Gimme Some SugarSync

What’s one of the most prevalent fears in Silicon Valley? A crashing hard drive.

And so, with more and more people digitally saving everything from precious photographic memories to vital business contracts, a San Mateo company says it has figured out an innovative and safe way to store even the most sensitive data.

believes it can be your backup system, saving any file – music, photo, video, spreadsheet – of any size, and with no limit to how much data you can save. And the company says its automatic file backup system works on 96 percent of all mobile devices.

“Online backup alone is not that sexy and only solves part of the problem,” said SugarSync’s Robb Henshaw.

Because SugarSync is available to such a wide range of technology, a customer is able to synchronize all of their devices to reach data from almost any computer, phone or online gadget.

“It’s really important that everything gets synchronized so you have the latest and greatest at all times,” Henshaw said. “All you have to do is hit save.”

Whereas saving documents onto a hard drive takes a conscious effort, often done drudgingly once a year when a computer is lagging, SugarSync automatically saves and synchronizes everything for you, Henshaw said.

“Anything you put in the cloud you never have to think about again,” he said.

SugarSync evolved from Sharpcast, a software that allowed users to view photos on several devices and share them. SugarSync launched in 2008 and, in its short life, has reached techno-fanatics all over the world. In fact the San Mateo company caters to technology used primarily in countries outside of the U.S.

For example, Symbian, a mobile operating system used most often in Asia, has embraced the SugarSync application, as well as Orange, a leading European telecommunications operator with approximately 216 million customers. Also, Sugarsync is now the official online backup service of Best Buy’s Geek Squad.

Though the details are not yet public, Henshaw said SugarSync is in discussion with one of the largest PC manufacturers to begin the process of embedding its application into every computer sold.

Quite the feat for a 3-year-old business, Henshaw said.

“It’s a service that’s extremely viral,” he said. “It spreads like wildfire.”

In April, SugarSync was one of six companies to win the San Mateo County Economic Development Association’s Award of Excellence.