Novell challenging Box, Dropbox with Filr enterprise file sharing service
Summary: Meet Filr, described by Novell reps as a challenger for Dropbox (and by extension likely Box, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, and more).
Now infrastructure software provider Novell is getting into the enterprise file sharing business.
Meet Filr, described by company reps that it will challenge Dropbox (and by extension likely Box, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, and more).
Novell posits that its entry into this seemingly crowded market is that it is bringing its experience in managing the "pain points" of the enterprise -- specifically those around security and networking.
Filr is designed to be deployed as an on-premise solution, with files stored on a company's internal network. At the same time, Novell touts global search capabilities across the enterprise -- at least based on users’ access rights defined by IT managers.
Some of the key features to Novell Filr include auto-populating existing data, supporting existing enterprise platforms (i.e. Microsoft Active Directory) and other IT policies, and keeping records of collaboration and version control in real-time.
Novell Filr is available now, and pricing varies by customer being that it is licensed per user.
It is also sold as an annual subscription in 50-user license packs or as an entitlement. Novell Filr is licensed per user and A 50-user perpetual license is also available.
Filr is also available as an entitlement. Customers with Maintenance on Novell Open Enterprise Server or Novell Open Workgroup Suite will receive a Filr subscription entitlement as a benefit of their Maintenance plan.
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Talkback
Ah Novell, continuing to not know when a solution is in search of a problem
Isn't Novell dead yet?
The reports of Novell's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Welcome Filr!
Novell Filr is a response to an evolution in the way enterprises manage their files. No longer confined to the office desktop or on the road with a laptop, people need their files at their fingertips all the time now.
Novell knew this when it created iFolder in the early 2000s. Dropbox has become a very practical and workable version of where iFolder could have gone. I use Dropbox personally. I've tried Sugarsync and a few others but Dropbox has it.
There is one problem. Security.
Once again, Novell has come in, doing what it does best - providing secure access to your files, in an approach similar enough to Dropbox to give people what they want while keeping the files secure and off the cloud.
Filr is the product that Dropbox and the like want to become.
Novell never went away and it's back in the forefront again with what can easily be the biggest leap forward in enterprise file access and provisioning since the LAN itself.
Kudos and great work to the team at Novell!
To those who question whether Novell is at all relevant in this day and age, I invite you to actually check out the product. Give it a real, honest, fair evaluation. I think you'll be impressed.