AVG Nixes Cloud Backup Service
AVG is known for being one of the best free downloadable antivirus products on the market today. AVG’s cloud storage service named LiveKive was an attempt to gain market share in the ever expanding cloud storage sector. In a forum post dated February 27th 2014, an AVG administrator noted that the LiveKive service would soon be discontinued.
AVG boasted a competitive pricing model which made this storage solution attractive to many AVG loyalists. The free tier of LiveKive offered 5GBs of free space on a trial basis and an unlimited storage tier that cost $80 annually. The AVG cloud storage service launched in 2011 and while the antivirus giant seemed to have gained some traction initially, the cloud storage product did not attract enough users for AVG to dedicate development resources to continue supporting the project.
Members of the AVG forum voiced their displeasure over the LiveKive product because they feel as if they were given a beta product that was full of issues. One AVG forum member noted that AVG had continuously promised a new update to the LiveKive software which would fix many of the bugs that users had been reporting. One specific bug was described by an AVG forum user in detail. The user said that “It stops syncing and drive C fills up like there is no tomorrow.”
Rather than fix the LiveKive issues or sell off the customer base, AVG has rolled out a plan for users to migrate their data so that LiveKive can be scrapped altogether. In April, LiveKive will stop allowing uploads and in August 2014, the service will cease to exist. As the cloud storage sector continues to become more competitive, more companies will continue to consolidate or discontinue certain cloud services in order to focus on their profitable revenue streams. In this case, AVG has decided to refocus on antivirus and let other companies handle their cloud storage clientele.
