Acronis Expands Service Providers Portfolio With File Sync and Share

Acronis International GmbH announced the availability of Files Cloud, a file sync and share solution that enables service providers to offer public-cloud-like services from their own infrastructure.

It enables service providers to expand their product portfolio, realise incremental revenues and reduce customer churn.

Initially company’s Files Cloud will be available for partners who manage their services through Odin Automation or other platforms via a REST API. Support and integration with the Acronis Cloud provisioning portal is expected in 2017.

The world is becoming increasingly digital and dependent on continuous data availability and secure file sharing between devices. This puts pressure on companies and organisations faced with a challenge to open access to their data, for example, through a BYOD program, while staying in control of user permissions and the physical location of shared data.

For service providers, it presents a billion dollar opportunity. According to the latest IDC Worldwide SMB Business File Sync and Sharing Forecast, revenue from SMB consumption of business file sync and share services is expected to reach $1.3 billion in 2019, growing at an average annual rate of 18%. It is driven by the increasing demand for BYOD solutions that allow employees to use their own devices while ensuring the safety of company’s data.

Traditionally, public cloud file sync and share services have not been popular with service providers because of low margins and the inability to prevent customers from moving data from one public file sync and share service to another. Files Cloud changes that.

First, it enables service providers to utilise their own storage infrastructure, rebrand the service, and bundle it with their existing services and data protection products such as backup or DR. Bundled services increase customer retention rates. With Files Cloud, customers have complete control over their data, and also the knowledge where the data is physically stored. This is critical when complying with local or national data sovereignty regulations.

Second, Files Cloud, similar to other company’s products, has a simple licensing model. It lets service providers to set their own margins and start providing services without any upfront investment in software. The firm helps service providers to offer the most services at the best possible prices, enabling them to focus on building their customer base.

The technology behind Files Cloud has already been in production for almost a decade, powering Acronis Access Advanced, which is an on-premise enterprise solution trusted for security and performance by a number of Fortune 500 financial, insurance, pharmaceutical, and public sector firms, with hundreds of thousands users.

Files Cloud is also future proof. For storage, it is integrated with the recently released Acronis Storage, an software-defined storage solution with built-in CloudRAID redundancy and Notary with blockchain data watermarking.

Christoph Herrnkind, CEO, myLoc managed IT AG, who participated in the Files Cloud beta program, shares his experience: “As an innovative provider of hosting and data protection solutions, we have seen strong demand from our customers for a file sync and share service offering. Through our long standing collaboration with Acronis we have had great success with Acronis Files Cloud and we are excited to expand our adoption to meet customer demand.“

Fast, and innovative
Based on company’s Hybrid Cloud Architecture and together with Acronis Backup, DR, Acronis Storage, and Monitoring, Files Cloud completes the product set available to service providers enabling them to meet the needs of their customers in an efficient way.

Earlier this year the firm announced a long-term partnership with the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One racing team. For both organisations, engineering is a component of success. Both focus on leadership, high performance, and technology, drawing success from vision, drive, teamwork and operational excellence. These shared characteristics can be summarised in three concepts: #1, Fast, and Innovative.

Franz Tost, principal, team, Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One racing team stressed the importance of using a proven data sharing technology: “With over 20 races in different countries every yar, secure data sharing with partners and suppliers is critical to our business. Knowing that our data is protected and isolated from other teams is very important, because data is our most valuable asset.“

“We have the most complete set of data protection and storage solutions, leading the industry through continuous research and innovation. Our new hybrid cloud architecture is all about giving our partners and Service Providers control over their customers’ data. Data is the lifeblood of today’s always-on business and Acronis has all the required tools to protect it,” said Serguei Beloussov, founder and CEO, Acronis.