Accellion®, Inc., the award-winning pioneer in providing enterprise-class, secure and mobile file sharing solutions, recently announced the launch of kitepoint™, a new component of the Accellion Mobile File Sharing solution that mobilises enterprise content securely without need for a VPN. kitepoint allows users to share files externally, and provides them with unified, secure, mobile access and sharing of files stored within Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems such as SharePoint, while maintaining security and compliance. Eliminating the need for cumbersome VPN connections, kitepoint is accessible on smartphones, and tablets via Accellion Mobile Apps for iOS, Android and on laptops, and desktops via the Accellion Web interface.
“The productivity gains of mobilising a workforce can be quickly negated by the inability to securely access and share enterprise content – with both internal and external users,” stated Yorgen Edholm, CEO of Accellion, Inc. “With the launch of kitepoint, Accellion is paving the way for enterprises to unleash the benefits of the BYOD post PC era by making it easy for business users to securely access enterprise content whenever and wherever they need it.”
“Content is growing at an extraordinary rate and is stored and distributed across the enterprise in SharePoint sites, ECMs and file shares,” stated Terri McClure, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “The ability to have a single point of access to multiple enterprise content stores from mobile devices will be a critical capability for businesses that are truly looking to maximise the productivity of a mobile workforce.”
Unifying Access to Content Silos
Kitepoint greatly simplifies access to files spread across disparate content stores by providing a secure, single point of access to SharePoint, Windows file shares, ECM systems and other enterprise content stores. Users no longer have to struggle to find content by navigating multiple file structures for needed documents, hence speeding up response times to business requests and increasing productivity.
Today, kitepoint is available for Microsoft SharePoint, and through the first half of 2013 will incrementally integrate with additional content management systems including Windows File Servers, NFS and other ECMs.
Mobilising SharePoint and Enterprise Content
With the launch of kitepoint, Accellion empowers business users to easily and securely access enterprise files stored in SharePoint and other content repositories using tablets and smartphones (iOS and Android devices). In addition, kitepoint allows files to be shared with external users via a secure link, ensuring the integrity of the reference document, maintaining accountability, and avoiding the security risks associated with e-mailing sensitive content.
Previously, mobile access to SharePoint was costly and time consuming to enable and employees typically resorted to duplicating and storing sensitive content in free consumer-grade cloud storage services. kitepoint eliminates these challenges by not requiring a VPN in order to securely access existing content. Instead, users access SharePoint through a trusted kitepoint connection. User authentication, access control, and the content itself are managed within SharePoint, minimising the risk and cost of the system.
Security and Compliance
As with all Accellion solutions, security and IT control are integral features of kitepoint. Accellion allows organisations to maintain control and security of enterprise data with a private cloud deployment and IT administrators can centrally provision users and manage security policies across all content stores including access rights for auditing, reporting and demonstrating compliance.
Kitepoint is currently available to beta testers for SharePoint 2007 and SharePoint 2010, and will be made generally available in December.
