Storage can be expensive to manage and maintain, not to mention the constant need for more disk space. By using cloud computing for data storage, business owners can take advantage of more attractive pricing and minimize ongoing costs while integrating a host of new features available from different vendors.
At first, Box.net appears to offer basic Web-based storage -- basically a file server in the cloud. However, it extends this functionality with a collaboration tool. Essentially, Box.net provides a "social network" for your files. Through its Web interface, you can upload files that can be shared collaboratively by people inside your organization and externally with suppliers and other stakeholders. Box.net allows for group commenting or discussions around a certain file. It also can keep a version history of files as they change.
Collaboration solutions like Box.net eliminate the endless round-robin e-mailing of attachments in favor of storing a document once. Box.net also can be used to store marketing assets like logos and screen shots in a single repository rather than scattered across a file server in multiple versions. This collaboration is especially useful if your employees, agents, or suppliers are geographically dispersed. With a solution like Box.net they can now work as if they were sitting next to each other seeing a common view into the active file or project.
Box.net's simple Web-based interface allows you to upload your current files. From there you decide sharing permissions for each file. Once those users are logged in, they can comment on or modify the files with their revisions. You can even set up an RSS feed to alert you that a change has occurred. The net result is reduced copies of data stored by you, reduced e-mail traffic, and increased time to complete documents that need multiple points of input.
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