Bitrix24 Eyes File Sync, Share Competitors with Desktop App

Bitrix24 is looking to take on file sync and share incumbents Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive with a new desktop application extending its collaboration capabilities. The new desktop app is directly connected to Bitrix24’s online collaboration service, adding the ability to synchronize and work with group and company files.

But Bitrix isn’t just hoping to compete with the growing number of file sync and share cloud services out there, it seeks to provide additional value, including sharing, editing and collaborating on documents and the ability to send instant messages to co-workers, participate in group chat, make telephone calls and hold videoconferences.

“We are currently the only online storage and file sharing service that has a free plan with group and company drives. Box, OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive all charge for the privilege or don’t offer the option at all. Nor do we restrict our users concerning what tools they use for document editing. They can use Microsoft Office installed on their PC, or Microsoft Office Online or Google Docs. Obviously, that alone is not enough to compete with these giants, so we decided to add communication and collaboration tools right inside the app as well,” said Dmitry Valyanov, president of Bitrix, in a prepared statement.

And that’s where Bitrix hopes to make its file sync and share app stand out from the rest—in providing the collaboration applications around the documents. Valyanov compared it to end users making use of multiple services for a full collaboration suite.

“A lot of companies use Dropbox for file sharing, Google Docs for document editing, Skype for calling and WhatsApp for instant messaging,” Valyanov said. “This is inconvenient, not to mention expensive. The fact that the Bitrix24 app does it all and more, and is free for up to 12 users, appeals to a lot of small businesses, especially because Bitrix24 uses encryption and can be installed either on your own server or used in cloud.”

It’s not easy playing in the file sync and share space. Various cloud services providers have come to market with their own offerings, and sometimes it seems like there’s a new kid on the block every week. Although a complete consolidation is unlikely, it seems likely that in the wider public cloud space, a handful of competitors will emerge.