The Hindu Business Line : SNIA to launch new program at Bangalore Storage Lab

Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) announced that SNIA India has become a self-governing regional affiliate. With 63 members belonging to storage vendor community, channels, end-users and institutions alike, SNIA India is active in five cities.

The association also announced the launch of a Technical Center Champions Program at its Storage Lab in Bangalore, to begin in 2-3 months' time, said Mr P.K. Gupta, Chairman, SNIA India.

The Storage Lab located at Indian Institute of Information Technology - Bangalore (IIIT-B) has trained 350 professionals over the last two years.

"We look forward to continued growth in the Asia-Pacific region," said Mr Wayne M. Adams, Chairman, SNIA.

He added that SNIA was working on the latest standards and informed that version 1.0.3 of SMI-S (storage management initiative - specification) was on track for ISO approval in Q406.

SNIA India's future plans are to educate 500 on various aspects of storage networking in the coming year and certify 25 per cent of them.

New growth drivers

New sectors that are driving growth of storage industry in India are healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Other industries such as consumer, oil and natural gas, government and small and medium enterprises are also adopting storage networking in a big way.

Video surveillance, IPTV (Internet protocol television - when TV goes the networked way) and Video on Demand (download of videos and movies over the Internet/ a private network) services would also contribute to the rise of storage in India, predicted Mr Gupta.

Issues faced by Asian companies in storage are on management of data growth, and interoperability, said Mr Vincent Francheschini, Chairman, Strategic Alliances and Leader, SNIA Grid Task Force.