Cloud Storage Services for Business Use

More and more companies are using cloud services. Storing of files in the cloud has some advantages: Files from the cloud are always available on any device. (At least as long as you have a stabile internet connection.) Synchronization takes place automatically or on demand via a client app. In the following I present four different services. Some are well known, others perhaps more of an insider’s tip.

OneDrive for Business

Microsoft’s OneDrive for Business (ODfB) is a cloud storage service for business use — in contrast to OneDrive (without “for Business”) for home users. ODfB is not a simple file service, it is a feature of SharePoint Online.

The service is include in Microsofts cheapest Office 365 plan “Business Essentials” (4,20 Euro / user / month) and offers 1 TB cloud storage per user. Some plans allow the free expansion of the storage space um to 5 TB per user or even more.

ODfB integrates perfect in Microsofts Office products. You can use Office Online in your browser to edit documents or save documents from your Desktop app directly to OneDrive for Business.

Web Interface

OneDrive for Business has a web interface based on SharePoint Online. It allows to manage multiple version of each file and offers a recycle bin. (Deleted files can be found in a recycle bin and can be recovered for 3 month.)

Mobile Client

The iOS client of ODfB is the same app as for OneDrive. But the app has slightly different features. For example it is possible to automatically upload photos to OneDrive; with an ODfB account this is not automatically possible — the features is disabled.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a well-known cloud service. Several years ago, Dropbox introduced the possibility for a client to download files from another client in the network — a really cool peer to peer sync feature. This eliminates the need to download files from the cloud. This patented feature is called “Inside LAN Sync”.

Dropbox offers several different plans for individuals. Free (10 GB), Plus (1 TB — 8,25 Euro per month), Professional (2 TB — 16,58 Euro per month); Dropbox for Teams starts with 3 TB cloud storage and 10,- Euro per user and month.

Office Online is supported to open and edit Microsoft Office documents in the browser. Smart Sync (Sync on demand) is available for Team plans and the Professional plan. You would also need at least the Professional plan if you want to use the full-text search feature.

Web Interface

The web interface is very clear and simple to use. I cannot say anything about the web interface for teams, because I’ve never seen it.

Mobile Client

Dropbox has has a very nice mobile client. It offers some special features: Photos taken with the mobile phone can, for example, be saved directly in your Dropbox. Another special feature is the integrated document scanner. Documents can be scanned with the mobile phone camera and stored in Dropbox as PDF files.

Box

Box launched its cloud storage service in 2005, 14 years ago, as Box.net. They offer a very mature service. For example, data can not only be synchronized offline. Files can also be opened directly from the web interface in a local installed application and saved back to the cloud. (You just need to install the “Box Tools”.)

Box has its own online editor called “Box Notes”. It is perfect for meeting minutes, project plans, newsletters, etc… I really like it!

Since there are many enterprise features offered, the price is also a bit higher: You can get 10 GB for free, 100 GB are quite expensive and cost 9,- Euro. Business plans start at 4,50 Euro per user (min 3 users, 100 GB per user). The most popular Business plan costs 13,50 Euro per user and month — but you will get unlimited space in the cloud.

Web Interface

The screenshot shows the web interface of Box. Customers with a Business or Business Plus plan can also use the Admin Console and configure many different settings: Branding, Single Sign On, mobile security, Apps, etc…

Mobile Client

The user interface of Box’ app is comparable to that of Dropbox. Both apps look similar and offer comparable features. Box’ client does not have a document scanner, but it has an editor for “Box Notes” integrated. Moreover, the Box app offers the most settings of all four services: You can set a PIN code and enable push notifications to get notified if shared files have been commented.

Amazon WorkDocs

Amazon Web Service launched its service “Zocalo” in 2014. AWS renamed the service to “WorkDocs” one year later. This makes the service 10 years younger than some of its competitors.

WorkDocs is not intended for private users. (For this you can use the Amazon Drive, formerly know as Cloud Drive.) To use WorkDocs you need an account at Amazon Web Services and a directory service — in the simplest case Amazons “Simple AD”, which can be used without additional fees. (As log as you have at least one active WorkDocs user.)

This service is relatively cheap: Each user gets 1 TB cloud storage for 5,- Euro excl. VAT. Additional storage capacity will be charged according to Amazons S3 fees. (Fees are depending on the AWS region.)

Amazon offers different clients for this service. One of the client apps mounts the cloud storage as a classic network drive. The WorkDocs Companion App helps to edit files Office files and .txt files with a native App on the computer instead of a web-based editor. (Similar to Box Tools.)

Web Interface

The web interface is very simple. There are hardly any options from the administrator’s point of view. As with the other providers, Office documents can be opened using Office Online.

A file versioning feature is available, but I haven’t figured out how to download or edit a previous version of a file. I could only preview it in the WorkDocs web interface preview.

Mobile Client

Similar to the web interface, the WorkDocs App offers comparatively few features. There is nothing to set in the settings — there are only links, for example to the WorkDocs blog.

Conclusion

Each of these four services has its advantages and disadvantages.

• OneDrive for Business is integrated into Office 365, but as far as I know it cannot be purchased individually. ODfB allows the largest file size: 15 GB are allowed. Most of the competitors allow only a file size up to 5 GB.
• Dropbox offers a fair offer in terms of storage capacity. However, some functions (such as smart sync or a full-text search) are only included in the Professional Edition, which is quite expensive at almost 20,- Euros.
• Box is my personal favorite. You get a lot of features with the business plans ... but also at a correspondingly high fee. Plans for individuals are too expensive from my point of view. (Only 100 GB for 9,- Euro per month.)
• WorkDocs is comparatively cheap, but also lags behind with the features. Working with Box or Dropbox is much more fun.