Introducing ownCloud 9 Enterprise Edition
Today we are excited to announce the long awaited ownCloud 9 Enterprise Edition. And as promised, this release is a great step forward.
With the release of ownCloud 9, we have become the first federated universal file access solution with extensive file controls! What does this mean? This means that with new policies and rules, ownCloud gives admins the ability to set document classification rules based on system or user-applied tags and to automatically take action to enforce those rules.
ownCloud provides Universal File Access through a single front-end to all of IT’s disparate file storage systems. Users can access company files on any device, anytime, from anywhere while IT can manage, control and audit file sharing activity to ensure security and compliance measures are met.  Files are delivered through a common file access layer regardless of where the data lives – in applications, object stores, on-premises storage or in the cloud – all completely managed, secured and controlled by IT.
Here are some of the other new features and updates that you can expect in ownCloud 9:
Tagging, Comments and Activity Stream enhancements – We have added tagging and commenting capabilities as well as updated the activity stream to offer even more seamless, real-time file based collaboration. Users can seamlessly collaborate on files and folders with others, providing comments while working on files, organizing files via tags, and watching file history through the activity sidebar. Users in ownCloud can now create a folder, tag it with a meaningful identifier, share it and start working on a project with a team all in just a few clicks. Better, with the newly enhanced activity stream, file comments appear in the timeline – either in the sidebar, an email digest or an RSS reader – allowing users to consume collaboration activity in the best way for themselves.
File Retention and Risk Management – Tags can be assigned by a basic rules engine with the new auto-tagging feature. This creates basic rules that can set tags and automatically delete files based on tags. There is an admin page where the rules are created and managed in a GUI, the specific tag types and tag names are defined, and the rules to apply tags are defined. This same admin page allows an admin to determine based on tags when to permanently delete a file. Besides use for retention, tags can also be used to assign security policies to files using the File Firewall. This can ensure files will never be available in specific geographic regions, through public links, certain user groups and so on.
Federated Cloud Sharing– Only ownCloud can connect federated servers in multiple geographic locations into a single user experience for seamless collaboration – without relying on cloud servers outside of your control. Leveraging newly enhanced server to server APIs, users of any ownCloud server can now search for users of any other federated ownCloud from any client – mobile, desktop or web. Sharing is as simple as two clicks and entering the recipient’s name. Share recipients receive virtual links that hook into their ownCloud server, with the file owner retaining the copy of record and complete control over the links. Access is completely logged on all servers, and can be revoked by the file owner at any time. Further, since each ownCloud is a standalone system, access policies and rules are still respected among Federated servers, enabling each server to be managed to the policies of the host company.
To learn more about what’s new in ownCloud 9 Enterprise Edition, sign up for our upcoming webinar on April 21st. Our ownCloud experts will walk you through what is new and how to make the most out these new features and updates.
Until then be sure to check out this customizable demo of ownCloud 9.
