October 4th, 2007
EMC buys Berkeley Data Systems, creator of Mozy
EMC said it has acquired Berkeley Data Systems, best known for its Mozy, online information and backup services. 
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the acquisition will have no impact on EMC’s revenue or earnings. In other words, EMC is acquiring a small online service to complement its current offerings.
Berkeley’s Mozy is a subscription service that protects the data on your desktop, laptop or remote server. In a statement Thursday EMC said it will continue to invest in Mozy and “advance the brand in the marketplace.”
What’s interesting about the deal is that Mozy gets EMC a more consumer, small office, home office audience. EMC typically caters to large enterprises with its software–Documentum, RSA and the recently IPO’ed VMware–and storage hardware.
Perhaps EMC is following the blueprint of Cisco Systems. While Cisco is still a premier enterprise brand it has grown a consumer business with the acquisition of brands such as Linksys. With Mozy EMC also gets an online service play.
Mozy founder Josh Coates had the following to say in an open letter to customers:
Mozy has always been and always will be simple, automatic, and secure. That will not change. We will continue to innovate and improve our product and service for both consumer and business customers.
The big change is that you will get the benefit of all the stability and security that a large public company has to offer. EMC has been around for almost three decades: Your data will be in the hands of the most trusted global leader in information management.
I appreciate your loyalty, support, and patience over the last couple of years as we’ve broken barriers and disrupted this market. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’m excited to start a new chapter of innovation here at EMC.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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