HighQ unveils Collaborate 3.4: enhancing data security and boosting personal productivity

Global News

16
Apr
2015

Editor

HighQ, leading provider of enterprise cloud collaboration and publishing software, has released HighQ Collaborate 3.4. The platform combines secure file sharing and advanced document management with leading-edge enterprise social collaboration, personal productivity and project management tools.

The latest version of Collaborate is a major release that sees the platform boost personal productivity for enterprise users and significantly enhances data security and privacy.

“This is a huge release and we’re incredibly excited to get it into our customers’ hands. We have combined multiple client-requested enhancements with major new data security features that make Collaborate more secure, powerful and versatile than ever,” says HighQ’s Chief Strategy Officer, Stuart Barr.

Major security enhancements have led the way in this release with the addition of hybrid file storage and client encryption key management, which are designed to allay any remaining fears firms may have about moving to the cloud.

“In response to a growing desire from our customers to have full control over where their data is located, how it’s encrypted and who has access to it, we wanted to remove any final barriers to adopting our cloud-based solutions,” says Barr.

HighQ’s new hybrid file storage solution now gives customers the choice of storing their data wherever they want. They can choose from any one of the company’s existing data centres in five locations globally or customers can opt to store files on-premise inside their own data centres. In addition, HighQ’s encryption key management solution allows customers to hold their own encryption keys in a dedicated key manager on-premise.

“Our hybrid storage and encryption key management solutions are a breakthrough in enterprise cloud security,” says Barr. “We are now able to offer our customers unparalleled flexibility about where they store their data and who manages the encryption keys. It is without doubt a watershed moment for us, now there really is no reason not to move to the cloud.”

Personal productivity and team collaboration features have also been boosted in the release with the addition of client-requested features including native Microsoft Office integration, personal file syncing, new team calendars, two-way HP WorkSite sync, new APIs, improved secure file transfer features and much more.

“We combined these ground-breaking security features with important client-requested enhancements and new integration options that significantly expand the use cases for the platform, improve the user experience and boost personal productivity,” explains Barr.

HighQ Collaborate 3.4 is a unified solution for highly regulated, security-conscious industries and organisations such as law firms, financial services and in-house corporate legal departments, where data security and control are paramount.

Security features in Collaborate 3.4

The latest security additions to the platform are:

• Hybrid file storage – Allows customers to choose where to store their files for each individual workspace within their instance of Collaborate. They have the option of storing files in any of HighQ’s five global data centres or on-premise within their own network.
• Encryption key management – Gives customers the option to store separate encryption keys for each individual workspace on-premise. The keys are never permanently held in the cloud or managed by HighQ and it adds another layer of protection to their data.

Personal productivity features in Collaborate 3.4

The new version of Collaborate adds the following productivity and collaboration features:

• Microsoft Office integration – Makes it possible to seamlessly open and edit files stored in Collaborate in native Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications. A new Outlook plugin allows users to leverage our secure file transfer features from directly within Outlook.
• Personal desktop file syncing – Offers a secure enterprise alternative to using consumer file syncing tools. The new application, known as HighQ Drive, allows users to have their personal work files stored in Collaborate synced to their PC or Mac.
• New team calendars – Now includes the option to switch between day, week, month and list views. Events can be added directly to the main calendar, colour-coded and categorised, and can be dragged and moved within the calendar.
• Additional new features – Including a new self-registration option for secure file transfers, more granular options for two-factor authentication, two-way file sync in team workspaces and enhancements to the iSheets module.

HighQ Collaborate is a unique platform that combines the best aspects of enterprise file sharing and sync with social collaboration and secure team workspaces. It’s designed to help enterprise users get their work done efficiently and share information securely with colleagues and external parties. It’s fully mobile optimised out-of-the-box with a stunning, consumer-grade user experience and provides extensive solutions for business critical use cases in a stringently secure environment. Collaborate is deployed as a single-tenancy, cloud-based platform hosted in HighQ’s own private cloud, now with the option to choose hybrid storage options.

“Collaborate 3.4 completes the vision for a comprehensive enterprise team collaboration and personal productivity platform that we first laid out two years ago and builds on a decade’s worth of technological evolution providing solutions to the most security-conscious industries,” says Barr. “We build all of our technology from the ground up so that it can be tightly integrated and give our customers the best possible experience.”

Barr concludes: “We’re proud to be the leading provider of file sharing and team collaboration solutions for the world’s most sensitive industries and to continually keep ahead of the curve with the most advanced privacy, security and data-sovereignty requirements.”

To learn more about HighQ Collaborate 3.4, click here.