This IDC study presents the worldwide and U.S. attach rates for storage arrays. Recurring service revenue, to put it simply, represents some of the most profitable and sought-after dollars for technology-based businesses. Recurring revenue from subscription-based services is becoming the preferred business model for technology vendors and their partners as well as resellers of IT products, and increasingly to Wall Street. To that end, IDC has created an attach rate study to see how well vendors are doing in putting recurring review support contracts on systems at the point of sale.

"This is the most profitable piece of the business for most vendors," says Rob Brothers, program director of Software and Hardware Support Services at IDC. "Hence knowing how they stack up against their competitors is critical."