Apple iCloud is a document management software offering from Apple. It includes features such as access to music, photos, calendars, contacts, and documents, and it is built into every new iOS device.
$0.99
per month
Backblaze Business Backup
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Backblaze headquartered in San Mateo, California offers continuous, automatic cloud backup for personal and business use. Backblaze Business Backup consists of cloud solutions to safeguard systems and files (e.g Veeam, Servers, NAS, Workstations).
While Backblaze plays an important role in my overall data redundancy strategy, I continue to use Dropbox Business for certain key assets I need granular access to. I use Apple iCloud passively as well as a local Apple Time Capsule. For a single-user setup, Backblaze provides …
Backblaze surpasses the other options by enabling backup of attached hard drives - a feature that when I last checked, none of the competition offered. That's huge for me, with externals full of data. Carbonite is close to BackBlaze otherwise, but lacks this key feature.
iCloud is also great to keep access to photos synced across devices. Ex: I can snap a photo at a job site and have access to that photo on my desktop when I return to my office. I can then drop the photo into a document that is stored in iCloud and have instant access to that document on my iPad at a client's office later in the day. Seamless transitions make life much easier.
Backblaze does one thing and does one thing well: backup. If you recognize it for what it is, you will be very happy with it as an unobtrusive off-site backup solution. If, however, you want full-featured endpoint protection, you'll want to look elsewhere. For me and my needs, Backblaze provides the right amount of protection at a cheap price. You can't beat it.
Syncing files, appointments, Notes and contacts. If I'm away from home, and set an appointment using my phone, that appointment automatically updates real time to my home laptop and vice-versa.
Backblaze utilizes a native app across platforms vs. a javascript app you find with other backup services (CrashPlan being one of them). Native apps function better and have a better user interface than comparable javascript apps.
Backblaze has an intuitive interface that automatically backs everything up from your computer but allows you to easily exclude items you don't want or need to backup (applications, system files, etc.).
Backblaze has a built-in bandwidth cap and monitor allowing you to limit how much data is backed up on a daily basis to prevent going over ISP data caps or utilizing all of your upload bandwidth.
Customization - iCloud is great at the stuff it does well. But it lacks features that some competitors (in Google Drive or Dropbox) do really well. API support for third-party apps is really great for some other people.
Remote use - Managing or accessing information from iCloud while not on one of your logged-in apple devices can sometimes be an issue. From a work computer for example. It doable, but the experience is much less user-friendly.
Ability to edit documents on the cloud similar to google docs or some other competitors
User management isn't the greatest. We had the choice of either a site license under one email address, or a domain license, allowing users to log in with their own email address, however there's no management for this option. I can see metrics of the users' backup, but I can't manage the accounts in any way.
It's so seamless that I can't imagine another product doing a better job synchronizing all of my devices. I simply do not think about it at all. Everything happens behind the scenes and I'm confident that Apple keeps my data safe and secure. I'm a happy customer as far as this is concerned. I have not had a bad experience with this service.
While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it's an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don't notice at first until there is a problem.
As stated in my review, Backblaze simply works and works simply. You install it. It runs silently in the background storing and safeguarding all your computer data remotely. You seldom notice it until you've lost something you need - then you can quickly find it online using their interface and restore it - which is what's really important.
Occasionally, large files that haven't yet been synced require a few minutes to pull down but I've rarely noticed delays. It does a good job of keeping data cached on my local machines while updating them with changes from other machines transparently.
Apple customer service is fantastic. iCloud is built with Apple in mind and its design is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. Additionally, whenever our team has encountered issues, the speed of Apple support has been more than timely in addressing our issues and solving our request. We have encountered relatively few issues in my time with the platform and this only improves our overall score for those who keep the platform stable.
They answered any questions I had accurately and politely. I prefer to call a phone number and get a human on the phone, but they prefer email and chat. I understand they have business profits to consider, so it makes sense.
Apple does offer an alternative to Office & the Google Docs family but trusting to use it with both internal and external parties is tough. Google is more universal and easier for 3rd parties to collaborate with. Apple works well for a closed internal group that is native to Apple's ecosystem. Google offers more storage space than Apple
Backblaze constantly will win in price and ease of use. Code42 has gone through multiple transformations, and with their ups and downs we had left on a down and haven't looked back. Wasabi is good, but with their API key system, we have relegated that to only for Synology's with HyperBackup.
If I lose track of my credentials or my continuing education documentation, I could end up not being able to renew my certification. This would lead to a major loss in revenue.
Time is money and having all of my required documents easily accessible in iCloud saves me time and allows me to work more efficiently.
My Apple devices were certainly not cheap purchases. iCloud has allowed me to maximize my productivity through synchronizing my work no matter which device I'm working on.