Today I went to a luncheon hosted by EMC to understand one of their latest offerings called Syncplicity. The invite was very enticing. I am sure many are familiar with DropBox and some IT administrators may even be aware of its use within a corporate/enterprise environment and so, to hear about a potential solution that offers the functionality of DropBox but also includes the security and manageability of a corporate or enterprise solution then this was something I did not want to miss!

A brief rundown of what I learnt today about Syncplicity:

• Syncplicity is an file sharing/storage solution that allows users to share, collaborate and access data across many platforms, such as PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, etc.
• It is designed as a cloud-based offering where the cloud can be turned up or turned down to suit your requirements
• It has 3 layers:
  • Client Layer which is a robust number of clients available for almost any device you can think of
  • Orchestration layer which admittedly sits in EMC’s cloud. This layer would typically store authentication (unless using LDAP/AD), encryption and file Meta Data.
  • Storage/Compute Layer. This can be in the cloud or in your Corporate network (most likely your EMC Storage Solution such as ISILON or ATMOS but not restricted to EMC products)
    
• It has a great user experience from what was discussed:
  • A user can right click any folder on their computer and make it a Syncplicity folder. No need to move documents to a “DropBox” folder.
  • Once this is done, these files will become available to them on any device they choose
  • From their device they can “Favourite” a folder/file and make it available when offline. These files will sync automatically when there are any new updates.
  • Files can be easily shared to others, as only a link to the file is sent and not the whole file, it saves any attachment limits issues.
  • There is file versioning and conflict resolution management built in so that no work is ever lost.
  • Collaboratively, users internal and external to the corporate network can be granted access to file/folder.
• From an Administrative and Business Case point of view:
  • Intellectual Property remains with the business, especially when staff leave who may have stored their documents in their own “DropBox” account
  • Policies can be put in place to allow/restrict the experience of file sharing and syncing
  • If a device is lost or stolen, a remote wipe can be performed on the device
  • See just what files and data is being shared within your organisation and even outside your organisation.

I can see a case for implementing such technology in many businesses and I would love to learn more and potentially implement such a solution!

For more information, or even a free trial head to their website… http://www.syncplicity.com/

Until next time!