ovum decision matrix: selecting an enterprise file sync and share product, 2014–2015 ·...

Publication Date: 28 Aug 2014 | Product code: IT0021-000018

Richard Edwards

Ovum Decision Matrix: Selecting an Enterprise File Sync and Share Product, 2014–2015


© 2014 Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Summary

Catalyst

Ovum’s 2014 global study of 5,187 full-time employees indicates that 89% of those using file sync and

share technology at work are using at least one consumer product, and 29% are using three or more

consumer and/or commercial products. Only 9% of file sync and share users are satisfied with a

single commercial product, and 44% of employees are not using file sync and share products at all,

relying on other methods such as email attachments to move documents around the business and

their mobile devices. These figures paint an anarchic picture of file sharing and document-centric

collaboration within the workplace, and support Ovum’s thesis that while there may be an enterprise

file sync and share solution to address almost every business need, there is no product that meets

them all.

Ovum view

File sync and share technology supports the need of knowledge workers to keep important files, such

as documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, close to hand, and to share these items when

needed. However, "enterprise file sync and share" is about so much more than the phrase suggests.

It is about: getting work done wherever you are and with whomever you are working; using any device

suitable or available to read, review, author, or correct a document; sharing work-in-progress with a

few, and publishing authoritative content to the many; protecting intellectual property and sensitive

information (whether at rest or in transit) on-premise, in the cloud, or on a device; satisfying the

different needs of the casual user and the power user; being as useful on a mobile device as on a

traditional computer; and working with line-of-business and collaboration systems that the business

already owns, as well as those that it is thinking of getting.

Business efficacy, regulatory compliance, information security, and employee productivity are all

affected by the way knowledge workers create, edit, process, and share documents, so the selection

of enterprise file sync and share products is very much on the critical path of IT-related business

investments. Ovum’s market analysis suggests that only 5% of employees are using a single

commercial product to sync and share their files. This supports Ovum’s thesis that no single file sync

and share product – consumer of otherwise – is able to address all of the needs of a large enterprise.

This highlights the challenge facing CIOs and IT managers as they try to regain control of enterprise

content.

Despite bold vendor claims, no commercial enterprise file sync and share product is dominating the

workplace. The wide-scale use of Dropbox among knowledge workers highlights the power and

impact of IT consumerization, while the pervasiveness of Google Drive (and Apple iCloud)

demonstrates the effects that mobile devices are having on the enterprise. Heritage, legacy, and

pervasiveness continue to influence the market too, with Microsoft the omnipresent force in the end-

user computing realm. Three user-oriented themes – ease-of-use, mobile-first design, and integration

with existing products – feature heavily in the products that have found their way into the "market

leaders" category of the Ovum Decision Matrix, highlighting the importance of the user experience in

product selection.



All but one of the vendors in the market leaders category offer on-premise (or hybrid) deployment

options, reflecting the belief of vendors that they need to store at least some documents and files in

the corporate data center for compliance, data sovereignty, and pure practicality reasons. Small and

medium-sized organizations differ from large enterprises and multinational organizations in this

regard, hence the market is likely to polarize into two distinct segments in the near and medium term.

Key findings

Unmanaged consumer services are the most widely used file sync and share technology

within the enterprise, with 89% of users employing consumer tools.

Of enterprise file sync and share product users, only 9% are satisfied with a single

commercial offering; 29% of users employ three or more products.

A plethora of file sync and share solutions are targeting the enterprise market, and every

offering appears to have something unique to offer.

WatchDox ranks highest on the Ovum Decision Matrix for Enterprise File Sync and Share in

terms of features that address end-user and IT management requirements, but the vendor’s

market impact is very low.

The consumer-centric offerings from Dropbox and Google Drive are the most widely used file

sync and share products in the enterprise, yet the commercial products from these vendors

rank among the lowest in terms of addressing end-user and IT management requirements.

Organizations, especially large enterprises, evaluating enterprise file sync and share products

must be mindful of the deployment, administration, and support burdens that these systems

place on the corporate IT department.

Vendors in the enterprise file sync and share market most frequently cite Box as their primary

competitor, followed by Accellion, Citrix, Dropbox, and Microsoft.

