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Data storage is anything but simple these days. Many organizations rely on multiple storage platforms and devices, and IT executives face the challenge of managing and provisioning a wide assortment of systems.

A growing number of businesses are deploying storage resource management (SRM) technology to help get a better handle on storage. SRM systems collect information about the various storage resources in an organization and store it in a centralized database. This data is examined by analytical tools included in SRM, and managers use the tools to monitor usage trends and control physical and logical storage resources.

SRM systems alert managers when storage capacity thresholds are reached, and some of the products can be set to automatically take action to prevent storage-related problems from occurring or to resolve issues if they do happen. SRM can help support the planning of storage capacity and the management of both physical storage space and storage policy.

There’s a growing market for SRM tools, “ but it’s an uphill battle, as organizations rarely have budget allocated to SRM,” says Dave Russell, research vice president, storage technologies and strategies at Gartner Inc. “Typically the SRM sale is best made at the time of the storage array sale, which certainly favors the array vendors that also sell, or partner to sell, SRM software.”

Gartner estimates that the SRM market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.2 percent between this year and 2011. Among the vendors offering comprehensive SRM systems are CA, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Symantec.

According to a Gartner report published in March 2007, the SRM market in 2006 and the first part of 2007 featured two main types of tools. One is the traditional, comprehensive SRM offering that continues to add functions — with an emphasis on product integration. The other is the more-focused SRM system that addresses a particular component of storage management.

The benefits and uses of SRM can vary based on the type of organization and its needs. When Gartner discusses SRM uses and benefits with clients, Russell says, the three primary reasons clients mention for deploying some sort of SRM application are for use in file system capacity management, storage provisioning and storage area network (SAN) management, he says.

The implementation of SRM systems isn’t necessarily easy. “The challenge oftentimes with functionally comprehensive SRM solutions is that host agents must be deployed, which is challenging for the storage team, since the server team actually owns and manages the server assets,” Russell says. “This can lead to a failed implementation, or at least [to] an elongated ROI [return on investment].”

Still, SRM might be worth considering for organizations that have complex storage needs. Companies that have deployed the technology say they’ve benefited from the centralized management and administration of storage resources, avoiding problems such as lack of available capacity and improving the efficiency of storage provisioning.

With the ever-growing volume of data used and stored by enterprises, the rising demand for storage capacity and the increasing requirement for improved controls of IT storage environments, the need for SRM could become even greater.

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