NetApp has announced the interim findings of its ongoing survey titled ‘Data Explosion in India – Trends & Challenges' in partnership with The Nielsen Company. SMEs in India are heading towards a data deluge within a year's time between now and 2009-10. According to the survey, there is a clear indication of rapid increase in storage requirements in the SME segment. There will be a 56% growth in SMEs whose data storage requirements will jump to the 500-999 GB range from the 100-499 GB range. Further, there will be a 133% growth in SMEs whose data storage requirements will increase in the 6-10 TB range. This shift in increase in storage requirements is also reflected by a corresponding drop by 29% of SMEs between 100-499 GB range and a 60% drop in the >100 GB range.

Further, there is expected to be a 50%, 33% growth in SMEs demanding storage in the 11-15 TB, and >25 TB ranges respectively, which is a huge data management challenge coming up for SMEs. Owing to this huge potential in the Indian SME market, NetApp also announced the complete integration of the S family of storage solutions, formerly known as StoreVault, into its full line of storage and data management solutions for the midsized segment at an entry-level price.

“The report findings clearly indicate that the SME market in India is growing rapidly, which is reflecting in their data storage requirements. The integration of the S family into NetApp's full line of storage and data management solutions has happened at the most appropriate time for us considering the robust growth in the SME segment. The S Family will offer SMEs in India a new world of solutions especially designed for their evolving needs” said Surajit Sen, Director – Channel, Alliances & Market, NetApp India .