Box.net CEO Continues the Discussion about Cloud in the Enterprise
This post was written by Aaron Levie, CEO and co-founder of Box.net on thier own blog site to clarify his position on some controversial and interesting comments posted at TechCrunch as a response to his incredible blog post.
To read the complete article - click here
Executive Summary :
1.- Cloud vendor’s very existence hinges on their ability to protect data and have as little server downtime as possible - it’s their primary competency.
2.- Many large SaaS providers today are SAS70 certified, which includes regular auditing by third parties on all aspects of security - from network firewalls to authentication policies to procedures for employee termination
3.- Storing business data in the cloud requires rethinking security, and we’re seeing a lot of innovative IT professionals begin to embrace this new approach
4.- A serious perk of using cloud-based platforms is that they’re far easier to integrate - whereas traditional enterprise software integrations are tedious, requiring significant IT time and even consultants for systems integrations, cloud services take an open platform approach, making integrations seamless and more effective.
5.- The cloud will tip when this trend extends to the enterprise, and we’re already beginning to see significant traction with large-scale deployments of Google Apps and the dominance of Salesforce as a CRM solution
Friday, January 15, 2010 at 8:36AM | Permalink
Reader Comments (8)
Last year, our company ( a small ISV with only 25 employees ) started to rely 100% on Box.net for securely sharing and collaborating on every single activity that takes place, from software development projects to information exchange with our clients and business partners
As of Jan 1st 2010, our company started to rely 100% on the Cloud and Box.net to not only collaborate but to create from scratch all standard office documents using your open box services. Certainly, as you could expect, we are still heavily relying on Google Docs to create new spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations, and we are committed to use Box’s Web Documents for creating all word compatible documents, but it has been a little bit challenging.
As I am sure you already heard, this week Google announced the capability now of uploading and sharing any file format on Google Docs, and this, has sparkled some concerns that I would like to convey through this comment.
I still am a strong advocate of the competitive advantages that User Activity Auditing and OpenBox provide to Box.net , but if we need to take an action - I would strongly recommend for Box.net to consider the following :
1 ) Empower Box users to start the creation of any Google Doc ( or Zoho ) document directly from the Box . At this moment, besides web documents, users need to create spreadsheets and other documents from local apps or from other cloud portals and then upload the same into the Box for collaboration purposes. This was a valid 2 step activity until this new announcement, because now I can easily share all kind of files directly from Google.
Furthermore, few people really know about Open IT Online ( browser plug in ) to upload a document created on Google Docs directly into the Box ( eliminating the step of saving it first on the local drive ) .
2 ) As Box.net expands its services to large businesses, Box will face compliance issues with high end regulations such as HIPAA , Sabarnes and so forth . That is why your current user audit and report feature will have to be revamped to include further auditing details such as file views, tasks and comments to guarantee an absolute control of who has access to what information within the corporation’s Box.
and last but not least ….
3 ) I would recommend Box, to embrace its OpenBox integration with INCOMING information such as paper scanning, field data collection and other applications that are being targeted by your niche oriented competitors which you can surpass due to your native Web 2.0 and open API architecture.
Meanwhile, I just want to express my gratitude for creating a state of the art technology that became part of my daily tools of trade, which without them I do not know how I could survive as a company moving forward. ( as a person, Box shares a place with my smartphone, Apple TV and my TIVO )
Document-sharing startup Box.net is getting a major upgrade today. It has always been a site where you can share all kinds of files and documents — but if a co-worker or colleague wanted to actually use those files, they’d have to download them and open them with the right software. Starting today, however, users can view those files online in Box.net, with the company’s new document viewer.
Now, if they don’t want to bother with downloading a file, users can just open it in their web browser. From the demos I’ve seen, the viewer opens files almost instantaneously, beating the time it would take to download and open a file in, say, Microsoft Word, and without any of the garbling or weird formatting that can result when you open a file with software other than the application it was created with — when you open a Word document in Google Docs, for example. There’s also limited interactivity, such as the ability enlarge and click through PowerPoint slides during a live presentation.
“We’ll see really, really high fidelity on 98 percent of the content,” said chief executive Aaron Levie.
Overall, that means more of Box.net’s activity can take place within the browser — unless you want to actually edit the documents, you don’t need download anything or futz with any additional software. The viewer was built with technology from Increo Solutions, a startup that Box acquired last year, and uses Adobe’s Flash technology.
Going forward, Box plans to add the ability to embed documents on other sites, to present analytics data about how people are viewing the documents, and even to provide some collaboration features within the documents, so you can not only read those documents in your browser, but also edit them with your teammates.
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer | VentureBeat
The Palo Alto, Calif. startup’s new features come a week after Google showed signs that it might become more competitive in this market, by adding the ability to upload and share files in Google Docs. But Box.net Vice President of Marketing Jen Grant (who was previously head of marketing for Google Apps) noted that Google hasn’t announced any serious content management features — no real workflow around managing documents or administrative support for tracking the files.
“Google Apps is a great Microsoft Exchange replacement, with its email and calendar combo,” Grant said. “We, on the other hand, are a cloud content management system, and a great replacement for Microsoft Sharepoint. Together, we think we can be a viable solution to replace the Microsoft stack.”
