Amazon Web Services has rained down another new service from the cloud, with the introduction of Amazon Zocalo (ZO-cah-lo), a secure enterprise storage and sharing service that will compete with the gathering of enterprise cloud services already on the market.
Zocalo (which is Spanish for plaza), is optimized for business purposes but consumers will find it to their liking as well. It offers "strong administrative controls and feedback capabilities that improve user productivity."
Zocalo will compete with both enterprise-oriented and consumer-friendly cloud storage and management services that include Dropbox, Google Drive, Huddle, Box, Microsoft's OneDrive and Apple's iCloud service.
Features of Zocalo start with simple document feedback. Users can comment on files, get feedback from others and upload new versions without leaving a trail of multiple versions of the same file.
Zocalo centralizes document location, creating a plaza/town square/hub for all interested parties to collaborate on files. This offers a high degree of organization that is vital when many viewers are involved. Users will be able to access and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, webpages, images, PDFs and text files -- from any web-enabled device -- and without the native software for each type of file. Zocalo is also platform-agnostic; it will work equally well on Android, iOS and Windows devices.
The simplicity of function behind Zocalo is meant to offer a reasonably priced and easy to operate alternative to similar services that have become too expensive or unwieldy over the years.
"Customers have told us that they're fed up with the cost, complexity and performance of their existing old guard enterprise document and collaboration management tools. Amazon Web Services (AWS) was increasingly being asked to provide an enterprise storage and sharing tool that was easy to use, allowed users to quickly collaborate with others, and met the strict security needs of their organizations. That's what Amazon Zocalo was built to do," said Noah Eisner, general manager for Amazon Zocalo at Amazon Web Services.
For administrators, Zocalo offers strong security features -- all data stored is encrypted in transit and at rest, and administrators can establish their own rules covering access and sharing. It also provides integration with corporate directories -- meaning that users can use their own enterprise credentials to access Zocalo.
Initially, Zocalo will cost $5 per user per month for 200 GB of storage per user. Amazon is debuting Zocalo in a 30-day free trial for up to 50 users. Customers of Amazon WorkSpace will receive the first 50 GB at no charge and only $2 per month per user for 200 GB of storage.
