Vendor Landscape: Cloud File Sharing

Transcription

1 Deploy a robust solution that allows users to securely access their files anytime, anywhere., Inc. Is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns Inc. 1

2 Introduction As access ubiquity and document-centric collaboration needs have become more complex, many organizations are turning to cloud file sharing (CFS) products to provide end users with a lightweight but effective solution for storing, sharing, and managing their work-related files. This Research Is Designed For: IT leaders who want to understand how document-centric collaboration can be enabled via CFS solutions. Application managers who want to complement their existing ECM ecosystems with cloud file sharing applications. Enterprises who are seeking to select a specific vendor for cloud file sharing. Their CFS use case may include: Enabling document collaboration for remote workers. Encouraging persistent team communication. This Research Will Help You: Understand how deploying a CFS solution enables easy and secure access to content. Review what s new in the CFS market. Review the feature sets and functionality offered by market-leading CFS vendors and their products. Evaluate CFS vendors and products for your enterprise needs. Determine which products are most appropriate for particular use cases and scenarios. 2

3 Executive Summary Info-Tech evaluated fourteen competitors in the cloud file sharing solution market, including the following notable performers: Champions: Box: A vendor that provides an excellent all-around feature set with significant workflow and content analytic capabilities. Citrix: A vendor renowned for its flexible deployment options and enterprise-grade security. Egnyte: A strong vendor with multiple storage models and good administrative controls. Hightail: A cloud-centric vendor that focuses on ease of use and the replacement use case. Value Award: Microsoft: An increased emphasis on features at an extremely competitive price point within Office 365 make OneDrive a good pick for firms needing company-wide file sync and share capabilities. Trend Setter Award: AirWatch: AirWatch is disrupting the CFS space by approaching it from a mobile device management (MDM) background. Info-Tech Insight 1. It s easier than SharePoint and can integrate with SharePoint on the back end. Knowledge workers are embracing CFS more rapidly than other content collaboration tools like SharePoint, because the file/folder metaphor is well-understood by knowledge workers and is mobile-ready out of the box. 2. Mobility and collaboration features are paramount. The ability for employees to access content on the go, and act upon content shared through CFS provides the value. Look for features like task assignment and co-edit. 3. The enterprise security gap is almost closed. The majority of the vendors in this report support full IT admin, security, and audit controls. Some support private/public data storage options. However, some features (like double blind encryption) remain a differentiator. 3

4 Cloud File Sharing Market Overview How it got here Internet file hosting services have been around for a long time, but only after the explosion in popularity of solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive did the file sharing market gain widespread attention. Relative to traditional network file shares and enterprise content systems, consumer file services offered much greater ease of use and reliability this led to high levels of rogue enterprise adoption. As end users began to Bring Their Own Applications into the business, unsanctioned and unsupported use of consumer file sync and share tools like Dropbox caught the attention of corporate IT. In response to surging enterprise demand for secure alternatives, a large number of start-ups and storage incumbents moved to offer enterprise-grade file sharing services. In contrast to their consumer counterparts, enterprisefocused vendors of CFS products put significantly more time and effort into building robust security architecture, better administrative controls, and endto-end traceability and audit capabilities. Where it s going The storage layer of CFS is rapidly becoming commoditized, with additional business value generated by enhanced security, employee collaboration, content analytics, and integration capabilities. Many vendors are moving to a storage agnostic model and giving clients the option to store data in a public or private cloud, or in an on-premise hybrid solution. Extensive mobile support is an essential feature of most major CFS vendors, with many players proclaiming their products as mobile first. Some mobile device management vendors are now expanding their offerings to encompass the content management layer as well. Most vendors are putting an increasing emphasis on both the depth and breadth of integration with other solutions, particularly ECM and enterprise collaboration tools. We expect this CFS as an ecosystem trend to rapidly gain steam in the coming year. Finally, some CFS vendors are beginning to incorporate advanced rules engines and content analytics to help drive business process automation. Following the consumerization of IT trend, adoption of CFS solutions by businesses is mostly initiated bottomup. However, sales and marketing effort from vendors is slowly changing the purchase pattern, and Info-Tech is seeing more and more CFS adoption as an enterprise initiative. 4

5 CFS vendor selection and knock-out criteria: market share, mind share, and platform coverage Vendors in this report are some of the most prominent and well-recognized CFS vendors from a business-focus standpoint. We also evaluated a few powerful vendors with a strong consumer presence, but that are making enterprise plays as well (such as Dropbox). Excluded were primarily consumer-focused offerings (such as Google Drive or icloud). For this Vendor Landscape, Info-Tech focused on those vendors that offer broad capabilities across multiple platforms and that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among mid- and large-sized enterprises. Included in this Vendor Landscape: Accellion: A 3-tier business solution that can be scaled up and geographically segmented as needed. AirWatch: An MDM-offshoot that is cross-platform and offers a self-service portal for users. Barracuda: A robust offering that enables a single seat to federate between business and personal use. Box: An extremely popular business-ready alternative to the more unsecure consumer offerings. Citrix: An innovative solution with an on-premise option for risk or compliance-minded organizations. Dropbox: Better known in the consumer space, Dropbox now has an enterprise play as well. Egnyte: An admin-friendly product that segments administration capabilities by roles and offers a hybrid storage model. Hightail: A best-of-breed option for deep integration and attachment replacement. Infrascale: A cloud-centric solution that puts double blind encryption and security front and center. Microsoft: Microsoft has begun to beef up its OneDrive offering with deep 365 integration. OpenText: A private cloud offering that stresses ECM features and enterprise-level security. Salesforce: Deeply embedded into the Chatter environment, Files brings CFS to social collaboration. SugarSync: A compelling offering with an extremely consistent interface across multiple devices. Workshare: A service that is at home in compliance-centric industries that requires compare and contrast tools. 5

