Box now integrates with Office Online, following Dropbox's lead

Dropbox is no longer the only non-Microsoft cloud storage service that integrates with Office Online, as enterprise-focused rival Box now also makes this feature available to its customers, taking advantage of Office 365 -- Cloud Storage Partner Program. Box already integrates with Office mobile, allowing smartphone and tablet users to easily create and edit Excel, PowerPoint and Word documents that are stored on its servers.

It is a win-win for both companies. Box gets to give its customers easy access to one of the best online office suites around and become more attractive to potential customers, while Microsoft gains more Office Online, and potentially more Office 365, users in the process. Let's see what this integration brings to the table.

Box says that it has designed this integration so that it is both easy to use and comprehensive in its capabilities, and this is something that is quickly noticeable judging by the features it touts. It should be a welcome addition to the service, as the company says that "Office files currently account for almost half of all content that has been edited and then uploaded to Box" and that "this integration will hugely impact productivity for our customers".

We can now bring incredibly frictionless ways of working to the world's most diverse enterprises and institutions, ensuring a much more user-centric approach to IT, and way better productivity for individuals", says Box CEO Aaron Levie. "This will in turn dramatically improve how work gets done: a pharmaceutical company making drug discoveries can do research around the globe as if they were in the same room; a consulting firm can get teams on the same page instantly; and students can share and collaborate on projects with just a browser".

Users can handle Excel, PowerPoint and Word documents using Office Online that are stored on Box simply by hitting the "open with" button, without having to manually save the added content -- everything is saved automatically on Box, similar to how Office Online and OneDrive operate.

Everything that Office Online has to offer, in terms of capabilities, is available from Box as well, so customers will not miss anything by using the online office suite in conjunction with its service, as opposed to OneDrive.

An upcoming feature will allow users to share content using Office Online as easily as if they are using Box, "by simply clicking the 'share' button, users are prompted with the granular collaboration controls they expect from Box".

You can watch how the Office Online integration with Box works by watching the video below. Just power up your favorite browser on Box.com to test it out.