Box Review

Box.com is great for being able to store content online and share it with co-workers. While it has a lot of different features, it’s simple to use. It’s important to be able to have all of your files, no matter where you go.

What happens if you’re on your smartphone but you realize that you need a file that’s on your laptop? Or you’re on a plane for work and you realize that some of your files are still back on the server?

Box.com provides you with a solution so you can access your files anywhere, anytime and on any device.

Box.com can be used by anyone, though it’s definitely better for businesses. Whether you’re a photographer on the go or you’re a corporate jet setter, there are benefits to be had. You are always in control of where your files are and who you share them with.

Box.com is mainly aimed at organizations with a large staff that need to send and share files privately, with the occasional collaboration. It’s third-party integration for example with Salesforce makes it the go-to solution for the Top Fortune 500 companies.

All you have to do is send a link by email or instant message to gain access to a file or give access to a file. Plus, with the ability to make notes and assign tasks, you can stay in control of anyone that you manage.

You get 5GB for free and then you have monthly subscriptions to give you even more data.

Box has been around since 2005 and since then, more than 15 million individuals, small businesses and Fortune 500 companies have been able to access and share their content from anywhere they are in the world. The sharing platform was created to reinvent what businesses could do with their content.

There has been a lot of kudos for Box as well. It was ranked in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 for 2011 and 2012 and made CTIA “Best in Show” for the most accessible enterprise app for 2012. It has also been listed as one of the best places to work by the San Francisco Business Journal and the Business Insider.

The company isn’t shy – they have an About Us on their page that gives you a glimpse into the company, who is running it, and what they are all about.

When you want to back files up with Box, you have the ability to do this. First, it begins with selecting the amount of storage that you want. You are given 5GB for free so you can play around with it and see if it fits your needs. On the other end of the spectrum, there is a limit of 1000 GB – but you will have to pay for a subscription if you want to have more than 5GB.

1000GB is a lot and there are unlimited machines that you can share it with, making it ideal for a family or even a business enterprise. You control how much you want to store on the account. You select the files and/or the folders.

The uploads are easy to do, but you must set the uploads. There is nothing uploaded automatically, which means you need to make sure you remember to upload all of your files, otherwise you could be in for a rude awakening down the road.

While there are other companies out there that will do the uploading for you, this company focuses on making it easy for you to share the content once you have backed it up online – and gain access to it no matter where you are. There’s also a high level of SSL security, which means it’s all encrypted so you don’t have to worry about someone hacking into it

The files are easily restored on your computer – or any other device of your choosing. You need to make sure you have the Box app on each device that you want to be able to access your files. This is done to make it easy for you to get the files and also be able to open them past the SSL encryption that was done to store them on the Internet.

The download is instantaneous because you’ve already got the files. It works similar to OneDrive and Dropbox – unlike some of the others where you have to wait for a physical download. This is all because of the file synchronization – something that others like Backblaze and KeepIt don’t offer.

There are a lot of different file sharing sites out there. In fact, there are so many that it can sometimes run together. So why Box.com? It has features that others only dream of having, yet it is on the expensive side which makes it better for business users.

For example, Box was the first to create a new level of content management security that uses access controls that are role-based. This means that you can enjoy uptime 99.9 percent of the time guaranteed and benefit from high-grade SSL encryption. To put it simply, nothing is getting through the security controls in place on Box.com and that means a lot when you are putting data online.

There are plenty of features on Box that you can take advantage of:

• 5GB of storage for free
• Organize your files into folders
• Share a file or a whole folder
• Upload files quickly
• Post comments and assign tasks
• Get real-time updates

You won’t find these kinds of features on all of the file sharing programs out there – and that’s why there are so many people who will choose Box.com in comparison to all of the other ones out there.

I have found that Box.com offers everything that I could want in a file storage website.

My main focus was to be able to share files from all of my devices no matter where I go. When you want a file sharing software, Box is the one you want to go with because it provides you with the peace of mind you need, knowing that your data isn’t out there for the world to see.

Backup is done on the files that I want – on the files that I feel are the most important to backup. While I’m in charge of remembering to add them, it’s fine because I have plenty of other programs around to help me to remember to do things. It’s more cost effective to backup the files I need and not pay to backup my entire system.

I also like the productivity that Box has to offer. Once I upload files and share the folder with someone else, I’m getting real-time updates when they’ve been viewed or edited – and that helps to make sure that I always have the most current version of any file that I work with on a regular basis.

It’s not the cheapest file sharing program out there, but it offers a lot for the money. The cost is only $150 a year, and while it’s pricier than others, it offers a lot of storage, unlimited machines and a high rating to prove that it’s worth the money.

But take this with a grain of salt: Box is still a solution for business and enterprises. I wouldn’t recommend it for small business owners or freelancers.