Cloud document storage solutions keep your files safe. They also enable you to share and collaborate on files and give you flexible price plans. But choosing the right one for your business can be difficult. Here we have outlined the advantages and disadvantages of some of the best on the market so you can select the right solution for your business.

A Comparison of four Document Storage Solutions

Document Storage Solutions: Microsoft Azure

Advantages

• Microsoft Azure offers high availability and redundancy in data centres on a global scale. As a result, you can count on Azure to supply you with an SLA of 99.95%. Most businesses cannot achieve this with an onsite server. Other competitors only offer 98%, 95% or as low as 90% uptime.
• Azure is a leader in IaaS security because it follows the DADSC approach to security: detect, access, diagnose, stabilise and close. Not only is the platform protected, so is the end-user. Additionally, multi-factor authentication and application passwords add multi-layer of security.
• Azure is scalable. If you need to change your computing power, you can scale it up or down.
• Easy scaling up or down means that Azure is cost-effective. The pay-as-you-go model allows you to only pay for what you need. Furthermore, the cloud environment enables businesses to launch customer applications and internal apps in the cloud. As a result, this saves IT infrastructure costs while reducing hardware maintenance fees.
• You can use any framework, language or tool to turn your ideas into solutions. Azure allows you to build apps with the language you prefer, and it enables you to stay productive with the visual studio.
• With Azure, you can connect your devices, data and applications to over 150 connectors like Office 365, Dropbox, Google Services, Twitter, Salesforce and many others.
• You can also automate repetitive tasks to speed up app delivery.
• You can build a hybrid infrastructure to make your infrastructure more secure. For example, you can enable backup tools to protect against data loss. And you don’t have to migrate everything over when you subscribe.
• Get access to a rich set of AI services to serve more people and improve brand experience.
• Finally, in addition to document storage, backup and replication, Azure has a myriad of other features to help you to automate access to your documents and data, for example, the Content Monitor, Azure Logic Apps and Azure Automanage.

Disadvantages

• Azure requires management and expertise. For example, patch management and server monitoring to ensure everything is working efficiently. However, we can help you with this or manage it for you.
• As well as being a document storage solution, Azure is also great for running database applications and databases. So, if you’re looking for a solution for only managing and sharing documents in the cloud, keep reading.
• You can use Azure for storage and backup, but using a single vendor for convenience can be too risky. We recommend having your data backed up elsewhere. 

Document Storage Solutions: Microsoft SharePoint

Advantages

• SharePoint offers extensive functionality. You can use it for a document library, assets library, task management or content management. It is capable of securely storing information and can integrate with Active Directory. You can use these features to store, share and manage your digital information in a centralised location and then access it from anywhere, even on your mobile.
• SharePoint has the closest possible integration with Microsoft 365, and its design has integration in mind.
• Due to its popularity, SharePoint integrates with many applications such as CRM and ERP systems allowing cross-department collaboration.
• SharePoint is highly customisable. You can mould it to your various business needs, whether you need it for an intranet, portal, document manager or a collaborative workspace. Furthermore, you can customise it to suit your teams with multi-layered sites and also customise it so that it reflects your company branding.
• SharePoint is the perfect solution for document management. Keep track of who has edited documents, manage document permissions, document search, go paperless with the scan and capture tool and manage document metadata.

Disadvantages

• To work correctly, you need someone who has the expertise to set it up. However, here at Northstar, we can provide you with a fully complete product ready to use.
• SharePoint pricing can be tricky to get your head around because there are multiple models you can choose. Why not read our blog here, where we explain SharePoint storage.
• Often, people say that SharePoint is hard to use or hard to maintain. We offer full training for your employees so you can get the best out of SharePoint. Or if you want us to manage it, we can do that too.

Document Storage Solutions: Microsoft OneDrive for Business

Advantages

• You can share your files by making your files public to people in or out of your organisation.
• It is also well organised; you can store any file type and access them from any device through the sync function. You can sort your files by type, so they are easy to find.
• Access your files from anywhere, great for remote workers
• There is a close collaboration with other Microsoft Office apps. You can also collaborate on these files with people in real-time.
• Link your social network to OneDrive to allow file sharing with colleagues. Set permissions to read-only
• Friendly, easy to use interface.
• OneDrive offers advanced protection in multiple layers, including data encryption, access security rights, real-time reports, and data loss protection.

Disadvantages

• OneDrive is ideal for individuals, but it can be limiting when it comes to sharing files. In turn, this can impede the effectiveness of project management.
• To get full individual file encryption, you must have OneDrive for business.
• You cannot store a file bigger than 15GB.
• There are less third-party app integrations than other options.

Document Storage Solutions: Dropbox

Advantages 

• You can get 3 TB of free storage with a 30-day trial on Dropbox Business.
• You can access files on a wide variety of devices.
• Share files using Dropbox. All you have to do is put a file into a folder and designate it for sharing.
• It is an excellent backup for your computer files.
• Take advantage of extra features such as HelloSign, The Dropbox e-signature service.
• If you lose a file, you can restore it yourself.
• Dropbox is highly advanced at software integration, for example, Microsoft or slack.
• You can work offline. So even if you’re working somewhere where there is no WiFi or the WiFi goes down, you can still access and edit your files. The work you complete is automatically updated when access returns.
• Dropbox also automatically syncs your files on all of your devices.
• Your files are encrypted.

Disadvantages

• Dropbox holds the right to delete information from free, inactive accounts.
• Depending upon the type of Dropbox account you have, Dropbox provides you with 30-180 days of file recovery. In other words, if you damage or delete a file and do nothing for 30 or days or more, then there is a chance that you won’t be able to recover that file. However, Northstar can help you to minimise this risk by providing you with a separate backup in another location.

How can Northstar help you find the right Document Storage Solution?

For more information about document storage solutions or find which document storage solution is the best for your business, contact Northstar today.