Cloud Storage Provider Box is Scoring with Enterprises

The California-based Box boasts of 11 million existing users and is currently positioning itself in the market as an IT-friendly safe and secure way for users, particularly business-oriented ones, to store presentations, documents, and photos that can be shared as needed.

The new enterprise-wide search capability gives system administrators the ability to search, view, and access files and folders no matter where it is located in their organization, so that the contents can be checked if shared both inside and outside their company, using this, the admins can grant or end access to any user.

The emergence of mobile and portable devices as decent workstations has also prompted system administrators to adopt their management strategies, and Box knows this, giving them the ability to layer password locks and set permissions for smartphone users who require offline access to files. The capability is also available for Android devices, with iOS ones in the works.

The new additions to Box’s features should be a boon to IT staff and systems administrators who are paranoid about employees that store corporate documents in less secure cloud storages. The need for a controllable yet easy to use cloud storage is important nowadays, as more and more companies are encouraging employees to bring their own smartphones, tablets, and notebooks to work. The problem with this is the use of cloud storage used to be hard to police, with some companies even resorting to iron-handed policies, such as IBM’s case, when the company made the news a few weeks ago when it was reported that their BYOD program blocks several device capabilities, such as the iPhone’s Siri and most public file transfer programs.

The main problem is that the average consumer prefers easy storage services like Dropbox, and don’t really care enough about security outside of the first few layers. Additionally, they use these same storage services for work. With Box, the ease of use that consumers want is complemented by a secure cloud and admin-friendly controls, making it the total package when it comes to cloud storage services.

Box has also released a new ELA (Enterprise Licensing Agreement) that offers several multi year pricing and volume discounts that corporate clients expect from software vendors. Box also boasts of getting high profile businesses as clients, including Avaya, MGM Resorts International, Netflix, Lennar, Stanford Uni, and Webcor Builders.

It’s not a smooth road for cloud storage providers, though, as even large established providers are still prone to slip ups, such as when Box encountered a minor hitch a few weeks ago, resulting in some users being locked out of their documents for a few hours. While this may turn off some potential cloud storage adopters, it is worth keeping in mind that said glitches are not cloud specific, rather, they are usual occurrences for company data centers.