Dropbox today announced AdminX, a new dashboard meant for IT admins to better develop and control their companies’ files and users on Dropbox Business accounts. The company also introduced team folders, a new alternative to using shared folders or individual folders for business groups.
Earlier this year, we heard several rumours that the cloud file storage and syncing company was aiming for an IPO in the second half of 2017. The company had declined to comment on this. But looking at today’s developments, this rumour might just be plausible.
Dropbox currently has over half a billion users and is one of the most popular cloud storage service out there. The company also hosts a whopping 200,000 over the Dropbox Business client. With the new admin and business enhancements, Dropbox is aiming to not only expand that number but also expand usage for its Business customers.
Let’s look at the new features one at a time.
Team Folders
Until now, Dropbox used shared folders and the like for quenching businesses. Now, however, the company is introducing a new way for collaborative storage. Called Team Folders, admins will now be able to choose exactly which folders and sub-folders get synced to devices of the employees, with a new sync management feature. This means that you don’t have to worry about losing hard drive space because of files you didn’t need. The admins can now easily govern which files get synced to which device.
The new feature also enables admins to grant people inside and outside the company access to only the specific folders they need. The management of this system is also centralised. Admins will be able to view all their team folders from a single tab.
Team Folder has already racked up many positive reviews from many businesses. For instance, Everett Plante, CIO and Vice President of Information Technology at Silicon Labs, had this to say:
“Silicon Labs is focused on collaboration, and we are always looking for new ways to help our employees be more productive. In less than a month, the Dropbox team folder has already transformed the way we collaborate across geographies—internally and externally. We’re excited about the productivity savings that Dropbox Business will bring to our global workforce.”
If you wish to enjoy the perks of this feature, you can opt in for Team Folder via Dropbox’s early access program.
AdminX
A year old internal initiative at Dropbox, AdminX is the new admin console that enhances all admin controls. Dropbox’s admin controls had always been present since the launch of the product but no one quite knew where to look for them. With AdminX, the company hopes to simplify the usage of these services.
There are many perks of AdminX that pop it on top of most similar approaches by other cloud giants. These include:
- Enhanced admin productivity: An updated Admin Console makes it easier than ever to find the tools needed to manage team collaboration at scale.
- Extend security with file event logging: With even more events—including file additions, edits, and deletions—the audit log now provides admins with further detail on end users’ file-level actions.
- Centralize group control: Company-managed groups, which offer more control over team organization, are now available to all Dropbox Business admins.
- Manage device access: New capabilities coming soon will let admins set limits on the number of devices that can be synced, helping prevent unauthorized access. These lightweight controls will complement advanced EMM offerings from our partners.
