For so very long, I have been hearing “tape is dead.” Yes, it may be cheap and it may be easy, but it is known for being unreliable with a short shelf life, and the disk alternative is seen as worth the investment.

However, this week has seen both Oracle and EMC refresh their ranges with offerings for tape storage.

It has become a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. Technology big wigs are trying to encourage companies to move their money away from tape and put it towards disk storage, yet, they keep providing the tape option.

A company who has used tape for years and continues to see costs drop is hardly going to be leaping onto the disk bandwagon if they are not pushed, especially in times of economic strife.

But at the same time, tech companies don’t want to remove their tape products whilst people are still buying them and, really, is it their right to decide what companies use to store their data?

Somebody needs to make the first move. Tape may do the job but there are much better options out there that can do even more and can really improve storage capabilities, with price tags for companies of all sizes.

But it is down to the industry now. As with the resistance to SSD adoption (price) and cloud computing (security), it is down to the trustworthy names to lead the way and reassure firms it is the best step to take.

Am I saying I can see them doing this and throwing away their current easy money from tape? Maybe not, but it doesn’t mean they should not.

Be brave EMC and Oracle, show people the better way to store, not just the easy way – more so for your revenue stream than for their businesses.