’s the future of the storage utility or Storage Service Provider (SSP) model? |
The SSPs early on appealed very directly to start-up dot.com and Internet companies, who had limited cash to invest in infrastructure but needed to get up and running quickly. The “pay-by-the-drink” pricing of the SSPs appealed to these customers, as well as the ability to scale up quickly if needed. When the dot.coms went away, the SSP market became much tougher, because enterprise firms haven’t yet bought into this model. The future of the “pure” SSP model is uncertain, but we think that over time, more firms will become comfortable with outsourcing not only storage but a lot of their infrastructure needs.
| | Will the Internet spawn a whole new set of data management services? |
The first real wave in this category were the “free Web-based storage” firms, which lived and died by the early Web approach of focusing on attracting visitors to the site, while selling banner ads that would appeal to those customers. This did not turn out to be a profitable go-to-market approach. Nevertheless, we’re seeing continuing activity regarding file-sharing and collaboration, archiving, and other Internet-based services. Many suppliers in this space are struggling with the issue of whether they should provide a service or license the software that’s behind the service.
| | To whom do customers typically turn today for storage-related services? |
Storage customers tell IDC that they typically turn to their storage supplier first for any storage-related services. What we find in the storage market today are suppliers with a wide range of business models, where some storage firms have built small services practices around their products, while others operate full-blown services businesses that have broad IT services portfolios. Customers clearly want to manage a limited number of services suppliers –usually just enough to keep them all honest. But if someone comes along who can truly provide maximum uptime, excellent ROI, and will be a trusted supplier for years to come, many customers will be happy to switch from their current service provider.
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Today we find the IT industry straddling two worlds: An earlier era of proprietary products and expensive consulting and integration services, and a new era of commoditized hardware and on-demand capacity delivered over highly efficient networks. The Storage Services market exists in both of these worlds. We see a healthy demand for storage-related professional services as well as continuing opportunity and investment in the delivery of storage utility services. As competitors move up the value-chain, the services become less storage-centric and more about data. More specifically, the focus is now on how best to mine, manage and ultimately drive revenue off of stored content.
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