Collaboration

Dropbox Joins Internet2 Net+ Program

• By Rhea Kelly
• 03/08/17

Colleges and universities now have an easier way to deploy Dropbox campuswide, thanks to a new agreement between the cloud storage and collaboration company and Internet2. Dropbox today announced its participation with Internet2's NET+ program, a standards-based service portfolio for higher education institutions.

Through the NET+ validation process, peer institutions work with vendors to put together custom offerings to suit higher education's security, identity management and integration needs — and create favorable commercial terms for colleges and universities. "This approach maximizes deployment efficiencies and minimizes the risks and costs of migrating from on-campus to cloud-based solutions," according to a press release.

NET+ Dropbox Education provides a number of benefits for higher ed institutions:

• Lower price ceilings;
• Pre-negotiated contracts and Business Associate Agreements that support HIPAA compliance; and
• Faster speeds with direct peering from Internet2 into Dropbox and Amazon Web Services.

Any nonprofit university can access the offering; Internet2 members receive an additional discount.

"Dropbox has long been one of the most widely used individual cloud services on member campuses. We are excited Dropbox has joined the program and the community will now have access to a full enterprise level NET+ Dropbox offering," said Shelton Waggener, senior vice president at Internet2, in a statement. "We've already seen a groundswell of interest in the offering. With more universities and research institutions moving to cloud-based platforms, NET+ Dropbox will fill a vital need for many of our members."