Dropbox is expanding beyond its mobile app support for Microsoft's Office suite to offer businesses integration with enterprise software from Dell, IBM and Microsoft.
The latest delivery of third-party support helps Dropbox move deeper into enterprise territory in addition to being a beloved storage tools for consumers.
With Dropbox already counting 300 million users and boasting integration with 100,000 apps, the cloud-storage company has to work a little harder to court the enterprise crowd. So to encourage businesses to entrust apps and data will be secure when integrating with the cloud platform or building them around it, Dropbox has released its Dropbox for Business application programming interface.
"So long, clunky FTP servers, on-premises storage, and email attachments," states Dropbox. "With an intuitive interface and best-in-class performance, getting your team on one system is simple. Self-service features like unlimited deletion recovery and device unlinking let team members handle common tasks without bothering IT."
Dropbox for Business was launched internally back in April 2013, but now the cloud-storage firm is ready to share the API with the public -- news of the API's public release may have come a bit earlier than intended, after a launch plan that fell into the hands of TechCrunch.
The names of a few partners have trickled out along with the early announcement of the public availability of the Dropbox for Business API, but Dropbox is expected to reveal a total of 20 alliances formed to back the subsequent apps with the support of the likes of Microsoft's Azure cloud services and Amazon's Web Services.
Before the API was even opened up to the general public, Dropbox had already established an alliance with cloud rival Microsoft. Back on Nov. 25, Dropbox announced that its' mobile app now enables users to view and edit documents created in Microsoft's Office 365 suite.
Some of Dropbox for Business' features include audits of user activity and sharing; 256-bit AES and SSL encryption; unlimited file recovery and version history; sharing controls; remote wipe and account transfer; SSO and Active Directory; priority email and live support; and as much space as required. Dropbox for Business users will start out with 1 TB of storage and they'll need to request more if needed.
"This really expands the scope of Dropbox for Business to larger and larger businesses," says Ilya Fushman, who heads Dropbox for Business.
