Dropbox Moves From The Social To The Business Sector

Dropbox is one of the easiest – and freest – ways to store and share files across the internet. For a while now people have been able to share documents, videos, and photos with others just by adding an email to their file. It’s so easy, in fact, that 300 million people use the Dropbox service regularly. Now, it seems, Dropbox is planning to expand and capitalize on the business sector with its latest added features.

According to the Technology Review, now that Dropbox has clients such as National Geographic and Under Armour, they will be capitalizing on this and adding productivity features in an effort to be competitive with the internet juggernauts, Microsoft and Google. Dropbox has been available for business use for a while now, but has geared its services more towards the social aspect of the internet rather than focusing on the business side. While it recently added a photo sharing function to its app and made it easier for iOS8 users, most of the other new tools it has added are more work orientated; commenting, document editing, and a collaboration add-on for Microsoft Office. According to Dropbox’s vice president of engineering, Aditya Agarwal, they are laying the foundations for the next generation of cloud sharing on the Dropbox platform.

“Our origins started off with a really simple idea—put your stuff in the cloud and have easy access to it from everywhere. I’d say that what we’re trying to build now is the next generation of how we get work done together.”

But how will all these new Dropbox functions help business?

Here’s a breakdown of what the new Dropbox can do:

• Chat and comments functions. People are now able to use Dropbox to chat in any comments attached to Dropbox files. Imagine how easy it would be to keep in touch with employees when they are away from their desk – or work in another city or country?
• Badge. This is a piece of software that lets collaborators know when someone else is working on a shared file. It also allows easier access to earlier drafts of shared files.
• Gmail extension. This was released in February and allows users to send Dropbox files without having to leave the compose section of Gmail.
• Online document editing. According to the Technology Review, this Dropbox service was confirmed in April of this year.

While Agarwal admits there is stiff competition in the area of cloud storage, he is also sure the ease at which you can use Dropbox’s services – existing and the newer features – are what will keep people returning to use their product.

“Features like the Badge do not require the user to change any workflows or to install new software—it simply shows up and provides useful context as and when you need it.”

Do you use Dropbox? Would you consider using it as part of your business activities now Dropbox has expanded its services? Let us know by commenting below!

[Image credit: Dropbox]