Symantec's 2008 State of the Data Center Report Reveals Managers Pressured to "Do More with Less"

CUPERTINO, CA, Jan 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today released the findings of its 2008
State of the Data Center report. The second annual study found that data
center managers are caught between two conflicting goals -- more
demanding user expectations and higher levels of performance, yet
reducing costs remain the primary objective for the data center. The
report also found that data center staffing remains problematic, servers
and storage continue to be underutilized and disaster recovery plans are
out of date. Finally, the respondents indicated that while they are
pursuing green data center initiatives, they are doing so primarily based
on cost benefits.

"This research confirms what we are seeing in the field," said Rob
Soderbery, senior vice president of Symantec's Storage and Availability
Management Group. "Attention has turned to initiatives that will drive
immediate cost reduction, rather than longer term ROI driven programs.
Storage has been a primary focus of these initiatives as the demand for
capacity continues to rise, despite economic challenges."

Doing More for Less

Of those surveyed, 75 percent reported user expectations are rising
gradually or rapidly. Furthermore, 60 percent of the respondents saw
meeting the service levels demanded by the organization to be more
difficult or much more difficult to meet. Only 10 percent saw service
levels to be easier to meet.

Nonetheless, when asked to identify their key objectives for the year,
reducing costs was by far the most frequently mentioned goal. In fact,
reducing costs was mentioned by more companies than the next two
objectives combined (improving service levels and improving
responsiveness).

The key initiatives data centers are pursuing to "do more with less"
include automation of routine tasks (mentioned by 42 percent of
respondents), cross-training staff (40 percent) and reducing data center
complexity (35 percent).

Staffing Remains a Big Issue

According to the study, staffing remains a crucial issue with 36 percent
reporting that they are understaffed while only 4 percent reported being
overstaffed. Furthermore, 43 percent say finding qualified applicants is a
big or huge problem.

To address the staffing issue companies are leaning on outsourcing and
training. Nearly half (45 percent) outsource primarily to give data center
staff more time to focus on other tasks. The top three leading IT
functions that businesses are outsourcing include business continuity (46
percent), backups (43 percent) and storage management (39 percent).
Training is seen as strategic by 68 percent of the respondents, with 78
percent expecting training budgets to rise or stay constant over the next
two years.

Servers and Storage Remain Underutilized

Companies in 2008 reported that their data center servers were operating
at just 53 percent of capacity. Data center storage utilization was even
lower at 50 percent. Not surprisingly Symantec found a flurry of activity
aimed at increasing utilization in both areas.

The major server-related initiatives include server consolidation (80
percent) and server virtualization (77 percent). For storage the leading
initiatives were storage virtualization (76 percent), continuous data
protection (71 percent) and storage resource management (71 percent).

Disaster Recovery Lags Behind

Data center management continues to report room for improvement in the
area of disaster recovery. In fact, just 35 percent report their disaster
recovery plan is above average, while 27 percent say it needs work and 9
percent report their plan is informal or undocumented. Companies still
find that human error is the biggest cause of unplanned downtime, being
the culprit 25 percent of the time. Hardware/software failure and power
outages follow closely behind.

Green Data Center Driven by Cost

Continuing the trend first spotted in 2007, the data center's focus on
"being green" was driven by cost issues in 2008 with social responsibility
on the rise. The study asked companies why creating a Green Data Center
was important to their workplace. Reducing electricity consumption was
mentioned by 54 percent, followed by reducing cooling costs (51 percent)
and a sense of responsibility to the community (42 percent).

Report Underscores Need for Solutions

This year's study shows the continuing importance for companies to control
data center complexity and costs. With the mandate to literally do more
with less, companies are scrambling to find solutions that have an
immediate effect on cost and efficiency.

"IT managers and executives are in a tough spot," said Soderbery. "Cost
reduction is a non-negotiable objective this year, while user expectations
remain high and demand continues to rise. We are seeing this translate
into interest in solutions that provide customers with confidence and
deliver immediate benefits in reducing server and storage spend without
disrupting today's environment."

About Symantec's State of the Data Center Research

Symantec's second annual State of the Data Center report is the result of
a survey conducted in September and October of 2008 by Applied Research.
The study targeted 1,600 data center managers in Global 5000 and large
public sector institutions located in 21 countries. To access the
complete 2008 and 2007 State of the Data Center reports or review
additional State of the Data Center resources, please visit the State of
the Data Center online press kit.

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems
management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage
their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against
more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling
confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is
available at www.symantec.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec
Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at
http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are
valid only in the United States.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Jerry Gowen
Symantec Corp.
+1 (503) 690 4714
jerry_gowen@symantec.com

Sherri Walkenhorst
Connect Public Relations
+1 (801) 373 7888
sherriw@connectpr.com

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