I would say it very much depends what you use your bike for
If its for going out for blast when the moods takes you and you are fairly fastidious about looking after it then, yes get the Ducati and love every minute of it
If you use it for everything (commuting, trips to the shops, boring motorway stuff), only clean it once in a blue moon but expect it to start first time every time then I would say no, stick with the Firestorm
Ducati's are lovely bikes but they take a bit of looking after
They are prone to silly faults that just dont seem to affect Japanese bikes (like the front plug lead being directly in the path of spray from the front wheel, electrical connectors being mounted in water traps, cables not routed in the most sensible manner etc)
Its not that they are unreliable (yes the earlier ones were a bit but still nothing like as bad as the bikes of old) its just that they are thoroughbreds and need to be treated as such
As far as the experience goes, the following is actually based on the 916, but its identical to the 748 apart from engine and rear tyre size
Power: They make a realistic 90bhp so not much down on the Storm
Comfort: Some people malign them as wrist killers that are horrificly uncomfortable. I'm 6'3" and didnt find it uncomfortable at all, even on longer trips eg to France
Handling: Sublime. In a totally different world to the Storm
Servicing: Treat service intervals as maximums, not 'think about getting it services around' especially cam belts. That said, a lot of it can be done by the reasonable home mechanic but the major stuff like the desmodronic valves is best left to the experts who get paid to have more patience than us mere mortals
Mileage: Dont ever, under any circumstances, be tempted to buy a high mileage one coz its cheap -it wont be. Over about 35,000 miles they just wear out. A dealer friend reckons that any he has in as part ex with this mileage on are better broken for parts
Hope this helps
Ben
