Datto, the Norwalk, Conn.-based BDR vendor, today officially launched its new and potentially market disrupting Datto Drive file sync and share (FSS) solution.
As reported by ChannelPro earlier, Datto Drive subscriptions are priced on a per-domain basis, rather than per-employee, with a terabyte of capacity selling for $10 per month. That can save small businesses hundreds of dollars a month and midsize companies thousands in relation to solutions that charge $10 to $15 or more per user.
“Current file sync and share services are overpriced solutions for small businesses,” said Datto CEO and founder Austin McChord in a press statement. “Anyone who’s paying hundreds or thousands of dollars every month for FSS will immediately see Datto Drive as a welcome alternative.”
In a bid to generate demand for the new service, Datto is temporarily giving up to a terabyte of capacity free for one year to the first million subscribers. Available immediately, that promotion will figure prominently in a forthcoming end-user marketing campaign aimed at producing a million sales leads for the new service, which Datto plans to forward on to its partners.
“We believe Datto Drive will be a catalyst to bring together thousands of MSPs with millions of small companies,” said Brooks Borcherding, Datto’s chief revenue officer in today’s press release. “Datto is constantly looking for opportunities to strengthen the MSP community and enhance the value this essential ecosystem delivers to small and midsized businesses.”
Datto quietly made Datto Drive available to its partners in March, following several months of beta testing. Today’s announcement marks the official public unveiling of the new product. The system leverages the global license agreement Datto forged earlier with Lexington, Mass.-based ownCloud Inc. to add enterprise file sync and share capabilities to its SIRIS business continuity appliance, as well as the company’s own now 200-petabyte private cloud.
Also debuting today are two premium editions of Datto Drive offering extra storage capacity, 24/7 telephone support, and other added features. Datto hasn’t disclosed pricing for those versions of the product publicly.
