Storage software sees momentum

Spending on software for tasks such as backing up and archiving continued to soar in the first quarter, according to a new report. Market researcher IDC said Monday that revenue worldwide in the storage software market hit $1.85 billion in the first quarter, up 23.3 percent from the same period last year. Storage software revenue in the fourth quarter of 2003 was up 18 percent year over year to $1.78 billion

One factor in the latest binge is companies' desire to squeeze more out of their storage gear, said IDC analyst Bill North. "Year-over-year growth was particularly strong in storage resource management, driven by the adoption of software that helps increase operational efficiency and improve storage asset utilization," North said in a statement. EMC ranked as the top storage software vendor with 30.1 percent market share, followed by Veritas Software, Computer Associates International, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.