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Dropbox courting IT admins with new console, sharing controls

Dropbox is further tackling the consumerization of IT with new controls designed to please administrators.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor
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Dropbox is giving its business products some more focus this year, starting with a host of new features being rolled out for IT administrators.

Sujay Jaswa, vice president of sales and business development at Dropbox, explained that these new features fit in with the consumerization of IT. Arguing that Dropbox has played a significant role here, Jaswa remarked that people now expect best-of-class technology at both home and work.

But Jaswa acknowledged that IT administrators are also Dropbox users too, and while they have other priorities and responsibilities to juggle, he added Dropbox wants to deliver that same “delight” to admins.

Anand Subramani, product manager for Dropbox for Teams, reiterated that business is a "very big focus" for Dropbox in 2013, so this is the first major launch on the admin side.

Based on user feedback, the new features coming to Dropbox for Teams are centered around two pillars: visibility and control.
For visibility, the point is to enable IT managers with data about how employees are using Dropbox at both team and invididual levels.
As for control, Subramani described, it's about enabling these managers with the ability to take action when necessary.
Thus, along with an entirely revamped admin console, some of the new controls focus on monitoring and managing mobile devices and third-party apps -- both of which can be linked and unlinked to Dropbox Teams accounts from said console.

As for other managerial issues, admins can also use the console to manage Dropbox account billing and Teams licenses.

Furthermore, Admins will also be equipped with the power to enforce two-step authentication even if the users just want to skirt around the extra step and save time.

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Images via Dropbox

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