Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India are heading towards a data deluge within a year's time between now and 2009-10. According to the survey, there is a clear indication of rapid increase in storage requirements in the SME segment. There will be a 56 percent growth in SMEs whose data storage requirements will jump to the 500-999 GB range from the 100-499 GB range.

Further, there will be a 133 percent growth in SMEs whose data storage requirements will increase in the 6-10 TB range. This shift in increase in storage requirements is also reflected by a corresponding drop by 29 percent of SMEs between 100-499 GB range and a 60 percent drop in the >100 GB range.

In addition, there is expected to be a 33 percent growth in SMEs demanding storage in the 11-15 TB, and >25 TB ranges respectively, which is a huge data management challenge coming up for SMEs.

NetApp launches storage solutions for SME market
Owing to the huge potential in the Indian SME market, NetApp also announced the complete integration of the S Family of storage solutions, formerly known as StoreVault, into its full line of storage and data management solutions for the midsized segment at an entry-level price.

The S550, with 12TB, caters to small businesses with 100 to 500 employees while the FAS 2020, with 68 TB, fits mid-sized business with 250 to 750 employees.

"The report findings clearly indicate that the SME market in India is growing rapidly, which is reflecting in their data storage requirements. The integration of the S family into NetApp's full line of storage and data management solutions has happened at the most appropriate time for us considering the robust growth in the SME segment. The S Family will offer SMEs in India a new world of solutions especially designed for their evolving needs," said Surajit Sen, director, Channel, Alliances & Market, NetApp India.

"The survey revealed that data management was a genuine concern of SMEs. Hence our storage technology would help all the data management concerns of Indian SMBs," he said. "24/7 access is critical for SMEs."

NetApp's S Family of storage solutions finds demand among micro verticals including the telco segment, that offer value added services like ring tones and gaming to customers, says Sen. "This technology is a natural fit to Telcos, smaller banks, small manufacturing, healthcare and auto ancillary organizations."

The S Family products gets integrated with other solutions - in all, acts as a bundled solution including data back-up and data de-duplication. To start with, NetApp will be targeting Class B and Class cities in the south like Cochin, Salem, Coimbatore, Vijayawada and others before moving on to eastern, northern ad westerns markets in India.

"Storage market in India is pegged at 16 to 17 percent growth year-on-year. SME spend on storage is a mere 6 to 7 percent. We expect it to go up to 40 percent," Sen said.

NetApp Data Explosion Survey
The Data Explosion survey is being conducted by The Nielsen Company in association with NetApp to substantiate the data growth in organizations in India. The survey aims to establish the challenges faced with respect to storage and data management and how organizations are dealing with these challenges.

The SME segment comprises 242 companies from across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune across BFSI, Media & Entertainment, IT/ITES, Automotive, Manufacturing, Pharma and Healthcare.