EMC Corporation has announced the results of the new EMC-sponsored IDC study titled "The Digital Universe Decade - Are You Ready?" This fourth update to the groundbreaking Digital Universe data growth rate study measures and forecasts the vast amount of digital information created and copied annually and its implications for individuals and Information Technology professionals worldwide.
In 2009, amid the "Great Recession," the amount of digital information grew 62% over 2008 to 800 billion gigabytes. Moreover, the number of files, images, records and other digital information containers will grow by a factor of 67, each needing to be managed, secured and protected. Despite this growth, the number of IT professionals globally will grow only by a factor of 1.4. The study also revealed that the amount of digital information created annually will grow by a factor of 44 from 2009 to 2020, as all major forms of media – voice, TV, radio, print - complete the journey from analog to digital.
By 2020, more than one-third of all digital information created annually will either live in or pass through the cloud. Based on the use of cloud computing services by companies to reduce the portion of their IT budget devoted to legacy system maintenance, IDC estimates that the increase in IT dollars spent on innovation could drive more than $1 trillion in increased business revenues between now and the end of 2014. This projection will increase substantially as private cloud and other cloud computing models move into mainstream adoption.
Sharing his views on the new revelations, Joe Tucci, Chairman & CEO, EMC Corporation, said, "This year's Digital Universe study exposes many of the most pressing short- and longer-term strategic issues CIOs grapple with as they map out their IT strategies and investments. They are quickly discovering that, to remain in the game, they need to do things differently, transforming traditional infrastructures into private cloud data centers that offer internal and external customers IT as a service. Private cloud computing, the next major wave of IT, takes them there, promising new and increasingly automated ways for enterprises and consumers to manage and secure this unyielding onslaught of information."
