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Dropbox, a cloud storage stalwart, recently announced alterations to the storage policy for its Advanced plan. If you’re a small business owner relying on this solution, you might wonder what these changes entail and how they could impact your operations. Let’s dive into the specifics.
Why the Change?
Dropbox Advanced was initially crafted for businesses, ensuring they wouldn’t have to stress about storage scalability. The company embraced the “as much space as you need” approach. However, the appeal of boundless storage caught the eye of businesses and individual users looking for personal storage solutions or, in some cases, crypto and Chia mining. There have also been instances of storage reselling, which isn’t the intended use case for the Advanced plan.
The surge in non-business-focused users, combined with some abusing the system and consuming storage at vast scales, has compelled Dropbox to reconsider its offering. The primary goal remains providing an unmatched experience for genuine business users.
The New Policy
Moving forward, the “all the space you need” policy will be phased out, transitioning to a metered approach:
- New Dropbox Advanced customers will get a base of 15TB shared across their team when they purchase with three active licenses. This is ample for roughly 100 million documents, 4 million photographs, or 7,500 hours of HD content.
- Each added active license will grant an extra 5TB of space.
But here’s good news for most current users: If you’re using less than 35TB per license (which accounts for over 99% of Advanced users), your existing storage remains untouched. Moreover, you’ll receive an added 5TB credit of pooled storage at no extra fee for five years.
Dropbox is willing to negotiate for the tiny fraction (less than 1%) utilizing 35TB or more per license. These users can maintain their current storage amount and will also receive the 5TB extra credit for one year, capped at 1,000TB.
Lastly, for businesses that foresee growing storage demands, add-ons will be up for purchase: 1TB at $10/month (or $8/month annually). The sale for these add-ons begins on September 18 for new subscribers and November 1 for existing clients.
Transition Timeline
Dropbox isn’t hurrying this shift. The migration to the new policy starts from November 1, and customers will get a minimum of a 30-day heads-up.
Implications for Small Business Owners
If you’re a small business owner, it’s essential to reassess your current and projected storage needs. While most businesses will remain unaffected, it’s time to strategize if you’re in that 1% category or plan on considerable data expansion.
This policy adjustment underscores the evolving dynamics of cloud storage. It’s a reminder for businesses to routinely check and ensure their tools and subscriptions align with both their present and future requirements.
For further clarity or to explore more about the updated Dropbox Advanced plan, visiting the Dropbox Help Center might be a good starting point.
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Image: Dropbox
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