December 2018 Summaries

Box's first-ever Global Holiday Impact Day integrated service into holiday celebrations, with Boxers across 19 cities and seven countries volunteering over 4,000 hours with more than 35 organizations. Activities ranged from creating holiday gifts and essentials for people experiencing homelessness in New York City to building robots for STEM education in Austin, crafting personal holiday messages and decorations for children and seniors in Tokyo, and engaging in environmental clean-up efforts in London. In the Bay Area, Boxers assembled gifts for the homeless and supported wildfire recovery efforts. Other cities like Sydney, Toronto, and Paris focused on addressing hunger, while teams in Chicago and D.C. engaged with animal welfare and veteran support. Emphasizing youth success, initiatives included toy drives, mentoring, and refurbishing spaces for migrant youth. The event highlighted Box's commitment to community service, facilitated by Give2Get, and was deemed a success with potential to become an annual tradition.

Box has launched a new integration with ServiceNow's IntegrationHub, allowing users to build custom workflows on the Now Platform using the Box spoke, which facilitates common actions like uploading files and adding collaborators. This integration aims to streamline business processes by enabling Box content management directly within the Now Platform, leveraging Box’s robust security, compliance, and governance features to ensure consistent IT policy application across organizations. The collaboration aligns with Box's mission to centralize content in a secure and accessible hub across various applications, driving digital transformation for global businesses. The Box spoke is now available, and users interested in acquiring an IntegrationHub license are encouraged to reach out to their ServiceNow Account Executive for further details.

Box Skills is a platform that enhances content management in Box by leveraging AI technologies to process and analyze data, providing insights and improving business operations. The recent general availability of the Box Skills Kit offers developers a toolkit comprising APIs, SDKs, and sample code to create custom Box Skills by integrating third-party AI services such as IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. These applications apply AI algorithms to files uploaded to Box, enhancing features like file preview, search, and automation by writing the AI-derived metadata back to the files. Additionally, Box has partnered with IBM Watson to deliver custom AI solutions for enterprise content management, showcased through successful implementations like H&R Block Canada's document insights for their returns program. Box Consulting now offers services to guide businesses in developing AI strategies, with workshops and proof-of-concept development, while Box Skills Verified Partners, including IBM, Codelitt, Reva Solutions, and Crayon, are available to assist enterprises in rapidly deploying AI-driven solutions.

Businesses are overwhelmed with data management challenges, leading to inefficiencies and potential errors, while advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning offer transformative potential. Box Skills is introduced as a solution that leverages AI to enhance content management within Box by structuring and extracting insights from information at scale. This service allows developers to build custom Skills using the Box Skills Kit, which is now generally available, enabling the application of AI to automate processes such as labeling objects in images, extracting information from contracts, and detecting sensitive data in recordings. The Skills integrate seamlessly into the Box ecosystem, adding extracted metadata to files, which enhances search capabilities and supports other functionalities like retention policies. Box Skills Kit simplifies the creation of these Skills, providing developers with resources and guides while giving admins control over Skill deployment and content analysis.

Box has expanded its partnership with VMware to enhance user experiences in non-persistent virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments by integrating Box Drive with VMware App Volumes. This collaboration allows users to retain their settings and data across sessions, addressing challenges associated with non-persistent VDIs where data is usually not saved. By leveraging VMware's Writable Volumes, organizations can enable per-user customization, minimizing the need for users to repeatedly input login details or download cached data. This integration aims to offer a seamless, secure, and cost-effective solution for enterprises, combining the benefits of Box's cloud content management and VMware's virtual desktop technology. Through this partnership, Box and VMware seek to provide an optimized digital workspace that reduces storage demands while maintaining high levels of security and simplifying IT management.

