ShareFile is a secure content collaboration,

file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include ...

and sync software that supports all the document-centric tasks and workflow needs of small and large businesses. The company also offers

cloud-based Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

or on-premises storage, virtual data rooms and client portals. ShareFile is owned by

Progress Software Progress Software Corporation is an American public company that produces software for creating and deploying business applications. Founded in Burlington, Massachusetts with offices in 16 countries, the company posted revenues of $531.3 mill ...

Corporation.

History

Early history

Jesse Lipson, a self-taught

programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...

, built and launched ShareFile in November 2005 in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. Lipson created ShareFile after several of his website design clients asked him to build a password-protected area where they could set up folders and exchange business files with their clients. He felt

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

sites of the time were insufficient and saw an opportunity to create a web-based product. ShareFile launched without a free version or outside

funding Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

, and focused on acquiring only business customers. By 2011, ShareFile had 3 million users in 100 countries. ShareFile was included on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in both 2010 and 2011.

2011: Acquisition by Citrix Systems

In October 2011, ShareFile was acquired by Citrix Systems. Under terms of the agreement, ShareFile was offered as a standalone service in addition to its software becoming integrated into Citrix products. With the acquisition, Lipson became vice president and general manager of a new data sharing division within Citrix under the deal. As of 2016, Lipson is corporate vice president and general manager of cloud services, which includes ShareFile and Citrix Workspace Cloud. A new 171,000-square-foot Raleigh office opened in October 2014 for Raleigh-based Citrix employees. The office building was created using ShareFile and other software by Citrix and housed approximately 300 employees, until 2023. As of April 2015, ShareFile had 55,000 corporate customers and 40 million users.

2023: Acquisition by Cloud Software Group

ShareFile was acquired by Cloud Software Group and separated its branding in 2023 to become a standalone business unit. It was included in ''

Computerworld ''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is a computer magazine published since 1967 aimed at information technology (IT) and Business computing, business technology professionals. Original a print magazine, ''Computerworld'' published its final pr ...

'' 2023 list of the top ten file-sharing services.

2024: Acquisition by Progress Software Corporation

On October 31, 2024,

Corporation announced that it had completed the purchase of ShareFile for $875 million. Additionally, it reported that the acquired company could provide more than 86,000 customers to the

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

-based firm.

Product overview

ShareFile is a secure,

platform for businesses to store and share large files. Businesses are able to create

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

ed, password-protected areas for files through the service. The software has a client- portal feature businesses can set up and customize to allow outside vendors and clients access to specific projects and files. Other ShareFile features include the ability to send and obtain e-signatures on documents with the integration of RightSignature; the ability to send encrypted email through a Microsoft Outlook plugin or an online portal,

Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 (previously called Office 365) is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and Cloud computing, cloud-based Software as a service, services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, One ...

connection to access and edit documents stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business; and the ability for individuals to migrate data from their personal clouds into ShareFile. There are also

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

versions of ShareFile, which allow mobile editing and

offline editing Offline editing is the creative storytelling stage of film and television production where the structure, mood, pacing and story of the final show are defined. Many versions and revisions are presented and considered at this stage until the edit g ...

of documents.

Security features

ShareFile users have the option to store data in their own

data center A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...

s, Citrix-managed data centers, or use existing file storage systems via StorageZone Connectors. This allows companies to host files that they do not want stored in the cloud, in some cases due to regulatory concerns. IT managers can manage corporate content on ShareFile using remote wipe,

encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...

, passcode lock and poison pill features. In addition, companies are able to restrict third-party editing tools that employees might try to install on their devices, and audit content accessed from a device that has been lost or stolen.

Industry-specific features

In response to updated regulations with

HIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or the Kennedy– Kassebaum Act) is a United States Act of Congress enacted by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21, ...

standards, Citrix created ShareFile Cloud for Health Care in 2013. This private virtual cloud was designed to help companies stay compliant with updated HIPAA standards. It runs on the AWS Cloud, but sets aside specific virtual servers to host

protected health information Protected health information (PHI) under Law of the United States, U.S. law is any information about health status, provision of health care, or payment for health care that is created or collected by a Covered Entity (or a Business Associate of a ...

(PHI). Also in 2013, ShareFile began offering a feature called "Archiving for Financial Services" to help organizations in the financial sector comply with data archiving regulations put forth by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharefile File hosting File sharing services Research Triangle Cloud computing providers Data synchronization Companies based in Raleigh, North Carolina Internet properties established in 2005 2005 establishments in North Carolina 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2024 mergers and acquisitions