Brussels - October 13^th 2009: BlueBackUp, a subsidiary of Oodrive Technologies, has introduced a new off-site backup service that is ideal for SMEs in these tough times. Called 'SOHO Edition', this backup solution is available at a very competitive price, while also offering an intuitive interface and excellent service: a genuine first for the online backup market!

In these turbulent financial times, SMEs need to spend as much time as they can focusing on what really matters: boosting their turnover and reducing their overheads. As a result, some important areas of their business may sometimes get neglected, such as backing up their data properly.  

Despite the obvious downside to this, most small companies and businesses tend to have only the most cursory of backup procedures in place (e.g. to external hard disks, magnetic tapes, etc.). Worse still, these haphazard backup practices are not always carried out properly, either, which creates a major potential risk. And all too often, the busy people running these companies are not even aware of the possible adverse effects - not to mention disastrous consequences - of losing vital data about their business. Examples include:

• Losing their businesses accounting records and details of their invoicing
• Losing their Exchange messaging server and all e-mails sent out
• Losing access to their customer database, CRM system, ERP, etc.

90% of the time, losing this critical data has the straightforward knock-on effect of sending the business bankrupt. In cases where there is some form of data recovery possible on magnetic tape, the business can eventually be restarted, but only after a considerable period of time has elapsed. Time, of course, is money - which means before it can be up and running again effectively, the company will probably have suffered such significant loss of earnings that insolvency is likely to be the only outcome. And in the current business climate, the banks are unfortunately not being very generous when it comes to lending new funds or tolerating late payments!

BlueBackUp is extending its range with an affordable backup solution for SMEs

BlueBackUp, which previously focused mainly on large organisations, is now launching an easily affordable Small Office Home Office (SOHO) solution aimed at SMEs. This new solution has been created as a result of the synergies generated by BlueBackUp with its parent company. The software used was developed by Oodrive Technologies and has already been adopted by over 8,000 companies in Europe.

In response to the needs expressed by small business owners and managers, SOHO is designed to provide an easy-to-use tool, combined with service in which the client is literally "led by the hand" - all at a genuinely competitive price! "We recently surveyed our SME customers and asked them what they expected from their backup solution," says Philip Wittmann, co-founder of BlueBackUp. "They mentioned security, of course, but also ease of use and assistance should the need arise. That's why service has always been a central element of what we have to offer."

The Exchange messaging server: an essential application for SMEs

Another need mentioned by SMEs was the protection of their Exchange messaging server. Most companies would find it impossible to operate without Exchange, yet it is not supported by all backup providers at the present time. "In most cases, SMEs have a file server and an Exchange messaging server - nothing more," continues Mr Wittmann. "They don't use specific databases, virtualised servers or other complex applications. Which means that they don't have a real need for something as sophisticated as our Evault technology. That would be a bit like buying a Porsche when a Golf would do the job just as well... But now, thanks to the way our technologies complement one another, our SOHO solution offers SMEs a 100% secure backup solution for their critical data (files + Exchange) that also fits in with their budget."  

Highly encouraging pre-launch phase

"Despite the current economic climate, we have never experienced such a favourable reception from companies during the pre-launch phase of a product. Nor have we ever seen such a busy summer holiday period in terms of contracts signed since we launched our SOHO solution!" concludes Mr Wittmann.

By boosting its presence with SMEs, BlueBackUp has also become the first provider of online backup services to work with companies and organisations of all sizes. BlueBackUp solutions now meet the requirements of companies with over 500 staff, as well as SMEs employing fewer than 5 people.

Brussels - July 8^th, 2009 - BlueBackUp announces the launch of its new Disaster Recovery service, which significantly reduces the level of risk for companies by enabling them to restore their business quickly after a major incident - at a cost that is considerably lower than a conventional DRP, while also providing a broader level of service than its competitors.

Implementing a business recovery plan can be both complex and costly. Also, in the light of the current economic crisis, it comes a no surprise to learn that almost 50% of companies employing between 100 and 1,000 staff prefer not to invest in a comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plan.

There can be a number of reasons for this: the cost of investment may be too high, the business may lack infrastructure or be short of qualified staff. Also, by calling on a company that specialises in DR that also supplies backup offices and hardware, businesses are still ultimately responsible for the most critical part of the recovery process: rebuilding their servers and IT data.

BlueBackUp's new Disaster Recovery offering represents a highly attractive alternative for companies that do not have the budget or infrastructure needed to establish a full DRP.

How does the BlueBackUp Disaster Recovery Plan work? 

