VMWare to Create Dropbox for the Enterprise

CRN has a note about VMWare’s intention to launch a more secure Dropbox for the enterprise.  Both Dropbox and Box.com have nifty solutions that make it really easy to share and sync documents.  Their offerings shouldn’t be confused with other collaboration vendors who allow you to share your files via a web based interface or via a connected folder.  Dropbox in particular does a fantastic job of automatically syncing your files to your Mac, PC, iPhone, Android, and other systems.  It does all the hard stuff for you.  Share a folder, have it sync automatically, get on a plane and it’s there.  The key to it’s success lies in how seamless and easy they make it for users.  The key issue, as VMWare hints at, is the security.  So it doesn’t surprise me that VMWare has a secure cloud based offering in the works.  I’m happy with security but I’ll reserve judgement on it’s value after they launch it and it’s as easy to use as dropbox.  If it’s just another fileshare, it will bring no value.

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To all the other collaboration vendors out there, I hope you are listening because except for an interesting new offering from Liferay, I don’t see anything resembling Dropbox but I’ve had two clients in the past four months begging for enterprise Dropbox.  It’s time to get it in gear folks.

But enough ranting, here are a couple nice quotes:

VMware is planning to launch the beta for its Project Octopus cloud storage service by the end of June, and partners are eager to get their hands on one of the pillars of the company’s “post-PC” vision.

VMware first introduced Project Octopus at VMworld last September, and company executives have taken to calling it “Dropbox for the enterprise,” with the implication that organizations that are allowing their employees to use Dropbox at work are taking an unnecessary risk.

…………………..

AppBlast, VMware’s technology for delivering Windows and other apps to Web browsers and device supporting HTML 5, and Horizon, its cloud-based identity system, are critical parts of the company’s vision for a future in which PCs are relegated to the sidelines, and replaced by non Windows devices for primary computing purposes.

“If you have a way to pull apps and data into a browser, and cloud storage, and a universal agent on devices, you have to ask yourself why you’d need a desktop,” he said. (emphasis added)

Go to the CRN site for the entire article.