OneDrive for Business Unveiled at SharePoint Conference
At a recent SharePoint conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft formally kicked off its new cloud storage option for business. Microsoft’s former business cloud storage tool was called SkyDrive Pro. The service’s name has since been retired in order to adapt to the new OneDrive branding schema. OneDrive for Business offers upgrades in terms of functionality, space and security. Given that Microsoft has just kicked off this service for businesses, if you get in early, you may receive special promotional pricing. Currently, Microsoft is selling this service a promotional price of $2.50 per user per month. Existing Office 365 customers are eligible for $1.50 per user per month pricing. This allows users to have up to 100GBs each based on the plan you select.
If your users have Office 365, it is possible that they already have been upgraded to the OneDrive for Business. What sets this offering apart from other business cloud storage services? OneDrive is now available as an independent solution outside of the Office 365 suite. This allows Microsoft to sell OneDrive for Business to companies that may be using solutions outside of the Microsoft umbrella of offerings.
Microsoft stresses the simplicity of OneDrive for Business. All of the controls you need to manage your files are the top of the window. Microsoft has listened to user feedback and better improved the search functionality in OneDrive. This suite fully integrates into SharePoint which allows all of your in house Microsoft apps to talk to each another. OneDrive for Business also encrypts your data while it is at rest.
The best part about OneDrive for business is that is follows the Office 365 service level agreement. This means that you can feel at ease about the security and availability of your files. Since OneDrive for personal use fits in so well with the Windows 8 lineup, OneDrive for Business is expected to fill the same roles except it will now be available on any platform since the service can purchased as a standalone product. This allows users with iOS and Android to enjoy the benefits that OneDrive for Business has to offer. Microsoft OneDrive for business is constantly upgrading their infrastructure and more information can be found on the OneDrive for Business blog.