Previous Story: Why do VCs blog (and Tweet)?
Email Print Bookmark Google Delicious Facebook Twitter StumbleUpon MySpace Digg Live More…
Selected for you by a sponsor:
Outbrain’s New Outloud, A Powerful Paid Recirculation Tool (CEO Interview) (VC Cafe)
You might also like:
Upload feature turns Google Docs into my new hard drive (this site)
Microsoft misses the boat on web applications (this site)
Why do VCs blog (and Tweet)? (this site)
Box.net
http://www.box.net/
Watch Company
Get Widget
After starting as a college business project in 2005, Box.net was officially launched in March of 2006 with the vision of connecting people, devices and networks. Box.net provides over 900,000 users...More»
After starting as a college business project in 2005, Box.net was officially launched in March of 2006 with the vision of connecting people, devices and networks. Box.net provides over 900,000 users with secure online file storage and sharing functionality. They say their platform “allows personal and commercial content to be accessible, sharable, and storable in any format from anywhere.”«Less
Overview
Location: Palo Alto, CA, United States
Industry: Consumer Internet
Employees: 16
Tags: Omnidrive, backup, File Sharing, storage, Xdrive
Financials
Latest Funding: Series B - $6M (01/2008)
Investors: US Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Juvertson
Market
Competitors: Omnidrive, Dropbox, Xdrive, Memeo, Oosah, Wuala, Dropsend, 2Large2Email, LeapFILE, ShareFile, SugarSync, Streamload
Related Companies: Oodrive Technologies, CTERA Networks, Syncplicity
Recent News
Jan 21, 2010
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer
Jan 12, 2010
Upload feature turns Google Docs into my new hard drive
Jan 21, 2010
Box.net Launches Flash-Based Universal File Viewer, Saves You Some Headaches
Jan 21, 2010
Box.net: New Features and a New Phrase for the Cloud
Jan 12, 2010
Google Docs Adds Support for File Storage
Box.net Company Profile powered by VentureBeat Profiles.
Tags: co:Box.net
About the Author, Anthony Ha
Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
Showing 1 comment
Sort by Popular now Best Rating Newest first Oldest first Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS
Gervase Clifton-Bligh 1 hour ago
Didn't Sosius integrate this technology a couple of years ago?
Flag LikeReplyReply
Add New Comment
You are commenting as a Guest. Optional: Login below.
Subscribe to all comments by email
Share on Share this comment on... Configure options...Post as Guest
Reactions
virttoo 3 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer: Document-sharing startup Box.net is getting a major... http://tinyurl.com/y8fm9ep
leahsoleil 5 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
Twitter News: Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer: Document-sharing startup Box.net is getting... http://bit.ly/54MOBg
smashingfeed 5 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer: Document-sharing startup Box.net is getting a major upgra... http://bit.ly/4TPE7P
Godrej_Infotech 6 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
RT @TechnologyFeed: Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer http://tinyurl.com/yjgjn88 #tech #news
StartupDigest 6 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer http://bit.ly/5zdVKT [via @VentureBeat]
uplinks 6 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer http://bit.ly/54MOBg
TechnologyFeed 6 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer http://tinyurl.com/yjgjn88 #tech #news
vb2tw 6 hours ago
From twitter via BackType
VentureBeat: Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer: Document-sharing startup Box.net is getting ... http://bit.ly/54MOBg
VBPulse 10 hours ago
From twitter via UberVUOne more retweet from PulseOnTech
Box.net improves sharing with an online document viewer | VentureBeat: The new features comes as a result of Box’s... http://bit.ly/7vf7gC
Show more reactions
Trackback URL
Box.net Builds Content Management For Cloud Storage
Late last week, Box.net unveiled Cloud Content Management, a layer of management capabilities for files, users, groups, work flow and collaboration atop the company's Web-based file storage system. According to the company, the move is an effort to provide today's increasingly mobile workforce with a platform that's in line with they way they work, more so than similar solutions available today.
The Box.net service provides cloud-based file storage and sharing for a monthly fee based on the number of users in your company or department. Files are uploaded through a browser and organized in folders, just as on a hard driver or server. Files can contain comments and be shared with and downloaded by non-members based on length of time, number of downloads or other parameters. With today's news, Box.net now lets users create other users, organize them into groups, grant them sharing rights to files and and folders and report usage stats. "Now you can see who's sharing what and who's doing the most stuff," explained Jen Grant, Box.net's vice president of Marketing.
Grant said the company is taking aim at SharePoint, Microsoft's ubiquitous Office-integrated platform that offers many of the same capabilities from behind the firewall. "People are realizing that they need to share their data outside the firewall and to connect with partners," said Grant, adding that it won't be difficult to compete with Microsoft in terms of ease-of-use. "The new knowledge worker is web savvy. They're using tools like Facebook and Twitter, which are easy to use and enable people to share. People expect the same kind of usability in business software." This suggests that if systems provided by their company's IT department are too rigid, "people will just go around them."
