For years, YouSendIt has been one of the top sites for consumers and businesses to send files to each other that are too big for e-mail. Now the company is bringing both its brand and its service into the now by offering a Dropbox-like cloud storage and file sharing solution.
Users of the service will be able to access files through a browser, a Windows desktop application, and apps for Apple’s iPhone and iPad. The service offers three permission levels for files and folders. Users are notified when other people make changes to files. Plus, there’s a cool “signing” service, where you can write your signature to a document using a mouse.
“This makes sense as a business play because smaller tools like YouSendIt are easy to adopt,” said Brad Shimmin, principal analyst at Current Analysis. “They make file-sharing easy and can remove the need to buy servers.”
Similar to Dropbox, YouSendIt offers several different monthly plans for cloud-based storage. YouSendIt offers 2GB for free, 5GB for $9.99 and unlimited storage for $14.99. Dropbox also has a 2GB free storage, but offers 50GB for $9.99 and 100GB for $19.99.
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The biggest standout in pricing is the $14.99 plan for unlimited cloud storage, which could easily attract small businesses with tiny budgets. Consumers and businesses can give the service a spin for 14 days with a free trial.
Although YouSendIt is trumpeting its service for businesses, Vineet Jain, CEO of cloud-based solutions provider Egnyte, said the new offering might only work for consumers.
“I’m not trying to say [YouSendIt] is a weak solution, but you have to look at who they are targeting,” Jain told VentureBeat. “A pure cloud solution only goes so far for businesses. The fact that there’s no local component is a big flaw.”
Egnyte, alternately, offers a hybrid approach for cloud and on-site storage so businesses can continue to use important files even if the Internet goes down. But, to be fair, a service like YouSendIt is small and easy enough for small businesses
to use, while Egnyte appears to be targeting mid-sized and larger companies with its approach.
Watch a promo video for the new YouSendIt below:
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