Storage management software is increasingly being seen as a method to manage data, storage infrastructures, and compliance, governance and e-discovery requirements. According to Gartner's* Hype Cycle for Storage Software Technologies 2008, storage management software provides the tools to better manage the growing amount of data and the devices that store it.

"Solution growth areas focus on tools for faster recovery, better disk use with data de-duplication and archiving, and support for virtualised server environments. The continued success of storage software technologies - and their future success in solving business problems - will be determined not only by their capability to deliver promised cost or operational benefits, but also by the ease with which they can be integrated into current and future environments," the report states.