Cloud-Dropbox inks integration pact with G Suite

Dropbox said it will develop a series of cross-platform integrations that connect G-Suite's cloud tools with the Dropbox collaboration platform.

Dropbox on Thursday announced that it's partnering with Google to develop a series of cross-platform integrations that connect G-Suite's cloud tools with the Dropbox collaboration platform.

The partnership is notable because Dropbox -- which officially filed for an initial public offering last week -- and G Suite are competitive rivals. In its IPO disclosure, Dropbox noted that it competes with Google in both the cloud storage and content collaboration markets.

Dropbox now sees the G Suite tie-up -- a first for the two platforms -- as a way to ensure that it's offering customers "a unified home for content and the conversations around it." Dropbox posits that more than 50 percent of its customers also use G Suite, but until now there hasn't been a way to store G Suite files inside of Dropbox.

"We want to make it easy for our users to work across devices with the tools they love," said Tony Lee, VP of engineering at Dropbox. "We're excited to work with Google to break down silos and centralize the information teams rely on every day."

Dropbox said that the native integration will allow users to create, open, and edit Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides that live in Dropbox. Users will also have the option to open and edit compatible files directly in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides from within Dropbox. Administrators, meanwhile, will be able to manage Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides just like any other content that lives in Dropbox.

Beyond docs and files, Dropbox said it plans to develop additional native G Suite integrations with Gmail and Hangouts Chat, including Dropbox link generation from within Gmail. With Hangouts Chat, users will be able to search for, share, and preview Dropbox files in Google Hangouts.

"Our goal is to make G Suite accessible no matter what tools you bring to work, and these integrations help our shared customers better collaborate in the tools they use every day," said Ritcha Ranjan, director of product management at Google Cloud. "Working with Dropbox to make our apps work better together helps our customers focus their time on work that matters."

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