Dive Brief:
- Dropbox announced a reduced cost service for faculty and graduate students that integrates with popular academic software and invites greater collaboration while allowing campus IT staff to control security settings.
- Dropbox Education will cost $50 per user for 15 GB of storage each and is compatible with services professors already use, like Blackboard, Turnitin and InCommon.
- ESG senior analyst Terri McClure believes the product will be attractive to institutions, since many already use Dropbox, and the high level of integration with other programs will make it more valuable, PC World reports.
Dive Insight:
Dropbox is broadening its sales focus from targeting mostly corporations to trying to attract paid users in higher ed, too. Officials say the intent is for those collaborating on research and potentially sharing high amounts of sensitive data and information to be able to do so in a secure environment that is controlled by the campus CIO. PC World reports the company does not see Dropbox Education as useful for "undergrads who may just need to turn in a paper or two."