EMC takes Mozy online back-up service to Europe

LONDON, UK: Data-storage giant EMC is extending its Mozy online back-up service to the UK and Ireland, allowing it to address target a market of small European companies obliged to keep customer data within the European Union.

EMC, data-storage equipment maker, already has more than a million users of its North American Mozy service, which backs-up data automatically during times computers are idle, or at intervals specified by the user.

As consumers increasingly store photos and music only in their PCs, and small businesses lack local capacity to keep copies of critical files, EMC sees a huge opportunity for Mozy.

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Although one-quarter of its users are already outside North America, Mozy hopes to attract many more in Europe by taking payment in local currencies and storing data on servers in Central Europe so that companies can comply with EU data regulation.

Mozy has about 50,000 business customers. Consumers and businesses can opt to choose their own security key for their files, meaning that not even Mozy could unlock them.

"Once you install it it just runs in the background and does the job for you," says Bob Tarzey, an analyst specialising in IT vendors with research and analysis company Quocirca.

"It's a pretty compelling proposition for small businesses, or anyone who's accumulated data over time."

Mozy will charge consumers 4.99 pounds ($7.72) per month for unlimited data for a single computer. Small businesses will pay 3.99 pounds per computer per month plus 50 pence per gigabyte. Server licences cost 6.99 pounds per month plus 50 pence per GB.