Average user to need 14.7 MB for messaging

The Radicati Group in its research on messaging and collaboration software claims the storage requirements for users engaged in Internet messaging and collaboration will triple in 2004, when comparing to 2002 data. In 2002, Radicati claims, a single user was happy with 5.0 MB of storage, while in 2003 that amount grew to 9.6 MB on average. By the end of this year the average disk storage space required will reach 14.7 MB.

25% of the companies surveyed are currently undergoing a messaging server upgrade, and another 34% completed their last upgrade less than six months ago. As a result, most of the Exchange 5.5 customer base has finally upgraded. Only one-fourth of the Exchange users surveyed are Exchange 5.5 users. Domino users are also keeping up to date with upgrades, as about half of the Domino customers surveyed are using Domino R6.

According to Radicati, messaging budgets have remained relatively constant over the past year, rising only slightly. The average company reported a modest 3% rise in their messaging operating budget and a 4.4% rise in their budget for new messaging solutions. One of the most staggering findings of the study is the rise in email traffic. The average user sends and receives a hefty 14.7 MB of email data per day, a 53% growth over last year.

Spam is a key reason for this rise; despite anti-spam solutions, 78% of respondents reported an average rise in spam of 28% in just the last six months.