The file sync and share capabilities of Alfresco, Salesforce.com, and Huddle are likely to be

considered "good enough" by the majority of general business users.

Box is the vendor in the spotlight, while Google and Dropbox are the vendors lurking in the

shadows. Microsoft is the vendor that is omnipresent.

Vendor solution selection

Inclusion criteria

Enterprise file sync and share is a general product term to describe offerings that enable the storage

of, and access to, electronic documents and files from a range of devices and interfaces. These

products enable a selection of files stored on the user’s desktop computer to be synchronized to an

on-premise or cloud-based content store, and thereafter to be accessed on other devices either on

demand or via synchronization. These files can be shared with third parties through links or other

mechanisms. Additional features extend file sync and share functionality to enterprise content

management systems, line-of-business applications, and collaboration environments. Enterprise file

sync and share products differ from consumer alternatives by providing additional administration,

audit, and security features. The primary reasons for inclusion are as follows:



The product identifies with the enterprise file sync and share market: The products

exhibit clear enterprise file sync and share functionality, as detailed in the relevant sections of

this Ovum Decision Matrix.

The product is relevant to Ovum's enterprise clients: The vendor’s product features in

client enquiries, information requests, workshops, events, and advisory sessions.

The vendor or product is established in the enterprise market: The product is from a

startup vendor and has been generally available for 36 months, or is from an established

vendor and has been generally available for 12 months.

Exclusion criteria

The enterprise file sync and share market is dynamic and continuously in flux. A number of mergers

and acquisitions have taken place in the past 18 months, and some vendors are realigning and

redefining their product strategies in response to market and economic forces. File sync and share

capabilities are being added to all manner of products and solutions, but it would be inappropriate at

this time to include all of these offerings in this report. The primary reasons for exclusion from this

report are:

the vendor did not wish to participate in the report at this time

the product has file sync and share features, but these are not currently central to its core

offering

the product is new to the market and is not yet commercially proven.

Methodology

Technology assessment

In this assessment dimension, Ovum considers a series of data points that identify features of note

and areas of product differentiation within the enterprise file sync and share market. Essentially, it is

an assessment of end-user product functionality. Vendors were asked to complete Ovum's Enterprise

File Sync and Share Features Matrix, which comprises 241 product functionality data collection points

divided into eight distinct categories. The more data collection points a category has the more

differentiation among products there is in this area. The categories are as follows:

File synchronization features: The product’s core attributes as an enterprise file sync and

share solution (comprises 46 data collection points).

File sharing features: The product’s core attributes as an enterprise file sync and share

solution (comprises 28 data collections points).

Collaboration features: The product’s ancillary collaboration features and the extent to

which the offering helps users to work with others (comprises 22 data collection points).

Content management features: The product’s level of integration with, and enhancement of,

existing enterprise file and document management infrastructure (comprises 22 data

collection points).

Search features: The product’s ability to help users find their documents and those created

by others (comprises 38 data collection points).



Social features: The extent to which the product embraces expected enterprise social norms

and mechanisms (comprises 35 data collection points).

Desktop features: The extent to which the product enhances the purpose and usefulness of

a computer running Microsoft Windows or Apple OS X (comprises 14 data collection points).

Mobile features: The extent to which the product enhances the purpose and usefulness of a

mobile device, be it a smartphone or tablet (comprises 36 data collection points).

Execution

In this dimension, Ovum considers a series of data points for features and functions that are important

to CIOs, IT departments, and those with IS/IM responsibilities. Essentially, it is an assessment of

"enterprise fit" and the ability to execute a successful rollout of the product. Vendors were asked to

complete Ovum's Enterprise File Sync and Share Features Matrix, which comprises 194 "enterprise

fit" data collection points divided into eight categories. The more data collection points a category has

the more differentiation among products there is in this area. The categories are as follows:

Deployment features: Assesses the product’s on-premise and cloud deployment options,

regional presence, and directory integration facilities (comprises 23 data collection points).

Administration features: Assesses the degree to which enterprise administrators can control

aspects of the product and the manner in which it is used (comprises 65 data collection

points).

