European companies shun managed storage

A survey of European IT managers has found that the vast majority do not fully trust managed data storage services, preferring instead to keep systems in-house.

Building private networks for data centres was preferred by 40 per cent of respondents, while only 13 per cent wanted a managed service from a carrier. The story was even worse for unmanaged carrier services, which only one manager in 50 would consider.

It also appears that legislation is not driving companies to review their storage policies. Barely a quarter of those polled felt any pressure to modify their storage strategy in light of legislation.

Newly drafted rules on storage contained in Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II require companies to keep all data for fixed time periods so that it can be examined by regulators.

"Legislation is a key factor propelling the deployment of data storage replication solutions for business continuity and disaster recovery applications in the US," said Gary Smith, president of network specialist Ciena, which commissioned the poll.

"Although compliance is a headache for many companies, especially those that do not understand the full impact of regulations and the implications of non-compliance, US regulations do have a knock on effect in Europe.

"In protecting an organisation's integrity and operations, it becomes the responsibility of IT directors, as well as executive management, to be educated about data retention, protection requirements and implementation strategies."

The survey, which polled 450 managers in companies with over 1,000 employees, was carried out by Vanson Bourne.