NEWS BRIEFS

Framingham, MASS. — The worldwide serverware market has been on a torrid growth path. According to IDC, its revenues have ramped up from a mere $141 million in 1994 all the way to $2.7 billion in 1999, and the market is still going strong. By the time 2004 comes to a close, IDC expects it will accumulate another $3.7 billion, bringing its total worth close to $6.4 billion.

“Organizations are increasingly building complex computing solutions from interconnected and distributed low-end or midrange systems. However, the networking and distributed system technology used in these solutions is quite complex, and these organizations want their solutions to be easy to use, robust, reliable, scalable, and easy to manage,” said Dan Kusnetzky, vice president of System Software at IDC. “In other words, they want the multiple- system solution to look as much as possible like software running on a single system, and because serverware is coming increasingly close to accomplishing this, there is a huge demand for it.”

IDC splits the serverware market into the following segments: file movement software, file system/volume replication software, clustering software, load balancing software, distributed file systems, Web server software, distributed naming or directory services, and virtual user interface software.

The distributed file system segment is leading the growth onslaught. These revenues increased 309% in 1999. “The rapid growth in the use of network attached storage and storage area networks along with the continued importance of centralized storage within large corporate networks has driven distributed file systems to become the fastest-growing serverware market,” Kusnetzky said. However, even with the high growth, revenues amounted to $35.6 million, or only 1.3% of the market – the smallest share of any segment. File movement accounts for the largest share of revenues. Its 1999 revenues amounted to $549 million, or 20.5% of the market.

North America and Western Europe represent the largest opportunity for serverware vendors. Together, they accounted for almost 90% of sales in 1999, and they will continue to account for nearly 90% through at least 2004.

“The increasing prevalence of ecommerce activities and growth in the use of virtual computing architectures in these regions is leading to the high consumption of serverware,” Kusnetzky said.

Information like the above can be found in IDC’s report Serverware Market Forecast and Analysis, 2000-2004. This report analyzes the entire serverware market and examines growth of the following segments: file movement software, file system/volume replication software, clustering software, load balancing software, distributed file systems, Web server software, distributed naming or directory services, and virtual user interface software. The report segments revenues by region and operating environment and discusses trends driving and inhibiting market growth. To view the complete table of contents for this report, visit http://www.idc.com and search for 22401.

IDC delivers dependable, high-impact insights and advice on the future of ebusiness, the Internet, and technology to help organizations make sound business decisions. IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends and analyzes business strategies, technologies, and vendors, using a combination of rigorous primary research and in-depth competitive analysis. IDC provides global research with local content through more than 500 analysts in 43 countries worldwide. IDC’s customers comprise the world’s leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness companies, and the financial community. Additional information can be found at http://www.idc.com .

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