Demand for cost-effective data storage solutions will expand dramatically over the coming five years, as IT budgets continue to contract, a leading US storage executive told a Dublin audience yesterday.

According to Mr Pat Martin, chairman, president and chief executive of StorageTek, data storage accounts for more than one-third of IT spending, as the volume of information firms must store multiplies.

Mr Martin believes tightening budgets make finding reasonably priced solutions for this storage critical, thus creating an opportunity for the storage industry.

"The need to store and manage data hasn't slowed down," he said.

Mr Martin was visiting Dublin to mark the official opening of StorageTek's new Irish subsidiary in Blackrock, Co Dublin, where 12 people are employed.

It provides storage solutions over a range of media, including disc and automated tape, a mix that StorageTek says enables it to provide managed storage at "the lowest total cost".