IBM has bought Arsenal Digital to show that, like EMC and the other big information warehousing players, it totally gets online storage and protection of data.

The price tag for the 10-year-old North Carolina-based outfit is being kept secret. Its 100 employees will become part of IBM's global technology services division.

Arsenal Digital pitches that its service offers a combination of online backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity.

Its 3,400ish customers are mostly small and mid-size businesses who don't want the hassle of running their own redundant data operation. It's a market that's predicted to grow rapidly over the next few years, and vendors are jockeying for position in earnest.

In September, EMC bought Mozy, which does pretty much the same thing as Arsenal Digital. Seagate bought EVault in December 2006, and Symantec is gearing up to launch its own online backup product. ®