Box.net CEO Aaron Levie acknowledges two areas in need of improvement for 2010. One is the ability to scale service of its 3.5 million users in 50,000 businesses accessing a million files per day. "Globablization is an important project, and we want to improve the speed of access as much as possible," he said. "North America is key concentration for us, but we're talking to service providers for delivering content and co-locating in other regions this year and next year as a priority."
Another area targeted for improvement is the method by which files are populated into the system. "Today you can add single or multiple files or create content directly online," said Levie. "But we are developing additional ways to capture data and to implement as many ways to transfer content as possible." In the works for later this year, for example, is support for Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV), as well as desktop integration. This is in reaction to a shift in the company's customer base from mainly sales people to IT departments, Grant said.
Christopher High handles sales and marketing development at Inverness Medical, which supplies diagnostic equipment to hospitals and laboratories across the U.S. He said that when he came on board, literature requests from the company's 300-person remote sales team were handled one at a time. "We have a large number of products, plus brochures, package inserts, health guides...nearly 13,000 pieces of literature." Whenever a salesperson needed collateral, they called the main office. "It was archaic. Now if they have a new customer to introduce a product, they can download it directly." Part of High's job is to maintain the Box.net library. "Now that they're all online, we can keep them all updated and easily accessible for our reps and include permanent links in our marketing materials and newsletters."
The Box.net platform also now provides the ability to accurately render the contents of dozens of file types through a browser without the application that created them. Fueled by its October acquisition of Increo Solutions, Box.net can now display Office, Open Office, WordPerfect, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, EPS, Postscript and numerous other image formats. They can play Flash video and MP3 audio, as well. "Company wide, Box.net can replace file servers to have all content online," asserted Grant. The most common use cases are for small teams and departments to consolidate resources and for managing project work flow, collaboration, commenting and controlling multiple file versions. "And the great thing about content online is that it's automatically backed up," added Levie. "All info is stored redundantly and not in an archive; everything stays active."
"Google has done online document creation and collaboration better than anyone else," said Grant. "But they offer no management capabilities, no work flow, system administration or reporting. We've built cloud content management that's a replacement for SharePoint, and with GoogleApps, it could replace your entire Microsoft stack." High said he has been waiting for these capabilities. "That's why we chose Box, because they said they were adding this. Now that they have, it's even easier to get users in and out."
Centric’s Document Management system harnesses proven and industry leading, cloud based technology to deliver the most secure, sophisticated and practical information management demands of today’s most successful companies.
We offer both proven and cutting edge document management tools that complement your existing IT infrastructure, with the world’s only on-demand software that allows you to maintain total control over your content. Simply put, Centric streamlines business processes, sharply reduces overhead, improves customer service and ensures compliance. And best of all, our software doesn’t need an extra consultant and a project timeline to install it, you can be up and running by the end of the day.
Centric’s Document Management Features Include:
• Full text search across all file formats
• Instant preview of countless file types
• Check-in / check-out RM functionality
• Seamless integration with MS Office applications
• Automated workflow business tools
• Complete audit trail & version/revision features
• Document collaboration tools
• Built-in retention module with manageable policies
• Advanced user and group security privileges
• Capture capabilities/OCR recognition/bar code tracking
• Document linking across all file formats
• And much more…
Centric’s Document Management Benefits Lead To:
• Sharp reduction in operating costs
• Increases in productivity
• Minimizing risk and ensuring compliance
• Getting more done with less staff
• Reduction of attorneys fees for legal discovery
• Reduction of real estate costs for records spaces
• Easier retrieval of records and documentation
As the industry’s premier cloud based Enterprise Content, Records and Document Management System, Centric’s benefits include tools for:
eDiscovery and Compliance – links to retention page
An influx of regulations from state, federal and industry have resulted in an explosion in severe risks and
penalties for non-compliant companies. Legal risks should never be overlooked, with the courts now requiring that all information regarding a legal matter, whether in the form of email, text files, spreadsheets or plain old paper be handed over to opposing to an adversary or the court.
Disaster Recovery
The loss or damage of company data in a traditional paper based system may be initiated by natural causes in addition to inevitable power failures and web viruses that can create issues as well for files and data stored electronically.
Reducing Cost by Going Green and Going Paperless
Start working toward an office with fewer paper, printing, and filing or storage costs for old documents. Centric encourages an office environment that enables collaboration and information exchange without the need for excessive document production.
Business Process Management and Workflow Automation – links to workflow page
Centric workflow provides organizations with a solution to automate document processes, setup tasks and collaborate among departments or with outside vendors and partners who are granted security. By streamlining workflow procedures, documents can be electronically routed to provide efficiency gains.
Data Capture – links to unified paperless office page
Converting paper files into a digital format is simple with Centric. Front end capture solutions combined with Centric’s Capture Center can read and process bar codes, recognize specific forms or use free form OCR techniques to effectively collect the information in your scanned materials.
Nice discussion going on.
Internet money
Nice article, I was looking for these kind of information.
Please continue writing....
Regards:offshore software development India
That was my thought,too. jraqpg jraqpg - 2012 moncler jacket.
I thank thee that I am none of the wheels of power but I am one with the living creatures that are crushed by it. envkwq envkwq - Moncler Jacka Sverige Online.