• If there is a server crash or serious incident in the office, the customer's data is restored on physical/virtual servers at BlueBackUp's data centre (DR site).

• During the time it takes for new servers to become operational, the customer can connect remotely (via a VPN connection) to the DR site, where its critical applications will have been restored. This enables customers to restart their business within a very short space of time (3, 12, 24, 48 hours, etc.).

• BlueBackUp can also make backup offices and hardware available to companies that need them.

• Unlike other Disaster Recovery providers, BlueBackUp takes responsibility for rebuilding the customer's applications - which represents a genuine added value in comparison with conventional DR services.

"Being able to guarantee business continuity should a major problem occur is a real worry for companies. explains Philip Wittmann, BlueBackUp's founder. "But not at any price - especially in the current economic climate. "With BlueBackUp and by combining backup and Disaster Recovery, every company can now protect itself against these serious risks, as well as implement a Business Continuity Plan that will deliver unbeatable value for money, whatever its size and scope." 

BlueBackUp is the first online backup service to offer its customers a complete Disaster Recovery solution. And by expanding its offering even further in the wake of the recent launch of exclusive data restoration tools, BlueBackUp clearly intends to set the benchmark by positioning itself as THE specialist in protecting IT data.

Brussels - June 10, 2009 : As is customary when launching its new restore tools, BlueBackUp, a subsidiary of Oodrive Technologies, is enriching its focus on big company needs by offering an outsourced backup solution for virtual VMware ESX environments.

Virtualisation will still be a major IT trend in 2009. Indeed, no further demonstration is needed of its advantages:  savings in relation to machines, storage areas, electricity consumption, air conditioning.... 

However, a virtualised environment, in a large majority of cases, complicates the data backup processes. Indeed, although virtualisation makes  it simpler to restore a full server  thanks to the snapshotting of each virtual machine, it does not enable file by file recovery (in that case,  the entire machine containing the files has to be restored).

Thanks to its VMware ESX plug-in coupled with "Delta Block" technology, BlueBackUp is today proposing a complete protection solution for VMware environments. This offers hot backup possibilities in respect of critical applications (databases, etc.) and restoring an entire machine as well as a single file.

Main Features of the BlueBackUp Solution for Virtualised Environments 

• Complete protection of the ESX environment: backup of the ESX server and all its virtual machines in their entirety - applications, set-ups, and so on and so forth.

• Hot backup of virtual machines: applications no longer have to be stopped in order to start the backup. So there's no activity slowdown.

• Restore granularity: possibility of restoring a virtual machine in its entirety (OS, settings,...) or individual files (Exchange database, SQL,...).

• Delta Block technology: only the blocks within the files that have been altered since the last backup are sent in an encrypted and compressed format, which seriously limits the bandwidth requirements.

• Automatic delocalisation of the backups (and images) to BlueBackUp's external storage servers.

Advantages for Companies Working with VMware:

• Fewer risks of data loss, thanks to the automatic delocalisation of their virtual machines to top-security data centres.

• Less down time following a data loss, thanks to the restore procedures' granularity.

• Fewer resources used for backup tasks, thanks to the Delta Block technology, which prevents any deceleration of virtual environment performance.

With this protection solution for ESX virtual servers, combined with its exclusive restore tools, BlueBackUp is reinforcing its determination to focus on big company needs and is clearly positioned as the specialist in terms of complex environmental backup.

Brussels, 23 April 2009: BlueBackUp is the first online backup service that caters for the needs of big businesses. By developing innovative data recovery functionalities and thanks to the drop of disk prices, the Oodrive subsidiary is able to help organisations that manage large volumes of data to deal with the new IT challenges thrown up by the economic crisis

Faced with ever-tougher demands in terms of data security (faster times for backups and recovery, frequency of backups, backup window issues, etc.), businesses now need to find a reliable solution to the problem of securing data without having to increase their budgets. The current economic crisis has a lot to answer for...

BlueBackUp has specialised in remote backup services since 2001. Now, as part of its solution to the growing data security problem, the company has developed new functionalities that fit in perfectly with the needs of large business organisations in terms of business continuity, creating a first for remote backup services:

1) Bare Metal Recovery technology

• Enables a server (including operating system + configuration) to be recovered in one simple operation

• The replacement server does not necessarily have to be similar to the original

• Recovery is carried out using a range of physical backup media (hard disk, USB thumb drive, etc.)

