Ina Fried

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Box Offers Up Its iCloud Answer for Businesses

One of the benefits of the app-oriented nature of today’s smartphones is that users generally don’t have to worry about where their data is stored.

In most cases, they don’t even know.

“That’s benefited consumers dramatically,” Box CEO Aaron Levie said in an interview.”The challenge is, we have created a lot of sprawl.”

His online storage company is trying to help address that with OneCloud, a service that aims to liberate mobile data by storing it in a common format in the cloud, allowing for access by multiple mobile apps.

The service will launch with 30 application partners, including Quickoffice and Adobe EchoSign, and more are in the works. Initially, OneCloud is launching for the iPad and iPhone, but the company plans to add Android support as well. In a world where businesses tend to support a wide range of employee-owned devices, Levie said, there is incredible potential if services can allow a range of operating systems and apps to work together.

“That’s where it can get really powerful,” he said.

As with other Box services, there is potential for OneCloud to be used by consumers, but the company is really aiming at business.

“We want the consumers that are going to bring technology to the workforce,” Levie said. “I’m not really aiming for my mom to use this for her photos.”

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— Valleywag editor Sam Biddle