EMC tests online storage waters

EMC is joining the online storage service market, its chief executive told analysts during a conference call last week to discuss its first quarter results.

Few details were given about when the service would be made available or how much it would cost, but Joe Tucci, EMC chairman, president and CEO, did say it would happen "soon".

"In software-as-a-service (SaaS), we have nothing yet, but stay tuned - we will launch an offering here soon," Tucci said. "When you think of the backup and recovery space, we'll have an alternative for customers. Rather than saying here's your hardware, software, and services, [we can say] we'll charge by the drip, and host all of that for you," he added later in the call.

IBM, HP and Iron Mountain all already offer online storage services; firms such as Symantec, Google and Microsoft are also working on providing customers with online backup.

EMC saw revenues increase 17% year-on-year during its first quarter ended March 31 to US$2.98 billion. Profits were also up almost 15% to US$312.6million for the quarter.

Revenue growth was driven by EMC's software licence and maintenance sales, which increased 29% year-on-year and accounted for around 40% of the company's total revenue.

EMC said there had been increased demand for VMware virtualisation and RSA security software.