For those of you unfamiliar with the firm, Trend Micro is a global leader in content security. The firm offers a full line of products, including anti-virus, software firewalls, anti-spam, cloud security and more. Trend Micro offers two versions of SafeSync: the standard version for home use with prices starting at $23.95 per year and 20 gigabytes of storage, and SafeSync for Business, the subject of this article, with prices starting at $90 per year per user with 50 gigabytes of storage per user. Volume discounts are available.
What It Does
First of all, each employee gets synchronization of his own files across multiple devices and multiple platforms, including Windows operating systems, Macs, Androids, iPads and iPhones. In addition, there is a copy of each file stored in the cloud, so users can access a file from any device with just a Web browser. Files accessed through the Web can be edited, organized and shared. In addition to personal files and folders, there are team files and folders. These have the same properties as individual files and folders so they can be synchronized, shared, etc. The system provides secure link sharing, ensuring that only those you want to give access to will get it. In addition, the service offers "versioning." This means that if you update a file and later want to retrieve an earlier version, you can do so-or if someone inadvertently deletes a file, it can be recovered.
SafeSync for Business includes video and music streaming to compatible devices. Why might you want this for a business site? There are a few reasons. First, perhaps your firm creates or intends to create promotional videos, which you could stream to prospects. You could also share video market commentaries or short audio reports.
Of course, the big selling point here is security, and Trend Micro, with 20-plus years in the security business, knows what it is doing. The physical security, for one thing, is strong. The data center that houses your data is operated by Trend Micro, not a third party, and nobody has access to the data on the server. There is 24/7 surveillance throughout the facility. The access to all cabinets and servers is controlled so that only authorized maintenance personnel can interact with them, and when they do, they are under constant surveillance.
Files are encrypted in transit and on the servers. Data that is transferred between you and SafeSync for Business travels with strong AES 256-bit encryption. Data is stored on the Trend Micro servers, using the firm's own SecureCloud technology, which makes sure that only those people authorized to access your encrypted data can do it (if you are interested in a more detailed explanation of SecureCloud, it can be found here: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/solutions/enterprise/security-solutions/virtualization/securecloud/).
The Trend Micro network has security characteristics that you don't find at the typical independent RIA firm. The firm has multiple firewalls to defend against cyber attacks. It scans all files for viruses and other malware, one of its key areas of expertise. And SafeSync for Business offers redundancy, maintaining two copies of your data on two separate servers and using two service providers to connect you to the Internet.
Data is synchronized to a specific region, so you do not have to worry about any sensitive data residing overseas.
Trend Micro currently guarantees 99.9% service availability, supported by a money back service level agreement. I'm told that with the next release, the firm will be upping the guarantee to 99.99%.
Now that we've covered what SafeSync does, let's briefly discuss how it works. After you sign in and log on as the administrator, you are prompted to add users. You add them by typing in their e-mail addresses. The system sends them an invitation. It includes a link to the sign-up page where they use their e-mail as the user name and create their own passwords.
After you receive e-mail notification that your account has been established, you log on, sign in to the SafeSync Web site and download the SafeSync application. You then follow the instructions to install the application, restart your computer and sign in. The app creates a SafeSync folder on your computer that mirrors the one on the SafeSync site. Any files or folders that you save to the SafeSync folder on your computer are automatically saved to the mirrored folder on SafeSync. You can also add existing folders on your computer to your SafeSync account by right-clicking them, clicking the SafeSync icon and clicking "Make this a SafeSync folder." SafeSync is also compatible with Macs. The setup process is slightly different, but it is easy to follow.
There are a couple of ways to add files and folders if you are on a computer that does not have the desktop application. From the main SafeSync for Business screen online, you can click the SafeSync folder you want to add a file to, select the "Upload Files" link at the top of the screen, click either the "add file" or "add folder" button, indicate what it is you wish to upload, and then hit the "start upload" button. Another option is to drag and drop files and folders onto the "drag and drop upload" area in the lower left corner of the screen.
There are two types of folders: user folders (for individual users) and team folders. Again, the firm receives 50 gigabytes per subscriber, which is pooled storage, so all of the storage can be allocated to team folders. Most can be allocated to one individual's folder, or any usage division up to the firm's total capacity. If you are the administrator of the site, you start out with one main "team folder." You can then create as many subfolders as you want under the main listing, as long as you have enough storage capacity. Both normal users and administrators can create team folders, so if an employee is out of the office, for example, and wants to grant read-only or read/write access to others, it can be done immediately on the fly.
When a folder is created, the one who creates it, the owner, has full privileges for that folder. The owner can make changes to both the contents and the settings of the folder.
The administrator can grant privileges to others who are licensed to use the system. Others can have full owner status, editor status (they can change the contents, but not the settings), viewer status (read-only) or no access at all to contents or settings.
Those who are not licensed on the system can still be granted access to files and folders. Licensed users log on to the SafeSync Web site and create a hyperlink to a file or folder in order to share it with others (assuming they have permission to do so). Hyperlinks can be sent through e-mail, instant messaging, a Web site or a social media site. When you share the contents of a file or folder with someone through a hyperlink, he can view it, but he cannot make any changes to it. For extra security, you can add a password, an expiration date or both to a hyperlink.
Folders can be searched using the search function. The folder contents can be displayed in list format or as small images. In the list format, you can sort files by name, size and type and by the date last modified, just as you can in Windows Explorer. If you happen to upload images or videos to your folders, they can be viewed with the online media player that comes with the system.
Benefits
For the right type of RIA firm, the benefits can be substantial. For example, let's say that you have a three-person RIA firm using an application service provider for CRM software, financial planning applications and portfolio management and rebalancing programs. You are using a hosted version of the Microsoft Exchange server or some other Web-based e-mail host. If you still have a server in your office, it is just for storing your Microsoft Word documents, spreadsheets and the like. With a solution like SafeSync, you not only get individual and team storage online, you also get the sync features, the ability to easily and securely share files with others, online backups with versioning, and much more. For larger firms that already have cloud access, SafeSync may still be valuable as a convenient supplement, either for temporary workers, remote workers, interns or executives who spend a great deal of time out of the office and use multiple devices or operating systems.
Performance
Implications