September 2016 Summaries

Box is enhancing its role in the life sciences industry by launching new initiatives, such as partnerships with IBM and Google, to support digital transformation and provide solutions for highly regulated sectors. At BoxWorks 2016, the company highlighted its commitment to the life sciences sector, where it's already aiding over 650 organizations, including prominent names like GlaxoSmithKline and Boston Scientific. The event coincided with OpenText's acquisition of Documentum, a significant development for the industry as companies reconsider their ECM strategies. Box aims to replace legacy ECM systems with a modern content platform that offers robust security, privacy, and governance capabilities while integrating seamlessly with productivity solutions like Office 365 and Google Docs. The platform also addresses data residency requirements through Box Zones, facilitating compliance in various global regions. Through these efforts, Box is building a comprehensive ecosystem to manage both regulated and non-regulated content, enhancing collaboration, and simplifying environments for life sciences organizations.

In a recent gathering at Boxworks2016, healthcare executives from organizations such as HCSC and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center discussed how the cloud is revolutionizing the industry, particularly through the use of Box for secure collaboration. The conversation extended to the Health 2.0 conference and TechStars Healthcare Accelerator, highlighting startups like Silversheet, Augmedix, and LabArchives that leverage Box’s platform to improve efficiency in medical credentialing, patient documentation, and laboratory research. Silversheet offers a streamlined, paperless credentialing process that facilitates document sharing and verification for hospitals, while Augmedix uses smart glasses to enhance the efficiency of healthcare providers by allowing them to focus more on patient interactions rather than electronic health record documentation. LabArchives replaces traditional paper lab notebooks with a digital solution that integrates with Box for secure storage and sharing of research data. These collaborations illustrate Box's role in fostering innovation and efficiency in healthcare and research by providing a secure, cloud-based platform for data management and collaboration.

Organizations are increasingly focused on transforming the employee experience through tools that enhance collaboration, productivity, and content management, and many are choosing Box for its comprehensive and user-friendly features. Customers cite several reasons for their decision, including the importance of mobile accessibility, consistent user experience, and robust security measures that don't compromise usability. Box's workflow automation and intuitive interfaces facilitate seamless document management and enhance communication across departments, while its ability to handle large file transfers and support diverse file types makes it a reliable choice for companies with global operations. The platform's emphasis on minimizing human error and maximizing end-user adoption contributes to its high return on investment, as evidenced by a financial-services firm that experienced significant adoption rates and data utilization shortly after implementing Box, showcasing the platform's capability to effectively meet diverse business needs.

Box Hack Day, held in San Francisco as part of BoxWorks 2016, was a collaborative event where over 220 developers gathered to create enterprise applications using Box Platform and Amazon Web Services, competing for over $50,000 in AWS credits. Attendees had access to technologies from partners like SendGrid, Affectiva, and Plaid, and they participated in workshops such as the AWS Zombie Microservices Workshop. After pitching ideas and forming teams, developers submitted more than 30 projects, with applications ranging from healthcare solutions to business tools. Five finalists were selected, including Smart Questionnaire, Lightbox Create, Finalyze, HathWed, and Boxcare, each receiving $5,000 in AWS credits. Boxcare, a phone-based counseling tool for nurses that integrates facial recognition to enhance patient care, was declared the overall winner, receiving an additional $10,000 in AWS credits during a keynote address by Jeetu Patel.

Virtual reality (VR) technology, which has historically been used primarily in high-value enterprise scenarios such as pilot training and oil rig simulations, is becoming increasingly accessible due to decreasing costs and advancements in consumer-grade headsets and content creation tools. The VR industry is projected to grow significantly, with major content producers beginning to explore its potential beyond gaming and film into more pervasive applications. Box is positioning itself as a key player in this space, offering a robust 3D engine for interactive model viewing and 360 photo and video capabilities, with support for WebVR and Google Cardboard. Enterprises are finding innovative uses for VR and 3D technologies in areas such as product design, dental scans, and interactive content sharing, with companies like Toyota and Sonoco leveraging these tools to enhance product communication and collaboration. As VR continues to evolve, it promises to offer exciting opportunities for businesses to enhance customer experiences and optimize internal processes.

Box has achieved a significant milestone in its international expansion by obtaining approval for its Global Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) from the European Data Protection Authorities, covering both customer and European Economic Area (EEA) employee personal data. This approval, led by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and reviewed by Spanish and Polish DPAs, signifies compliance with the highest data protection standards, facilitating secure data transfers and processing within and outside the EEA. These BCRs ensure consistent data protection globally, marking Box as one of the few cloud platforms to attain such recognition, thereby bolstering its reputation as a secure enterprise content management platform. This achievement complements Box's ongoing commitment to data protection, as evidenced by its compliance with ISO 27018, ISO 27001, and certification under the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules System, highlighting its dedication to governance and compliance.

At the BoxWorks 2016 event, a keynote featuring Jeetu Patel of Box and Amazon CTO Werner Vogels focused on the future of Box for developers and partners, with a spirited fireside chat exploring Amazon's success and innovation strategies. Vogels highlighted Amazon's customer-centric approach, driven by five pillars: security, performance, reliability, scalability, and cost, along with a strong emphasis on A/B testing for continuous improvement. He discussed Amazon’s evolution from an online bookstore to a leading cloud technology provider, emphasizing the company's commitment to customer feedback and innovation. Vogels shared insights into working with Jeff Bezos, praising his visionary leadership across various sectors. The session concluded with lighthearted rapid-fire questions, including thoughts on Prime memberships and privacy concerns with Amazon Echo. The event also announced the launch of the Box Platform Incubator in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, aimed at fostering enterprise app development.

