Do you have external employees and internal employees who need to collaborate simultaneously from mobile locations and offices?
Do the external employees use an external content collaboration tool, but the internal employees use local file servers for collaboration?
As defined by Gartner, content collaboration tools provide employees with an easy way to use and share content both inside and outside the organization. Because these tools can be used to collaborate with customers, partners and suppliers, they often offer extensive security and privacy controls. Content collaboration tools include Box, Citrix ShareFile, SharePoint, Google Drive, OneDrive for Business, Dropbox Business and others.
So why is there an additional segment in the content collaboration tools market for on-site content collaboration?
A TV broadcaster was using Citrix ShareFile for content collaboration. The main use case was for reporters to upload content (digital recordings) in the field.
After a year of using Citrix ShareFile, two issues emerged. The first is that the in-house creative team needs to edit files on local file servers to ensure application compatibility. For example, the files produced by Adobe Creative Suite have an internal structure and also dependencies between files. However, the raw material uploaded by reporters resides in Citrix ShareFile, so someone has to manually download these files from ShareFile back to the file servers.
The second problem was that digital media are large files, and after a year, the storage capacity needed for the content increased dramatically. As a result, the cost of continuing to use Citrix ShareFile skyrocketed. So they looked for an alternative for on-site content collaboration.
Local file servers have not typically been part of content collaboration tools. When people talk about content collaboration, a hint of cloud is usually implied. However, there are reasons for internal staff to continue their work on local file servers. These reasons include application compatibility, big data, compliance regulations and so on. For these reasons, moving to another online hosted content collaboration platform created problems for employees who must continue to work with on-premises file servers.
However, it is possible to put a cloud layer in front of the on-premises file servers and extend the file server capabilities with Citrix ShareFile-like features. In this way, data storage remains on the local file server and remote workers can upload files and folders directly to the local file servers via a web interface.
So, in a nutshell, on-premises content collaboration is local file servers with an enhanced web interface and mobile remote agent software. The web interface and remote agent software allow local and remote workers to collaborate on the on-premises file server through a more modern, cloud-like interface.
File server infrastructure continues to be your centralized data repository and provides the best platform for application compatibility.
File servers gain Web-based access and sharing features to provide mobile file access and secure web-link-based file-sharing capabilities.
There is one solution for both internal file-server-based collaboration, file sharing with external partners, and the mobile workforce's productivity requirements.
Web File Manager resides in a web browser and communicates with backend servers using the HTTPS protocol. The communication channel does not depend on a VPN, nor does it involve the awkwardness of setting one up.
You upload, download, edit and manage files and folders with a web browser. There is no need to install the software on a remote computer first, as long as it has a web browser.
With native file server integration, the file server's network shares and drive mapping contents are displayed in a web browser the same way they are displayed on a mapped drive - no additional training is required.
A solution that adds iPhone application, web browser interface, Windows mapped drive, and Mac Finder volume to corporate Windows file servers and turn the Windows infrastructure into a corporate content collaboration solution.
Enable secure remote access over HTTPS without the need to use a VPN.
Adds version control, file change history and audit tracing to provide business continuity for file servers on-premises.
Adds web browser file manager interface and mobile applications to enhance mobile file sharing user experience.
Sets up a hybrid deployment between local file servers and cloud storage that can be seamlessly converted to cloud only later.
The cloud file sharing solution extends the current internal Windows file server's reach to remote locations via HTTPS and web protocols. It is privacy by default.
The internal Windows file server is the data repository for the newly added private folder sharing service. For employees, the files at work are the same files available remotely on mobile devices.
The same corporation owns the internal Windows file server and existing IT infrastructure, including the new Triofox server, and the files and folders on the file server are privately owned.
Since files never leave the current on-premise file servers, it is much easier to pass compliance auditing. The new private file sharing service is the only component that needs additional work.
The same NTFS permissions that were in place to protect the internal Windows file server files will be the same permission control in place to protect the private file sharing service.
Remote and mobile access to network file shares over HTTPS secure channel directly