Cloud Computing: Egnyte Says You Can Dump Your FTP Servers Now
December 2, 2011
Egnyte wants you to bury your file servers – their day is over – and now it claims you can throw your FTP servers into the hole too like they were grave goods to be discovered and wondered over by some next-century archeologist.
In their place Egnyte (given the silly way we spell things you’re supposed to say ignite) proposes its HybridCloud, a next-generation storage, file-sharing and backup scheme originally targeted at SMBs that lately – at least in the last three quarters – has been attracting large accounts, including 30 departments in the Fortune 1000.
It’s thought to resolve a psychological barrier to cloud adoption by reassuringly keeping copies of what’s in the cloud on-premise. That’s obviously why they call it HybridCloud. Companies aren’t supposed to feel they’re losing control of their data…
Large accounts are also comfortable using FTP, which can move large amounts of data up and down. That’s why Egnyte has come up with the unified FTP and single sign-on capabilities that are supposed make separate FTP servers obsolete.
The start-up has 5,000 active trials going on all the time and says a third of them are FTP-related. According to CEO Vineet Jain "We know that two major pain points for IT are FTP and the ability to allow users to have a single sign-on when accessing services."
With an FTP (or FTPES) transfer option integrated into the HybridCloud file server, users have a familiar way to securely upload large files directly into shared and private folders that are accessible from any device.
IT managers can set up and administer users directly from their Egnyte admin panel, using existing permission structures and eliminating those infernal special passwords.
For more complex or batch processes, scripting is supported, and all the files are accessible online or offline via Egnyte’s Office Local Cloud or Personal Local Cloud – the widgetry that keeps copies of files back in the office.
To streamline the process of using and maintaining user accounts while preserving security, Egnyte now supports the SAML protocol. End users can sign into their network once and automatically use Egnyte’s services without multiple passwords. They can also use Citrix Netscaler Cloud Gateway and OneLogin to go directly to Egnyte. IT managers can ensure Active Directory credentials are maintained within the firewall and integrate with existing SAML implementations, maintaining the critical extra security levels required in today’s cloud-infused world.
The start-up also argues – somewhat undeniably – that with cloud computing file server complexity and maintenance issues have increased dramatically and there are security issues galore.
It hired Forrester which did a study and found that 41% of employees at SMBs are using unauthorized cloud services in the workplace.
It says that means IT managers have to contend with a variety of consumer-grade products (presumably from its cloud storage competitors like Mozy and Box) that erode security, block IT from understanding what users are doing with critical company data and where they are storing it, ultimately impeding their company’s ability to collaborate and work effectively.
This time through Egnyte has expanded its syncing capabilities to include granular sub-folder level controls. The company, which figures nobody else has this kind of granularity – well, it did take nine months to develop – says serious cloud file-sharing means going beyond an easy-to-use interface and requires enterprise-grade security, IT administration tools, full auditing capabilities and syncing beyond a PC and Mac to include mobile devices, network attached storage (NAS) devices, storage area networks (SANs) and virtual servers.
Allowing cross-platform sync across a spectrum of devices is supposed to be the only way to make all employees, regardless of where they are, feel like they’re working from a single location.
So the widgetry now includes object-level integration with salesforce.com so users can collaborate with others regardless of whether or not they’re salesforce users, avoiding salesforce license fees. Access to salesforce files includes using iPad, iPhone, Android or some other mobile device. Salesforce.com users can work with files of any size, access virtually unlimited storage and share files directly within the salesforce.com interface. Team members who don’t have salesforce.com licenses can access the shared folders associated with salesforce objects through Egnyte.
Egnyte’s corporate plan covers 30 power users and 600 standard users and costs $228 a month when paid annually. That works out to $7.60 a power user a month.
Egnyte currently has a half-million users at what it says are thousands of companies representing over a billion shared files, taking advantage of a technology that offers the speed and security of local storage with the flexible accessibility of the cloud.
Egnyte is backed by $17 million from Kleiner Perkins, Floodgate Fund and Polaris Venture Partners.
The company has three data centers rented from Equinox in California, North Carolina and Amsterdam.