Who needs File Storage for their Business?

I’ve been reading a bunch of articles on how to get more traffic.  And it all starts with the headlines.  And then it hits me — how the heck do I make HostedFTP.com sound interesting?  No offense meant to the guys at HostedFTP.com; they’ve got an interesting product, and a cool name.  But it’s storage — for goodness’ sakes!  So I tried out a rhetorical question — in hopes that if people needed file storage for their business, they’d have a look at HostedFTP.com.  By business, I’m choosing to encompass the entire meaning of the word; so whether you’re a Small-B owner (that’s small business, fyi), or a huge corporation owner, you can have a look at HostedFTP.com’s solutions.

Design

It’s very…clean.  And I like that.  I was told it ran on the Amazon Cloud OS (alright, you got me — I had no idea what it was, but it sounded really cool), which sort of explains how it stays so clean.  The background is white, and the logo can be customized (I’m saying this for those big companies out there — corporate branding, yay!).  The home page is still, despite its cleanliness, very comfortable and warm thanks to HostedFTP.com’s use of graphics.  And there’s a series of tabs located at the top for navigation, and also just six options ot choose from.  Very un-intimidating.  In fact, it’s downright charming.  I think that a customizable background would have been an interesting feature, though — but nonetheless, it’s still an interesting, “clean” design.

What’s it do?

HostedFTP.com hosts files.  Moreover, it allows a user to send files to contacts (bye-bye, slow e-mail attachments), and receive files from the public.  HostedFTP.com offers various options for both — including file limit sizes from the public.  They also warn you that you never know who’s really trying to send you that file — so buyer beware.

I was kind of disappointed with its previewing though — thumbnails didn’t work for my .doc files, nor did my media stream when I uploaded a .mp3 file.  I expected Amazon’s Cloud OS to be able to do more — but perhaps I overestimated it (it sounded really darn promising).

For slower connections (like my own — hey, I’m not particularly slow, its just that corporations can afford faster Internet), HostedFTP.com offers a “stripped-down” HTML version — and for the speed demons, you can run the Java applet.  I had a bit of trouble with the Java applet, so I tended to stick with HTML.

Speed

A 29-page Word 2003 .doc file, uploaded.  Just like that.  Probably in…two seconds.  No joke.  I was impressed, alright.  I was tempted to upload a Windows 7 beta .iso file on there, but I decided against it (I hear rumours of Rogers limiting uploading/downloading, so I’ve grown a bit paranoid — I think it’s just a phase though).

This is a pleasant change from the pain that attaching files can bring — even in Gmail, my favourite e-mail service, uploading files can take a while (again, depends on the connection).  HostedFTP.com manages to speed things up and remove the storage limit — huzzah!

But would I pay for it?

Hm, if I were a corporate business owner, I would.  If I were a small-business owner, I might not.

The fees aren’t outrageously expensive, but these services — although great — are still a bit on the “luxury” side.  If I were a small-business owner (heck, I am — anyone heard of CutEdge.org?), I’d be trying to reduce my fees, and so I’d learn to live with the slow attachments of free e-mail.  But with big businesses, every second counts — so I’d feel that the trade-off is worth it.  Plus, when I’m in big business, I can afford it (hopefully).