As businesses struggle to manage data growth across their organizations, they face challenges in planning, integrating, managing, and supporting their storage infrastructures. IDC's Storage and Data Management Services research identifies opportunities and analyzes strategies for storage vendors, services firms, and channel organizations that market and deliver storage professional and support services. It also provides them with valuable insights to leverage opportunities in the emerging cloud-based storage market, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS), cloud-based backup, file collaboration, archiving, and replication services.

• Storage consulting services
• Storage implementation and integration services
• Storage management/managed storage/outsourcing services
• Storage support services
• Online backup, archiving, and replication services
• Cloud storage offerings
• Datacenter services
• Other related infrastructure services
• Service opportunities regarding networked storage infrastructures as well as storage hardware and software technologies
• The role of established consulting, integration, and outsourcing firms in this market
• The evolution of managed storage service offerings

• Storage Services Forecast and Analysis
• Storage Services: Competitive Profiles and Market Landscape
• Storage Services Opportunity for Big Data
• Storage Services: The Role of Virtualization and Storage Efficiency
• Storage Services Opportunity for Converged Infrastructure
• Cloud Storage Services and Opportunity

In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

1. What are the opportunities for providing storage consulting, integration, management, and support services?
2. What are the opportunities for providing storage virtualization–related services?
3. What are the opportunities for providing online and "cloud" storage services?
4. What are the most important actions that storage service organizations can take to increase their market share?
5. What strategies should storage technology firms use to raise customer satisfaction?
6. What are the opportunities associated with data protection, storage efficiency, big data, and converged infrastructure?

IDC's Storage and Data Management Services research examines how storage and data management service providers are positioning themselves to compete in the storage and data management marketplace. Examples of companies covered include:

Accenture, Amazon S3, AT&T, Autonomy, Brocade, Carbonite, CSC, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, GlassHouse, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, Iron Mountain, NetApp, Nirvanix, Symantec, and Verizon.

For IT suppliers or IT buyers doing business planning and budgeting, sales and marketing, or performance measurement, we have the custom offerings to optimize your success at every stage of your business. Our data- and content-driven approach helps you make better decisions, drive more effective marketing programs, and effectively measure your success - resulting in a greater return on your investment.

Whether you are a technology buyer or provider, IDC Insights' research translates today's global end-user requirements and trends into business opportunities for your organization. With dedicated businesses targeting energy, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail, IDC provides unmatched integration of global technology and vertical industry expertise to deliver industry-specific customer intelligence that gives clients a powerful business advantage.

Connect and engage with a global network of business and IT professionals in the first-of-its-kind end-user community at http://idc-insights-community.com.