Box’s New OneCloud Aims To Be iCloud For Business [Video]

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Box's new OneCloud partnerships make it a powerful business platform for iOS
Box's new OneCloud partnerships make it a powerful business platform for iOS

Cloud storage provider Box today announced its new Box OneCloud initiative. With OneCloud the company is looking to create a one-stop work environment on the iPhone and iPad that’s centered around Box’s cloud storage and collaboration features. The aim is to make the Box app the hub of a range of additional iOS apps in the business and productivity space. While many apps in that space allow you to access Box storage (along with several other cloud providers like Dropbox, Google Docs, and Sugar Sync), they often have limited file management capabilities and can only access specific types of files.

Box aims to fix that by partnering with developers that offer access to Box storage and giving users that ability to launch those apps from with the Box app, which will serve as a central file management solution. The approach is a creative way to make up for the lack of a user-accessible file system in iOS.  In some ways, you can consider OneCloud to be a business or enterprise version of iCloud.

Box isn’t just sticking with the typical Office/iWork style apps, though Quickoffice is one of the primary apps that Box is highlighting. The company also offers PDF markup app PDF Expert, electronic signature app EchoSign, GeniusScan for using an iPhone/iPad camera as a scanner, AutoCAD WS, and Nuance’s Paperport Notes – to name just a few apps. Box currently as over 30 apps that integrate into OneCloud.

The OneCloud hub approach also offers access to Box’s document and file collaboration features, which include features like file versioning and notation – powerful addition for business and enterprise users (these features require a business or enterprise Box account).

The video below does a great job of highlighting the features of OneCloud and showing off some of the creative workflows that result from Box’s developer partnerships.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WesB742Bbc4

OneCloud clearly shows that Box is aiming to be much more than just a storage provider. The integrated environment that Box is creating with its partners offers a range of features and benefits that aren’t easily available in any single iOS app. That makes Box a great personal tool and it makes it a really attractive business and enterprise solution. Coupled with Boxes recent partnership with Good to integrate secure on-device storage, the company is really starting to become a standout business platform for iOS.

 

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