eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Egnyte, which specializes in optimizing cloud storage to work with local storage, on July 17 announced that the newest version of its software package now brings Google Drive’s document collaboration into the fold.
Due to its real-time collaborative editing functionality and the ability to create content natively in the cloud with Google Docs, Google Drive has been growing in popularity. A main reason for this is that Google Drive is fully integrated across all the search giant’s cloud services. For example, if something is saved in Google Docs, users will also find it saved automatically in their Drive account.
The new integration with Egnyte now gives enterprise customers the flexibility and security to move documents and other files easily from a PC, tablet or smartphone to a local storage node to the Egnyte cloud or over to Google Drive, if desired. Choice is always good for the user.
Egnyte’s latest release provides end users with a single view of all the files they use from Google Drive, Microsoft Office, CAD drawing apps, photo image apps, multimedia and so on. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company’s Storage Sync feature enables users to access these files via enterprise storage NAS and SAN devices, such as those from storage market share leaders NetApp and EMC.
The system enables users to access those files from anywhere. IT maintains complete control and visibility over these files, using centrally managed access permissions in addition to real-time auditing of all file, folder and log-in activity.
“We know the files employees need in order to do their jobs can live anywhere in an enterprise. Our unique hybrid approach provides a unified namespace for all these files, no matter where they reside,” Egnyte CEO Vineet Jain said. “This new Google Drive integration makes enterprise users even more productive.”
IDG has reported that 61 percent of enterprise files will always need to be stored locally—especially in regulated industries. This means businesses will continue to rely heavily on on-premises storage to enable employees to securely create and share files.