Dropbox for Enterprise will replace SharePoint?

In this case by "Dropbox for Enterprise" we don't mean the business version of Dropbox. The fact is that the expression "Dropbox for Enterprise" has become a new meme. The largest enterprise software vendors want to release a product under the label "Dropbox for Enterprise". That's how they say: "We want to create something like Dropbox for Enterprise" (watch the video). Recall, Dropbox - is the super-popular file syncing and sharing service, which has already attracted 50 million users thanks to its simplicity and multi-platform support. It's business usage is limited due to the strict corporate security standards. But employees still tend to use it bypassing IT admins, and that is why the enterprise vendors are standing in the line to become the Enterprise Dropbox provider.



The first in this line is Box.net, which has long been competing with Dropbox and has attracted already 8 million users. Like Dropbox, this service gives free gigabytes, provides sweat interface and supports multiple platforms. The next is probably Egnyte. This service also appeared long ago and was initially the most business-oriented. And this wasn't very good for competition. In particular, unlike Dropbox and Box.net - Egnyte never provided the free version.

And recently the "big brothers" are coming to the line. Last week we mentioned that ECM giants Open Text and Liferay launched Dropbox clones. The other day Alfresco joined them with its Alfresco Cloud. VMware is developing its own service called Project Octopus (based on Zimbra and Mozy). Citrix has acquired the similar app ShareFile. Recently, the rumors that Google will launch its legendary service Google Drive appeared again.

But the most interesting in this story - is - where is SharePoint in it? A year ago it was SharePoint - the  meme, meaning the same thing - "enterprise tool for storing and sharing files." But remember (from the first paragraph), the main reasons for the Dropbox success - simplicity and multi-platform support - that's NOT about SharePoint. This system only works in browser, on PC and Windows Phone and it's interface is not so intuitive. During the past month we didn't hear anything new about SharePoint. Microsoft pays more attention to its cloud service SkyDrive, but SharePoint (aka the most successful Microsoft's business product) may soon become a part of history.

See also: Top 10 Enterprise Portals