Dropbox to discontinue Dropbox for Teams...
... and replace it with Dropbox for Business.
The poster child of cloud-based file sharing services, Dropbox has announced this new service targeting enterprises. The service costs $795 per year for 5 users and includes 1 TB of storage space. Enterprise features include support for single sign-on (SSO) and Active Directory integration.
Dropbox is already used within many enterprises, sometimes clandestinely and so the vendor quietly has a broad customer base. Some people believe these existing users can now more easily push their IT departments to consider Dropbox. Just remember that at this stage, there is no way to convert user accounts from their regular service to Dropbox for Business.
The erstwhile Dropbox for Teams was sort of testing ground to see how a consumer-focussed service plays out in enterprises. With this announcement though, Dropbox has clearly indicated they want to target the more lucrative enterprise market which is currently dominated by the likes of Box and other vendors that we cover in our Cloud File Sharing report. Dropbox also acquired Mailbox recently. Now the ability to manage emails along with files could provide some sort of competitive advantage, if ever that happens.
In its current version, however, Dropbox for Business is rather thin in terms of enterprise features. Simplicity can be a good thing when it comes to adoption but can be a hindrance for sophisticated enterprise requirements.
In any case, this marketplace is active and fast evolving. We're updating our Cloud File Sharing report with all the new happenings and their impact, and if you subscribe, you'll be the first to get the inside story. Meanwhile, if you have experience working with any of these vendors, I'd love to hear from you.