The 451 Group: Data De-duplication Is One of the Hottest Emerging Segments Within the Enterprise Storage and Data-Protection Industry

A new report from The 451 Group has identified data de-duplication as a critical emerging technology that is helping to reshape the entire data-protection market. According to The 451 Group, data de-duplication is proving to be a real market in that organizations large and small are embracing it with open arms and wallets.

"Over the past three years, the de-duplication market has grown from nothing to $100 million in revenue for participants in 2006, and we expect this market to reach $260 million in 2007," said Simon Robinson, Research Director for Storage at The 451 Group and lead author of the report. "At this growth rate, data de-duplication is set to become a $1 billion market by 2009 a target that is attainable given that this technology has broad appeal across vertical markets and among organizations of various sizes."

Additionally, 451 analysts found that de-duplication tools are rapidly evolving from point products to become features of broader data-protection offerings. As part of the first wave of evolution, de-duplication products are being applied to the backup infrastructure. The second major opportunity is applying de-duplication to other elements of the storage infrastructure, such as archiving and even primary storage. Research reveals that users are also aggressively embracing de-duplication as part of disaster-recovery implementations.