Trend Micro SafeSync Gets an Overhaul, Including Uptime SLA

Trend Micro SafeSync, the cloud security company’s secure Dropbox-like service for businesses, has gotten a facelift, streamlined mobile app syncing, expanded Apple Mac support and a 99.9 percent uptime SLA.

SafeSync, which Trend Micro initially released back in May of 2011, is pretty straightforward for those familiar with modern file synchronization solutions.

When you save a file to the SafeSync cloud, it gets pushed to all the other devices you have set up to sync. If you use a team folder, you can keep one version of a document in perfect sync across all members of a product group or team. Files can be shared publicly. Like I said, pretty straightforward, and with encryption and an audit trail that enterprises need, for the business edge.

So what’s new with this release? TJ Alldridge, product manager for Small Business Solutions at Trend Micro, showed me in person:

• A newer, cleaner interface. It doesn’t bring any changes to functionality, but several tweaks here and there across the entire platform make it easier to operate.
• A new SafeSync folder — Apparently, users got so used to Dropbox integrating with the file system via a folder shortcut that Trend Micro SafeSync has one now, too. It’s not any more efficient, and doesn’t add any real new functionality, but it’s what users wanted, Alldridge said.
• That same SafeSync folder will automatically sync with the Google Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone 7 apps with no further action required.
• SafeSync now supports the native client on 64-bit Apple Mac OS X systems.
• Users now have better control over which files and folders do and don’t get synced. You may not want your iPhone backups on every new device you sync, for instance.
• Trend Micro now offers a 99.9 percent money-back SLA. But in the interest of total transparency, Trend Micro excluded planned downtimes and maintenance from that SLA, though a spokesperson confirmed that organizations will have at least two weeks notice.

On a final note, Alldridge confirmed that Trend Micro is also opening a SafeSync data center in Germany that’s using the security provider’s own SecureCloud solution for data-at-rest encryption. Alldridge noted Trend Micro is really eating its own dog food, now providing complete end-to-end encryption.

That’s only in Germany right now, but it’s slated to hit North America in the first half of 2012. And when it lands, Trend Micro believes it’s an advantage no other competitor in the space can match, he said.

Pricing for Trend Micro SafeSync for Business starts at $90/year with volume discounting applicable, and it’s available for resale by Trend Micro’s partners. The new features are available instantly for new customers, and existing customers can download the new client manually now and get updated or be turned over automatically in the near future.