© 2014 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Overview

The increasing use of a variety of consumer and mobile devices in the enterprise is driving a fundamental change in how users share and access information. Users want to be able to access their work files from any device, at anytime, anywhere, and easily share those files with collaborators. Traditional solutions, such as corporate file shares accessed via VPN, were not designed to work in this type of environment. So rather than waiting for IT to provide tools, users started sourcing their own consumer applications for business file sync and share. Of course, this behavior puts data outside of the control of corporate IT, presenting risk of security breaches and data leakage, not necessarily because these consumer solutions are unsecure, but because the data is unmanaged.

Needless to say, IT jumped on the situation and began rolling out business-managed solutions to their users. When ESG surveyed companies about their use of online file sharing solutions in 2012, we found that 28% of surveyed organizations leveraged corporate OFS accounts.1 When we repeated the survey in 2013, that percentage grew to 42%.2 Yet these solutions are largely contained to use by individuals or departments with heavy collaboration needs. Most companies surveyed indicated that they plan for broader, even corporate-wide deployments over time, but that has yet to happen.

When ESG dug deeper into the topic, we found that 84% of deployments to date have been on public cloud file sharing services. That is not surprising: These solutions have been on the market longer and are better known than hybrid and on-premises solutions. The surprising finding was that when these cloud users were asked if they would be interested in a solution that allows them to store some or all of their data on-premises, a resounding 69% said they would be extremely interested, while another 28% said they have interest in just such a solution (see Figure 1). And 90% of the organizations using a public cloud service say they have some type of information, including sensitive or regulated data, which they do not allow to reside in the cloud.

In fact, even of those survey respondents with no plans to deploy an online file sharing and collaboration solution, 61% would be interested or extremely interested in a solution that allows for some level of on-premises data storage. These numbers are surprisingly high, given the large number of respondents already using cloud solutions.

When asked about factors driving interest in the ability to retain file data on-premises, more than half of current public cloud model OFS users indicated they wanted flexibility and control over where data is stored (see Figure 2). Along the same lines, 38% of these organizations believe that they are better equipped than third-party services to secure and protect their own data. Again, in a public cloud model, the service provider is responsible for storing and providing access to company data. If, for example, the service provider experiences an outage or security breach, customers may not be able to access their data until service is restored, or may find sensitive data has been compromised. The ability to retain some or all data on-premises likely puts IT at ease knowing they can manage more sensitive or mission-critical files in the company’s own data centers, where security and availability policies are known and established.

1 Source: ESG Research Report, Corporate Online File Sharing and Collaboration Market Trends, November 2012. 2 Source: ESG Research Report, Online File Sharing and Collaboration: Deployment Model Trends, February 2014. All other ESG research references and charts found in this brief are taken from this research report unless otherwise noted.

Product Brief

ownCloud: Sync, Share, and So Much More

Date: May 2014 Author: Terri McClure, Senior Analyst

Abstract: There is significant pent-up demand for alternatives to cloud-based online file sharing solutions, primarily driven by a desire to leverage existing IT investments and control the data that gets stored in the cloud, as well as the perceived security threats associated with cloud services. ownCloud offers an alternative model that meets these requirements. But there is more to the solution than meets the eye.

Product Brief: ownCloud: Sync, Share, and So Much More 2

© 2014 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 1. Level of Interest in OFS Services with On-premises Storage Resources

Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, 2014.

Figure 2. Factors Driving Interest in On-premises Storage among Current Users of Cloud-based OFS Solutions

Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, 2014.

Additionally, many organizations, particularly large enterprises, have made significant investments building out on-premises data storage and infrastructure, so it follows that 41% would point to the ability to leverage these existing

69%

28%

1% 2%

11%

50%

35%

5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Extremely interested Somewhat interested Not at all interested Don’t know

Current OFS users (N=195) OFS non-adopters (N=133)

How interested do you believe your organization would be in an OFS servicethat would allow your organization to store some or all of its file data using its

own on-premises storage resources (i.e., file servers, NAS systems, etc.) as opposed to being stored exclusively in a service provider’s data center?

31%

33%

34%

34%

35%

36%

38%

41%

54%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Better balance of fixed (i.e., CAPEX) and variable (i.e.,OPEX) costs makes budgeting easier

Need to comply with industry regulations

Local copy of data helps to mitigate performance concerns

Concern over OFS provider employees’ level of access to data

Need to comply with government regulations

Concern over accessibility of public cloud-based data tothird parties

Belief that we can secure and protect our data better thanthird-party services

Ability to leverage existing on-premises infrastructureinvestments

Flexibility and control over where data is stored

You indicated that your organization would be interested in the ability to store some or all of its data on-premises. What is driving your organization’s interest in keeping its data on-

premises? (Percent of respondents, N=190, multiple responses accepted

Product Brief: ownCloud: Sync, Share, and So Much More 3

© 2014 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

resources as a reason to pursue alternate OFS deployment options. Even though storage can be relatively inexpensive in public cloud offerings, if organizations wanted to put all their data in an OFS solution, they would need to find a way to migrate their existing data, which is often time consuming and expensive. This seems to be especially true among current OFS users, who have actual experience with these services and may be better positioned to complement public cloud offerings with on-premises resources. Finally, it is worth calling attention to the fact that more than one-third of organizations currently using a cloud-based OFS service have concerns over the accessibility of public cloud-resident data to third parties. This is likely due to the Snowden effect. If the cloud provider has both the data and the keys to the data, as many cloud-based OFS providers do, they must turn data over to a law enforcement agency in the event of a subpoena. And, in the cases of recent Snowden revelations, the government may forbid the service provider from telling a company that its data was even requested.

