Cloud storage provider Box Inc. is stepping up its integrations with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams as it bids to make it easier for users of those platforms to access and collaborate on content.

For example, today’s integrations enable Box notifications to appear directly within Microsoft Teams, so users can see any important updates to the content they work with as soon as they occur, within that platform. Box said it will expand that integration even more later in the spring, so the Box experience is more deeply embedded within Teams.

Those enhancements, Box said, will enable new features such as the ability to create, share and open Box files and then edit them within Teams. “This enables Box users to bring in content from productivity suites like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Apple iWork as they can use their app of choice to get work done,” Box Chief Product Officer Varun Parmar said in a blog post.

Moving on to security, Box said it’s adding a new integration that makes it possible to import Microsoft Information Protection classification labels and enforce any related inline security controls using Box Shield. That feature will become available in May and will make it easier to secure content across Box and Microsoft’s platforms.

Another new capability that’s available now pertains to Intune App Protection Policies and makes it possible to open and save copies of managed documents to Box storage only, Parmar said.

Meanwhile, Box for Microsoft Office Online can now support increased Excel and PowerPoint files sizes of up to 50 megabytes and 1 gigabyte, respectively. That, Parmar said, enables Box to support its customers’ most critical business processes better by enabling users to edit files of all sizes collaboratively.

Microsoft Office Online also gets an integration that helps customers meet compliance requirements in the cloud.

“Box for Microsoft Office Online will allow customers with FedRAMP Moderate or DOD IL4 requirements to be routed to the corresponding Microsoft Office 365 U.S. Government Community (GCC) environment,” Parmar said. “This new enhancement will support a fully compliant experience when using Box for Microsoft Office Online by ensuring data is processed and stored only on certified platforms.”

Finally, Box said the Box Connector for Microsoft Graph that was released in preview mode in September will become generally available this summer. It enables any content stored in Box to be surfaced across the entire Microsoft ecosystem, including tools such as Office 365, Office Online search and SharePoint. That should make it easier to discover and explore content no matter which Microsoft app a user is working with.

Today’s updates demonstrate how Box continues to execute on its cloud vision and growth strategy, with the company aiming to become a kind of cloud layer for content management across entire organizations by integrating with the most important systems of record they use. Box has similar integrations with a number of Google LLC’s productivity tools and services, for example, while its recently revamped Box Shuttle service helps companies move massive amounts of content to its cloud easily.

Image: Box