Information security management features: Assesses the degree to which the product can

address matters relating to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of corporate files and

data (comprises 22 data collection points).

Governance, risk, and compliance features: Assesses the extent to which the product can

help organizations address government and industry regulations (comprises 12 data

collection points).

Systems integration features: Assesses the reach and range of the product’s integration

capabilities (comprises 30 data collection points).

Licensing features: Assesses the vendor’s approach and flexibility to product licensing

(comprises 17 data collection points).

Developer features: Assesses the options open to corporate developers and independent

software vendors in terms of APIs and standards support (comprises 12 data collection

points).

Management reporting features: Assesses the extent to which the product can support

general management reporting requirements (comprises 13 data collection points).

Market impact

In this dimension, Ovum considers the global market impact of a product based on six market

indicators. This is the most challenging dimension to ascertain, as vendors continue to play their cards

close to their chest, only sharing glimpses of business performance and sales data when it

complements and supports their marketing message. As the market matures, Ovum expects market

impact data to become more revealing. The six categories relating to market impact are:

Revenue: Private companies seldom disclose revenues, and established enterprise vendors

do not usually disclose product revenue unless it is substantial, sustainable, and commercially



in their best interests to do so. Also, product and vendor revenue profiles are changing with

the advent of SaaS and freemium models, so Ovum is very cautious in its weighting of this

factor.

Market competitiveness: Ovum’s examination of the enterprise file sync and share market

includes a detailed look at the competitive landscape. Every vendor has a few competitors

that it competes against on a regular basis, and Ovum’s research methodology captures this

information, using it to rank vendors accordingly.

Customer deployments: The potential business value of enterprise file sync and share

products is proportional to the number of employees or participants that have access to them,

so one must try to determine the extent to which end users are engaging on these platforms.

Vendors provide only indicative numbers when talking about paying customers and total

number of end users, so Ovum tempers these figures with its own market survey data and

publically available data, such as mobile app downloads and installs.

Geographical penetration:Where the information is provided, Ovum is able to establish the

geographical reach of the product, both in terms of regional brand recognition and physical

presence. Data center locations, sales operations, and provision of local support are also

given merit.

Vertical industry penetration:Some vendors provide industry-specific solutions and/or

implementation expertise, while others partner with industry specialists and consultancies to

extend their reach and range. Where provided, this information is considered along with other

market impact indicators.

Market segment focus: Small, medium, and large enterprises often have very different

business and technical requirements, and vendors deal with these segments of the market in

different ways. Contract negotiation, bespoke service level agreements, customized support

options, and tailored billing arrangements are important considerations for large companies

and public sector organizations. Ovum considers the extent to which vendors are realistically

able to address these areas.

Ovum ratings

Market leaders: This category is reserved for enterprise file sync and share products that

score significantly above the combined group average. The primary metrics considered are

those derived from assessing product functionality and enterprise fit as described above.

Vendors appearing on this list do so based on Ovum's weightings and general market

assumptions. Organizations evaluating the enterprise file sync and share market should pay

particular attention to vendors in this category.

Market challengers:This category is reserved for enterprise file sync and share products that

score on or around the combined group average. The primary metrics considered are those

derived from an assessment of product functionality and enterprise fit as described above.

Ovum recognizes the significance of market impact, but it is given less weighting as it is not

an easily verifiable measure.

Market followers: This category is reserved for enterprise file sync and share products that

generally score below the combined group average. All dimensions and their constituent

categories are included. Vendors appearing on this list do so based on Ovum's weightings



and general market assumptions. Businesses and institutions evaluating the enterprise file

sync and share market should consider the market and product strategies of the vendors

listed in this category, as they may well align with the business and technical strategies of the

organization.

Ovum Decision Matrix Interactive

The Enterprise File Sync and Share Ovum Decision Matrix Interactive is an online tool that provides

Ovum clients with the product and IT management features that Ovum believes are crucial

differentiators for leading products in this area. Access to this tool is via the Ovum Knowledge Center.

