Microsoft offers Box, Dropbox, and Google cloud customers free OneDrive for Business until their contracts expire

What do you do if you want more people to use your service when there are many other competing services out there already? Offer it to them for free, of course. And that is exactly what Microsoft is doing to encourage signups for its OneDrive for Business cloud storage service.

Microsoft announced today that companies already signed up to Box, Dropbox, or Google’s cloud storage services can make the switch to OneDrive and not pay a penny for the duration of their existing contract.

The offer is valid from today through June 30, 2018, but there are some caveats. Only companies that are not already OneDrive or Office 365 customers can apply, while those that are interested in making the switch must make a minimum 500 user commitment.

A quick peek at OneDrive for Business plans reveals that a basic cloud storage only plan starts at $60 per user per year, though it can cost up to $120 per user if the company requires advance compliance and security features. So that’s $5 to $10 per user each month, meaning that a hypothetical company with 500 employees could “save” up to $5,000 each month — though of course they’re not really saving anything as they’ve already invested in their existing cloud storage service. Really, this move is just designed to expedite a switch where a company perhaps regrets signing up to Box, Dropbox, or Google’s cloud services.

Though Google has made big strides in the enterprise realm with G Suite, its cloud-based alternative to Office, Microsoft’s productivity programs remain the software of choice for most companies. Microsoft has also been pushing the online version of Office, which offers real-time coauthoring functionality through OneDrive, so it may not require all that much to encourage businesses to switch to OneDrive.