Cloud storage is simply a service that provides people the opportunity to store their data via remote servers. The data is backed up, managed and maintained by a cloud storage provider, and the users can access them online through an app, or the provided online interface of the company.
Cloud storage serves many purposes. This is used in providing data allowance for personal users who want to store their data more conveniently. Cloud storage for companies on the other hand is also widely used by many business industries today. According to Forbes, many business owners are desperate to find the best cloud file storage services in the market to help them address the different needs of their company.
Advantage of Using Cloud Storage Services
It offers the advantage of having easier access to files and pertinent materials easily through a wide range of devices. The data can be accessed through mobile devices, or you prefer the old school PC or Mac, then you also have the option to download, upload and share the files here. It is only a matter of dragging and dropping the files, and having a stable internet connection to establish a good data exchange via your device and the cloud. It also helps you in backing up data, so in the case of disaster where you lose manually written data, if you have a cloud, you can just download the data again.
It also helps you avoid sending bulky files via emails. This will save you so much time because you no longer need to wait for the large file to attach. You simply send out the link to the location of the file in the cloud, and the recipient would simply download the file on his/her end. This helps you save more bandwidth over time.
Apart from those advantages above, this also helps you lower the costs of operating your business, simply because you no longer need to use more physical storage devices to keep your data secured. There are available free cloud storage packages, if you only need small bandwidth allowance. But if you need a bit more, you will need to avail of a paid cloud data service package.
Disadvantages of Using Cloud Storage Solutions
It is important to understand that while there are plenty of reasons to celebrate the functionalities of cloud storage solution, there are also a number of downside in using such service. You can encounter such issues even with the best cloud storage companies. Big Data Made Simple enumerated five of the biggest disadvantages.
According to them, one common problem encountered by many cloud storage users is maxing out the bandwidth allowance included in their purchased cloud storage package. There are additional charges when you want to expand your bandwidth allowance. This can be very costly for some providers, while a bit affordable for the rest of the companies in the market.
Another disadvantage is that you need to have internet data connection to get access because your data are hosted remotely. In order to upload and download your files, you will need to have a stable internet connection. The bandwidth requirement for cloud storage softwares or apps may differ, so it’s best to inquire about this beforehand.
Another downside of using cloud storage provider includes the need to download the cloud storage software of a certain company in all of your devices. This can be tedious for some users, but if you don’t really mind this, then it won’t be a matter of serious concern.
Selecting the Best Cloud Storage Software
Business News Daily enumerated 8 important things that you need to look for in a cloud storage software. These factors include the company’s financial stability, Third party validation and accreditation, distributed data centers and security. Apart from these, it is also important to read cloud storage comparison. Weigh in on the advantage and disadvantage of the particular software that the customers point out, so you can see if the software can cater to your needs. Here are the five most popular cloud backup softwares today and what their clients say about them.
1. Jungle Disk
At Jungle Disk, they strongly believe that electronic files and data are important to any enterprise, which is why they make it their business to secure these files from different kinds of threat. They use top grade technology to protect the data uploaded in their cloud servers. Reviews of Jungle Disk are very positive, mostly because of their outstanding customer service. Their team is very responsive when customers send queries about the different Jungle Disk cloud storage packages.
For now, there aren’t a lot of negative comments about the cloud file storage service that Jungle Disk offers. The only major concern of some of their loyal customers is the partially small data allowance that comes with the basic personal packages.
2. Box
Reviews of this cloud storage company mostly focus on praising the ease of access that customer get to enjoy when using the different cloud storage services that they have availed. Customers particularly love that it doesn’t involve too much technical stuff to set things up. Users take note that while the Box cloud storage functions are easy to use, these are more fitting for business owners instead of the average personal consumer.
The only downside that customers notice with that of Box cloud storage is the layout. Some of the customers of Box aren’t too happy about the layout its interface, because it makes searching a bit more challenging than how it should be. Customers suggest that Box should improve on its file indexing to facilitate better and faster file or folder searches.
3. Mozy
Mozy is among the many cloud storage providers that offers free plan to customers. This free cloud storage plan allows customers to store up to 2GB worth of files safely into the cloud servers of Mozy. Customers are generally happy about the Mozy cloud backup software because it is fairly easy to use and download. It also works well across all platforms.
While most of the feedbacks from their clients are positive, there were also a few negative points that users noticed. One is that as the files you upload gets bigger, the slower the software processes the files. To compensate, users are given the option to pause their upload and continue it whenever they want.
Another issue that users have is the tedious setting up of the free forever plan, mostly because of the heavy marketing that Mozy does in order to convince users to purchase the premium cloud storage plan.
4. Hightail
Customers commend Hightail for the fast upload of files to the cloud server. Apart from that, users also love how it’s so easy to share the files to their intended recipients, no matter how large the files are by simply sharing the link. It’s great for medium and large enterprises and even for small businesses as well. Business owners and operators who are always on the road would find this cloud backup service very efficient because of how fast it is able to process and upload data.
However, despite its super fast uploading capabilities, the Hightail cloud software is not as easy to integrate as the other cloud storage softwares. According to reviews, customers have a hard time integrating it with their Gmail account. Hightail users also say that the pricing is a bit more expensive compared to other popular cloud backup software like Dropbox.
5. Egnyte
Egnyte takes pride of its easy to search file database. In addition to this feature, they customers also get to enjoy using the app because of its simple layout. The pricing is reasonable especially for medium to large business owners. Their basic plan covers 5 to 24 employees, but it can also be used by businesses with only one to 4 employees as long as you could afford it. Regardless of how many users have access your account, the data remains to be highly secured thanks to the tight security features of this cloud backup application. You have the option set up different user access permission on the files that you share.
While it’s very handy and user friendly, customer reviews of Egnyte emphasize that it can the software doesn’t have an off switch for its email notification. If you are a customer who is not a huge fan of getting email notification, this might be off putting for you. Users also notice that it can take a long time to upload large chunks of file.
Now that you know all about the pros and cons of the most popular cloud file storage providers in the market, which of these companies would you most likely hire for your data needs? What made you decide?
If you still haven’t made up your mind as to which cloud storage company you should work with, feel free to read through CrowdReviews.com’s cloud storage company reviews. These reviews are written by verified customers of the different cloud storage companies listed in the review.
Trevor Price
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