Market and product analysis

Ovum Decision Matrix: Enterprise File Sync and Share

A plethora of file sync and share solutions are targeting the enterprise market, yet every offering

appears to have something unique to offer. As always, the challenge for CIOs and IT managers is to

identify the solution that best meets the organization's current and future requirements, with regard to

a broad set of employee roles and business use cases. Herein lies the problem, as no single product

on the market today offers everything that a large enterprise is likely to need.

Ovum has discussed the provision of file sync and share products with CIOs and IT managers across

a broad cross section of industries, and while there is no universal pattern, it seems that small and

medium-sized companies are finding it easier to adopt a single offering from the more familiar

commodity end of the market, while larger enterprises are combining products and solutions to meet a

diverse range of business needs.

Many organizations have invested in virtual private networks (VPNs) and remote access solutions to

support field-based employees and home-working arrangements, but these solutions are typically

designed to connect only company-owned and managed Windows PCs to the corporate network, not

employee-owned laptops, smartphones, or tablets via the Internet. An employee on a personal device

trying to remotely access a Microsoft Office document stored on a central file server or document

management system, located behind a corporate firewall, is not going to have much success, hence

the need for integrated enterprise file sync and share solutions.



Figure 1: Ovum Decision Matrix: Enterprise File Sync and Share, 2014

Source: Ovum



Figure 2: Expanded view of Ovum Decision Matrix: Enterprise File Sync and Share, 2014

Source: Ovum



Table 1: Enterprise File Sync and Share: market leaders, challengers, and followers

Market leaders Market challengers Market followers

AirWatch (by VMware) Secure Content Locker

Accellion Kiteworks Acronis Access

Box Enterprise Edition Alfresco One Dropbox for Business

Egnyte Enterprise File Sharing Suite Citrix ShareFile Google Drive for Work

EMC Syncplicity Hightail for Enterprise OpenText Tempo Box

IBM Connections and IBM SmartCloud Connections

Huddle

WatchDox Intralinks VIA

Microsoft OneDrive for Business

Salesforce Files

Workshare Connect

Source: Ovum

Market leaders: vendor products

The market leaders group of this Ovum Decision Matrix reflects the broad range of products and

solutions available in this segment of the enterprise collaboration market. This group contains the

following vendors:

AirWatch– a recently acquired vendor specializing in mobile device management, mobile

application management, and mobile content management solutions.

Box – a fast-growing, cloud-native, collaborative content management service for enterprises,

business professionals, and individuals.

Egnyte– a cloud-first vendor providing access to on-premise storage and content.

EMC Syncplicity – a company founded by former Microsoft employees and now an integral

part of a leading enterprise IT infrastructure vendor.

IBM– an industry mega-vendor and supplier of enterprise IT products, solutions, and services.

WatchDox– a small, SaaS-based document-centric security vendor specializing in protecting

access to sensitive digital assets via modern devices.

Figures 1 and 2 display the relative positioning of the 19 enterprise file sync and share products

assessed for this report. The x-axis is a measure of each product’s ability to satisfy a range of user-

centric requirements, while the y-axis is a measure of how well a product meets the requirements of

IT departments, system administrators, and developers. The size of each bubble indicates the relative

impact that each product is having on the market, including the consumer market where applicable, as

every enterprise employee is first and foremost a consumer. Vendors are placed in the market leaders

category if they significantly outperform the group average in the technology assessment (x-axis)

dimension and the execution (y-axis) dimension.

The enterprise file sync and share market is being carried along by the enterprise mobility wave, so

mobile-first vendors, or those with strong mobile propositions, are well represented in the market

leaders category. The file sync and share products of AirWatch, Box, Egnyte, EMC Syncplicity, and



IBM all outperformed the group average for enterprise mobility features based on Ovum’s detailed

feature assessment.

Information security management continues to be of great importance to enterprises, thus vendors

that are able to demonstrate practical features in this regard gain extra credit for their efforts.

AirWatch, Egnyte, EMC Syncplicity, IBM, and WatchDox all outperformed the group average when

Ovum assessed their information security management features.

Multinational organizations and large enterprises still find cloud-only solutions restrictive when it

comes to dealing with complex business requirements, so products that support hybrid deployment

options are eagerly sought by CIOs and corporate IT managers. Box is the only vendor in the market

leader category unable to support this requirement natively.

