Should I use Dropbox Business or SharePoint and OneDrive?

Now more than ever, being able to work remotely is of critical importance. Ensuring that employees have the right tools to work from home or in isolation, is a real concern for business owners.

Why do we recommend Dropbox Business instead of OneDrive and SharePoint?

This is a question we’re asked occasionally and it’s something we’ve given a lot of consideration. Why do we deploy Dropbox Business for our customers? We’re a Microsoft Gold Partner, it’d make sense for us to go with OneDrive and SharePoint, right?

Ultimately it comes down to reliability and user experience. We can still roll out and secure Dropbox Business using Microsoft identities and security tools while providing a simple, reliable experience to our customers.

Here’s an overview of why we deploy Dropbox Business over OneDrive & SharePoint:

Download the full article here

Reliability

Generally speaking, the Dropbox client just works.

This is extremely important to us. A Dropbox keynote speaker once commented: “Dropbox doesn’t just keep files in sync, it keeps teams in sync.” It’s marketing talk, but it makes sense.

When the tool that keeps your team in sync doesn’t work reliably, not only can you lose trust in it, but you can lose trust in your team. You’ll never know if the reason the files aren’t there is because the syncing isn’t working, or because your team members haven’t done their job. And when it does come back online, are all the changes and files there? Are there conflicts? How will we know without checking each affected device and team member? It may seem trivial, but in our experience, the emotional impact of an unreliable sync client is a very real thing.

Ease of Use

Dropbox eases the digital transformation curve for users who are familiar with working via Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. Users can take advantage of the improved mobility, security and external collaboration features at their own pace.

The New Dropbox Desktop App is good

The new Dropbox Desktop App actually works quite well. It has a familiar file explorer/finder layout with additional enhancements that make it easier for employees to collaborate and comment on files and turn folders into productive workspaces called Dropbox Spaces.

Single Sign-on is simple to use

Single Sign-on allows users to use their Office 365 account to log into multiple services. If a user is signed into their computer with Office 365, they can sign into the Dropbox App or website without needing to re-enter their credentials. Granted, this is also the case for OneDrive and SharePoint, but we are often asked about how seamless Dropbox’s integration is.

Simple sharing

Dropbox has an easy sharing interface, in the browser, on the desktop and using mobile apps.

• On the desktop, users can right-click on folders, click Share and send off an invitation to collaborate on the file or folder.
• In the browser, users can mouse over a file or folder, click Share and do the same.
• In mobile apps, users can tap the menu icon under each file or folder to share with anyone.

Office 365 and GSuite support

Dropbox supports both Microsoft’s Office Online and Google GSuite web apps to allow for the creation and editing of documents from anywhere. Users who work on files via the browser in Office 365 or GSuite will see little difference when switching to Dropbox Business.

Microsoft Cloud App Security

Microsoft Cloud App Security provides an additional level of alerting and data protection policy over Dropbox Business. This is especially handy for detecting malicious insider activity such as mass deletes and downloads. Using Cloud App Security we can guard against scenarios where employees accidentally or intentionally delete or download company data.

Built-in security policies

The built-in security policies are also quite good for Dropbox Business. Unlike the basic Office 365 plans, Dropbox actually notifies you if someone accesses your account from a new browser, or connects a new device to your account.

It’s also very simple to lock down sharing as required for certain files and folders. It’s easy to ensure that certain files and folders cannot be shared outside the company, or shared with anyone at all.

Want more information? For a comprehensive White Paper on why we choose Dropbox Business, fill out the form below.