Small businesses serve big-name clients with Intelligent Content Management

For MarxOkubo Associates, the journey to digital transformation started with a very common challenge: finding a smarter way to easily email large files. The national architecture, engineering, and construction firm has a lot of content that falls into this category: CAD files, drawings, contracts, project plans. Matt Hoey, AVP of Technology (and an architect himself), was familiar with Box from a client project, and suggested the platform as a solution in 2014. He says, “That’s how it started, but we’ve gone way beyond simply sharing files with Box.”

Today, MarxOkubo takes full advantage of Intelligent Content Management, using Box Hubs, Box AI Studio, and an array of integrations and security features to tap into the full potential of its unstructured content.

Along the same lines, Planson International, a global IT service provider serving nonprofits, originally migrated to Box in 2019 to get away from antiquated file sharing methods. But the company has since fully embraced Intelligent Content Management, enabling employees to work fluidly from anywhere in the world. Planson’s Global Sales Director, Ondrej Sirka, joined Hoey in a customer panel on a Box webinar to discuss how their two small businesses serve big-name customers better with a secure, AI-powered platform.

Functionality, security, affordability

A large part of why Planson chose Box was because of “the merger of great functionality and good price,” according to Sirka. That functionality includes the ability to integrate seamlessly with their ERP, NetSuite. With the Box for NetSuite integration, Planson could easily link documents directly to ERP records. “NetSuite and Box work together really well,” Sirka says. “We were able to have a Box integration right within the record. The seamlessness has been incredible.”

Security was another sticking point for both companies. Sirka speaks to the work Planson does with clients who have very strict security requirements: “We like to lock down the data that’s shared externally.” Box features like the ability to put auto-expiration in place on shared content “gives us peace of mind that sensitive information isn't getting into the wrong hands.”

The security Box provides is meaningful to MarxOkubo as well. Recently, the firm started working with a government agency that has a unique and strict set of data requirements. “This was a big deal,” says Hoey, “but we were able to stay within our familiar instance of Box and build out a whole new folder structure so we could take advantage of things we didn’t need before” — for instance, geofencing, watermarking files, and prohibiting downloads. 

“Taking advantage of all that functionality,” he confirms, “meant not having to go out to another provider or engage in another consulting service to help meet the needs of this pretty unique set of requirements.”

Box Hubs for deeper insight into the right content

MarxOkubo operates multiple locations, with eight offices around the US and customers from coast to coast. Workflows that involve both internal and external sharing are everyday imperatives, with each new project requiring its own set of content. For this reason. MarxOkubo has been quick to adopt Box Hubs, which enables department and project leads to set up content portals for everything from IT self-help to an "inspiration Hub” where employees can share design ideas.

With content organized on Hubs, teams at MarxOkubo can use AI to query across specific sets of documents. The combination of logic, intelligence, and security that Box Hubs provides has even proven useful for what Hoey calls “war rooms,” where project stakeholders can review all the resources and content that pour in with a new project, creating one central place to sort, organize, and prioritize. 

MarxOkubo is excited to take further advantage of the automation potential Box enables to ensure content automatically lands in the right places for both internal and external stakeholders.

Simplifying, consolidating, and saving with Box AI Studio

Both companies are excited about the ability to put custom AI agents with Box AI Studio in order to reduce the number of tools the team uses. Hoey says, “The complaint we hear the most [from employees] is that we have too many tools and applications. We’re always trying to find ways to streamline and consolidate wherever possible to help remove those inefficiencies.” 

Planson also participated in the beta for Box AI Studio, and says: “We have a ton of content. Using AI to pull together all that disparate data into something that helps us make good business decisions is something we’re very much looking forward to about Box AI.”

At the same time, he acknowledges: “There’s been so much educating and experimenting around what generative AI is, how we might be able to use it, where it’s going, and all the hype that’s been built up. Our overall strategy for 2025 is to find tangible benefits for employees — not just launching another application.”

“There’s a lot of money you can spend really quickly as you’re investigating AI investments. Not overspending is a big focus for us,” reiterates Hoey.

Simplifying, consolidating, saving - these are common themes for both companies. For MarxOkebo, it was the main impetus behind lending into Box AI Studio. Rather than buying into more third party apps and SaaS products, building no-code agents to their specific needs will enable both companies to automate common tasks across a lot of different teams.

Democratic access to the brain of the business

When MarxOkubo began its journey with Box over ten years ago, there was a lot of industry focus on digital transformation, but today, the motivation for adopting new technology has changed. Hoey says, “Now, I think more about how we, as tech leaders, can provide access to our business’s brain — having one place for all this content we’re creating, and building a really rich domain dataset. How do we make sure our employees and business can take advantage of that long term?”

Planson backs this ethos up: “We need to make sure we’re getting a return on investment for all of our tools, and the more we can keep under one umbrella, the better.”

The flexible, open platform Box provides means that future potential is limitless for companies like Planson and MarxOkubo. “One thing that hasn’t changed is Box’s relentless innovation,” remarks Hoey. “It’s been that way since the first day we worked together.” 

Check out our e-book, “Unleash your Business Superpowers” here on our Small Business for Box webpage for more details on how Box can power your small business.