Conceptually, file sync and share products straddle the content management and collaboration

markets, so vendors already established in these domains usually have complementary products,

features, and functionality that add value to their proposition. Somewhat surprisingly, only AirWatch,

Box, and WatchDox scored equal to or above the group average in both content management and

collaboration features assessment categories.

Based on Ovum’s assessment criteria, WatchDox is the product that best addresses the combined

requirements of the end-user and IT department, but its market impact has yet to be felt. Product

marketing plays a significant role in the world of enterprise IT, so it will be interesting to see if

WatchDox can break out of the niche market position in which it sits today. Earlier this year the vendor

launched a freemium offering – LockDox – to showcase the capabilities of WatchDox, so it will be

interesting to see if the industry’s most secure, most complete file sharing technology has general

market appeal.

Market challengers: vendor products

The market challengers category is comprised of nine vendors, each offering a different starting point

and value proposition for organizations evaluating enterprise file sync and share functionality.

Accellion provides private cloud file sharing and mobile collaboration facilities and is favored

by IT managers. It needs to enhance the search and social capabilities of its offering to move

into the market leaders category.

Alfresco provides enterprise content management solutions with strong document

management and collaboration features. It is a browser-friendly product and a good all-

rounder from a file sync and share perspective. It now needs to advance its desktop and

mobile features.

Citrix is a major player in the enterprise infrastructure market, and its astute investments

have resulted in an interesting set of discrete collaboration and communication products. If it

could better ally these investments, it would move into the market leaders category.

Hightail, a pure-play file sync and share vendor, established its market presence under the

brand YouSendIt. It needs to find new ways to differentiate its enterprise offerings in order to

advance on the market leaders.

Huddle provides its file sync and share facilities as an integral part of its cloud-based

collaboration and content management solution. The product’s web-based user interface



meets the needs of desktop and laptop users, but the vendor must focus on bringing the full

power of Huddle to all of its mobile device users.

Intralinks has extended the reach and range of its inter-enterprise content management and

collaboration platform by developing a well-balanced enterprise file sync and share product.

The vendor looks set to challenge the market leaders with its innovative ideas and attractive

enterprise services.

Microsoft has said that it will "reinvent productivity for people who are swimming in a growing

sea of devices, apps, data, and social networks." Office 365 will be the collective focus of this

reinvention and is the company’s vehicle toward the market leaders group.

Salesforce.com is well known for its customer relationship management product, the market

success of which is underpinned by the ancillary features that the vendor provides. Ovum’s

assessment of Salesforce Files shows it to be an excellent fit for most enterprise file sync and

share requirements, and equal to most products on the market.

Workshare provides secure enterprise file sharing and collaboration applications. The vendor

has a stronghold in business sectors that have a particular focus on document-centric

processes. Workshare Connect is a good all-rounder from an enterprise file sync and share

perspective, and future iterations of the product are sure to challenge the market leaders

group.

Market followers: vendor products

The market followers category is comprised of four vendors, two of which ( Dropbox and Google)

dominate the enterprise market with their consumer-focused offerings. Ovum’s 2014 global study of

5,188 full-time employees indicates that the consumer offerings of these companiesare used

extensively in the workplace. Extrapolating from Ovum’s survey data, 45% of the employees that use

file sync and share technology in the workplace use Dropbox, and 48% use Google Drive. Apple

iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive are also used in the workplace, with figures of 25% and 21%

respectively. Dropbox and Google would have similar market shares to Box (12%) if they could upsell

25% of their workplace user base into their respective enterprise products.

Enterprise content management (ECM) vendors have realized that file sync and share apps provide

casual business users with the perfect interface to their "industrial" products. OpenText provides

qualifying customers with Tempo Box – the company’s enterprise file sync and share product – free of

charge. OpenText is iterating rapidly to bring new features and functions to Tempo Box users, and its

efforts will unlock the value of the content stored within its popular ECM platform.

Business continuity is often viewed from a department or an organizational perspective, but the loss of

an employee’s files or documents can also impact operations, product delivery, and customer service.

