DOJ Taps Box for File, Content Sharing

The U.S. Department of Justice is going with Box for its file sharing and content management needs, “increasing productivity and improving mission outcomes," according to a May 27 Box blog post.

This news might provide context as businesses consider whether to use SharePoint on premises, in the cloud, or in some hybrid mix of the two models. According to the blog post, the DOJ ain’t afraid of no cloud. In fact, the agency sought out the cloud for its ease of use, access, and, yes, ability to ensure security and privacy:

“There is an increasing need to securely connect and enable processes across agencies and jurisdictions as well as to connect government employees with their data, content, and stakeholders,” stated the post. “Innovative government agencies, like DOJ, are deeply committed to leveraging emerging cloud technologies to better serve the American people, while ensuring the security and privacy of sensitive information.”

This news is also interesting on the heels of Box's announcement of its Box Developer Edition, which enables organizations to embed Box capabilities into applications.

After thorough assessment of Box, the DOJ awarded the company an “Authorization to Operate.” This will allow the agency to leverage Box across all its component agencies, simplifying  collaboration with internal and external stakeholders and third-party organizations, and adding support for mobile and offline access to corporate data by employees working remotely. To plant its stake in the federal government ground even deeper, Box has hired the former CIO of the U.S. General Services Administration and is pursuing compliance with FebRAMP, which provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.