Smarter storage technology ahead in 2010

Digital data has experienced explosive growth over the past few years and evidence suggests that this trend continues. As the world becomes more digitized, data storage becomes increasingly relevant to the individual, the IT community, and the economy. Data storage undoubtedly continues to be a big issue in the near future, but in five years, expect continued demand for capacity, proliferation of form factors (sizes and shapes of storage devices), and governmental regulations. So what does 2010 look like? You can expect continued emphasis on management technologies for heterogeneous environments, less-expensive storage media, and tools for content management. In short, you see cheaper, better, and faster technology for creating, managing, and storing digital data.