Box Launches Multizone Cloud Storage for Box Zones Service

One of the General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) key mandates is that enterprises must know exactly upon which server and what geographic location the primary copy of each piece of data resides—and be prepared to prove it.

Box, a cloud-based storage and enterprise collaboration tool provider, made things a bit easier for its customers May 24—the day before GDPR went live—when it launched multi-zone support for its flagship Box Zones service. This option provides users with the ability to store data and to collaborate across any of Box’s existing seven zones, all from a single Box instance.

So if an inspector from the European Union’s GDPR enforcement agency comes calling, a multinational company with this service can immediately show in which geographical zones its data stores are located as controlled in the Box cloud.

Breaking Some Ground in Cloud-Based Storage

Faced with the evolving and increasingly complex global regulatory and compliance landscape, Box enables enterprises to have more control over their data residency while making sure users have a frictionless collaboration experience, no matter where they are working or in what zone their data lies.Box Zones, first introduced in April 2016, broke ground in cloud content management by enabling customers to store their data in the region of their choice for the first time. But things have become a lot more complicated in the last two years.

“Multizone support for Box Zones gives enterprises the best of both worlds,” Box Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel told eWEEK. “Not only will they be able to make granular decisions about how to govern and store their data across the globe, but users will get the same collaborative experience they have with Box today—no matter where they, or their collaborators, are located.”

Work Globally, Store Locally

According to Patel, by using multizone support for Box Zones, organizations can:

• Reduce risk and address data protection requirements, including GDPR: Organizations will have the ability to assign a storage Zone for individual users, as well as designate a default Zone for the entire organization, proactively addressing data residency and compliance requirements.

• Provide flexibility for changing needs: Organizations can change a user's assigned Zone at any time. Content will automatically migrate to the new Zone without the user ever losing access.

• Gain global visibility and control: Administrators can manage data for an entire enterprise from a single admin console, no matter how many Zones an organization is using.

• Drive transparency and insights: Real-time, self-serve reporting provides administrators with the ability to download reports on individual users and their assigned Zones from the admin console for easy auditing.

• Frictionless end user experience: End users will still be able to freely collaborate with colleagues, partners and suppliers without ever having to worry about where their data is stored.

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