While software as a service
for accessing applications and files, there’s always the issue of what to do
when the network goes down or is inaccessible.
ShareMethods’ solution is ShareDrive OnDemand, an expansion of the company’s document-management system that lets users work on files offline and have them automatically synced or updated once they reconnect to the network.
The ShareDrive OnDemand interface lets users drag and drop files from the
desktop into its secure on-demand repository. Documents in the repository
can be backed up locally to a server, laptop or desktop computer at the
click of a mouse or at scheduled times.
Basic desktop integration functionality can be accessed for free via
ShareMethod’s ShareDrive Lite. The ShareMethods document-management system
is $25 per user per month and an additional $5 per user monthly for ShareDrive
OnDemand.
The interface is designed to work on just a Windows desktop whether you are
dragging and dropping documents to a local server or to the on-demand
repository. “The desktop integration does a backup of all your documents in
the cloud,” Eric Hoffert, CEO of ShareMethods, told internetnews.com.
“This is something IT departments have been asking for.”
The system offers batch uploads and downloads so multiple documents can
be moved in the background. Documents can be edited and saved to “the cloud”
(ShareMethods on-demand repository) at the click of a mouse. Hoffert said
this is much simpler than other online systems that require users to manually upload content to a browser.
Users can also see thumbnail previews of rich media content on the
desktop of all their on-demand documents.
ShareMethods customer Lightscape sees a lot of potential for ShareDrive,
which it’s just started experimenting with. “I like to travel with
everything with me and ShareDrive opens that up as a realistic value
proposition,” Andy Barbour, senior director of channel sales at LiteScape
Technologies, a unified communications IP application developer, told
internetnews.com.
Barbour said Lightscape started using ShareMethods because it was looking
to overhaul its internal and customer portal without using a lot of internal
resources. “We work with competing vendors and channel partners, and we need
to give selective access to materials,” he said. ShareMethods lets me offer
documents selectively in a secure manner.”
ShareMethods also offers a ShareNow for AppExchange service.
Dennis Pombriant, analyst and managing director of Beagle Research, said ShareMethods package of applications and storage could disrupt the conventional approach to managing documents in companies of all sizes.
“I expect that the first markets to take advantage of this solution might include emerging companies everywhere,” Pombriant told internetnews.com via email. “But especially companies overseas where the cost of storage relative to available resources might still be high.”
