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Keep IT safe has plans for British expansion
Sunday, February 22, 2009 By Emma Kennedy
Dublin-based online backup provider Keep IT safe plans to expand its presence in the British market in the next six months by hiring a dedicated manager.

Eoin Blacklock, managing director of Keep IT safe, said the firm had about 50 customers in Britain and operated via a partnership with a reseller. However, he said the firm planned to grow its customer base in Britain through direct sales and intended to hire a manager before the summer. The new staff member will be based in Manchester.

Keep IT safe has about 1,000 clients, including the Health Service Executive and Eircom. Last year, the firm signed a three-year deal with Ireland’s largest recruitment firm, CPL.

The company recently completed the pilot phase of a major contract to supply its backup system to over 200 credit union branches around the country.

Under the terms of the pilot agreement, awarded by computer network provider NSSL, Keep IT safe rolled out the system to 20beta sites to test its viability.

About 10 percent of the firm’s clients are based in the North, after it signed a deal with Antrim company Outsource Solutions last year.

Under the terms of the contract, Outsource Solutions has the exclusive rights to distribute the Keep IT safe online back-up solution to customers in the North.

Blacklock initially set up KeepITsafe in 2003 with his college friend Jonathan Crowe. Both were studying computer science at Trinity College Dublin at the time.

In 2005, after their graduation, the duo officially registered the firm.

KeepITsafe employs seven staff and has backed up more than four billion files and restored more than 30million lost files.

The company uses four separate data centres in the Dublin area and sells through a network of over 100 IT partners. The firm generated revenues of €800,000 last year.

Blacklock said he was hopeful that the company would reach turnover of €1 million this year. He said that in the last week the company had signed two new deals, worth about €30,000.

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