Box.net Announces Google Docs Integration

June 23, 2011, 7:08 am

On Wednesday, a popular cloud storage provider Box.net announced integration with Google Docs enabling its users to create Google Docs and Spreadsheets directly from within Box and share them with other Box.net users in their network. They can now also edit 50 million existing Word and Excel files stored on Box platform. Features specific to Google Docs, such as concurrent editing, will now be available to Box users.

“We believe that the combination of Google Docs’ collaborative editing and Box’s content management will transform the way people work,” Box CEO Aaron Levie, wrote in a blog post.

With this latest integration Box.net comes to a position to compete with Microsoft Office 365 which is due to officially launch next week. Levie said that using the beta version of Microsoft’s suite of cloud-based productivity services he noticed that it is “lacking the power and functionality of Google Docs.”

“We want our users to have access to the most powerful tools for their content – some of these will come from us, many of them will come from partners. Google is there, Microsoft isn’t,” Box.net CEO said.

Levie said that he is looking forward to a time when Box.net will offer its users the choice between a Microsoft Office experience and a Google Docs experience. “Until then, we’ll continue to invest in our relationship with Google to create the best possible experience for managing documents in the cloud,” he concluded.

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