Date: 25/05/2011

In-Stat: SMB NAS revenues to reach $2B in 2015

According to a recent In-Stat survey, over seven in ten small and medium-size businesses that use cloud-based storage solutions also use networked-attached storage (NAS). While SMB NAS represents a smaller portion of the total NAS market, SMB NAS is expected to grow at a much faster rate over the forecast period with revenues reaching $2 billion in 2015, says In-Stat

Network-attached storage is a specialized server connected to a network that provides file-based data storage services to other devices on the network. NAS systems typically have the capability to support one or more hard disk drives (HDDs), and often include features such as RAID (redundant array of independent disks) and back up/replication services for all the devices attached to the network.

New research findings include:
57.3% of SMB survey respondents use NAS technology products.
North America and Europe will represent 84.6% of the revenue opportunity for the SMB NAS market.
Survey respondents that "don't use NAS" tend to have less than 50 employees.

"As the market has matured, the definition of NAS has taken on additional aspects," says Norm Bogen, VP Research. "In particular, system management software has evolved into the most important feature of NAS adoption for several reasons, but primarily because it simplifies the user experience to set up and manage NAS products."