UPDATED 00:42 EDT / JULY 28 2016

NEWS

Dropbox ramps up its enterprise appeal ahead of expected IPO

Cloud storage vendor Dropbox Inc. is stepping up its enterprise push in order to get more profitable ahead of an expected initial public offering of stock, adding a set of new business-oriented features to its product.

Dropbox, which boasts some 500 million users (including 200,000 companies currently using Dropbox Business), just announced AdminX, a new dashboard for IT admins that enables better control and customization of corporate files and user accounts. The move is a clear indication that Dropbox is trying to make its platform more appealing to business users.

Admins can also use the new dashboard to monitor which employees are collaborating on which files, via a single team folder manager tool. Another new feature is the sync management tool, that lets admins decide which content can sync automatically on company devices.

Another notable new feature is that admins can now control folder access to the sub-folder level – previously this was impossible. What this means is that users can grant users access to the specific files within a folder they need to use, while keeping the ones they don’t need to use off-limits.

Users will notice that group control is now more centralized via the new company-managed groups and expanded file event logging capabilities. In addition, Dropbox said it will soon add another feature that allows admins to set limits on the number of devices that can be synced, strengthening security by preventing unauthorized access to folders.

The new capabilities combine to make Dropbox Business more secure and robust, at a time when the company faces stiff competition from rivals like Box Inc., Microsoft and Google, among others. They come just a couple of months after Dropbox added an update that makes it easier for enterprises to integrate its storage platform with their own IT systems. In recent weeks, Dropbox has also signed deals with a bunch of new EMM partners, including IBM.

Interestingly, although it seems as if Dropbox has been an established name for as long as anyone can remember, the company is not yet profitable. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston admitted as much earlier this month, though he did say the company is now free-cash-flow positive, which is an important milestone for a startup that’s looking to go public. Dropbox’s last valuation put it at a massive $10 billion, but that was two years ago and it’s not certain if it can maintain that figure amid the current drought of tech IPOs.

Image via Dropbox

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