IBM announced a cloud file sharing service at IBM ConnectED 2015
Tags :ibmconnected ibmconnect lotusphere files IBM Connections
Competing with http://t.co/5k9kfw4WDS and dropbox through new Connections file share features? Let's go @jeffschick #want #ibmconnected
— Ed Brill (@edbrill) January 26, 2015IBM, via Jeff Schick, announced at IBM ConnectED 2015, a cloud file sharing service to compete with services like Dropbox, Box and Copy. While exact dates were not offered this is an interesting market for IBM to enter now.
This cloud based file sharing will be based on IBM Cloud Connections and is likely an entry point into upselling users on a full IBM Connections deployment. While an exact date for this offering was not made, the infrastructure beginnings are already in place.
What I found interesting was the late arrival of this offering when many organizations a deeply entrenched with services like Dropbox already. Most everyone you share with personally even asks what your Dropbox email address is. It seems certain services have become ubiquitous with the term file sharing and starting up usage on another service just for that offering would not be a draw.
That is where IBM can make a difference with Profiles wrapped around the files as a free counterpart. Seeing more information about the person you are sharing files with could be beneficial for users. Will the leap to using full IBM Connections happen? That depends on the model and costs of storage and services combined.
Services like Copy.com can already start you with 15GB free (using my link get 15GB today), Box.net starts with 10GB compared to Dropbox only offering 2GB to start. IBM will have to fall somewhere in the middle to draw new users. Also the maximum size of individual files will have to be considered. Online cloud storage is a highly competitive environment and IBM is coming in from a different aspect than the others. They are files first. IBM is offering a social platform that has file storage.
When I get more dates and pricing I will update this posting.
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On Monday, February 9th, 2015 by Chris Miller
