Cloud storage: Is it a function, a product, or a company?

Editor's note: Apple, Microsoft, Google three giants have entered the cloud storage market, for the entire technology industry pointed out the direction, from the local to the cloud has become a trend. Now, the question for startups like Dropbox and Box.net is: Will they eventually become a function, a product, or a company?

Microsoft's SkyDrive recently ushered in a major update, and Google launched the long-awaited Drive,apple also launched icloud earlier. It is no coincidence that the world's three most powerful technology companies have entered the market, and the importance of cloud storage is being illustrated.

As early as a few months ago, Bill Gurley wrote an article on Benchmark's investment in Dropbox, which also talked about why Dropbox's cloud-based file synchronization was a major change. Many opponents cite Jobs's view that file synchronization is a function, not a product. Box.net is a cloud-based Enterprise file-sharing service, and my SCALEVP is one of its early investors, and naturally I agree with Bill Gurley's judgment. File synchronization and file sharing are "but" features, but they are all important components of cloud storage services that arise on PCs, tablets and smartphones.

The rise of cloud storage is a major shift from the computing architecture that Apple I has been using, and now the big three are embracing the transition, endorsing it, and rolling out their own cloud-storage services-which point the way for the industry as a whole, and change is the trend.

This is important for startups like Dropbox and Box.net. They are in the early days of entrepreneurship "will this change happen?" "The question has been answered in the affirmative, and now the problem before them is: will their [Dropbox and box.net startups] eventually become functional, product, or a company?"

Functions, products and companies

In my opinion, startups in the cloud storage field will be the sum of the three forms of functionality, products and companies. Nowadays, if you want to get users in the software industry, providing a function is the most basic requirement, you have to solve the problem well. Dropbox allows individual users to easily sync files between multiple different devices. Box.net makes it easy for enterprise users to share files and collaborate in a structured way. You can think of them as just functions, but these functions are really needed, and the value they provide can motivate millions of users to change their habits and move files to the cloud.

With enough popular features, you can start building products that Dropbox and box.net are doing. The products they are building are the next generation of file systems in the cloud, where the target users of Dropbox are ordinary consumers, while Box.net is targeting corporate users and emphasizing collaboration features. The file system is not a function, but a great product, in the past, companies such as Microsoft, Novell and receptacle appliance have successfully built a successful file system to create a successful billions of dollar company.

Two major markets: individual users and business users

Cloud storage services generate a single winner in the consumer and enterprise markets. The consumer file system around the synchronization function is very different from the Enterprise file system built around the sharing function. The comments that say "sync is a feature" are due to their familiarity with end-user needs and lack of understanding of the needs of the business.

Consumers want cloud storage platforms to be integrated with Facebook, Twitter and other consumer apps and even products (TV, Xbox), while companies want directory systems, security systems, and so on to have a platform-level integration with cloud storage.

Over the next decade, consumers and businesses will move their files to the cloud, and in the process, a billions of dollar software market will be created for cloud-based filesystems. Everyone has files, so the opportunity for cloud-based file systems is enormous.