November 2016 Summaries

The Box Virtual Summit, scheduled for December 8, 2016, is a half-day online event designed to explore the evolving landscape of work and how Box facilitates secure collaboration with content. The event kicks off with a keynote by Box CEO Aaron Levie, discussing the transformative impact of cloud and mobile technologies and unveiling the All New Box. Participants can engage in various sessions, including overviews of modern content management, Box Platform insights, and live demos, alongside networking opportunities with Box experts and partners like IBM, Adobe, and AWS. The summit concludes with a keynote by Jeetu Patel, Box's Chief Strategy Officer, who will discuss modern developer platforms and new enhancements to the Box Platform, showcasing real-world customer experiences and app-building tools.

Box has introduced a new two-way integration with Aha!, enhancing the collaboration between product management and development teams by allowing over 50,000 Aha! users to access files stored in Box, facilitating a seamless workflow. The integration offers easy access to crucial product planning documents, ensuring teams remain synchronized with the latest document versions, thereby boosting productivity. It also provides robust security features, such as granular permissions and password protection, to protect sensitive information. The integration is designed for quick setup, enabling users to connect their Box accounts with Aha! in just a few clicks, and it complements Box's existing integrations with other major cloud services like Office 365, IBM, and Salesforce. This enhancement underscores Box's commitment to consolidating work processes and offering comprehensive cloud-based solutions for its users.

Box acquired Crocodoc to enhance document viewing in its applications and offered the technology as the Box View API for developers to integrate document display in their apps. However, these services were based on outdated technologies, leading to maintenance challenges. To address this, Box developed a new Box View service, now generally available, which supports a wide range of file types and offers improved rendering fidelity, security features, and is built on the same technology stack as Box's core applications for better integration and future enhancements. With the introduction of the new Box View, Box plans to discontinue the Crocodoc and legacy Box View API services by January 15, 2018, providing developers with ample time and resources to migrate to the new service, promising a smoother transition and support during the process.

Box Platform has introduced the general availability of annotations, which enhance collaborative capabilities by allowing users to highlight text and add comments directly to specific parts of a file preview, such as slides or documents, for no additional cost via the Box API. Previously in public beta, annotations were tested by various companies for diverse applications, including marking up loan documents and highlighting resumes. This new feature differs from traditional comments by integrating directly into the file rendering, enabling in-file edits and conversations. Users can implement annotations in custom apps by adding a query parameter to an embeddable file URL obtained through the Box Content API, and they are supported for documents, presentations, and image file types, although not yet available in Box’s native web or mobile apps. To enable this feature, developers need to append a query parameter to the generated embed URL, and further information can be accessed through Box’s API documentation or their developer forum.

Box has announced the general availability of Box Zones in Australia, allowing Australian companies to store data locally to address data residency concerns and comply with regional regulations while enabling cloud collaboration without compromising security, governance, and compliance. With data stored in-country on AWS, Box helps Australian organisations meet the Australian Privacy Principles and the Australian Signals Directorate’s recommendations for sensitive data management. In addition to Australia, customers can store data in Europe and Asia, with future expansions planned for Canada and the option to choose between Amazon Web Services and IBM Cloud as infrastructure partners. Box is committed to expanding its geographic reach and capabilities, with a webinar scheduled to provide further information on storing files in Australia.

Serverless architecture, despite its misleading name, involves using event-driven computing platforms like AWS Lambda or Azure Functions to optimize cloud infrastructure by breaking down server functions into smaller, task-specific microservices. This architecture contrasts with traditional server-based applications by distributing compute processing between the client and API endpoints. The text discusses the implementation of a serverless authentication microservice using Box Platform for App Users, which involves a server-to-server authentication scheme to manage user interactions with the Box API securely. The process entails creating and managing App User tokens, leveraging caching mechanisms like Redis for performance, and utilizing Auth0 for secure token exchanges. Additionally, the text illustrates how serverless architecture can offload operations to client-side applications, reducing infrastructure costs by allowing direct client interactions with APIs, exemplified by a CORS-enabled file upload demo. The architecture also supports flexible extensions, such as integrating with microservices for thumbnail generation and webhook management, enabling scalable and efficient handling of file storage and API interactions.

The Box Watermarking API is a new feature designed to enhance the security of sensitive files by applying a semi-transparent overlay that displays viewer-specific information and access time. This API allows developers to easily mark files and folders with watermarks, which appear both in embedded previews and on downloaded files, thus deterring unauthorized sharing. It supports various file types and is available for Developer, Enterprise, and Elite Box Plans. The watermarking process involves using API calls to apply, get, or remove watermarks, with the default imprint displaying user-specific details such as email or user ID for registered users, and IP address for anonymous users. The API facilitates secure collaboration by integrating watermarking into applications, and developers can begin utilizing it by creating a free Box Developer account or accessing the Developer Console.

OpenText's acquisition of Documentum highlights a significant shift in the enterprise content management (ECM) space, signaling the end of traditional ECM models and the rise of modern, cloud-native solutions like Box. Documentum, once a pioneering force in ECM, struggled to adapt to the changing demands of mobile, collaborative, and data-driven enterprises, which require seamless integration with tools such as Slack, Office 365, and mobile devices. Box positions itself as the future of ECM with its streamlined, user-friendly, and secure cloud platform that supports advanced features like workflow reimagined through Box Relay, data storage compliance, and integration with major applications. Despite the financial rationale behind the OpenText and Documentum deal, many analysts and industry experts advocate for transitioning to platforms like Box, which are designed for modern enterprise needs and offer a cohesive experience without the inefficiencies of legacy systems. Box's approach has already attracted a wide range of industries, offering tools like Box Shuttle to facilitate the migration from Documentum, emphasizing a future where ECM solutions are more adaptable, integrated, and efficient.

Box has significantly expanded its investment in the life sciences industry over the past three years, supporting digital transformation efforts for over 650 organizations, including major pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly. The company has strengthened its presence in the Japanese market with new clients such as Daichi Sankyo and Shionogi and is collaborating with partners like CHITA, Prolifiq, USDM, and CTCLS to enhance its offerings. These partnerships aim to provide comprehensive content management and collaboration solutions tailored to the life sciences sector, focusing on regulated and non-regulated content management, sales enablement, and migration to cloud-based systems. The integration with leading Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and System Integrators (SIs) allows Box to deliver specialized workflows, ensuring compliance and facilitating seamless collaboration across the industry. With its user-friendly platform, Box continues to innovate and offer unique solutions for managing sensitive content, thereby maintaining a high level of compliance and security for its life sciences clients.

Box serves as a central hub for content collaboration across various applications and devices, emphasizing the importance of both functionality and security. The company focuses on expanding its ecosystem of partners to enable seamless integration of Box into diverse applications used by customers. With 34 new partners recently added, the total number now exceeds 150, addressing use cases such as smart workflows, contract management, and data visualization. Some notable integrations include Azuqua for custom data synchronization, Hive for centralized team collaboration, Icertis for enhanced contract management, and Trello for improved project organization. Additionally, Box encourages developers to integrate their solutions by joining the Box Platform Partner Program.