These concerns and the pent-up demand for on-premises or hybrid online file sharing solutions are driving significant interest in solutions such as those offered by open source online file sharing vendor ownCloud.

ownCloud: Sync, Share, and Store Data Where You Want

ownCloud provides a flexible sync and share solution that lets IT departments store data where they choose: on-premises or in a cloud they subscribe to. Customers can even leverage the extensible APIs to integrate with existing enterprise applications. ownCloud provides the convenience and productivity enhancements of sync and share solutions but the security and control of an on-premises enterprise application.

ownCloud integrates with IT’s existing infrastructure, security, and toolsets. It meets IT’s desired criteria for deploying hybrid sync and share solutions by providing control over where and how data is stored, leveraging existing IT investments, and granting IT the security of keeping sensitive data behind the firewall. Let’s dive a bit deeper into these areas.

Control. IT chooses the servers onto which ownCloud is installed and controls where all files are stored, often allowing files to stay where they live, for instance in SharePoint or a NAS filer. IT picks what files can be stored in the cloud, and what files stay on-premises.

Leverage of existing investments. The solution leverages storage across onsite storage devices, and private/hybrid cloud storage services. ownCloud supports user home directories, eliminating the need for VPN access and essentially mobilizing home directories. And its API set allows integration with existing IT applications, such as SharePoint, for sync and share and mobile access.

Integration with existing standards-based IT security frameworks. Wizard interfaces enable IT admins to integrate ownCloud with existing Active Directory or LDAP services. Full support for SAML 2.0 enables single sign on.

Policy-based workflow to secure data at the file level. ownCloud features a sophisticated file access rules engine, which allows administrators to set policies on the ownCloud server that deny access to files for users in a number of highly customizable scenarios. Access rules can be based on: endpoint type, mobile device type, origin IP, web client, and many more variables, giving administrators greater control over who can access and update proprietary files.

These are just a sampling of some of ownCloud’s features that address some of enterprise IT’s big concerns about control, security, and asset leverage. ownCloud also supports important features like end-to-end encryption, antivirus, and event logging. It offers productivity features like ownCloud Documents (currently in tech preview), file previews, sharing notifications, and activity feeds. The list could go on, but the main message here is that ownCloud essentially allows IT to build a secure bridge between its old world of on-premises infrastructure and applications and the new, mobile world that leverages the Internet and mobile devices to help increase productivity by streamlining information sharing and collaboration.

Product Brief: ownCloud: Sync, Share, and So Much More 4

© 2014 by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ownCloud’s Vision: Leaving Data Where It Lives

But ownCloud is much more than a sync and share application. Underneath the covers, it has built an application that allows you to leave data where it lives. Deploying an application like File Sharing in an enterprise setting is not a “green fields” endeavor. All companies have existing systems for managing the data of record to support the business processes they have today. And they have also made significant investments in technology and process to ensure regulatory compliance and adherence to company policies around security, disaster recovery, availability, etc. They don’t want to break fundamental business processes and create data consistency issues because it wasn’t acknowledged that File Sharing is an application that must integrate and leverage the investments made in existing systems, skills, and procedures. When enterprises don’t seek to migrate or duplicate their data, they have an opportunity to better understand what they have, and use that information to increase productivity while preserving existing business processes.

The potential behind the file sharing framework to break down organizational barriers, enhance security and governance, and increase productivity is immense.

ownCloud’s To-do List

It seems clear that ownCloud understands new customer requirements and continues to enhance its offering accordingly. This is a great start, but ownCloud must go beyond technology alone. To maximize customer value and drive new sales, ownCloud must:

Marry product capabilities with integration services. ownCloud can integrate with existing enterprise applications via its rich API set, but many organizations don’t have the resources in-house to do the work. ownCloud relies on service packages in custom deployments and would benefit from building out an increased services capability to get IT departments and users up and running quickly.

Educate the market on the alternatives available to the well-known public cloud services. This is still a nascent market and is very public cloud centric. A number of big vendors are hopping on and promoting the pent-up demand for hybrid solutions, so it is imperative that ownCloud get its name associated with this trend, too.

Find new channels. ownCloud has done a good job building OEMs for its product, but the solution provides an opportunity for system integrators looking to build new revenue streams and capitalize on the consumerization trend.

The Bigger Truth

It is no longer a “one-size-fits-all” world for enterprise file sync and share. Demand is clearly increasing for alternative deployment models in the OFS market. Which model to use will likely be the first consideration IT needs to sort out, even before diving into specific features and functions, especially given that most organizations have restrictions on what data is suitable for cloud-based services. Certainly, these restrictions have somewhat inhibited early and broad OFS adoption, since the majority of early offerings were cloud only.

The good news is that we are seeing companies like ownCloud emerge with on-premises and hybrid options, giving IT organizations flexibility to choose what data gets stored where, and the ability to leverage existing IT investments, while still supporting file sharing and collaboration requirements for mobile users.

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