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IDC Predicts Worldwide Grid Computing Market to Reach $12 Billion by 2007
[April 20, 2004]

IDC Predicts Worldwide Grid Computing Market to Reach $12 Billion by 2007

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- April 20, 2004 -- A new IDC study shows that the grid computing market is on the verge of major expansion. According to a recent forecast, the aggregate grid computing market is expected to exceed $12 billion in revenue by 2007 across high performance computing (HPC) technical markets and commercial viable enterprises.



"We believe that grids hold significant potential as the next step in the evolution of the IT environment, especially as the technology breaks out from the HPC space and becomes more broadly applied in commercial data centers," said John Humphreys, research manager of Workstations and High Performance Computing Systems at IDC. "We expect grid adoption to take root next in the generalized IT infrastructure and to see early adoption begin in areas that are not mission critical."

The projected revenue increase can be attributed to a combination of factors including the maturation and standardization of grid software, the drive for efficient use of IT infrastructure by end users, the expanded awareness of grids and the expansion of the market beyond traditional high performance computing (HPC) applications and users.


Key Findings:

-- The grid market is beginning to split into 3 distinct segments: compute, data, and optimization

-- The majority of today's grid implementations are in the compute space with a small set of applications

-- Emerging opportunity is primarily focused on the pooling and allocation of resources across a variety of business services

While the potential opportunity is both broad and significant, the challenges are also varied with end users most often citing the cultural and organizational concerns associated with resource sharing. "Today, many, if not most HPC users are currently exploring grids in order to improve communications between institutions, manage resources within an institution, and to maximize resource utilization," said Chris Willard, research vice president of Workstations and High Performance Computing Systems at IDC. "To size such an opportunity, we included all computer systems connected to any grid as part of the revenue value."

The new study, Role of Grid Computing in the Coming Innovation Wave (IDC #30871), contains data and analysis of IDC's investigations into the emerging grid computing opportunity.

To purchase this study, call IDC's Sales at 508-988-7988 or email [email protected].

About IDC

IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com.

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