BoxWorks 2016 commenced with the unveiling of The All New Box and a discussion between Box CEO Aaron Levie and Google SVP Diane Greene, highlighting a strengthened partnership between Box and Google to enhance cloud-based work solutions. The dialogue explored the role of innovation in enterprises, the expanding use of machine learning, and the transformative potential of cloud technology in providing security, visibility, and control over data. Greene emphasized Google's collaborative approach with partners and its commitment to leveraging machine learning, particularly in sectors like healthcare, where it promises to surpass traditional diagnostic methods. The conversation also touched upon the rapid adoption of technologies like augmented reality, as exemplified by Pokémon Go, while emphasizing the ongoing focus on unlocking the full potential of cloud services to improve organizational understanding of business and customer data.

ImpactCloud, a coalition formed by Box.org in collaboration with partners like NetHope and Team Rubicon, is addressing the challenge of outdated technology in crisis response by uniting seven leading cloud vendors—DocuSign, Okta, Salesforce.org, Splunk, Tableau, and Twilio—to enhance the operational capabilities of crisis response organizations. This initiative aims to improve collaboration, reduce response times, and lower costs for nonprofits dealing with natural disasters and other crises through an innovation framework that supports the research, acquisition, and deployment of integrated cloud solutions. By promoting collaborative needs assessment, shared solution development, streamlined acquisition, and funding support, ImpactCloud seeks to transform technology deployment in the relief sector, making it more efficient and effective. The coalition's efforts focus on increasing visibility, collaboration, and mobile capacity, with plans to extend its impact to other nonprofit service areas as more partners join. ImpactCloud is committed to making innovation a more attractive investment and invites engagement through events and its online platform, encouraging the use of the hashtag #ImpactCloud for ongoing conversations.

Box is advancing its digital business transformation capabilities through several new features and updates to its platform, announced at the BoxWorks event. These innovations include support for HD videos, 360 images, 3D models, and VR files, as well as the introduction of the Box UI Kit to enhance user experience with pre-built interface components. Furthermore, Box has launched new security and governance APIs to help developers meet business requirements, alongside a revamped Box Developer Console to simplify development processes. The introduction of Service Accounts aims to support enterprise integrations and server-to-server applications, enabling large-scale content management and industrial IoT use cases. Additionally, Box has partnered with Amazon Web Services to launch the Box Platform Incubator, offering resources for developing scalable, cloud-based enterprise applications. These efforts demonstrate Box's commitment to enhancing its platform's capabilities and user experience while supporting its developer community.

Box has introduced a new vision for collaborative work by partnering with Google to integrate Box's secure content management with Google's productivity apps, enhancing cloud-based work efficiency. This collaboration allows users to seamlessly create, open, edit, and collaborate on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly from Box, with real-time updates stored securely. The integration also supports converting files like Microsoft Word documents to Google Docs, enabling fast-paced content creation. Box's platform provides robust security features, such as customer-managed encryption and rights management, to protect files. Additionally, the partnership includes the use of Google Springboard, which leverages Google's enterprise search technology to streamline information retrieval across Google Apps and Box, addressing challenges of communication sprawl and notification overload. This initiative aims to facilitate a smoother transition to cloud-based work environments for a broad range of customers, including universities and global brands.

Box, a company founded 11 years ago with the mission of simplifying file sharing and access, has introduced the all-new Box platform to further enhance enterprise content management and collaboration. This revamped platform includes significant updates such as an improved files experience, which offers faster loading and file uploads, customizable layouts, and advanced media file viewing capabilities. Additionally, Box Notes has been enhanced to facilitate team collaboration by consolidating ideas, projects, and tasks into a single view with offline access capabilities. The new Box Relay feature simplifies workflow automation, allowing users to build, track, and manage workflows efficiently without toggling between different systems. Box's updated platform aims to provide a centralized solution for managing content, ensuring robust security, compliance, and seamless collaboration across various industries, thus empowering organizations to operate more efficiently in a rapidly changing business environment.

Box is continually innovating to simplify work processes, inviting attendees at BoxWorks to engage with their product managers and share feedback on current and future products. The event features BoxStars, a customer recognition program that includes IT and business leaders from diverse industries who are advanced users and advocates of Box. BoxStars members benefit from networking opportunities, on-demand access to the latest Box news, and early access to beta products, alongside other exclusive perks during BoxWorks. Attendees are encouraged to visit the BoxStars booth at Moscone West to learn more, although the schedule may be subject to change.

Ipreo has partnered with Box to create Prism, a cloud-based CFO-Desktop application designed to assist private companies in managing regulatory compliance, secure communication with shareholders, and executing capital raising and liquidity events, while also providing advanced analytics for better business decisions. As private companies continue to stay private longer, Prism aims to address the growing need for secure data control and efficient reporting, leveraging Box's robust security and seamless workflow capabilities. Prism facilitates seamless compliance with regulatory disclosures, automates secure shareholder communication, enables efficient capital raising and employee liquidity programs, and offers competitive insights and decision-making tools through proprietary benchmarks and analytics. This collaboration positions Ipreo to disrupt financial services by integrating Box's secure content management to enhance user experience and accelerate innovation in the market.