Dropbox has announced a major integration plan with Google Cloud that ultimately will result in users of the cloud storage service to be able to access their G Suite files from it. The news essentially means that Dropbox would replace Google Drive as the storage location for these files and access to them.
In the announcement, the San Francisco based Dropbox outlined a series of integrations that will be happening this year. There were no specific timelines announced other than later in 2018.
These new integrations are to include the following major features:
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Centralized content. Dropbox users will be able to create, open, edit, save, and share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly from Dropbox. And when you’re working in Dropbox, you’ll be able to save Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to your Dropbox account.
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Secure collaboration. Dropbox Business admins will be able to manage Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides just like any other content that lives in Dropbox.
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More effective communication. We’re also building new, native Dropbox integrations for Gmail and Google Hangouts Chat. With them, you’ll be able to select files from your Dropbox account and send links directly from Gmail and Hangouts Chat. In addition, the Gmail add-on will allow you to display creation, modification, and last-accessed dates for linked files, while the Hangouts integration will add previews for linked files directly to your chats.
The news of Dropbox integrating with Google Cloud comes on the heals of this weeks announcement that Apple’s iCloud is also leveraging the platform for storage solutions. While clearly the Dropbox integration is a deeper and more robust solution than Apple’s, it points to the fact that GCP is quickly becoming the go-to cloud compute and storage solution for companies.
While from the outside, this looks like Google is allowing Dropbox to make a serious intrusion on one of their core services, Google Drive. The reality is, this is a big win for Google. GCP is based on a consumption model. The more it is used, the more money they make so for them, the bottom line is having Dropbox use GCP is a positive thing. Add to that the fact that users will continue to be using G Suite and this is not only a publicity win for the Mountain View company but also a monetary win.
