14 DAY TRIAL // Computer users all over the world can no longer deny the benefits of cloud storage over the local one, and the developers at Box.net also reached the same conclusion. This is why they have tightened their integration with Google Docs. Not only can users have access to their documents at all times, regardless of the device they use, but they can also share them with various applications and persons.
Furthermore, these advantages should be available to companies as well as home users, and Box.net aims to be the service to provide them.
In a recent blog post, Aaron Levie, CEO and Co-founder of Box.net, explains the reasons why we still rely on desktops to create, edit and enhance our documents, since we cannot give up the familiarity of certain programs.
However, he believes that user could accelerate the transition to cloud documents and the newly-announced integration with Google Docs is meant to achieve just that.
“Beginning today, Box’s 6 million users can easily create and collaborate on Google Docs and Spreadsheets from within Box, as well as edit the existing 50M+ Word and Excel files already stored on our platform.”
In other words, Box members will have the chance to benefit from advanced features such as concurrent editing or threaded discussions, functions that cannot be accessed within desktop applications.
Levie goes on to emphasize that integration between Box.net and Google’s web productivity suite is bound to “transform the way people work.”
On the other hand, the CEO also considers appropriate to clear another aspect: that Microsoft is not, for now, in the position to provide the same cloud abilities.
He does not exclude the possibility that the upcoming Microsoft Office 365 will become as powerful as Google Docs, he only states that in the present, the Mountain View-based company has a better cloud-dedicated product.
“We look forward to a day when we can offer users the choice between a Microsoft Office experience and a Google Docs experience. But until then, we’ll continue to invest in our relationship with Google to create the best possible experience for managing documents in the cloud.”