The vendor also hopes the new version of its flash caching technology will push the use of big data among large enterprises. The feature, which has been available since December last year, was beta tested by Melbourne IT among 60 others, including two global banks who, according to some at EMC, clamoured to get in on the trial.

On the other end of the scale, small storage arrays are also likely to increase in use throughout the year, with EMC's recently announced VNXe entry-level products taking on similar offerings from long-time rival, NetApp.

Though primarily targeted at small business users unable to afford larger arrays, understands representatives from the likes of Woolworths, Macquarie Infrastructure, Telstra and Melbourne IT expressed interest in utilising the smaller arrays for remote offices and areas with lighter on-site storage requirements.