Research Finds 49% of IT Pros Guided By Data Center Convergence Principles in Purchasing, Personnel Decisions

InformationWeek Reports has announced the release of its latest research report, “3 Paths to Network Convergence.” The report encompasses analysis of results from InformationWeek’s recent 2012 Data Center Convergence Survey and guides readers in selecting a deployment scenario for convergence technology. Nearly 300 business technology professionals responded to this poll.

Research Summary:

After decades on divergent evolutionary tracks, technology advances—notably rapidly increasing Ethernet speeds—have put data and storage networks on a unified course. Just 19% of respondents are not planning converged data centers, and nearly 60% of those who have, are planning, or are evaluating data center convergence have allocated budget for this integration.

Findings: 

• 76% of our survey respondents say reducing costs is the top driver for adopting technologies that support convergence.
• 71% of those deploying FCoE and 10 Gbps Ethernet have or expect to eventually eliminate Fibre Channel from their networks; that’s up 15 points from our 2010 convergence survey.
• 41% will take a best-of-breed approach, purchasing converged data center gear and integrating in-house.
• 18% are actively beta testing single-manufacturer blade systems to support a private cloud strategy.

The report author, Kurt Marko, is an IT industry veteran and InformationWeek contributor.

For full access to the research data, members can download now:http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/24/8595/Storage-Server/3-paths-to-network-convergence.html

“The issue of block-level storage is still causing problems,” says Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Reports. “But the main goal needs to be switching storage traffic from expensive Fibre Channel to Ethernet with a view to 40-Gbps and eventually 100-Gbps gear.”