With support for Microsoft's Office products now fully integrated, Dropbox forwards its efforts to facilitate workplace collaboration and rolls out team tools in Dropbox for Business.
The latest update to Dropbox for Business came as part of the company's Project Harmony, an initiative meant to drive collaboration across Dropbox products. The star of the latest update is the new Dropbox badge, which houses tools to enable users to share and build on each others' documents.
"Now collaborating on your files doesn't have to mean endless emails back and forth, worrying about who else is editing your file while you're working on it, or uploading the doc into a different format just so you can work with others," says Matt Holden, a product manager at Dropbox.
Using the Dropbox badge in Microsoft Office documents enables users to see who else is looking at a file or editing it. Users can share the document, check for revised versions of it or post updated edits of the shared file.
The new Dropbox badge is still in its testing phase right now, but administrators of Dropbox for Business accounts can enable the feature through the cloud storage company's early access program.
"It's always been our mission to make Dropbox for Business the best place to get work done," says Holden. "That means helping you be productive whether you're in the office or on the go -- even in the native applications that power your business."
Microsoft and Dropbox revealed their partnership back in early November, with the goal of integrating the smaller company's cloud storage tools with Office 365 and Windows-based mobile devices.
The partnership, once unveiled, started out by enabling individuals to access Dropbox from Office and edit Office documents in Dropbox. The integration of the company's software also enables users to share and sync Office files across their devices.
Office and Dropbox integration officially launched on iOS first, followed shortly by Android. The companies plan to polish web integration and launch it in the first half of 2015.
"In our mobile-first and cloud-first world, people need easier ways to create, share and collaborate regardless of their device or platform," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "Together, Microsoft and Dropbox will provide our shared customers with flexible tools that put them at the center for the way they live and work today."
Dropbox revealed Project Harmony when it announced the refreshed Dropbox for Business back in April. Microsoft integration has just been the first of ongoing project's milestones.
