Cloud storage has become a major and indispensable part of several businesses all over the world. It serves many purposes like backup of important data, improvement of data sharing from one department to the next, and synchronization of inventory data. It helps increase the speed of processing different kinds of business transactions like billing, and inventory.
Since the introduction of cloud file storage services, different cloud storage companies have flourished all around the globe. These companies offer different kinds of services and packages. Some of these are free cloud storage companies that provide personal users with at most 2 GB of data package. Some even offer free unlimited cloud storage plans that anyone can take advantage of.
But if you would like to make the most of out of the cloud’s storage capabilities, most of the best cloud storage companies offer premium upgrades that would let you enjoy using large data allowances that can amount to more than 50GB per account.
Popular Cloud Storage Companies
As mentioned earlier, cloud storage can be used for various purposes. Cloudwards enumerated 10 cool ways that lets you maximize the use of a cloud file storage package. Their list includes web hosting, thoughts management, and file management. You simply need to setup your account and upload the files you want to backup, while most of the cloud storage companies in the market can support different kinds of files, others function better in catering specific files, like photos.
If you are looking for the best cloud storage for photos, TechRadar suggests that you inquire about the cloud file storage packages of Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, Flickr, Adobe Revel and Canon Irista. These top cloud storage companies for photos can allow you to store pictures for free.
Among these six companies, Flickr offers the largest bandwidth allowance of 1TB while Dropbox offers the smallest at only 2GB. If you feel like you need more storage allowance, you can purchase their premium monthly subscriptions instead. Dropbox for example can offer you 1TB bandwidth upgrade for $8.25 a month.
Apart from serving as an effective backup tool for personal users, cloud storage also works well for businesses. For customers who are interested in purchasing a cloud storage service for business, Business Daily listed 22 cloud storage providers that are perfect for your needs. This list includes companies like Hightail, Mozy, Egnyte, Box, Spideroak, Carbonite and OpenDrive.
Based on cloud storage reviews, Box is the most commended company among the six companies above. It is an easy to integrate app, so you will have no trouble in using it together with your SalesForce and Google Apps account. Box users love how they can easily coordinate different projects with their team through the use of the software.
In addition to the excellent and user friendly features of the Box software, the company offer very large data storage at an affordable rate. Their starter package is valued at $6 per user, and per month. The package includes 100GB secured storage, an upload limit of 2GB, mobile access, SSL encryption and a two factor authentication. Their business account on the other hand is valued at $17 per month and per user and it includes unlimited cloud storage allowance, 5GB file upload limit, custom branding, data loss prevention and enhanced security features.
Competitive Cloud Storage Features
There are plenty of cloud storage companies out there, and choosing one can be a bit of challenge, if you don’t know what features or functions you need to look for. One helpful thing you can do is to read cloud storage comparison to learn how they differ from each other. In most cases, you need to read a handful of reviews of cloud storage companies in order to come up with a more comprehensive and well informed decision. To give an idea of what you need to pay attention to, here are the five most important considerations you need to make.
- Experience and Track Record
Business Daily emphasizes that a good cloud storage company should have an excellent track record. With the fast rise of many cloud companies, it is highly recommended that you take a look at the different companies or clients that they are/were able to handle. How successful was that cloud service provider in handling the needs of their past clients? In reading reviews, look for specific complaints and issues that their clients have with the company. Do you think this would be a potential concern to you or your company’s cloud service subscription as well?
What about the technical specialties of their team? Cloudtweaks suggests that you also consider the customer service and support team of a certain company. What have you heard about their technical support? Are they able to deliver instant results? How attentive and responsive are they?
- Security Features
You’re about to entrust a boat load of your company’s data to this company. How sure are you about the security features of the company? Forbes suggests you ask your target cloud service provider with questions like “is my data stored in a shared monolithic database?” Apart from this, you should also ask what kind of security features they include in their typical cloud service package. Are there data encryption features? How about their data loss prevention features? Can they retrieve data, if ever they accidentally lose your files? What are the contingency plans of the company?
- Social and Mobile Capabilities
Other than the security features, Forbes also insists that an excellent cloud file storage provider should have social and mobile capabilities. According to ZDnet, the combination of power cloud file storage and its mobile and social capabilities plays a huge role in the landscape of the collaboration of enterprises today. Social capabilities include file synchronization between all the users of a cloud service account, while mobile capabilities pertain to features like increased platform compatibility.
- Cost and Package Inclusions
Finances always play a huge role in any business, no matter how small or big a business might be. But before you fully jump into conclusion on which is expensive or which is cheap, you need to make sure that you know what your company needs. This will help you choose better since you know what features to look for, and if your company can afford extra expenses for cloud file storage expansion.
One factor in play is the number of users who will access the account. In most cases, the number of users will determine which package you should subscribe to. Take for instance the packages offered by Egnyte. Currently, they offer three packages, which are Office, Business and Enterprise. The smallest package, Office can specifically cater to 5 to 25 users. The Business account can cater 25 to 100 users, and the Enterprise lets you have as much as users as you want to have as long as you meet the minimum count of 100 users.
Other than the number of allowed users, you should also look at the different included features like the maximum storage allowance. If we look at the packages offered by Egnyte, they allow up to 5TB for the basic package, and unlimited data storage for the enterprise account.
If you don’t want to avail of large cloud storage plans, you have other options to choose from. Other companies like Mozy offer packages for personal users. Mozy offers the MozyHome package, which lets you choose from either the 50GB plan for a single computer or 125GB for 3 computers. You may opt to request for memory expansion or upgrade or additional computer access.
In addition to the mentioned features above, there are other functions that you should ask about like the file upload limit, user interface, and the web and mobile access.
- Stability of the Company
Cloud experts strongly suggest not to overlook the stability of a company. Will they be in business for a long time, or are they in the middle of a business crisis? The last thing you want is hearing that your data is already locked away from you because the company’s equipments got repossessed. Be in the know about the current status of the company. It will be useful to read employee reviews via Glassdoor or similar sites to help you gauge the company’s operations.
Cloud storage is indeed very useful in so many ways, and from our discussion, we have established the fact that there are also several considerations that you need to make. Having read all the details above, what do you think is the most important factor that you need to weigh in? Which would be your second priority?
Do you now have a target company based on all of these factors? Have you weighed all your choices? If not, then allow CrowdReviews.com’s cloud storage reviews to help you, so you can decide better and smarter. Check out the customer reviews we have for the top cloud storage solutions in the market and see what consumers think about their cloud service providers.
Trevor Price
Latest posts by Trevor Price (see all)
- Why Document Management Software Is a Must for Every Company - January 13, 2017
- What Are the Best Scheduling Software for Your Specific Needs - January 12, 2017
- What Are the Top Features of Membership Management Software - January 10, 2017