Work Following You Into The Bathroom?

Mobile communications have made it easy for individuals to stay in touch with the office, regardless of where they may be located. Egnyte found that now means that employees check in with the office even from the bathroom.Egnyte, a provider of cloud file server solutions, determined that more than half (53%) of employees with smartphones use them in the restroom. Typically, they are searching for documents and checking their email.

To help these industrious employees, the vendor announced Egnyte Everywhere, which allows users to access files via smartphones, such as Android systems, Apple's iPhone and iPad, and Blackberry phones. The product enables users to access shared and private folders, search for files, and ensure that transactions are not open to eavesdroppers.

Founded in 2006, Egnyte is trying to wedge itself into the highly competitive cloud service provider marketplace. The company, which has raised $6 million in venture capital, has had some success in finding customers. The company claims to service small and medium businesses in North America, Europe and Asia where its services are used by consultants, marketing firms, web design companies, accountants, real estate corporations, medical companies and non- profits. One challenge that the vendor faces is the incursion of large established vendors, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, on the cloud services market. Time will tell whether or not the start up has the wherewithal to survive in this highly competitive space.