Europeans Are Upbeat, says Survey

European data center managers and CIOs are increasingly upbeat about the coming year but vendors may have a tough job selling the latest technologies to them, warns the latest research from IDC (see IDC Sees Growing Confidence ).

After a prolonged spell in the doldrums, it appears that the shoots of IT recovery are bursting through, according to the analyst firms annual Systems Survey. Vendors of data center kit will breathe a sigh of relief with the news that IT directors expressed a more positive spending outlook for the next 12 months.

But it’s not quite time to pop the champagne corks. The rosy future is tempered with end-user uncertainty over which investments will produce the greatest benefit.

Some of the current hottest technologies fall into this category with users expressing skepticism about the benefits of blade servers, tablet PCs, and appliance servers. The report also found that, while most technology buyers are well aware of high speed mobile data services, few understand 3G.

Chris Ingle, Group Consultant in IDC’s EMEA Systems Group, believes that 2004 will be a year of growth for computer systems in Europe but warned that vendors will have to work hard if they want to exploit it. He says, “The vendors that will be able to take advantage of this will be those that can convince customers that the many new technology propositions being brought to market have a place in an already complex IT infrastructure.”“As this survey shows, technology buyers are unconvinced by many propositions that are being promoted by vendors,” he adds.

However, IDC’s study provides further evidence of the growth of Linux in the data center. Rival analyst firm Forrester Research predicts that, by the end of 2004, close to 10 percent of Global 2,000 companies will have migrated from Windows servers to Linux for their basic network operating system infrastructure.

It appears that Linux is also fast becoming the operating system of choice for new development work. IDC discovered that nearly half of new Linux servers purchased in 2003 were used for deploying new applications, compared with around 31% for both Windows and Unix.

Not surprisingly, server consolidation remains a growing trend, with 27% of organizations either involved in, or considering, the strategy. This is up from 20% in 2003’s survey.

IDC’s 2004 survey interviewed 1,000 IT professionals responsible for their companies’ infrastructure in six countries across Europe to get their views on system strategy, purchasing, and management.— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum