EMC buys leader in telekinetic security

Time to get serious, guys
TechCrunch and VNUnet are reporting that EMC is buying online backup provider Mozy for $76 million. Neither EMC or Mozy has issued any confirmation, so who knows if it is real. But let’s assume it is.

Puzzled?
This is a good fit for EMC on several levels.

• SMB branding. For reasons I still don’t get, Dell has happily handed EMC tens of millions of dollars worth of SMB branding that EMC could never have bought on its own. Mozy gives EMC a nice brand extension for servicing that market.
• F1000 notebook backup. Mozy’s huge GE deal is just the first of many once EMC’s sales force gets its marching orders.
• Margin enhancement. Mozy charges a flat $50/yr for unlimited personal backup. Storage prices fall every year. Margins grow automatically.
• Grid storage. Mozy wasn’t using Symm’s and I doubt they’ll start now. EMC is buying expertise in the new storage paradigm.

The StorageMojo take
IBM, HP, NetApp: listen up. EMC is definitely moving into storage clusters as commercial products. If you guys don’t want to see a three-peat of the mid-90’s, when EMC rolled IBM big time, it is time to get serious.

EMC’s storage cluster strategy is hardly bulletproof. Yet playing catchup isn’t where you want to be when this party starts. If you liked EMC in the 90’s you’ll love them in the ‘teens!

Comments welcome, of course. BTW, Mozy’s beta for Mac is still buggy. The Windows client is much better. And yes, Mozy did – once – claim they could protect your data from “. . . potential telekinetic security breaches.”