Acronis Access Advanced and Acronis Access 7 FAQ

What is the AnyData Engine?
The Acronis AnyData Engine is a set of deep and powerful new generation data protection technologies that capture, store, recover, control and access data in virtual, physical, cloud and mobile environments. Acronis AnyData Engine:
• Powers easy, complete and safe backup, disaster recovery and secure access solutions
• Delivers best-in-class individual products optimized for your most important workloads that seamlessly blend into a total solution
• Protects any data, across any environment, in any location

What is Acronis Access 7?
Acronis announced the launch of Acronis Access 7 and Acronis Advanced 7, two comprehensive content and file access, sync and share solutions – across mobile devices, PCs and Macs – that increase security, accelerate productivity and enable BYOD.

The solutions allow users to control their mobile world by providing secure access to content and files on file servers, SharePoint, NAS and other repositories for mobile users, as well as by providing secure methods for users to share content with internal and external constituents across their PCs, Macs and mobile devices.

1. Acronis Access 7 – Designed exclusively for small and midsize businesses, Acronis Access is the industry’s most affordable, best-in-class solution for secured mobile file access, sync, and share. With Acronis Access, you have complete control of your data while letting your employees work with the business content they need to be productive, no matter where they are, no matter what device they use – smart phone, tablet, laptop, PC, or Mac®. In addition, comprehensive, security features, built-in Microsoft® Office document creation / editing and pdf annotation all help protect your critical data. Easy, complete, and safe, Acronis Access improves employee productivity and enhances customer service, helping to attract new customers and grow your revenue.

2. Acronis Access Advanced 7 – Acronis Access Advanced is an easy, complete, and safe access, sync, and share solution, providing IT with complete control over business content to ensure security, maintain compliance, and enable BYOD. Employees use any device to securely access corporate files and securely share content with other employees, customers, partners, and vendors. Designed exclusively for enterprise organizations, Acronis Access Advanced is the only solution that allows IT to easily implement highly granular policies across users / data / applications, drive employee productivity, and transform mobile devices, including BYOD, into a natural extension of your business.

What are the key benefits of Acronis Access?
• Improve productivity – Makes the remote, traveling, or telecommuting employee as affective as an in-office employee when out of the office or on the road.
• Enhance customer service – By improving their productivity, employees will be able to respond faster to customer inquiries and problems.
• Grow revenue – Improving service to customers separates businesses from their competition and helps to retain current customers, attract new customers, and grow revenue.
• Embrace BYOD – The extended use of consumer devices is driving BYOD, which in turn also drives employee convenience and satisfaction. Employees want to use their preferred devices for work.

What are the key benefits of Acronis Access Advanced 7?
• Control of your mobile world – Sophisticated security controls managed by Acronis Policy Engine give IT all the tools they need to protect the company’s critical data assets.
• Drive competitive advantage – Advanced use of mobile devices drives faster, more informed decision-making and ultimately improves revenue, profitability, and customer satisfaction.
• Enable BYOD – Employees can use provisioned or their own devices while still giving IT security, controland management around content access and sharing.

What are the key features of Acronis Access 7?
• Fast on-premise installation and rollout
• Access to file servers, NAS & SharePoint from mobile devices, Mac and PCs
• Managed sharing from all devices
• Integration with Active Directory for authentication, user account management, and device enrollment
• Policies to ensure control of files, users and devices
• Create and edit Office documents and annotate pdf’s within Acronis Access
• Sync file server and SharePoint files to Mac and PC
• Web access to file server and SharePoint files
• Secure over-the-air and on-device FIPS 140-2 certified encryption
• Audit trail and history of all transactions including search, filter, and export functions
• White and black lists of users, groups, domains and applications

What are the key features of Acronis Access Advanced 7?
• Deployed on-premise, providing IT maximum control
• Managed sharing from all devices
• Web access to file server and SharePoint files
• White and black lists of users, groups, domains, and applications
• Server-side API for enrollments, data sources and policies
• HTTPS Reverse Proxy support, with password and certificate authentication
• Selective remote wipe
• Client API/SDK to enable optional Access server file access from 3rd party & custom enterprise apps
• Sync file server and Sharepoint files to Mac and PC
• Integration with key MDM partners including MobileIron, Good Technology, and others

What are the main differences in features between Acronis Access 7 and Acronis Access Advanced 7?

