Next-Gen VAR Ready To Take On Cloud Storage Heavyweights

Nimbo, a member of the CRN Next-Gen 250, has developed file-sharing software to work with Windows Active Directory and Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to allow users to seamlessly synchronize, share and store documents across desktops, notebooks, iPads, iPhones and any other mobile device.

Called NimboSync, the product will be available in the fourth quarter of 2012, said Ira Bell, Nimbo’s co-founder and COO.

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Bell said NimboSync will be competitive on price with other, well-known cloud-based storage companies.

“We’ve used a .Net-based environment to create NimboSync for Windows Azure,” Bell told CRN. “NimboSync stores data in the Azure platform, and the cost for Azure storage is cheap, at 10 cents per GB. Also, you can easily share it among your devices and take advantage of a cloud-based platform.”

As a relatively young company, started in early 2010, Nimbo is operating at a lean and mean level. “We are a young company with developers who are awesome at programming, and we don’t have the huge overhead of larger organizations.”

Cloud-based storage companies are in a race to cut prices, with most offering from 2 to 20 GB of free storage, with cost escalating as capacity is increased.

Bell said NimboSync pricing is not yet set. “We plan to be cheaper than any competing solutions with the same feature set,” he said.

“We’ve spent nearly a year on this, and the first half was pure planning based on what our competitors are doing,” Bell said. “We’re heavily aligned with Microsoft, so we’re proud to feel like this is Microsoft’s answer to Box, DropBox and Google Drive. These are fun times for us to be in.”