Dive Brief:

• Box announced Box Drive, a service that connects desktops to the cloud, on Wednesday.

• The company is bringing cloud service directly to the desktop to make it so users don't have to always work through a browser, according to Box. It allows users to access all their content without relying on the hard drive. 

• The new service can help enterprises reduce strain on their hard drives, enable the entire company to move to the cloud, and improve security, Box said. Companies could also save money by replacing network file shares.

Dive Insight:

Box and competitor Dropbox have been battling it out in the cloud-based file sharing and sync services marketplace, and offering new services is a big part of staying top of mind for enterprise users.

But Box is really playing catch up here. Several other providers, including Amazon Web Services and Cisco, already offer similar cloud-based backup services.

The company's move is also indicative of an overall trend in which tech companies are rethinking their approach to cloud storage and backup and offering new types of cloud-based services. For example, on Wednesday Google announced a new app called Backup and Sync that will monitor and backup files inside any folder a user points it to, including a desktop, according to The Verge.