Acronis Access
• Access to file servers, NAS and SharePoint – up to 3 data sources
• Users supported: up to 100
• Access servers supported: 1
• Administrator user types/roles: 1
• Group policies: 1

Acronis Access Advanced
• Access to file servers, NAS and SharePoint – unlimited – data sources
• Users supported: unlimited
• Access servers supported: unlimited
• Administrator user types/roles: 5
• Amazon S3 storage supported for Sync & Share
• Feature and security policies per AD user or group
• Two-factor mobile device enrollment
• Smart card and certificate authentification
• MDM integrations (MobileIron, Good, Citrix, KNOX)

Who are the main customer targets for Acronis Access 7?
The typical customers are SMB organizations, smaller companies, including accounting firms, insurance agencies, doctors offices, service firms with remote field staff, etc. Acronis Access 7 can serve up to 100 users.

Who are the main customer targets for Acronis Access Advanced 7?
The typical customers targets are large enterprises or regulated organizations, in financial services, pharma, healthcare, government, legal, energy and other regulated markets. Acronis Access Advanced 7 can serve any number of users.

Examples of policy settings in Acronis Access 7?
• Block “Open In” to all other apps on device
• Users can add new network folder locations in the app
• User’s AD home folder can be displayed in the app
• Permisions to read/write/rename files
• “Time bombs” to purge content stored in mobile devices
• Many other settings

What policy settings are included in Acronis Access Advanced 7?
• Block “Open In” to all other apps on device
• Whitelist / Blacklist “Open In” to specific apps
• Wipe or lock after loss of contact with server
• Time based expiration (removal) of files copied locally
• Ability to disable on-device file storage
• Disable user-created sync folders
• Disable emailing and printing files
• Disable copying and pasted text from files
• Disable in-app Office, PDF and text editors
• Users can add new network folder locations in the app
• User’s AD home folder can be displayed in the app
• Different policies based on AD group membership

What operating systems do Acronis Access 7 and Acronis Access Advanced 7 support?
• iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPad Air
• iPhone 3Gs, 4, 4S, 5, 5C, 5S and 6/6+ (iOS 6 or later)
• Android phones and tablets (Android 2.2 or later)
• Windows: XP Pro, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1
• Mac OS X 10.6 and higher
• Web browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google, Chrome, Safari

What is the per user cost of purchasing Acronis Access 7?
• For 25 users, the per user cost is $59.80.
• For 50 users, the per user cost is $49.90.
• For 100 users, the per user cost is $39.95.

Please remember that our price for Acronis Access is perpetual (one time followed by annual maintenance charge). Cloud services, like Box, are subscription and therefore you pay every year. A 3-year price comparison would show our solution to be a significantly greater value.

What is the cost of purchasing Acronis Access Advanced 7?
Acronis Access Advanced can be purchased in Perpetual or Subscription models. Per user price varies depending on the tier. As an example, for the Perpetual 1-250 users tier the cost per user is $187.00.

For the perpetual model there is an optional annual maintenance charge after year 1. Cloud services, like Box, are subscription and therefore you pay every year. A 3-year price comparison would show our solution to be a significantly greater value.

Why would businesses benefit from purchasing Acronis Access 7 or Acronis Access Advanced 7?
Many people nowadays need to use their mobile devices (cellular phones, tablets, personal laptops) for work, but IT organizations are struggling with company provisioned devices or BYOD and how to integrate them securely and effectively within their organizations, whilst maintaining visibility and access control. Our own research indicates that 60% of organizations have no BYOD policy, leaving their important and sensitive corporate data unprotected and at greater risk of being breached.

