Following the $770 million acquisition of Redmond-based ADIC by Quantum yesterday, an analyst group released a report looking at how the data storage industry is shifting.

The 451 Group said it believes enterprise data is undergoing significant structural changes because of software technologies currently under development. The change presents opportunities for young startups and vendors to maintain their marketplace position and defend against large and small competitors, the report said.

The report, written by Simon Robinson, head of Storage research at The 451 Group, was released today. Simon also said these new technologies will lead to a flurry of merger and acquisition activity.

Yesterday's announcement of Quantum's intention to acquire ADIC is a good example, he said, adding:.

Users will increasingly demand integrated platforms, not more stand-alone products. The "smart" money should be on those vendors that can combine a wide range of integrated capabilities that span the entire data protection lifecycle with a common, central point of management. For example, Quantum's proposed acquisition of ADIC is partly motivated by its desire to achieve just this. Quantum is hoping to stay relevant in the game by combining high-value data protection software such as virtual tape and data reduction with its legacy commodity disk and tape hardware platforms.