Dell has acquired enterprise email management service MessageOne for $155 million.
MessageOne offers on-demand services for business continuity, archiving and disaster recovery, with a particular focus on email. MessageOne’s Email Management Services (EMS) promises to “eliminate all of the risks of managing email by solving archiving, continuity, and security needs” with a “fully integrated suite of on-demand services” that eliminates email downtime and prevents data loss.
As Alarm Clock points out, the interesting thing about the acquisition is the possible nepotism; MessageOne is owned by Michael Dell’s brother Adam Dell. Although it does seem like a somewhat strange acquisition for Dell, the company has been slowly moving into Internet/ online fields, having acquired EqaulLogic in November 2007.