Box has been recognized as a 2018 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for Content Collaboration Platforms, with an impressive 4.4-star rating based on 208 reviews. Customers have praised Box for its transformative impact on digital transformation, highlighting its exceptional onboarding process, strategic development support, and integration capabilities. The platform is noted for fostering collaboration and innovation, with strong security features and partnerships enhancing workflow efficiency. Box is also acknowledged as a leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Collaboration Platforms for the fifth consecutive year and scored highest in the Extended Collaboration use case. The company's recognition extends to being named a Visionary in the Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms in 2017, reinforcing its role in driving digital workplace transformation and growth.

Box.org, in collaboration with Box Inc., hosted the inaugural Box Global Sales Engineering Summit for Good in San Diego, connecting 100 sales engineers with leaders from three nonprofits: Oxfam, Kiva, and TechSoup, to address content management challenges in nonprofit operations. The event involved designing cloud content management (CCM) solutions tailored to the unique needs and budget constraints of these organizations, focusing on enhancing fundraising efforts, streamlining HR processes, and optimizing system access governance for volunteers. Participants, including nonprofit system integrators and ISV partners, engaged in intensive workshops to propose practical solutions, which were then presented to panels of judges. The summit not only provided valuable insights and actionable plans for the participating nonprofits but also fostered a deep sense of purpose and skill enhancement among Box engineers, aligning with Box Inc.'s cultural values of "Make Mom Proud" and "Blow Customer's Minds." Feedback from attendees highlighted the significant impact and potential of the solutions, with plans for continued collaboration and skill-based volunteering opportunities to further support the nonprofit sector.

Box and Google Cloud have collaborated to launch Box for G Suite, an integration designed to centralize G Suite content into a secure hub in Box, enhancing productivity and collaboration while ensuring security, compliance, and governance. This integration allows users to utilize G Suite's content creation and editing features knowing their documents are securely managed in Box. The rollout is underway and is expected to be completed by mid-January. Organizations, such as Intuit, have already experienced the benefits of having all their content centralized, which simplifies management and governance. The partnership marks a significant step towards transforming cloud-based organizational workflows, addressing the challenges of dispersed information across various tools and applications.

Box.org participated in the second annual Global People's Summit, a virtual event aimed at including people from all backgrounds in global decision-making processes. The summit, founded by Hazami Barmada, emphasizes democratizing access to vital conversations and information to inspire global change and solve pressing world problems. Box.org supports this initiative by integrating technology to enhance inclusivity and scale social impact, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015. The collaboration between Box.org and the Global People's Summit seeks to leverage technology and philanthropic efforts to empower social change-makers, with Box.org offering its resources and expertise to nonprofits.

Box has appointed Adam Drew as the country Vice President for Canada, highlighting the company's commitment to expanding its global footprint and supporting Canadian enterprises in their transition to digital workplaces. With over two decades of experience in technology leadership roles at companies like Salesforce and Oracle, Drew will focus on building the Canadian business, particularly targeting large enterprises and government sectors, from his base in Toronto. Box already operates in Canada with an office in Toronto and various teams across the country, serving customers with advanced digital solutions such as cloud content management, AI, and machine learning capabilities. The company has also introduced features like Box Zones, Box KeySafe, and multizone storage to cater to security-sensitive enterprises. Drew's appointment is part of Box's broader international expansion strategy, which includes offices in several countries outside the US.

Kennedy Odede, the founder of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), was recently interviewed at Box, where he shared his inspiring story of transforming the lives of over a quarter million people in Kibera, Kenya, through initiatives in healthcare, sanitation, business, and education for young girls. Growing up in extreme poverty and overcoming numerous hardships, Odede's vision for change was sparked by his desire for education and community engagement, which began with a simple soccer game and evolved into a significant grassroots movement. His journey caught the attention of Jessica Posner, a Wesleyan University student, who volunteered in Kibera and later co-founded SHOFCO with him, resulting in a powerful partnership that extends internationally. Box, through its Box.org initiative, supports SHOFCO by providing discounted services and collaborating on educational initiatives, with the Box Belong ERG eagerly anticipating the growth of this partnership. The interview, which included 20 Box colleagues, highlighted the impact of determination and collaboration in driving social change, and Box continues to support SHOFCO's mission by encouraging donations to provide tuition-free education to promising young minds.