Box, which is pushing its enterprise file-share-and-sync agenda, is now touting its latest advisor — former Microsoft Office-then-Windows chief Steven Sinofsky is aboard.
Aaron Levie, Box’s CEO, announced the news in a blog post Thursday. For a company seeking credibility in enterprise accounts — where, after all, Windows and Office remain powerful forces — this is a bit of a coup.
Sinofsky left Microsoft abruptly late last year, announcing his move just after the fall launch of Windows 8. It’s also interesting since Microsoft would like its business and consumer customers alike to use SkyDrive, which competes with Box. Meanwhile, Dropbox is driving its own business file-sharing push and Google looms with Google Drive. This market is nothing if not active.
Last week Sinofsky joined VC power Andreessen Horowitz as a board member, but most observers figure he’ll end up back in tech full time. His ability to ride herd on large development teams — they don’t get much bigger than Windows and Office — is well known.
In a proxy filing earlier this summer, Microsoft disclosed 7 companies Sinofsky could not work for till his severance agreement ends this year. They did not include Box.
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