6 Cloud File Sharing criteria & weighting factors Product Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weighting: Features Usability The solution provides basic and advanced feature/functionality. The end user and administrative interfaces are intuitive and offer streamlined workflow. Features 40% 20% Usability % Affordability Affordability Implementing and operating the solution is affordable given the technology. 20% Architecture Architecture Multiple deployment options and extensive integration capabilities are available. Product 60% Vendor Evaluation Criteria Viability Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be around for the long term. 40% Strategy Reach Vendor is committed to the space and has a future product and portfolio roadmap. Vendor offers global coverage and is able to sell and provide post-sales support. Viability 25% Vendor 30% Strategy Channel Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the channels themselves are strong. Channel 25% 20% Reach 6

7 The Info-Tech Cloud File Sharing Vendor Landscape The zones of the Landscape Champions receive high scores for most evaluation criteria and offer excellent value. They have a strong market presence and are usually the trend setters for the industry. Market Pillars are established players with very strong vendor credentials, but with more average product scores. Innovators have demonstrated innovative product strengths that act as their competitive advantage in appealing to niche segments of the market. Emerging Players are comparatively newer vendors who are starting to gain a foothold in the marketplace. They balance product and vendor attributes, though score lower relative to market Champions. The Info-Tech CFS Vendor Landscape Infrascale Accellion AirWatch Egnyte Citrix Barracuda Hightail Workshare Salesforce Microsoft Dropbox SugarSync Box OpenText For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape is created, see Information Presentation Vendor Landscape in the Appendix. 7

8 Balance individual strengths to find the best fit for your enterprise Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Accellion AirWatch Barracuda Box Citrix Dropbox Egnyte Legend =Exemplary =Good =Adequate =Inadequate =Poor *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publicly available pricing could not be found. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated, see Information Presentation Criteria Scores (Harvey Balls) in the Appendix. 8

9 Balance individual strengths to find the best fit for your enterprise Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Hightail Infrascale Microsoft OpenText Salesforce SugarSync Workshare Legend =Exemplary =Good =Adequate =Inadequate =Poor *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publicly available pricing could not be found. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated, see Information Presentation Criteria Scores (Harvey Balls) in the Appendix. 9

10 The Info-Tech Cloud File Sharing Value Index What is a Value Score? The Value Score indexes each vendor s product offering and business strength relative to its price point. It does not indicate vendor ranking. Champion On a relative basis, Microsoft maintained the highest Info-Tech Value Score 1234 TM of the vendor group. Vendors were indexed against Microsoft s performance to provide a complete, relative view of their product offerings. Vendors that score high offer more bang-for-the-buck (e.g. features, usability, stability, etc.) than the average vendor, while the inverse is true for those that score lower. Average Score: 74 Price-conscious enterprises may wish to give the Value Score more consideration than those who are more focused on specific vendor/product attributes *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publicly available pricing could not be found. For an explanation of how Price is determined, see Information Presentation Price Evaluation in the Appendix. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Value Index is calculated, see Information Presentation Value Index in the Appendix. 10

11 Table Stakes represent the minimum standard; without these, a product doesn t even get reviewed The Table Stakes Feature Cloud File Repository Sharing Capabilities Basic Content Management What it is: The solution provides a cloud-based file repository structure for storing content. Files or folders can be easily shared between different users. Files can be ordered/structured in some hierarchical manner according to a user s needs. What Does This Mean? The products assessed in this Vendor Landscape TM meet, at the very least, the requirements outlined as Table Stakes. Many of the vendors go above and beyond the outlined Table Stakes, some even do so in multiple categories. This section aims to highlight the products capabilities in excess of the criteria listed here. Basic Sync The product provides some mechanism for updating files across devices. If Table Stakes are all you need from your cloud file sharing solution, the only true differentiator for the organization is price. Otherwise, dig deeper to find the best price to value for your needs. 11