It is not surprising, therefore, that backup and recovery vendors, such as Acronis, have entered the

market, focusing on the core essentials of enterprise file sync and share.



Market leaders

Market leaders: technology assessment

Figure 3: Ovum Decision Matrix: Enterprise File Sync and Share market leaders – technology assessment

Source: Ovum

Organizations evaluating enterprise file sync and share products should focus on the vendor's stated

direction, roadmap, evolutionary progress, and general business relevancy, rather than fixating on the

offering's current level of functionality. However, every organization has its own minimum viable

feature set that will make for a successful deployment, so this report should be used to shortlist

possible solutions.

Figure 3 shows how the products presented in this report compare to one another in terms of the

functionality they provide to the end user. The dotted blue line marks the combined group average,

revealing the products that currently offer above-average end-user functionality.

AirWatch, Box, Citrix, Egnyte, EMC Syncplicity, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, WatchDox, and

Workshare are the front runners in providing the features that matter most to end users: file

synchronization, file sharing, collaboration, content management, search, and social. It is important

that this functionality is available to the devices and computers used by enterprise employees.

Figure 3 illustrates the competitive nature of the enterprise file sync and share market, and highlights

the attention being given to the end-user experience. Dropbox has the lowest relative score in Ovum’s



analysis, yet 45% of employees using file sync and share products at work are using the company’s

consumer-oriented offering – nearly four-times that of any "commercial" product. Indeed, Ovum’s

2014 Employee Mobility survey indicates that 89% of employees using file sync and share technology

for work purposes rely on consumer-oriented offerings, such as Apple iCloud, Baidu Pan, Dropbox,

Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive. If they are to make headway, enterprise file sync and share

products must delight end users as much as, if not more than, the consumer products they are

currently using.

Market leaders: execution

Figure 4: Ovum Decision Matrix: Enterprise File Sync and Share market leaders – execution

Source: Ovum

Organizations, especially large enterprises, evaluating enterprise file sync and share products must

be mindful of the deployment, administration, and support burdens that these systems place on the

corporate IT department. Even products offered as software-as-a-service (SaaS) have an overhead,

which could be significant if issues such as compliance, information governance, user management,

and management reporting are not carefully considered. Deployment options vary among the

products presented in this report, and integration with existing collaboration systems and line-of-

business applications is patchy once one moves away from popular applications, such as SharePoint

and Salesforce.

Figure 4 shows how the vendors presented in this report compare to one another in terms of their

execution and, more specifically, their enterprise fit. The dotted blue line marks the combined group



average, revealing the products that offer above-average functionality in terms of meeting CIO and IT

department requirements.

AirWatch Secure Content Locker, Box Enterprise Edition, Egnyte Enterprise File Sharing Suite, EMC

Syncplicity, IBM Connections, and WatchDox are the standout products based on the vendor

response to Ovum’s features matrix. These products are generally mature and have been developed

with enterprises in mind. The products from Accellion, Citrix, Intralinks, Salesforce.com, and

Workshare also deserve mention, as they also address important IT management requirements. To

its detriment, Microsoft did not have the resources to fully complete the Ovum features matrix for

Enterprise File Sync and Share, so Ovum would advise close inspection of the vendor’s offering,

especially in the area of management reporting, developer support, systems integration, and overall

systems administration.



AirWatch (by VMware) Secure Content Locker – Ovum Decision Matrix: market leader

Figure 8: AirWatch (by VMware) Secure Content Locker

Source: Ovum

Ovum SWOT assessment

Strengths

Merits "best-in-show" for product functionality and range of end-user features– Enterprise file

sync and share solutions must of course satisfy the management requirements of the corporate IT

department, but all this will be to no avail if the end user finds the product difficult to use and lacking in

capabilities. AirWatch Secure Content Locker currently merits the title of "best-in-show" in terms of

features that matter to users of computers and mobile devices.

Extends powerful search capabilities to mobile devices – The AirWatch Secure Content Locker

app enables full-text search on mobile devices and can be used to search metadata of popular file

formats, such as Microsoft Office documents. The product also provides the more advanced user with

proximity and "fuzzy" search capabilities, the results of which can also be sorted. Search terms can be

restricted to file names, folder names, and branches of a folder tree.

