Egnyte With Blackberry and Android Interfaces

Egnyte, provider of on-demand file server solutions, introduced Blackberry and Android device interfaces that allow small business users secure access to all their business files via their Blackberry or Android-powered smartphones.

The announcement coincides with the release of a national study on smartphone usage and challenges among small businesses. The study revealed that 88% of small businesses believe that mobile file access is critical to business success, and half of small businesses (50%) use their smartphones regularly to conduct business, with one quarter of business owners using their smartphone more often than their computer.

The study, which was commissioned by Egnyte and conducted by market research firm, Decision Analyst, Inc., also showed that accessing business data 24/7 from a mobile phone was the number one factor in an SMB’s mobile business strategy. The majority of respondents (64%) admitted that they had been in situations where they needed critical access to their business file server data while in transit. Fifty-five percent stated that they needed access to critical data from their file server while on vacation, and 36% said they were offsite and needed to handle a dispute or clarify a question.

Egnyte’s on-demand file server enables both Mac and PC business users to have online file storage, file sharing capabilities and automatic backup in one solution. The new interfaces, which require no additional software installation on the device, leverages a mobile drive – ‘m Drive’ – that lets mobile users access all of their data stored via the Egnyte file server.

For existing Egnyte users who use a Blackberry or Android-powered smartphone, the new user interfaces allow businesses and professionals to easily navigate folder hierarchies and open and share files using their Blackberry or Android device keypad or touch screen. Last year, Egnyte introduced an iPhone interface following the launch of the Apple iPhone 3G. Following its introduction, users quickly adopted the interface, illustrating the need for mobile data support, as more and more business professionals seek to complete work functions outside of the traditional office.

“As a commercial building materials supplier and installer, our primary office location is at the construction site – everyone is mobile,” said Marc Cantwell, CFO of Chinook Materials. “Egnyte’s m Drive enables us to work efficiently, enabling our team to access our architectural drawings or construction contracts from mobile phones and discuss specifications with customers at the job site. We don’t have to lug around our laptops anymore and we’re more responsive to customers.”

“We realize that smartphones are critical to staying connected while on the move,” said Vineet Jain, CEO of Egnyte. “With our m Drive capabilities, iPhone, Blackberry and Android users have secure and immediate access to all their files no matter where they are located.”

Other key findings from the survey included:

• The majority of small businesses name Blackberry (48%) and Apple’s iPhone (29%) as the most innovative smartphone devices on the market today. Interestingly, Google’s entry into the smartphone market doesn’t appear to be appealing to small business users quite yet — the Android phones were rated last (3%).
• Nearly 75% of respondents reported greater customer satisfaction as a result of data access while on the road.
• Slow access to data is the number one challenge to small business owners while out of the office (36%). Not being able to access a business file server was the second top challenge (16%).
• Nearly 25% of respondents indicated that they will upgrade their smartphone in the next six months, in order to get a better phone with advanced features.

About the Study
480 small business owners or IT decision makers responded to the online survey, which was commissioned by Egnyte and conducted by independent research firm Decision Analyst, Inc. of Arlington, Texas between October 15-25, 2009. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The sample was a stratified random quota sample from Decision Analyst’s American Consumer Opinion Panel. Quotas were set in order to ensure national representation.