Document sharing: Google Drive, Dropbox or Onedrive?
Your document sharing model is still based on USB sticks or external storage memories. Have you always told yourself that there is no more secure way to share documents?
But how many times have you lost your USB flash drive or, once it was inserted into your computer, you could no longer access the files it contained? If you are looking for a secure system for sharing documents, continue reading the article.
Appvizer today shows you why document sharing is important and essential in a collaborative working environment.
Sharing documents in a smart way also means having them available at all times without having to worry about storing them.
Ready to learn all there is to know about document sharing? Yes?
Perfect. Then let's get started.
Document sharing: going through the cloud
In this day and age, document sharing is now an indispensable practice in business, professional and even educational settings. To enable your team to be high-performing, it is important that everyone is aware of the same information. For this reason, external storage media have become obsolete and unreliable.
The new frontier of file sharing are cloud-based systems. The comparative advantages of these systems are undeniable:
1.Immediate sharing and with more people.
With cloud systems, in fact, multiple files can be shared simultaneously in a few seconds. In addition, multiple members of the same team, once they have access to the file, can work together at the same time. In this way, you have the opportunity to be more productive, saving a great deal of time.
2.Lower expenditure of resources
Another benefit that should not be overlooked is the resource savings. Through file sharing on a cloud system, you no longer need to print documents. There are savings in paper, ink and electricity. It will be minimal consumption that nevertheless has an impact on office expenses at the end of the month. In addition, choosing a cloud for document sharing is an environmentally friendly choice. In fact, by reducing the level of resources even just to print documents, you put in place an environmentally friendly practice that is always welcome.
3. High level of privacy
If you are part of a business, it is important to ensure the security of the data you are working on. Again, the cloud is well positioned with respect to this factor.
Paper documents can be easily lost, as can external storage systems such as thumb drives and external hard drives. A breach in a company's security network is definitely not recommended.
With systems using cloud technology, the level of security is one of the best. In fact, only selected users can have access to the documents in the cloud. Then the owner of the document can select the level of security to be applied and the people with whom he or she wishes to share the document.
Only the people specified by the person who created the document will be able to access the document. In addition, you can allow further sharing and editing to certain collaborators and leave only the ability to view the file in read mode. At any time, you will receive a notification when someone has viewed or edited one of your documents.
How to share documents online?
Document sharing tools are ideal for being able to manage a company's workflow in a smart way even if you are simply using your smartphone or in case people are physically distant.
There are various cloud or online document sharing systems. They are increasingly developed at the level of features offered: you are, therefore, spoiled for choice. Almost all of them are designed to work in the same way, although each of these systems has its own special features that may more or less align with your needs.
Most of these systems are free and accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. The only limitation concerns storage capacity. For your company, it is preferable, therefore, to opt for a paid option that can grant you more storage space and extra features to offer your employees an optimal filesharing experience.
Dropbox: your files accessible anywhere
To access your files at all times, even if you are not in the office, Dropbox offers you the option of having a kind of virtual folder on the Internet that you can always access. Of course, people who have received your authorization can also access the folder and add or edit the files there according to their level of authorization.
On Dropbox you can store any type of file, from word documents to excel files and so on.
Dropbox is a system that works online. However, you can download the desktop version for your pc so that you can continue to work on the files even without an Internet connection.
Once the Internet connection is active again, Dropbox will automatically take care of updating the modified files, based on the most recently modified version. And if the file is shared with multiple people, the changes will also be made automatically on the other computers that have access to the file.
Google Drive: the coordinated work of documents
Google comes to meet your document sharing needs with its Google Drive service. As in the case of DropBox, with Google Drive you have an online storage space where you can share your documents seamlessly.
However, the added advantage of Google Drive is that you can work together on the same document: multiple collaborators on the same team can make changes simultaneously.
This option is possible with Google Docs, i.e., the online version of Microsoft Office's Word package, as it has much the same functionality for editing text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and online questionnaires.
Documents, created in this way, can be accessed simultaneously by all people who have been given permission to access the file.
Onedrive: the Windows signed cloud
Onedrive is the native cloud system of the Windows system. On PCs working with the Windows system, it is already preinstalled by default. OneDrive offers an online version of Word, Excel and Powerpoint programs so you can work and share documents easily. Onedrive is integrated with Microsoft Office 365 and offers a free plan to which additional features can be added for a fee. In the Basic version you have a space of 5 GB.
One of the interested features of OneDrive is the presence of a personal vault, where you can protect all types of files through an identity verification system. In the basic version, you can put up to 3 files in the vault.
With OneDrive, you also have the ability to make multipage scans of paper documents, receipts, tickets and transfer them directly from your cell phone to Onedrive. In fact, this system offers a mobile version for smartphones.
Since it is a default system, you will not have to proceed with its installation if you are using a Windows system. All your files on your pc will be backed up whenever you make changes, and synchronization across all devices and for other users who have access to them is also instantaneous and highly efficient.
Onedrive also maintains the files you have deleted for an additional period of 30 days. So you can restore them at any time.
Like Google Drive, with Onedrive you have the ability to work even without an Internet connection and collaborate with other users simultaneously and instantly.
The Windows service is already available on Windows systems, but for macOS systems you will have to install it. But once installed, the desktop version has the same functionality offered for Windows systems.
Is your company ready to take the next step to improve its document sharing system?
Write to us in the comments if document sharing is already part of your practices and if you have noticed the difference in productivity.
Article translated from Italian