Acronis Access and Acronis Access Advanced provide an easy, complete and secure way for employees to access, sync and share corporate data. With this ability, employees as a result will be more productive and will have the opportunity to operate anywhere, and on any device.

Why did Acronis want to target the SMB market with the release of Acronis Access 7?
There is a great business opportunity. Research shows that SMBs have been adopting mobile solutions at an extremely fast pace. 67% of SMBs today view mobile solutions as critical to their business, and 83% have already deployed mobile apps to improve employee productivity. Since SMBs are so rapidly adopting mobile technology, we want them to feel secure as they are allowing employees to utilize their own mobile devices to access corporate data.

Can you decide to easily switch to Acronis Access Advanced 7?
Yes – there is a seamless upgrade option should customers want to change from Acronis Access to Acronis Access Advanced.

Why was Acronis Access renamed to Acronis Access Advanced?

The existing Acronis Access (versions 6 and older) were renamed to Acronis Access Advanced to more clearly reflect the high end capabilities and scalability of the product, and to be consistent with the rest of the Acronis product families

How are Acronis Access 7 and Acronis Access Advanced 7 different from other solutions?

Very easy to use. No training, no mistakes.
100% on-premise or private cloud solution
No need to migrate files to the cloud. Files remain where they have always been
Storage control, management and content ownership. No external vendors or dependencies.
No security or privacy concerns related to storing data and configurations in the cloud
Complete control on deployment, data location and management
No limit to number of accesses, shares, transactions (for example Box Business has a 50k transaction limit)

What are the most common Acronis Access 7 use cases?

• Accessing, viewing and editing enterprise content on any device.
• Proactively distributing enterprise content to a community of users or groups.
• Syncing content across all of a user’s devices.
• Sharing content with colleagues, customers and partners.

How does Acronis Access keep files secure?

When accessing content, Acronis Access requires that the user authenticate in the same way that a corporate user is typically required for other network resources. When giving access to exiting file servers, NAS and SharePoint servers, Acronis Access enforces the same file access permissions that apply to standard network clients, namely NTFS permissions or ACLs. Acronis Access clients connect securely using HTTPS, encrypting all data on the network. For many organizations, Acronis Access mobile clients will connect over a secure VPN connection or through an HTTPS Reverse Proxy server, adding a further level of security.

Files synced to or stored on a mobile device within Acronis Access are encrypted at all times and can be further protected by an application lock password at the user or administrator’s preference. Note that, once files are opened into another app, the security responsibility passes to that app. This ‘Open In’ capability can be restricted by whitelist/blacklist or disabled.

Do you use encryption?

Yes, files stored within Acronis Access on a mobile device are encrypted at all times. Users’ desktop and personal files synced to an Acronis Access server are also stored encrypted on the server.

Can I share files with people outside my company?

Yes. Acronis Access allows users to share files with external users (as long as IT permits sharing with external users). With Acronis Access, the enterprise can remain in control of who can share what, and with whom it can be shared. First, for internal employees, users are provisioned through Active Directory to ensure they are approved for file sharing. External constituents can also be added; related to this is the ability to add recipients to whitelists or blacklists. This gives IT complete control over who is allowed to share and receive corporate files. A whitelist would contain a list of properly credentialed external partners. This could be a finance department securely sharing data with their external auditors. One example of blacklist usage is setting a restriction to not allow users to send files to a Gmail address.

If we don’t use Active Directory, can we use Acronis Access 7?

Yes, though certain features do require Active Directory.

To utilize the desktop sync and sharing features, you can create user accounts and invite others (internal and external) to share files using email addresses.

For giving access to existing file servers and NAS, it is possible to utilize Windows “local computer” accounts for access. The Acronis Access mobile app management policies do require Active Directory, so these options are limited in this scenario.

Why do I need Acronis Access 7 if my employees are already using Dropbox?

Is your organization concerned about security, management and compliance? Do your employees have access to sensitive material?

