In early 2021, Box indicated that they were planning to end unlimited storage for higher education customers when current contracts ended. Cornell staff began to investigate how departments could pay for their Box storage.

Near the end of 2021, Box announced that they would continue to offer unlimited storage and removed language to the contrary from Cornell's contract until 2025. To encourage the thoughtful use of Cornell's Box storage, quotas were added to Box accounts in February 2024.

If you are using Box:

• Keep using it for small to moderate storage as you have been.
• If you have a large account, you can leave it in place unless and until you receive communications otherwise.
• Owners of the largest Box accounts, who have met with CIT staff, should continue to investigate whether alternative options can meet their needs.
• Anyone considering moving a new, very large amount of storage into Box should request a consultation with CIT Collaboration & Utility Services.

Cornell is taking these steps to prepare for the possibility that Box will decide to charge more for larger amounts of storage. Storage account holders have indicated that when there are no limits, they tend not to remove unused data from the cloud. Maintaining only content that requires cloud storage in Box will leave the university in a much better position in the future.