Egnyte to launch Dropbox rival

Egnyte cloud logo

Egnyte has announced a new service, Egnyte HybridCloud for Enterprise, allowing larger organisations to run consumer-like cloud storage on hybrid cloud environments.

The service is focused on giving firms a level of scalabities Egnyte claims is not found in consumer-focused products. It has created its Egnyte Object Store, an enterprise-class architecture allowing organisations to scale up to 10 million files and upwards of 10,000 concurrent users to meet this need.

It said that users can file uploads up to 1TB using Egnyte's Unified FTP environment, giving both IT and business users a way to collaborate with others.

It said it had an ecosystem of business partners, such as NetApp, Netgear and VMware, to provide IT with the tools to take advantage of the Egnyte HybridCloud File Server solution.

It is also is partnering with IT security company Sophos and will integrate its service with Sophos's SafeGuard to provide an end-to-end security solution, including mobile device encryptions and complete control over data encryption keys. IT managers also have more choices with new single sign-on solutions, including VMware Horizon, OneLogin and Symplified. Further, integrations with SAML and Active Directory provide IT managers with robust security policies.

Egnyte pointed to recent customer wins as proof that a hybrid cloud service was needed in the market.

Piotr Malinski, Head of IT for financial services company Semperian, said that a pure public cloud offering "just didn't fulfil our needs, and that's why we turned to Egnyte and their hybrid cloud offering."

He said that the company now has "fast, secure behind the firewall access with the flexibility of the cloud, all at one third the cost of a file server."

Analysts said that with employees bringing their own devices and using unauthorised cloud storage services, IT was no longer able to secure corporate information.

"This creates a nasty situation where IT can't do their job of securing corporate information because users are bypassing them", said Rob Enderle Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group.

He said that the product "provides a bridge offering covering the ease of use that users are seeking while addressing the security and management requirements a well-run company requires".

In addition to desktop access, the service will also be available for remote workers via updated iPad, iPhone, Android applications, and the addition of a newly released Windows Mobile application. End users also have access to a host of workflow integrations with Salesforce, Google Docs and Microsoft Outlook. Mobile productivity app integrations include Avatron, QuickOffice, and GoodReader.

Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.