• There have been many documented security related issues with Dropbox.
• You have no control or visibility over whom your employees are sharing information with.
• You corporate files are commonly duplicated from existing enterprise storage, resulting in multiple versions and inefficiency.
• There is limited to no audit trail.
• There is no enterprise and IT oversight.
• There is no way to back up these files.
• How safe is Dropbox to use with mobile devices?

Acronis Access addresses all these concerns providing the consumer-grade simplicity of Dropbox with the benefit of enterprise grade security and management required by the enterprise.

Why should Enterprise File Sharing be a priority or issue right now?

A significant number of employees within the organization are or may be using unapproved, and sometimes unsecure solutions, to either collaborate on files with others or to get files on their mobile devices. So while this may not be a visible priority, it is likely that you may already have an existing problem within your organization. This is especially true in the mobility use case where your employees may be using Dropbox or other similar solutions to get files on to their iPads® or iPhones®. Wouldn’t this cause your company concern regarding the security of corporate assets?

Can I evaluate Acronis Access 7 before purchase?

Yes. A fully functional Acronis Access free 21-Day Trial is available for download on the Acronis® web site. The Acronis Access desktop sync client for Windows and Mac is included and the mobile client app is available on the App Store (iOS) and the Google® Play store (Android).

How easy is it to install Acronis Access 7?

Acronis Access server-side software installation and configuration is a 15-20 minute process. All server-side components can be installed on a single Windows physical or virtual server. For large deployments and high availability, the server-side components can be installed on multiple servers and load balanced/clustered if needed. Once the basic install is completed, you configure the files shares or SharePoint sites you would like to make available and you configure your policies for the access, sync and share features.

The Acronis Access clients were designed for simple and easy installation. On the mobile device, install the app from the Apple® App Store (iOS) or from the Google Play (Android). If your company is using the Acronis Access client management features, users receive an invitation email from your IT administrator that automates the mobile app setup. The Mac/Windows desktop sync client can be installed using systems management tools or by the end-user. Most commonly, the desktop client app is downloaded by logging into your Acronis Access account from a web browser.

What file types can Acronis Access 7 handle?

The Acronis Access desktop sync client is compatible with any files that are supported by the Windows and Mac operating systems. Files are synced to and from your standard desktop/laptop storage and you can use any applications on your computer to work with them.

The mobile iOS app can preview any file type supported by standard iOS Preview functionality. In addition, Microsoft Office files and text files can be edited, and annotation can be performed on PDFs. On Android, Office and text file editing and PDF annotation are also included. The ability to view common image files is also supported. The Android app relies on the previewer apps that you have installed on your device for other file types.

How many users or devices does an Acronis Access 7 Server support?

This depends on workflow and your use cases, but in general, a single-server Acronis Access deployment can support several thousand users. Scaling to support much larger user communities is common and can be achieved with multi-server deployments.

What type of server is needed to install Acronis Access 7?

The Acronis Access server can be installed on Windows® Server 2012, 2008 or 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 & 8. This can be a physical server or a virtual server.

The Acronis Access server can be configured to proxy access to files on SMB/CIFS servers and NAS, SharePoint 2007, 2010 and 2013 servers and Office 365 SharePoint Online.

Do you support Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS)?

Yes, Acronis Access can provide seamless access to DFS file shares / namespaces.

Will Acronis Access run on a Windows 8 tablet?

Currently, we do not support Windows 8 tablet but will do so in the upcoming months after we complete beta testing. We suggest you to keep checking http://www.acronis.com/en-us/mobility/access/ for new information on our product and supported platforms.

How does this integrate with Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions?

While MDM solutions make it easier to manage large numbers of devices, there is no dependency in MDM functionality for Acronis Access. MDM enables the enterprise to centrally manage and secure the mobile device. Acronis Access enables enterprise employees using any device – desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone – to securely access, sync and share corporate content while IT maintains control over security and compliance.

Acronis is partnered with many MDM vendors, such as Good Technology, MobileIron and Citrix. Acronis Access supports optional integration with MobileIron AppConnect, Good Dynamics, and Citrix Worx.