May 2016 Summaries

Celebrating its second anniversary, Box.org reflects on its mission to enhance nonprofit access, innovation, and impact through three primary focus areas: technology, employee engagement, and teamwork, all driven by a dynamic 10x mindset. The organization aims to further expand these areas and concentrate efforts on social impact domains that integrate all three pillars, fostering nonprofit success with the support of Box's services. As it looks to the future, Box.org encourages community support by referring nonprofits for donated or discounted access to Box and sharing success stories like that of Team Rubicon, which uses Box to aid disaster relief efforts. The organization acknowledges the progress made in empowering nonprofit innovation and impact, expressing gratitude to its community for their ongoing partnership in elevating access and innovation for key stakeholders.

Box has launched a revamped Developer Experience to support its expanding developer community, which now encompasses over 75,000 developers making more than 6 billion API calls monthly. The new experience features a comprehensive developer website, updated documentation, a community forum, and platform office hours, providing resources and support for developers working with Box Platform. The initiative aims to facilitate easier integration and application development, exemplified by collaborations with Vimeo and AltX, which leverage Box for video uploading and secure document access, respectively. Box plans to introduce additional updates, including a redesigned Developer Console and new SDKs, in the coming months.

This guest blog post from Workato outlines how companies can achieve a fully digital employee onboarding process without writing any code by leveraging Workato's platform alongside Box, Twilio, and SurveyMonkey. The digital process is particularly beneficial for businesses that frequently hire millennial temp workers, as it simplifies application and onboarding tasks through mobile-friendly interfaces. With Twilio, applicants can manage interactions via SMS, and with Box, they can securely upload required documents using their phone's camera. SurveyMonkey is used to assess the readiness of new hires through surveys. Workato integrates these tools to automate workflows, ensuring an efficient and seamless process for both applicants and hiring managers. This approach is cost-effective for small companies and scalable for large enterprises, providing a solution that is both secure and reliable without needing extensive IT resources.

Box has launched Box Zones, a technology that enhances cloud data storage by offering in-region data storage options in Europe and Asia, providing greater privacy and control for companies adopting cloud solutions. This development allows businesses to integrate Box more extensively throughout their operations, ensuring their most valuable content is standardized on the platform without altering the end-user experience. Box Zones complements existing Box solutions like Box Governance, which offers retention policies and compliance capabilities, and Box KeySafe, which provides management of encryption keys for data protection. Businesses interested in implementing Box Zones can learn more by contacting Box or participating in an upcoming webinar featuring insights from industry experts and partners like Amazon Web Services.

In a collaborative initiative, ten Box volunteers traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to assist the nonprofit Journeys Within Our Communities (JWOC) by providing digital resources aimed at enhancing educational programs for underserved students. Spearheaded by Team4Tech, the project involved implementing a student information management system, configuring new technology, and developing curricula focused on technology and English language learning. The volunteers, who raised $30,000 for the project, embraced Box's values of risk-taking, collaboration, and ownership while navigating cultural and linguistic challenges. Their efforts were not only aimed at immediate improvements but also intended to empower local educators and students to drive sustainable development. Personal stories from volunteers highlighted the project's impact, fostering a deeper appreciation for educational technology and cross-cultural engagement, and reinforcing Box's commitment to making a lasting community impact.

A ridesharing app can be efficiently scaled by developing a mobile app for driver applications and a web portal for application management. This process involves three key steps: collecting personal information and a driver's license photo in the mobile app, storing this information, and verifying the applicant's eligibility through an employee review. The system is composed of a mobile app for user submissions, a web portal for reviewing applications, an application server for handling requests, and the Box Platform for secure storage and access. The application server, integrated with the Box Platform, manages user data and authentication through enterprise tokens, ensuring data segregation and security. The mobile app uses the Box iOS SDK to upload driver's licenses, overriding default authentication with a token generated by the server to maintain secure communication. A web portal allows employees to verify driver's licenses retrieved from Box Platform through secure links, showcasing the robust security and capabilities of Box Platform in maintaining sensitive data integrity.

Digital transformation is a key theme affecting organizations worldwide, as it involves reimagining and redesigning business processes using new technologies to enhance customer relationships, improve IT infrastructure, and shift company culture. This transformation emphasizes the creation of innovative digital experiences for stakeholders, including employees, customers, and partners, facilitated by the modern development stack and specialized platforms like Twilio, Okta, DocuSign, and Braintree, which streamline complex functions such as communication, authentication, e-signature, and payment processing. Content plays a crucial role in these digital experiences, with Box Platform providing content services to accelerate app development and market entry. To explore strategies for digital transformation, the Box Virtual Summit offers an interactive online conference with sessions, networking opportunities, and expert consultations, encouraging companies to engage with the process from the comfort of their own computers.

Box has launched "Box for Government," a new initiative aimed at empowering government agencies worldwide by providing them with secure cloud-based content management solutions. Achieving FedRAMP compliance, Box enables agencies to manage and share content securely, addressing the limitations of traditional on-premise systems and enhancing productivity across Federal, State, and Local levels. The solution is particularly beneficial for tasks requiring cross-agency collaboration, such as law enforcement and environmental protection, allowing for efficient and secure data handling across various devices. Over 6,500 government entities, including the U.S. Department of Justice and international organizations, already utilize Box, benefiting from its modern content platform enhanced with advanced security and integration capabilities with partners like IBM, Salesforce, and Microsoft. This initiative aims to help government agencies streamline operations and improve mission-critical outcomes by offering tailored services and solutions.