12 Advanced Features are the capabilities that allow for granular market differentiation Scoring Methodology Info-Tech scored each vendor s features offering as a summation of their individual scores across the listed advanced features. Vendors were given one point for each feature the product inherently provided. Some categories were scored on a more granular scale with vendors receiving half points. Advanced Features Feature Library Services Desktop Sync Mobile Apps Content Administration User Administration Content Security and Encryption Collaboration Capabilities Audit and Reporting Capabilities Platform and App Integration What we looked for: How content is stored and handled (e.g. repository structure, versioning, etc.). Clients for PC and/or Mac. Selective sync, contextual integration, search integration. Native apps (ios, Android, Windows Phone), preview function, inline editing, mobile workflow. Extent of control over shared file admin (passcode lock, link expiry, file self-destruct). AD LDAP integration, user roles, group memberships, broadcast messaging. Basic in-transit and at-rest encryption: advanced points awarded for double-blind encryption. Ability to follow folders and files, commenting workflow, activity streams, synchronous editing. In-depth capabilities to log and track user activity and file history, compliance reports. End-user friendly integration with productivity tools or clients and other enterprise apps For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stop Lights) in the Appendix. 12

13 Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on what your organization needs Evaluated Features File Repository Desktop Sync Mobile Apps Content Admin User Admin Security and Encryption Content Collaboration Auditing and Reporting Front End Integration Accellion AirWatch Barracuda Box Citrix Dropbox Egnyte Legend =Feature fully present =Feature partially present/pending =Feature absent For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stoplights) in the Appendix. 13

14 Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on what your organization needs Evaluated Features File Repository Desktop Sync Mobile Apps Content Admin User Admin Security and Encryption Content Collaboration Auditing and Reporting Front End Integration Hightail Infrascale Microsoft OpenText Salesforce SugarSync Workshare Legend =Feature fully present =Feature partially present/pending =Feature absent For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stoplights) in the Appendix. 14

15 Scenario 2: Enterprise application integration support The features of CFS solutions alone might not be enough for your enterprise needs. Certain vendors excel at integrating with enterprise applications. 1 2 Enterprise Application Integration Support 3 Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use cases come to the forefront. Whether those use cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Exemplary Performers Box natively integrates with many enterprise applications, such as CRM, Single Sign-On (SSO), social collaboration platforms, etc. Its app marketplace is very mature with over 1,000 partner applications that either expose their functionality in Box or have Box embedded as the file sharing and collaboration service within the enterprise system. Hightail boasts a wide range of cloud integration partners, such as WinZip, Mozilla Thunderland, Salesforce, Outlook, SharePoint, and SkySync amongst many more. It hopes to expand this list soon with new partners such as Gmail, Mover.io, and NetApp. AirWatch offers deep integration with its own MDM product, as well as solutions from VMWare and IBM. Organizations needing best of breed mobile device management integration should consider AirWatch a frontrunner. For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. 15

16 Scenario 3: Dedicated mobile applications These vendors provide above-par mobile content access and management solutions for on-the-go knowledge workers Dedicated Mobile Applications Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use cases come to the forefront. Whether those use cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Exemplary Performers Box continues to innovate with its mobile apps, particularly post-3.0 releases on ios. They offer native support for Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry as well. The new mobile preview provides excellent PowerPoint rendering, eliminating the need for additional products. AirWatch is available on ios, Windows, and Android. Most distinctively, it offers enhanced functionality, such as syncing across devices, in-line editing, and in-line previewing. Coming from an MDM background, mobile content management and security are also strong. Barracuda is a relatively new entrant with its Copy product, but its mobile apps are available across ios, Android, and Windows Phone and offer strong management and access functionality in an attractive, easy-to-use package. For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. 16

17 AirWatch takes a new approach on the file sharing market by coming at it from an MDM perspective Innovator Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Secure Content Locker 16,638 Atlanta, GA Air-watch.com 2003 Subsidiary of VMware VMW (NYSE) 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 4, between $25,000 and $50,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor. Overview Recently acquired by VMware, AirWatch has been a strong player in the Mobile Device Management (MDM) space for the last several years. AirWatch s Secure Content Locker embeds CFS functionality into their overall product portfolio. Strengths AirWatch Secure Content Locker provides organizations with a range of storage agnostic options: storage can be provisioned from AirWatch in the public cloud, accessed in consumer solutions like Google Drive via a connector, or linked to on-premise storage repositories or other solutions. Not surprising given their MDM heritage, Secure Content Locker encompasses a wide range of granular security and user access controls and reports. Challenges Desktop synchronization capabilities are present, but haven t been the focus of AirWatch s development efforts. As a result, some competitors outmaneuver them in the traditional desktop sync category. While Secure Content Locker is a strong product, AirWatch s goto-market strategy has been limited thus far to selling into existing AirWatch accounts. A broader focus on the content business will help propel greater CFS mind share for the company. 17

18 AirWatch has a strong feature set across the board: it s a newer entrant whose MDM perspective positions it well Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Collaboration Features of AirWatch Document collaboration Discussions Activity stream Value Index No synchronous editing present Commenting on files, threaded discussions Personalized activity stream 98 Features 3 rd out of 14 Lib. Services Desktop Mobile File Admin. User Admin. Cont. Security Cont. Collab. Audit/Report App. Int. Info-Tech Recommends: If storage ubiquity and MDM-grade device management capabilities are a key requirement for your organization, AirWatch should definitely be on your shortlist. AirWatch s range of integrations might lag behind some of their competitors, but their unique take on the market make them a compelling choice, especially for organizations that are also considering broader MDM capabilities as well. 18