• Main benefit = significant reduction in downtime after a major system crash

2) Local Vault 

• Installation of a local backup server on the customer's premises

• Backup of company data in-house via the LAN (speed of backups)

• Automatic replication of data to BlueBackUp's external servers

• Main benefit = reduction of backup windows and Recovery Time Objective

3) Continuous Data Protection 

• Real-time protection of critical applications

• Constant snapshotting and tracing of changes made to critical data 

• Recovery points generated as often as every 5 minutes

• Main benefit = minimising data lost after a server crash

Although online backup services have been available in Belgium for the past ten years or so, major organisations have been reluctant to embrace the technology, most of them believing that online backup is a service reserved for SMEs only. But with its stable software and new recovery functionalities, BlueBackUp today is capable of directly targeting companies that handle significant volumes of data or run complex IT applications.

Philip Wittmann, BlueBackUp managing director explains:  "Although we have always been capable of backing up complex environments through our Evault software, I have to admit that until now we have not had the know-how required to approach really big organisations. But with all the experience we have accumulated since 2001, plus the content of our current offering, we are now able to make this quantum leap and focus mainly on the larger type of client."

It is worth noting that BlueBackUp increased its turnover by 35% in the first quarter of 2009, compared with Q1 in 2008.

An aggressive strategy to snatch a European market of almost 400 million Euros for the backup and sharing of information online

After Oodrive, which had already been running a profit for three consecutive years, received its first instalment of 4m Euros from Iris Capital in November 2007, it sought to strengthen its development focus and extend its commercial coverage in Europe. Aiming to treble its operations in 2008-2009 up to earnings of 15 million Euros and a 100-strong workforce, Oodrive initiated its strategy by strengthening its managerial team and its focus on R & D.

Today, we witness the launch of Oodrive's expansion policy with the acquisition of BlueBackUp, a distributor of backup solutions in Northern Europe and a market leader in Belgium.

Universal adoption by a European Market

The European SaaS (Software as a Service) market of small to medium-sized businesses, comprising over 19 million enterprises, is developing rapidly.

'People's fear of externalizing data is beginning to fade. The world market is extensively adopting the SaaS model, and regulations designed to ensure the security of business data along with a financial model which is flexible in a time of crisis are accelerating this phenomenon', explains Stanislas de Remur, President-Director and co-founder of Oodrive.

An acquisition opportunity but also a shared vision

'During the process of this acquisition, our evaluation criteria concerned our complementary technological targets, the regularity of its business model, and its capacity to perform in the markets concerned. It soon became clear that BlueBackUp met our requirements'.

BlueBackUp, with a headquarters located in Belgium, has been profitable for two consecutive years, has almost a thousand clients and is set to achieve a turnover of 2 million Euros for 2008. The company is supported by a high level commercial structure and offers a catalogue of data backup services based on Evault technology.

'We are delighted to have finalized this deal and to have the chance to integrate Philip Wittman along with his whole team right into the heart of the Oodrive Group.

Philip has carried out remarkable work, driving his business for online backup for small businesses to the forefront of the Belgian market'.

Philip Wittman, Founder and Managing Director of BlueBackUp, confirms for his part: 'We see the backup market in Europe in exactly the same way and are thoroughly in support of Oodrive's aggressive strategy to become Europe's leading service provider for data backup and sharing. I share my satisfaction with the success of this operation with everyone in my team. It allows us the necessary framework and means to meet the challenge of our growth in Northern Europe'.

An acquisition at a time of crisis

At a time when the ecosystem of the software and internet world is wondering whether the time has come to limit start-ups or even to scrap them altogether, Oodrive is maintaining its recruitment and its strategy of organic and overseas growth.

'With two further acquisitions in the pipeline for early 2009, BlueBackup is merely the first step. We believe that it is at a time of crisis such as this that it is essential to work on structure and organization in order to achieve pole position for when growth returns.

The recession has not affected the need to share and back up data! Our services do not demand training, integration procedures, or extravagant budgets. They appear today as the answers businesses of all sizes have been waiting for'.

On top of this, Oodrive has built its success on an economic model of great stability. The core of its income is in fact highly regular and its contract renewal rate exceeds 93 per cent. Unlike other companies in this sector, Oodrive does not run accounts or finance its contracts over a period of years but instead maintains a regular monthly income, giving it a healthy financial structure ideally suited to 2009.

'Our method has always been to keep clients at the heart of Oodrive, to give them close support, and to involve them directly in the design of the roadmaps we produce. Due to this, our most powerful allies have always been the users of our solutions. As things stand, we are bang on schedule with our initial objectives and confident in our future growth', concludes Stanislas de Remur.