Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Deploy a Robust Solution That Allows Users to Securely Access Their Files Anytime, Anywhere
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Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Deploy a robust solution that allows users to securely access their files anytime, anywhere. Info-Tech Research Group, Inc. Is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns. Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing © 1997-2014 Info-Tech Research Group Inc. Info-Tech Research Group 1 Introduction As access ubiquity and document-centric collaboration needs have become more complex, many organizations are turning to cloud file sharing (CFS) products to provide end users with a lightweight but effective solution for storing, sharing, and managing their work-related files. This Research Is Designed For: This Research Will Help You: IT leaders who want to understand how Understand how deploying a CFS solution document-centric collaboration can be enabled enables easy and secure access to content. via CFS solutions. Review what’s new in the CFS market. Application managers who want to complement their existing ECM ecosystems Review the feature sets and functionality with cloud file sharing applications. offered by market-leading CFS vendors and their products. Enterprises who are seeking to select a specific vendor for cloud file sharing. Their Evaluate CFS vendors and products for your CFS use case may include: enterprise needs. • Enabling document collaboration for remote Determine which products are most workers. appropriate for particular use cases and • Encouraging persistent team scenarios. communication. Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Info-Tech Research Group 2 Executive Summary Info-Tech evaluated fourteen competitors in the cloud file Info-Tech Insight sharing solution market, including the following notable performers: 1. It’s easier than SharePoint and can integrate with SharePoint on the back Champions: end. Knowledge workers are embracing CFS ◦ Box: A vendor that provides an excellent all-around feature set more rapidly than other content collaboration with significant workflow and content analytic capabilities. tools like SharePoint, because the file/folder metaphor is well-understood by knowledge ◦ Citrix: A vendor renowned for its flexible deployment options and workers and is mobile-ready out of the box. enterprise-grade security. 2. Mobility and collaboration features are ◦ Egnyte: A strong vendor with multiple storage models and good paramount. administrative controls. The ability for employees to access content ◦ Hightail: A cloud-centric vendor that focuses on ease of use and on the go, and act upon content shared the “email replacement” use case. through CFS provides the value. Look for features like task assignment and co-edit. Value Award: 3. The enterprise security gap is almost ◦ Microsoft: An increased emphasis on features at an extremely closed. competitive price point within Office 365 make OneDrive a good The majority of the vendors in this report pick for firms needing company-wide file sync and share support full IT admin, security, and audit capabilities. controls. Some support private/public data Trend Setter Award: storage options. However, some features (like double blind encryption) remain a ◦ AirWatch: AirWatch is disrupting the CFS space by approaching differentiator. it from a mobile device management (MDM) background. Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Info-Tech Research Group 3 Cloud File Sharing Market Overview How it got here Where it’s going • Internet file hosting services have been around for a • The storage layer of CFS is rapidly becoming long time, but only after the explosion in popularity of commoditized, with additional business value generated solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive did the file by enhanced security, employee collaboration, content sharing market gain widespread attention. analytics, and integration capabilities. Many vendors are moving to a “storage agnostic” model and giving clients • Relative to traditional network file shares and the option to store data in a public or private cloud, or in enterprise content systems, consumer file services an on-premise hybrid solution. offered much greater ease of use and reliability – this led to high levels of “rogue” enterprise adoption. • Extensive mobile support is an essential feature of most major CFS vendors, with many players proclaiming their • As end users began to “Bring Their Own Applications” products as “mobile first.” Some mobile device into the business, unsanctioned and unsupported use management vendors are now expanding their offerings of consumer file sync and share tools like Dropbox to encompass the content management layer as well. caught the attention of corporate IT. In response to surging enterprise demand for secure alternatives, a • Most vendors are putting an increasing emphasis on both large number of start-ups and storage incumbents the depth and breadth of integration with other solutions, moved to offer enterprise-grade file sharing services. particularly ECM and enterprise collaboration tools. We expect this “CFS as an ecosystem” trend to rapidly gain • In contrast to their consumer counterparts, enterprise- steam in the coming year. focused vendors of CFS products put significantly more time and effort into building robust security • Finally, some CFS vendors are beginning to incorporate architecture, better administrative controls, and end- advanced rules engines and content analytics to help to-end traceability and audit capabilities. drive business process automation. Following the “consumerization of IT” trend, adoption of CFS solutions by businesses is mostly initiated bottom- up. However, sales and marketing effort from vendors is slowly changing the purchase pattern, and Info-Tech is seeing more and more CFS adoption as an enterprise initiative. Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Info-Tech Research Group 4 CFS vendor selection and knock-out criteria: market share, mind share, and platform coverage • Vendors in this report are some of the most prominent and well-recognized CFS vendors from a business-focus standpoint. We also evaluated a few powerful vendors with a strong consumer presence, but that are making enterprise plays as well (such as Dropbox). Excluded were primarily consumer-focused offerings (such as Google Drive or iCloud). • For this Vendor Landscape, Info-Tech focused on those vendors that offer broad capabilities across multiple platforms and that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among mid- and large-sized enterprises. Included in this Vendor Landscape: • Accellion: A 3-tier business solution that can be scaled up and geographically segmented as needed. • AirWatch: An MDM-offshoot that is cross-platform and offers a self-service portal for users. • Barracuda: A robust offering that enables a single seat to federate between business and personal use. • Box: An extremely popular business-ready alternative to the more unsecure consumer offerings. • Citrix: An innovative solution with an on-premise option for risk or compliance-minded organizations. • Dropbox: Better known in the consumer space, Dropbox now has an enterprise play as well. • Egnyte: An admin-friendly product that segments administration capabilities by roles and offers a hybrid storage model. • Hightail: A best-of-breed option for deep email integration and attachment replacement. • Infrascale: A cloud-centric solution that puts double blind encryption and security front and center. • Microsoft: Microsoft has begun to beef up its OneDrive offering with deep 365 integration. • OpenText: A private cloud offering that stresses ECM features and enterprise-level security. • Salesforce: Deeply embedded into the Chatter environment, Files brings CFS to social collaboration. • SugarSync: A compelling offering with an extremely consistent interface across multiple devices. • Workshare: A service that is at home in compliance-centric industries that requires compare and contrast tools. Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Info-Tech Research Group 5 Cloud File Sharing criteria & weighting factors Product Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weighting: The solution provides basic and advanced Features 20% Usability feature/functionality. 1234 Features 40% The end user and administrative interfaces are Usability intuitive and offer streamlined workflow. 20% Affordability Implementing and operating the solution is Affordability 20% affordable given the technology. Architecture Multiple deployment options and extensive Product Architecture integration capabilities are available. 60% Vendor Evaluation Criteria Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be Viability around for the long term. 40% Vendor Vendor is committed to the space and has a Strategy future product and portfolio roadmap. Viability Strategy 25% Vendor offers global coverage and is able to sell 30% Reach and provide post-sales support. Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the Channel channels themselves are strong. 25% 20% Channel Reach Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing Info-Tech Research Group 6 The Info-Tech Cloud File Sharing Vendor Landscape The zones of the Landscape The Info-Tech CFS Vendor Landscape Champions receive high scores for most evaluation criteria and offer excellent value. They have a strong market presence and are usually the trend setters for the industry. Market Pillars are established players with very strong vendor credentials, but with more average Infrascale product scores. Accellion