SugarSync launches small business cloud storage service

November 3, 2009 | Dean Takahashi | Comments | |

sugar 2Online storage firm SugarSync is launching a new version of its backup service for small businesses today.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based SugarSync already offers a consumer service that backs your data to the cloud, or web-connected data centers. Now it will offer a SugarSync Small Business service with management tools and group plans that let small businesses synchronize the data on multiple computers, share and collaborate, and backup data to the cloud.

The service comes with central administrative controls, flexible group pricing plans and free phone support. The idea is to let business professionals access their data on the go and not worry about losing valuable data. You can sync your smartphones, desktops, laptops and other devices. An administrator can manage multiple user accounts, set up and delete profiles, and allocate storage in an instant.

sugar 1SugarSync said its consumer service is already popular with graphic designers, law firms,real estate brokers and other firms. More than a petabyte of data (over a billion files) are now backed up, with four terabytes being added every day, the company said.

Customizable group pricing plans start at $29.99 per month with no set-up fees and a free 30-day trial. SugarSync was founded in 2004 and has 25 employees. Its rivals include Box.net, MobileMe and Dropbox. SugarSync has raised $26.5 million to date from Selby Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Sigma Partners.

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About the Author, Dean Takahashi

Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • Phil H.
    Be very wary of SugarSync's claims and customer support!

    After a series of incredibly poor experiences and complete lack of response from SugarSync, I'm cancelling my SugarSync account.

    The whole episode started when I needed to retrieve version of a file, which is supposed to be one of SugarSync's strengths. Unfortunately, none of the previous versions appeared in the SugarSync folder (only the latest), so SugarSync failed to deliver on one of its key promises.

    When I contacted Tech Support to inquire "why," I didn't get any response at all until I had recontacted 2-3 times, and then their response was "we're looking into it." Finally, after sending an message expressing my frustration, the response came back "some programs lock files" so that previous versions can't be backed up. This made no sense at all... After four weeks, I never got a satisfactory response from SugarSync tech support.

    So, anyone considering SugarSync should (i) that SugarSync is indeed backing up previous version of files, as promised (it didn't for me); and (ii) try to contact SugarSync for tech support and see how long it takes them to get back in touch (for me, it didn't appear as though anyone was really responding, even after 4 weeks).

    Phil H. - Atlanta

    P.S. By the way, after a careful review, I'm switching to Crashplan (Google and check out reviews - not just features, but users' experience as well).