Where Will Dropbox Be in 5 Years?

July 21, 2016 • Devin Partida

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Cloud storage services are a big deal these days, especially since everyone has pretty much shifted to mobile. Aside from the obvious use — to store personal content — these services also allow users to share and access files between devices. But, where will Dropbox be in five years?

Dropbox is one such service that has become incredibly popular for its versatility. You can use it like any other cloud storage service, but what makes it most interesting is the option to use third-party apps and tools.

For example, with Desktoppr, you can download and store wallpaper images via your Dropbox. You can then set the downloaded folder as your wallpaper directory for Windows. Dropbox will automatically download any new files to the local folder when you have the app open.

A Productivity Booster

This is just one way to use the service, and there are many others. More importantly, Dropbox can help improve productivity for many of its users.

  • Files — including important business files — are always up-to-date and available in the cloud
  • Third-party apps allow for automation and quick access
  • Cross-platform support means no need to transfer files between devices, just log in and access them wherever you are
  • Dropbox includes built-in tools like a word processor, spreadsheet program and more

But if we’ve learned anything from the ever-changing world of tech, it’s that we must weigh the impact of adopting a service such as Dropbox. By investing heavily in the service, we could be opening ourselves up to future troubles.

Where will Dropbox be just five years from now? What will happen to our stored data, files and content?

dropbox

Where Will Dropbox Be in 5 Years?

Without compelling evidence, there’s no way to know what’s going to happen in the future.

Luckily, there are several happenings that lend credence to the idea Dropbox will be smooth sailing for years to come.

Dropbox Is Growing

According to the company, its user-base is bigger than ever. With half a billion standard users, and well over 200,000 business customers, there’s no shortage. But this also led to a unique business strategy.

Companies are shifting from their own data centers to using Amazon’s public cloud, but Dropbox has done the opposite. Dropbox announced 90 percent of its IT infrastructure moved from Amazon’s cloud services to a proprietary data center.

The move improves performance for Dropbox users accessing their files. This is possible because the company built a high-performance network to meet its unique needs.

It also saves money, at least when it comes to operating costs.

Dropbox Valuations Take a Hit

Despite promising growth trends, Fidelity Investments marked down the valuation of its tech shares in Dropbox by 20 percent. Clearly, this shows Dropbox will be in hot water soon, right? Wrong.

Drew Houston, the CEO of Dropbox, says the situation is just “silly” and the markdowns hardly represent a company’s strength. He says it makes more sense to structure the valuation to represent a company’s performance over the next five years. He notes that building the company in the long term is of more interest to investors than short-term valuation.

It’s obvious Houston has confidence in the company’s long-term performance. That coupled with everything else going on likely means there’s nothing to worry about.

Your Dropbox stored data isn’t going anywhere.

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