Nasuni Introducing Mobile Access to Enterprise Storage

Nasuni Corp. announced the
addition of mobile access from Apple and Android devices.

End-users can now access their corporate
files with the simplicity and convenience that they’ve come to expect through
their use of consumer-oriented cloud storage services, while providing
enterprise IT with the security, integration and control required to safeguard
mission-critical information and systems.

"Enterprise
IT no longer needs to fear that their end users will circumvent existing
security policies in order to access their files from mobile devices,"
said Andres Rodriguez, CEO of Nasuni. "The
challenge for IT is to deliver convenient access to data without jeopardizing
security. Mobile access needs to be an extension to the existing storage and
security infrastructure. It should be a feature of the infrastructure rather
than another application IT has to manage. We are extending the capabilities of
our storage controllers to handle mobile devices. Our goal with this release is
to delight the end-users while not asking IT to change their security perimeter."

With Nasuni’s mobile access capability,
end-users can:

• Access the corporate file share from
  anywhere via a free app from Nasuni on their iPhone, iPad and Android devices;
• Upload images, videos and documents without
  having to wait until they get back to the office;
• Deliver presentations and review documents,
  knowing they are working off of the up-to-date version, even when they are on
  the road; and
• Share documents across any mobile device or
  computer with colleagues.

At the same time, enterprise IT maintains

the centralized control and security that customers
have come to expect from
Nasuni, including the ability to:

• Authenticate users through Active
  directory, while leveraging existing users and groups;
• Enable and disable access at an individual
  device level;
• Eliminate sensitive data remotely from
  compromised devices;
• Guarantee data security with encrypted
  transmission and file storage, and;
• Keep control and management of data inside
  the corporate firewall and not in the cloud.

"One
of the major drawbacks of many cloud-based file sharing solutions is that,
while they offer mobile access to data, they do not integrate with the existing
storage infrastructure and do not give enterprise IT the level of control and
security they desire," said Terri McClure, senior analyst at ESG.
"Nasuni’s addition of mobile access
to its storage solution gives enterprise IT the mobile experience end-users
want without sacrificing security or control. It’s a great example not only of
the potential of a hybrid approach to cloud computing, but also an example of
how enterprises can address the increasing trend toward the consumerization of
IT head-on."

Nasuni provides a branch and remote office
storage solution that delivers consolidated storage to the distributed
enterprise. Consolidated storage brings all primary storage (i.e. file and
block) together with built-in backup, replication, and offsite protection using
an on-site appliance connected to the cloud. IT can deliver centrally-managed
global file access with the performance that end-users demand and a single
master cloud storage system that enables consistency and control.

It is secure because all data is encrypted
on-site using the customers’ own keys before forwarding to the cloud. And it
scales to meet the needs of as many remote offices as required, anywhere on the
globe, eliminating the need for slow VPNs and expensive, cumbersome replication
or WAN optimization schemes.

The addition of mobile access is a natural
step for Nasuni. The company first enabled primary access for the Windows world
with CIFS in 2009, and added extended file support with NFS the following year.
This summer, it announced iSCSI support, which gave remote offices a complete
storage solution that encompasses both files and blocks. With the introduction
of HTTPS, employees may access the corporate fileserver via their mobile
devices or using a standard web browser as well. With so many users reaching a
level of comfort with web-based solutions, corporate IT can now deliver their
file share through a browser-based interface.

"Our
end-users are increasingly asking for mobile and web-based access to their
data, but we’ve been reluctant to give up control over our data to a cloud
storage service that doesn’t integrate with our own systems or give us the
level of security we need," said Mike Driscoll, Infrastructure
Architect at The Walsh Group. "We’ve been successfully using Nasuni to
provide our remote offices with uniform, shared storage, and expect the same
quality product for Mobile Access. The way Nasuni is going to deploy support
for mobile devices will give our end users the ‘Dropbox’ experience they want
while providing the level of security and integration that the company demands."

Nasuni’s mobile access capabilities is available
since Sept. 17 to all current and future customers at no additional charge.