Solid State Drives

Solid State Drives (SSD) have been around for a few years now and although they seem like the obvious choice long term they are still relatively slow in adoption. The notebook computer space appears will adopt these quickly - I would expect significant percentage of notebook computers to be solid state by the end of 2011. There is tremendous upside for SSD in notebooks. SSD provides faster start up and less risk of damage in transport. Typically the notebook consumer is willing to pay the extra for these benefits.

SSD is making gains in the data center but at a slow pace. There are now SSD SANs and most hard drive manufacturers are offering SSD options. The technology to manage these drives still needs advancements and cost is still significantly higher so it is still probably two to three years before significant adoption.

Global IT Spending will be a steady 5%

Gartner is expecting Global IT Spending for 2010 to come in at 5% and 5% again in 2011. 2010 Global IT Spending gorwth of 5% is lower than perdictions this time last year of 6% - 8%. The spending in 2010 appeared to be largely in the second half of 2010 with the first half dragging down the overall growth rate.

5% Global IT Spending Growth in 2011 may be indicating a slight decrease in growth rate compared to Q3 and Q4 2010. It is an increase in IT spending no less so a good sign for a healthy industry.

Nortec is in the infrastructure business and this has been a very active area of technology spending recently. Nortec has seen significant growth in the second half of 2010. We anticipate continued strength in infrastructure IT investment in 2011.

International Business Times Article - “Gartner projects 5.1 pct rise in global tech spending for 2011”:

http://tinyurl.com/2wjplaz