THE IT services provider backed by telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien has invested €350,000 and created five jobs in support of a new cloud-based online back-up service.

To date Network Recovery has been best known for its suite of disaster recovery and business continuity services, which it has sold to clients in Ireland, Britain and the US.

However, the company now sees an opportunity to play in the internationally traded services, according to its recently appointed managing director, Paul Lynch.

Mr Lynch, who was sales director with data centre operator Hosting 365 before it was acquired by SunGard last year, said there was huge growth in the online back-up and cloud-computing market and Network Recovery was in a position to capitalise on this.

Network Recovery has made a strategic investment in New York data centre Another 9, which gave it a controlling interest, and had long-term relationships with Interxion and Datal Electronics Group in Ireland.

“As a result we are able to offer a transatlantic cloud platform,” said Mr Lynch.

He said this was proving popular with many US clients in the financial services space.

“Traditionally if your PC fails you have a big problem, but if you are using a thin client that is accessing a virtual desktop in a data centre, there is no problem.

“You can just log on somewhere else and you can pick up writing your e-mail where you left off.”

Mr Lynch said despite the industry hype, cloud computing is becoming mainstream, citing consumer adverts for Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 356 suite as just one example of this.

“From a business perspective, people are getting much happier about the security aspects of it,” he said.

Following the expansion, Network Recovery has 26 staff.