Gleb Budman: So, Computer Backup was our original business we started that back in 2007. B2 Cloud Storage is, is the newer business line that we introduced back in 2017. And we are increasingly focused on back Blade B2 in large part because we can help so many more customers with so many more different use cases and really provide them the platform for all kinds of different storage needs, and help them in a variety of ways. Having said that, we continue to love our computer backup service and the customers that use it, and we still continue to invest in that service. Just this year we launched a new version, Version 8.5 of the MAC and Windows applications. We launched a new mobile application on both iOS and Android or Version 6.0 of that as well as a number of other enhancements and optimizations. So, we absolutely continue to love that service and want to continue to support our customers on that.
James Kisner: Any plans that are spanning the company to the East Coast?
Gleb Budman: That is funny – the question was maybe got submitted just shortly before the announcement. So as we announced a little bit earlier, we – at the end of last year, we launched our East Coast Data Center region. It is live and available, so customers can sign up directly and use that. And you can also use a cloud notification and keep your data in both West or Eastern Europe as you wish.
James Kisner: What measures are being taken to circumvent cyber security concerns? This investor noted the last pass and Capital One data breaches.
GlebBudman: So security’s always top of mind. We are consequently working to ensure customer data is secure. We have a really experienced Chief Information Security Officer who is part of our executive team. We have a security department that works for him. We employ a variety of measures. We encrypt data, we keep redundancy, we keep physical security. We have access controls, we have network security, we do continuous monitoring to protect customer data. We also use third-party services to attempt to breaches. So we also have third-party bug bounty programs. So we are constantly working to ensure the safety of customer data.
James Kisner: When can we expect the company’s stock to be back to its IPO level?
GlebBudman: I wish I could predict the stock market as much as anybody else. Obviously, stock investing is uncertain and depends on market conditions. Our performance as a company, the sector or the industry performance, how investors feel. Not a venture guess I can really venture.
James Kisner: What do you see as the main selling points in competing with major cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google?
GlebBudman: So, main selling point, Backblazewould be to is one fifth the price point of those traditional cloud providers. That is always a great value for customers, but especially in the current backflow environment where customers are looking to say, how can I reduce the costs of running my business or running my application, while continuing to do the things I need to do? That makes it even more valuable, and we are also dramatically easier to use. There was a fairly recent market report that found that customers save over 90% of their time by using Backblaze. And so, especially as everyone feels increasingly busy saving all that time for them is critical. And then, we also are part of the open internet. We are a specialized cloud provider that enables customers to use the data the way they want it, where they want it, with who they want it.
We don’t try to lock you in to only using our services as the traditional cloud providers do by charging egregious egress fees. So, those are some of the key ways in which we believe we provide a lot of value versus the traditional cloud providers.
James Kisner: Right. Given Backblaze is extremely competitive pricing for cloud storage. What’s stopping large cloud customers from moving to B2?
