Cloud Storage and File Sharing Providers Extend Enterprise Hooks
While almost everyone uses a file sharing and storage service such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft's SkyDrive, among a slew of other free services, business and IT decision makers want to reign in on the use of those services for business.
One popular alternative is LogMeIn, which today launched Cubby Enterprise. It's described as a business version of its file synchronization and sharing service. The service gives administrators control over data with key security capabilities including the ability to remotely wipe data off devices, set and enforce policies (such as how data are shared) and allows IT to require four-digit PIN codes to access data.
It also supports Active Directory Federation Services integration for single sign-on, domain-based administration to manage user accounts and the ability to remotely deploy on user systems. Cubby Enterprise also lets IT monitor in real time what data is shared and with whom. Annual subscriptions cost $39.99 per month for five users when prepaid.
Meanwhile, ownCloud launched its ownCloud 6 Enterprise Edition yesterday. The new release gives administrators more control over enterprise data thanks to a rules engine that can provide refined policies for how employees access data. The service is based on the ownCloud Community Edition, an open-source file sync and share project, which the company claims has more than 1.3 million users.
The company indicated back in December it was readying a new commercial edition of its offering, which offers a Dropbox-like experience. However customers who deploy it locally on an Apache Web server or Microsoft's IIS, can integrate it with Active Directory and it has an LDAP wizard for other directories. It uses SAML authentication and the company offers an API to tie it to other applications. It also comes with a plugin for the enterprise social media tool Jive -- a rival to Microsoft's Yammer service. (As an aside, Jive is exploring a potential sale, according to a report by Re/code, which says possible buyers include Oracle, SAP and Workday.)
Organizations with ownCloud 6 Enterprise Edition can store data on their own servers and/or in public clouds such as Amazon Web Services S3 or any OpenStack-SWIFT- based cloud. It doesn't currently support Windows Azure, though CEO Marcus Rex told me back in December he's eyeing that service as well. Customers can create hybrid storage services using local servers for some data and bursting to the public cloud for other content. Administrators can tie ownCloud 6 Enterprise Edition 6 with existing systems management suites and backup and recovery tools. Annual subscriptions start at $9,000 for 50 users.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 03/12/2014 at 12:55 PM