With an install base of more than a million users, cloud storage access solution provider Gladinet (http://www.gladinet.com) has received significant market confirmation for its cloud storage access platform. Now, in response to customer requests, Gladinet is introducing Gladinet Cloud for Teams, a service which provides unified, managed access to cloud and on-premise storage.

When asked to explain Gladinet’s unified approach, Jerry Huang, Gladinet’s CEO, responded: “Most customers will still use local storage during the cloud storage migration. In fact, many will continue to use local storage after the migration is complete. Unification is therefore a key differentiator that allows some data to be kept on-premise for compliance, control, or security reasons, while moving the rest to the cloud for maximum efficiency. Furthermore, the access and management models remain the same, regardless of storage location. Our unified approach also eases the practical pains of migration with immediate, cloud-based access to all data, without having to wait for the completion of lengthy uploads. Businesses face the problem of migrating large data sets to the cloud with limited bandwidth. With Gladinet Cloud, their data can be accessed immediately, while cloud migration and cloud backup are completed in the background.”

The new service is optimized for teams. Primary features include central management of cloud and on-premise storage, shared workspace creation with access controls, and the ability to access cloud and on-premise storage from any location or device. “Gladinet Cloud is tightly integrated with Gladinet’s existing cloud storage access platform to produce a complete, mature solution,” said Huang.

After signing up for a Gladinet Cloud account for their organization, administrators will centrally manage their users, cloud and on-premise storage, team folders and access controls from a web browser interface. Operation is a simple matter of adding users and storage and then creating team folders for collaboration. Each added user will then be given native access to a local drive with their private cloud storage and team folder, allowing them to work collaboratively from any location.

Besides the direct customer benefits mentioned above, Gladinet Cloud can be re-branded for Gladinet’s partners, making it easy for them to sell their own storage as part of a branded solution. The company expects this to drive partner business.

With the Gladinet Cloud, Gladinet customers seem to get what they have been asking for: a centrally managed cloud storage solution for backup, access, and synchronization, with identity-based access controls and collaboration.