OneDrive for Business

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Tim Tetrick

As you may have seen recently, SkyDrive Pro is now OneDrive for Business . 

OneDrive for Business is personal online storage for a company’s employees.  It’s the place where people can store, share, and sync their work files across multiple devices easily and securely.  With OneDrive for Business you can collaborate with others in real time right from within Office and edit documents from virtually anywhere via a web browser in real time using Office Online.  You can also access your files from native OneDrive for Business and Office Mobile apps (including Windows Phone, Windows 8, iOS, and Android devices).

At the SharePoint Conference 2014 in Las Vegas this week, Microsoft made some exciting new announcements regarding OneDrive for Business. 

Beginning April 1, 2014, OneDrive for Business with Office Online will be available for purchase as a standalone service.   Customers are already able to purchase OneDrive for Business as part of Office 365 plans and SharePoint Online plans, but this new standalone plan will make it especially easy for customers to get started using cloud storage and sharing.

The standalone offer gives businesses 25GB of storage per employee (with the option to purchase additional storage), offline sync and access from multiple devices and platforms, and a strong set of enterprise-ready administrative controls.  And when customers are ready for more Office 365 services, like business-class email or online meetings, it’s easy to add them.

For customers interested in the new OneDrive for Business standalone offering, Microsoft is announcing two promotional offers, beginning in April and running through September 2014.

  • - Promotional pricing: $2.50 per user per month in all licensing agreements/programs (50% discount).
  • - For customers with Office with SA or Office 365 ProPlus: $1.50 per user per month; agreement types included: Open, Enterprise Agreement, and MPSA.

Existing Office 365 customers do not need to take any action.  The new OneDrive for Business name and capabilities will automatically be reflected in their current service experience.  And more enhancements are on the way.  Several new capabilities will begin surfacing throughout this calendar year, including advanced auditing and reporting features, encryption at rest, data loss prevention (DLP), extensibility improvements, higher storage limits, and more!