SharePoint Workspace vs DropBox

Just yesterday we talked about Sharepoint Workspace - the tool which allows to sync files between Sharepoint server and user's computer, and today the cloud file collaborative service Box.net (which is positioned as a Sharepoint alternative) released the similar tool Box Sync. This is a program that is installed on your computer and allows you to sync any folder in your online Box.net account with desktop. If you change any file in that folder, it will be immediately synced, and those users who have access to this folder - will receive an alert. For now Box Sync is only available for Windows and only in the paid (business) accounts. Versions for Mac and Linux, as well as the free version will appear later this year.

We have already mentioned that p2p collaboration app MS Office Groove was renamed to SharePoint Workspace and utilized as an offline client for Sharepoint. Now we have got the chance to see SharePoint Workspace 2010 in action and it appears that offline access to Sharepoint - is not the only function of this application. First, SharePoint Workspace can be used without Sharepoint - as well as MS Office Groove. I.e. you can create Groove Workspace (with files, calendar, discussions) and sync it with computers of co-workers or customers. However, the audio-chat and permission levels disappeared from the application. Recall that SharePoint Workspace is not sold as a part of Sharepoint Server, but as a part of Office 2010 Pro Plus.

The suite of Web-services for creating collaborative websites Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) is renamed to SharePoint Foundation 2010. What has changed in the new version? For users - it's a new Ribbon-interface (like in Office 2007) with extensive use of Ajax and Silverlight technologies. Improved customization allow to build branded sites. Of course, the new version SharePoint Foundation 2010 is designed for use in conjunction with the upcoming Office 2010 and a new offline client SharePoint Workspace 2010 (former Groove, which was a part of MS Office). The new version will be especially useful for administrators as it contains a lot of new administrative tools. In particular, SharePoint Health Analyzer (which monitors the state of the Sharepoint-server), sandbox for websites and Windows PowerShell - new command-line interface. Developers will utilize Business Connectivity Services which enable to easily integrate Sharepoint with other business applications.

In this case by "Dropbox for Enterprise" we don't mean the business version of Dropbox. The fact is that the expression "Dropbox for Enterprise" has become a new meme. The largest enterprise software vendors want to release a product under the label "Dropbox for Enterprise". That's how they say: "We want to create something like Dropbox for Enterprise" (watch the video). Recall, Dropbox - is the super-popular file syncing and sharing service, which has already attracted 50 million users thanks to its simplicity and multi-platform support. It's business usage is limited due to the strict corporate security standards. But employees still tend to use it bypassing IT admins, and that is why the enterprise vendors are standing in the line to become the Enterprise Dropbox provider.

The popular online file sharing service DropBox finally launches a version for business - DropBox for Teams. It differs from the regular DropBox by two things. First, it has an administrative panel to manage users and access rights. In the admin panel you can also pay for all business users. Second, when sharing files inside DropBox for Teams account, the free disk space is not decreased. (In the regular DropBox version if somebody shares for example 100 MB file to you, your disk space is reduced by 100 MB). However, DropBox wants business version users not to think about the free space at all. DropBox for Teams provides at least 1TB of free space. This is 2 times bigger than in the business version of the main competitor - Box.net

Recently we wrote about to leading file collaboration services - DropBox and Box.net. Now it's time to add to this short list one more tool - SugarSync. During the last few months this service added some very important features: good version control system, free 2Gb subscription plan, iPhone and Android apps and the suitable file sending feature. And yesterday they unveiled business accounts that enable to administrate up to 100 user accounts - the feature that is much expected from DropBox. Besides the ability to create/delete user accounts, administrator can set storage limits for each user (and receive alerts when user is near limit) and easily scale the whole company storage volume. And of course, all payments are centralized.

DropBox and Box.net - are, probably, the most popular and successful online file sharing and collaboration services. And though they use two different approaches to the SaaS file storage, they both have alike strategy, supposing constant upgrades and new features development. During the recent months both services did a good job and it's interesting to compare their results.