Tufts Enterprise Box Service

Running a committee and need to distribute meeting agenda and documents to a lot of people from several Tufts schools and divisions?

Working on a document with a group of Tufts colleagues across the University?

Part of a project with people outside of Tufts that requires a lot of document sharing?

Sick of emailing documents back and forth? Trapped in a document versioning nightmare?

There are a lot of document sharing and collaborative work options out there that people use to do their work. Some of of the tools are well known (like GoogleDocs and DropBox) and some of them you can happen to trip over (like your cousin's wife's brother's best friend's start-up company's cloud-based service).

While using any of these cloud-based services can seem convenient, they come with risks that you may not have fully considered. Do you know the terms of service that you are agreeing to? Did you really read through the entire click-through agreement? Are you monitoring changes to the terms of service? Do you understand the service's security provisions? What if your cousin's wife's brother's best friend's start-up goes out of business? Then what happens to your data?

In short, be careful about signing up for a self-provisioned cloud service to support your Tufts work because, as the draft Cloud Computing Services Policy notes, these services are "unvetted environments with significant unmeasured risks or are subject to changes in risk with or without notice."

"But," you say, "I need a document sharing tool for the work I have to get done at Tufts right now."

And for you, there is the Tufts Enterprise Box Service.

Tufts Enterprise Box is a centrally provisioned cloud service that allows users to easily share and collaborate on files and other documents with people inside and outside of Tufts. The University has negotiated a Terms of Service with Box.com for this service, which means that it is an environment whose risks are better measured and accepted by Tufts.

"That sounds like what I need. What cool features does this service have?"

• Provides an online workspace for collaborative work with people inside and outside of Tufts.
• Includes tools for group discussions and comments.
• Includes version control.
• Files stored in Box are accessible from any computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Log in uses Tufts Username and Tufts Password. No extra password to remember.

"Who can get a Tufts Box account?"
All members of the Tufts community.

"What am I waiting for? How do I get this Tufts Enterprise Box party started?"
Go to http://it.tufts.edu/box for more information about Box and on how to get an account started.

"What else should I keep in mind about using Tufts Enterprise Box?"

• Box is intended to supplement—-but not replace—-existing Tufts services and systems such as Trunk or Network Storage.
• You should review the Tufts Enterprise Box Service Use Policy before creating an account. In particular, do not use Box to store Level A: Regulated Institutional Data.
• 20GB of storage per person. (5GB maximum for individual files; maximum individual file size of 1GB for website uploads.)
• Like all institutional data, you should know how long you are going keep, and what you are ultimately going to do with, your data. For guidance, see the general Records Retention Schedule.
• Be mindful of syncing data on Box with your workstation, laptop, tablet, or mobile device. The data on Box is only as secure as these machines.

"What if I have questions about Box or need help using the service?"
If you have questions, request help via TechConnect, send email to it@tufts.edu, or call the Customer Support Center at (617) 627-3376.

For support based on your school or division, see Help by Affiliation or view the Faculty and Staff IT Support Provider Contact List.

Class Day time capsule. ca. 1910
Like a time capsule, you can use the Tufts Enterprise Box to store documents. We recommend you use Tufts Box (or other Tufts services and systems such as Trunk or Network Storage) to store your documents instead of using a time capsule. Here are ten ways Tufts Box is better than a time capsule:

1. Much easier to manage who can access your files in Box than in a time capsule.
   
2. Don't have to wait 50, 75, or 100 years to access files in Box.
   
3. Much harder to lose track of your Box account.
   
4. Can't access your time capsule remotely.
   
5. Can't sync your time capsule files with your mobile device.
   
6. Time capsule feature upgrades are non-existent.
   
7. Time capsule collaboration tools are weak.
   
8. Your time capsule is not connected to your Tufts user name and password. Instead you have to keep track of another key.
   
9. Accessing files in a time capsule can turn in big production, usually requiring proclamations and speeches.
   
10. Tufts Box: No digging required.