BoxWorks 2018: Powering the digital workplace with cloud content management
The digital workplace of the future will be built on best-of-breed applications, and, collectively, we’re using a lot more applications than ever before. The average enterprise, for example, is using more than 1,100 cloud apps across its organization today, and while we’ve never seen this much innovation or had as much choice in how we get work done, all this abundance isn’t without its challenges. What’s the latest version of this file? What app does this team use? How do we keep all our information secure when it’s being used in all these different apps?
Today at BoxWorks 2018, we unveiled new updates that make Box the content hub for your digital workplace — one place where you can collaborate on the files most relevant to you and easily move between all the apps you use to get work done. That’s the power of cloud content management: one platform to manage, secure and collaborate on all your content, while making sure it’s easy to access on whatever device and in whatever apps you want.
At the center of these new updates is a new, unified activity stream for files on Box that will make it easier than ever for people to see how their content is connected to the other SaaS applications they use every day, such as Slack, Salesforce and DocuSign, as well as a new sidebar that easier to know which apps you can use to work on a particular file in your enterprise — and to quickly launch those apps directly from Box.
During the BoxWorks Day 1 opening keynote, we also announced the public beta availability of our new Box for G Suite and Gmail integrations, as well as the public beta of Box Feed, which provides personalized real-time updates, activities, and recommended content on Box.
Here are all the details.
New Activity Stream for Files and Recommended Apps
Box integrates with more than 1400 applications today, giving people easy, secure access to files whenever and wherever they get work done. The new Activity Stream in Box will surface the latest activity and relevant context from the other apps right in the file preview on Box.
If a contract is added to an account in Salesforce Sales Cloud, for example, or if there’s a conversation happening around a marketing proposal in a Slack channel, or if an invoice is sent to a customer for signature with DocuSign, that activity will now be visible directly on the preview of the file in-line with comments, tasks and other Box updates. And with just one click, you’ll also be able to easily jump to that record or thread directly from Box.
In addition to the activity stream, the new file preview also presents a curated list of recommended applications that you might use in conjunction with that file so you can take action directly from Box — whether it’s quickly sharing a link with Gmail, or posting a link to the file in Workplace by Facebook, or sending a file for signature with Adobe Sign. These recommended apps will be based on a variety of factors, including the apps you frequently use, the most popular apps used within your company, and those most closely associated with that file type. Additionally, the recommended apps displayed in the file preview will consist only of those approved by an organization’s Box Administrator.
The new activity stream and recommended apps will be available in beta in early 2019.
Create and collaborate on content with the world’s most popular productivity suites
The second major announcement today is the public beta for our comprehensive integration with G Suite, first debuted at Google Next in July. The Box for G Suite integrations include:
- The ability to create, edit, and collaborate on G Suite files, including Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, without ever leaving Box, all while maintaining Box’s robust admin controls, security and governance and compliance capabilities.
- A new Box integration with Gmail that will allow Gmail users to attach Box files and download email attachments to Box, without leaving the Gmail interface.
In the digital workplace, you need to be able to work collaboratively in the cloud, and we want you to have choice in how you get your work done. Box already has robust integrations with Microsoft Office and Apple iWork, as well as the Files app for iOS. We’re thrilled that the new Box for G Suite integration is available in public beta today.
Box Feed: Delivering the work that matters most
Announced as a public beta today, Box Feed intelligently curates and surfaces the content and updates that matter most. It’s an all new way to view and interact with everything happening on Box. Feed will surface the latest comments and updates to the files and folders your currently working on, and provide recommendations on files you may care about most based on your network of people and teams.
Most important, all the updates and recommendations in Box Feed preserve the permissions and privacy settings already set up in Box, meaning that Feed is both seamless and secure.
With Box Feed, you’ll be able to:
- Have your most relevant content at your fingertips: Feed delivers the most relevant content based on relationships and content in your organization (including a “Recents” digest of your most current work), reducing time wasted searching for files or tracking ongoing work.
- Keep a pulse on the organization: “Trending” content enables you to see what files are getting the most attention in your company.
- Seamlessly collaborate: Feed allows people to comment, share, and favorite files right in Box Feed, facilitating faster collaboration and time to action. Just see the update, click in the comment Box, and type away.
- Ensure strong privacy and security: Files will only show up in your Box Feed if you have permission to view it. And if you want to keep a file from showing up in anyone else’s Box Feed, you can mark it as private.
Box Feed is available in public beta today and can be turned on for users in the Box Admin Console.
Stay tuned here for more BoxWorks news on the future of the digital workplace, and follow #BoxWorks on Twitter!
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