Lenovo has joined the cloud computer game by buying privately held Utah-based Stoneware for an undisclosed sum.

The idea is to nab Stoneware's cloudy services so biz customers and consumers can store their data remotely and manage multiple devices through one system.

The portfolio of Stoneware – Lenovo's first software acquisition – includes the webNetwork and LanSchool services that "serve millions of users primarily in education and the public sector".

Lenovo, the world's second biggest shifter of PCs, said it will try to extend the tech "beyond the current strongholds that Stoneware has in government and in education into more consumer-focused" services.

Acquiring Stoneware - which employs 67 staff, all of whom are expected to keep their jobs - is a part of Lenovo's PC Plus strategy to navigate the fragmenting market for client devices.

The deal is expected to complete by the end of 2012. ®