HP Thursday said it has invested $100 million in business recovery centers over the last 12 months. The investment - three quarters of it in Europe - has enabled it to open four new business recovery centers, in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.K., in recent months.

In addition, the company has acquired a further 14 such centers across Europe through its October 2004 acquisition of Synstar PLC - a Bracknell, England, company specializing in IT support services, for $293 million - and its acquisition of the Irish data recovery activities of Schlumberger Business Continuity Services (Ireland) in March of this year, it said.

The centers are intended to get customers' critical IT systems back up and running within minutes of a virus attack, natural disaster or other unforeseen event, the company said.

The concentration of investment in Europe is no accident, according to HP: European business managers take a more prudent attitude to risk management than their counterparts elsewhere, the company said.

HP has also recently opened a business recovery center in Alpharetta, Georgia, in June, and one in Singapore last month. It expects to open another one in Anaheim, Calif., this month, it said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.