EMC said to offer Web hosting service

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - EMC, the world's top provider of corporate computer storage hardware, is in early-stage talks with Germany's SAP AG to deliver computer programs over the Web, a senior SAP executive said on Wednesday.

The proposed tie-up comes as Massachusetts-based EMC makes a push into a much hyped new area of technology known as "cloud computing" that centralizes computing and storage functions at data centres, and allows people with PCs or laptop computers and Web access to tap vast stores of information from afar.

The companies would use virtualization technology to deliver that software to customers, Doug Merritt, president of SAP Labs North America and a member of the SAP Executive Board, told Reuters in an interview.

He did not discuss specifics of their proposed collaboration.

In a virtual environment, companies install software on machines at one data centre and workers use inexpensive computers equipped with software that allows them to run the software remotely.

Companies save money because technicians can perform maintenance from a single location, saving them the trouble of accessing equipment sprawled across the company. The technology makes it easier for companies to move operations in a natural disaster.

Merritt declined to comment on financial arrangements of any potential deal, saying it would be premature to do so. He would not say how quickly the products could be available.

An EMC spokesman would not comment on the proposed venture.