Cloud sharing makes it very easy simple to share files (documents, presentations, spreadsheets etc). In SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive you can simply click on a document and click “share”. A link is created, which you can then copy into an email. That done, you can move on to your next “to do” without thinking about it any longer. Continue reading
Many businesses have already embraced the benefits of going fully digital and it has saved us time and eliminated the need for stacks of file cabinets in every office.
But the digital boom presents us with a brand new range of issues. By moving all our files into a digital space, the amount of storage we need to maintain has grown larger and larger.
As digital technology has improved, the resolution and thus the size of the digital files we create has exploded. Items such as photographs, which used to be printed on film are now digital files stored and transferred by computers. As a result of the increase in both the number of digital files we use and their ever-growing size, the size of the data we need to store and backup has exploded exponentially.
This blog lists a number of ways in which we can tackle our ever-growing storage problem.
A Local Server or Network Attached Storage (NAS) Device
A local server is a high end computer system machine designed to serve many files to multiple clients at one time from locally held storage.
The advantage that a local network server has is that all your vital data is available to all users in one central location. This means that all employees on the network can access all the resources made available.
These machines can serve files at the speed of the local network, transferring large projects, files, and documents from a central source within the network quickly and with ease.
A Network Attached Storage device (or NAS) has many of the same network properties but in a smaller more compact profile. These can be available in units small enough to fit in a cupboard nook and yet still provide staggering storage capacity on only a small amount of power.
Both of these units can often be expanded with more and more storage, so as an organization grows over time its storage requirements are met.
Sometimes the best option for storage is to move your ever-increasing data outside of the business and into the cloud. Offloading the costs of hardware and IT management can work out to be an intelligent business decision and one that provides freedom and flexibility for your data storage needs.
The real advantage of cloud storage comes from the ability to expand and contract your services as needed without the overhead of adding and maintaining new hardware.
By moving storage to the cloud, data can be accessed from anywhere in the world allowing limitless expansion to any number of devices, locations and offices. Being able to access data from many locations at a single time can often provide a valuable boost to productivity that can help to improve productivity.
Some drawbacks of cloud storage come from factors that may be outside of the control of the business. Not all businesses have access to internet connections that are fast enough to handle large amounts of data transfer to and from the cloud.
Local laws and security regulations can prove to be a barrier to enabling storage in the cloud too. Some regulations either prohibit the feature entirely or enable only certain specific types for use.
The Right Choice For You
Both cloud and local storage can provide further benefits to enhance your business. Audit logs, central backups, and version control can all be used to secure the way your firm handles data.
Whatever your situation, whether a small NAS, server or cloud, we can advise on the best choices for your business.
Contact us on 08 8326 4364 or
su*****@dp*********.au
to allow us to use our expertise to make the right choice for your data.
It seems easy! Install Dropbox and then drag your files into a Dropbox folder and you’ve got yourself a cloud based file storage system that brings your business in line with modern expectations. But then again, maybe not!
Due to its simplicity Dropbox has grown to become one of the main file sharing and cloud storage solutions around. For some businesses using Dropbox can provide good value, and it never hurts when your staff already know how to use the software. In other cases another alternative designed to meet business needs may be more suitable.
When Dropbox is a Good Choice
Micro-sized business: If your business is small with only yourself or a couple of employees.
No sensitive information: This includes personal details of customers, vendors and staff or other proprietary data such as accounting information.
Nobody ever accidentally deletes anything: Dropbox is a syncing service, which means when a file is deleted, it is deleted from all machines. While you can recover the file from the Dropbox website you need to do this within 30 days – which by the time you notice it’s missing may be too late.
If you’re thinking those attributes sound more like a fictional business, you’re not far off.
Dropbox’s popularity in the consumer space has caused businesses to use Dropbox despite the risks. Dropbox is designed for syncing and NOT backup. This means while your data is copied across all connected devices, it is a mirror of the data only – when you delete or change the original file it is immediately synced across devices. If malware infects one machine this can spread between all your connected devices and put all of them at risk.
You may require access control on certain files or folders. Dropbox acts like a free-for-all, the shared files are sitting there available to anyone with access to read, change and copy. You will also miss collaborative editing, losing out in productivity and data resilience as multiple employees overwrite each other simultaneously.
Another issue is – where are your files that are located in Dropbox actually stored? What country, what type of data centre, what countries laws apply, for privacy reasons do you require all data to be stored within Australia or another country? These are all legitimate questions which Dropbox doesn’t have an easy answer for.
If Dropbox makes sense for your business, there’s no reason to change. But if it is clearly not a good choice for you there are multiple corporate grade solutions available. These are designed for specifically for businesses with security, encryption and collaboration controls built in. Rather than the easiest solution which may pose a risk to your business consider implementing a business class scalable solution that meets all your needs.
Call us at 08 8326 4364 or
su*****@dp*********.au
to discuss online cloud storage solutions for your business
Ever since computers were invented people have been talking about a paperless office. But if you are like me your desk is buried in paper, shelves are overcrowded with stacks of documents and there is just enough space for your keyboard, mouse and coffee? Well it is now time to go paperless, not just for your own sanity, but to streamline your entire business. It’s the one move that will save time and space while gaining flexibility for your mobile workforce.
When you’re ready to move to a paperless office, consider these 4 steps:
Ready to go paperless? We can help. Call us today at 08 83263 4364 or at
su*****@dp*********.au
.