Storage executives will likely sleep better knowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget for next year should increase by 9.4 percent. At the least, it should relieve much of their anxiety about the direction of government spending.
According to a new report from IT market research firm Input, a Senate committees proposal for the DHS budget for the fiscal year 2005 that begins this October 1 will jump to $33 billion, up $2.8 billion from 2004. The Appropriations Committee recommended more than President Bush requested. The full Senate has yet to vote on the bill, but the committee's recommendation shows an inclination to spend.
While the budget does not break out IT spending, an Input analyst says technology spending plays a large part in Homeland Securitys effectiveness.
In order for the Department of Homeland Security to continue to function effectively under increasing labor costs, a heavier reliance on technology is required, says Kim Hovda, Input manager of grant products. The technologies necessary for the future will be the technologies that replace human effort with automated effort.
The DHS consists of a variety of agencies that rely on storage-intensive operations such as disaster recovery, analyzing intelligent data, research, and engineering. Hovda says the Science and Technology Directorate and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agencies especially rely on technology.