Native content management features complement direct access to third-party document

management systems – AirWatch Secure Content Locker users on computer and mobile devices



can access content stored in third-party enterprise content management systems, such as Microsoft

SharePoint, EMC Documentum, OpenText, and IBM FileNet.

Weaknesses

Support for some important system integration features is patchy – Developers expect modern

products and infrastructure components to offer good support for commonly used standards,

protocols, and programmatic interfaces, so there could potentially be some disappointments with this

offering, as AirWatch support for OpenID, OAuth, WebDAV, and SAML is patchy. AirWatch supports

OAuth and WebDav for repository integration and permits SAML for authentication via SSO with its

agent. The company is currently working on SAML for repository integration.

AirWatch has yet to develop out-of-the-box integrations with line-of-business applications –

"Enterprise-fit" is an important aspect of any IT purchasing decision, and the more boxes a vendor

can tick in terms of supporting line-of-business systems the better. Currently, AirWatch has not

integrated Secure Content Locker with any on-premise or cloud-based ERP, CRM, SCM, or MRP

solutions. Moreover, there are no pre-built integrations with workflow systems.

Opportunities

New vendors have a chance to change the way work gets done – An Ovum survey of IT

professionals indicates that 23% of organizations are either adopting a wait-and-see approach when it

comes to enterprise mobility or have no foreseeable plans in this regard. This presents a real

opportunity for AirWatch and other newcomers to the enterprise collaboration market, as it means that

offerings from incumbent vendors are not hitting the mark or sparking business innovation.

AirWatch to boost VMware’s credentials in the mobile-first, end-user computing space –

VMware’s acquisition of AirWatch in January 2014 for $1.54bn is undoubtedly more strategic than its

2011 acquisition of Socialcast, an enterprise social networking product, but it still points to a desire to

be a provider of end-user computing products. It will be interesting to see how VMware leverages the

AirWatch acquisition as enterprises seek to develop their mobile-first, enterprise collaboration

strategies.

Threats

AirWatch must reestablish its identity and offerings as a VMware subsidiary – The enterprise

file sync and share market is not an easy one in which to compete. However, there is almost an

expectation that, as a VMware brand, AirWatch will now take on all-comers, but at what risk? As

enterprises go about selecting strategic suppliers to power their mobile-first strategies, AirWatch may

have to decide which battles it chooses to fight: enterprise file sync and share or mobile device

management (MDM)?



Appendix

Further reading

Enterprise File Sync and Share Fundamentals for Business Managers, EI024-000005 (April 2014)

Enterprise File Sync and Share Fundamentals for IT Managers, EI024-000004 (April 2014)

The New Digital Workspace: An Opportunity Not to Be Squandered, IT0021-000016 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Accellion Kiteworks, EI0024-000013 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Acronis Access Version 6.1, IT0021-000015 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: AirWatch, by VMware, Secure Content Locker Version 7.1, IT0021-000012 (July

2014)

SWOT Assessment: Alfresco One Version 4.2; Alfresco in the cloud, EI0024-000014 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Box Enterprise Edition, EI0024-000007 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Citrix ShareFile, EI0024-000009 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Dropbox for Business, EI0024-000008 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Egnyte Enterprise File Sharing Suite, EI0024-000004 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: EMC Syncplicity, IT0021-000014 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Google Drive for Work, EI0024-000017 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Hightail for Enterprise, EI0024-000015 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Huddle, EI0024-000016 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: IBM Connections Version 5.0 and IBM SmartCloud Connections, EI0024-000011

(August 204)

SWOT Assessment: Intralinks VIA Enterprise, Version 1.6, EI0024-000005 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Microsoft OneDrive for Business, EI0024-000019 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: OpenText Tempo Box Version 10.5, EI0024-000018 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Salesforce.com – Salesforce Files, IT0021-000013 (July 2014)

SWOT Assessment: WatchDox, Version 4, EI0024-000012 (August 2014)

SWOT Assessment: Workshare Connect, EI0024-000010 (July 2014)

Author

Richard Edwards, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Mobility and Productivity

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Ovum Consulting

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