Box.net: Remote file sharing at its best
I've been a happy customer of Box.net for a few years now, and decided to finally let others know just how useful this service is. For just a few dollars per month I am able to provide clients with a secure, on-line environment for uploading files, which is particularly useful during a data migration.
While the free Google Docs product works great for sharing a few spreadsheets, presentations, or word-processing documents, working with large quantities of large CSVs is not efficient in Google Docs, and sharing PDFs is not possible.
With Box.net I can create folders, upload files, and invite users to securely log in to download or upload files. If I upgraded to a different plan I could even integrate the stored files with my SalesForce.com CRM system so that files I share with clients could be accessed from their records in my CRM system, but I wouldn't have to waste CRM storage space housing files that other staff don't need to use in the course of their work. It also integrates with QuickBase, Docusign, and eFax, among many other SaaS products.
When you want something more organized than just emailing lots of attachments to a target group of recipients and want something simpler and far easier to set up than SharePoint (good grief), Box.net can be a real life-saver. And with the Business version of the service you gain version control, higher file size limits, and the ability to sync your desktop file system to your Box.net file system, among other features. You just need to have at least 3 Box.net accounts to upgrade to the Business account level.
For Personal and Business plans, pricing ranges from Free to $15/user/month. For large businesses you should contact Box.net sales to inquire about custom pricing for volume discounts within the Enterprise plan.
The main differences between the plans are storage and file size limits:
When you go to the Enterprise plan you also get full custom branding, the ability to embed the service in your own website for staff and customers to use, and the full suite of integration with technology partners. This is a great option for law firms, marketing firms, or companies with large marketing departments where there will be many external users with different domains for their email addresses who will all want to be able to create folders and upload files under your account.
One really cool feature of how the service works is that anyone you invite to share a folder with you gets your level of service while working in your folder, even if they only have a free account. So if you have a business account, which unlike the personal plans allows version control, 2GB files and password protected individual documents (as opposed to secure folders, which are available in all plans), even if the collaborators you invite to share that folder with you only open free accounts to access the folder, they will still enjoy all those business plan features.
Of course, when they move on to their next project they will still only have a free account, so if they want those features for folders they create in their account to share with others they will need to upgrade to a business plan themselves. This marketing approach has allowed Box.net to grow at a rapid pace without marketing any of the personal plans other than the free one. Most paid users start as free users on someone-else' account, then seeing the value of the service, upgrade to a fuller featured plan.
I've been very happy with this service and if you have never tried it yourself then you should try one of the free accounts. Or if you already know you need the features of the Business plan, but don't want to commit right off the bat, you can sign up for a free 2 week trial.
While the free Google Docs product works great for sharing a few spreadsheets, presentations, or word-processing documents, working with large quantities of large CSVs is not efficient in Google Docs, and sharing PDFs is not possible.
With Box.net I can create folders, upload files, and invite users to securely log in to download or upload files. If I upgraded to a different plan I could even integrate the stored files with my SalesForce.com CRM system so that files I share with clients could be accessed from their records in my CRM system, but I wouldn't have to waste CRM storage space housing files that other staff don't need to use in the course of their work. It also integrates with QuickBase, Docusign, and eFax, among many other SaaS products.
When you want something more organized than just emailing lots of attachments to a target group of recipients and want something simpler and far easier to set up than SharePoint (good grief), Box.net can be a real life-saver. And with the Business version of the service you gain version control, higher file size limits, and the ability to sync your desktop file system to your Box.net file system, among other features. You just need to have at least 3 Box.net accounts to upgrade to the Business account level.
For Personal and Business plans, pricing ranges from Free to $15/user/month. For large businesses you should contact Box.net sales to inquire about custom pricing for volume discounts within the Enterprise plan.
The main differences between the plans are storage and file size limits:
- Lite Personal Plan (Free) provides 5 GB of per person storage, with 25MB file size limits
- Personal Plan upgrade level 1 provides 25 GB of per person storage, with 1GB file size limits
- Personal Plan upgrade level 2 provides 50 GB of per person storage, with 1GB file size limits
- Business Plan provides 500 GB of companywide storage, with 2GB files size limits
- Enterprise Plan provides unlimited storage, with 2GB file size limits
When you go to the Enterprise plan you also get full custom branding, the ability to embed the service in your own website for staff and customers to use, and the full suite of integration with technology partners. This is a great option for law firms, marketing firms, or companies with large marketing departments where there will be many external users with different domains for their email addresses who will all want to be able to create folders and upload files under your account.
One really cool feature of how the service works is that anyone you invite to share a folder with you gets your level of service while working in your folder, even if they only have a free account. So if you have a business account, which unlike the personal plans allows version control, 2GB files and password protected individual documents (as opposed to secure folders, which are available in all plans), even if the collaborators you invite to share that folder with you only open free accounts to access the folder, they will still enjoy all those business plan features.
Of course, when they move on to their next project they will still only have a free account, so if they want those features for folders they create in their account to share with others they will need to upgrade to a business plan themselves. This marketing approach has allowed Box.net to grow at a rapid pace without marketing any of the personal plans other than the free one. Most paid users start as free users on someone-else' account, then seeing the value of the service, upgrade to a fuller featured plan.
I've been very happy with this service and if you have never tried it yourself then you should try one of the free accounts. Or if you already know you need the features of the Business plan, but don't want to commit right off the bat, you can sign up for a free 2 week trial.
Labels: Recommended_Apps, SaaS
posted by Dutton at
2:58 PM
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