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Awesome cloud tools your office must considerAs the end of the year nears, it’s a good time to reevaluate your IT priorities. And if cloud technology isn’t one of them, that needs to change. There are at least six types of apps and platforms every business should have. Let’s take a look at each. Email Every business needs email. And while […]

The post Awesome cloud tools your office must consider appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

Awesome cloud tools your office must consider

As the end of the year nears, it’s a good time to reevaluate your IT priorities. And if cloud technology isn’t one of them, that needs to change. There are at least six types of apps and platforms every business should have. Let’s take a look at each.

Email

Every business needs email. And while there are plenty of non-cloud options to choose from, they require a lot of maintenance. Opting for cloud-based email means you pay for the service without worrying about hardware requirements or software updates. These issues, among others, will be handled by the provider and backed by service level guarantees.

File storage

Storing company files in the cloud is a great way to give employees more mobility and flexibility. Everyone can access information from almost any internet-enabled device without compromising security, since providers include things like encryption and multifactor authentication as part of the monthly service fee.

You can opt for either DIY cloud storage such as Microsoft’s OneDrive and Dropbox or a slightly more expensive managed solution that will provide customization opportunities and regulatory compliance management.

Document creation and collaboration

It’s easy to confuse apps like Office 365 and Google Docs with cloud file storage but they’re not the same. What sets them apart is whether or not you can edit documents stored on these platforms. In most cases, multiple users can alter the same document simultaneously and see mirror images on their screens even if they’re hundreds of miles apart.

Between faster document turnaround times and fewer separate versions of files, there’s no reason to keep everything offline. Business owners used to worry about security but vendors today invest 100 times more resources in protecting client info than a small operation could ever match.

Server hosting

Whether your business requires a single low-scale server or several high-powered ones, it’s becoming harder to justify maintaining those at your physical location. They’re too finicky and expensive compared to their cloud alternatives.

Server hosting enables you to accomplish via an app all that you could with in-house hardware. The costs are also spread out month to month rather than all at once during the setup phase.

Backup and recovery

The entire basis of cloud technology is that you have total access to hardware and software that’s located far from your office. That makes things like cloud file storage and server hosting perfect for recovering from a disaster. If a natural disaster or cyberattack renders your office inoperable, all you need to do is log in to your cloud platform from somewhere else.

If you are looking to move your business into the cloud, we have a broad range of products tailored to small businesses. Contact us today to learn more.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post Awesome cloud tools your office must consider appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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Dropbox raises prices, limits file retention

Dropbox raises prices, limits file retention

A few weeks ago, Dropbox® announced two new features for its file sync and share service: Paper, a document collaboration tool; and Smart Sync, a file access service. At the same time, they updated their plans and pricing, moving several features designed to help businesses administer file sharing to more costly plans. Companies using or considering Dropbox should take note that these changes will make it more expensive to manage and control their employees’ sharing activities and will limit the ability to preserve critical business data stored on the service.

Key Dropbox management features moved to higher-end plans

The Dropbox for Business plan has been renamed the Standard plan and is priced the same ($15 per user per month for a month-to-month contract). However, key administrative management features were moved out of the Standard plan to a new and more costly Advanced plan. Features now only available in the Advanced $25 per user per month plan include:

  • Tiered Administrator Roles – multiple administrator roles with different permissions
  • Sign In As User – allows administrators to sign in to an end user’s Dropbox account
  • Audit Log
  • HIPAA compliance

Another important change is the introduction of limits on how long files versions are retained. Whereas Dropbox used to offer unlimited file version history, they’ve now throttled it to 120 days across all plans (although current customers can opt in to retain unlimited version history). This means that companies using Dropbox as their primary file storage will only be able to restore files that were deleted or overwritten within the last 4 months.

Dropbox, alone, may not fully preserve critical business data

These changes are interesting. It appears that Dropbox is betting that businesses will be willing to pay an additional $10 per user per month (a total of $25 per user per month) to get access to advanced management and control features. This may present a difficult tradeoff between full control over data and users and paying a much higher price point.

On the other hand, the introduction of file history limits across all plans severely curtails the file preservation functionality of Dropbox, so companies concerned about data preservation will need to add a separate file backup service to ensure full protection.

For MSPs and VARs, who typically would manage such data on behalf of their customers, these tradeoffs may be amplified, especially for those partners who are trying to convince customers to move from the consumer-grade free Dropbox service.

Even for businesses that opt for the higher-end Advanced or Enterprise plans, there is no ability to easily and quickly restore a large number of Dropbox files. So, in case of a ransomware attack or other type of large data loss event, someone – a user, an administrator, or partner – will have to restore affected data on a file by file basis.

ShareSync: One secure solution for file management

Businesses looking to provide employees with mobile file access and collaboration without having to sacrifice control or limit data preservation should consider ShareSync® backup and file sharing. ShareSync starts at $4.99 per user and includes unlimited file version history across all plans, the ability to roll back a large number of files to any point in time with just one click, and many more management and control features.  See how ShareSync compares to the new Dropbox Standard Plan:

 

ShareSync Unlimited Dropbox Standard
Price – retail $14.99 $15
Storage Unlimited 2 TB/account
User minimum 0 5
Version history Unlimited 120 days
Admin file mgmt. Inc. N/A
HIPAA compliance Inc. N/A
Audit Log Inc. N/A
Phone support Inc. N/A
Mass restore Inc. N/A

 

ShareSync is either a trademark or registered trademark of Intermedia.net, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.  Dropbox is a trademark of Dropbox, Inc.

This article was re-published with permission from Intermedia, Inc.

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