Azure StorSimple vs. Dropbox vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure StorSimple
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
StorSimple was acquired by Microsoft in 2012. The StorSimple storage gateway appliance is now a part of Microsoft's Azure StorSimple Hybrid Cloud Storage solution.
$4.11
Per Day
Dropbox
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Dropbox is a cloud storage solution, equipped with features that help users to save time, improve productivity, and collaborate with others. Users can edit PDFs, share videos, sign documents, and collaborate with stakeholders without leaving Dropbox.
$9.99
per month
IBM Cloud Object Storage
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
IBM Cloud Object Storage is an IBM Cloud product in the endpoint backup and IaaS categories. It is commonly used for data archiving and backup, for web and mobile applications, and as scalable, persistent storage for analytics.
$0
per month
Pricing
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
Editions & Modules
Virtual Appliance
$4.11
Per Day
Cloud Array
$4.11
Per Day
Physical Appliance
$43.84
Per Day
Plus
$9.99
per month
Essentials
$18
per month
Business
$20
per month per user
Business Plus
$26
per month per user
Basic
Free
One-Rate Plan
As low as USD $12/TB a month
per month
Standard Plan
Free up to 5GB—no minimum fee, pay only for what you use
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
Free Trial
NoNoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeOptional
Additional DetailsThe One-Rate and Standard service plans for Cloud Object Storage include resiliency options, flexible data classes and built-in security. Pricing is based on the choice of location, storage class and resiliency choice.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
Considered Multiple Products
Azure StorSimple

No answer on this topic

Dropbox

No answer on this topic

IBM Cloud Object Storage
Chose IBM Cloud Object Storage
IBM is [on] another level against these products. I think IBM is more for the bigger companies with bigger projects. If you are smaller and already use MS Office or Google then check those products first, they also have more advanced options (sometimes paid) to enhance your …
Chose IBM Cloud Object Storage
IBM is allowing dynamic access of the data and there are open-source platforms on Fedora Scientific that gain connections to resources from some applications that are developed for Arduino microcontrollers and runs machines and devices to intelligently manipulate scientific …
Features
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Azure StorSimple
-
Ratings
Dropbox
8.0
1336 Ratings
4% below category average
IBM Cloud Object Storage
-
Ratings
Versioning00 Ratings8.11110 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings7.91092 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings8.1988 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings7.81162 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings8.41234 Ratings00 Ratings
File search00 Ratings7.61280 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings8.31230 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Azure StorSimple
-
Ratings
Dropbox
8.5
1265 Ratings
1% below category average
IBM Cloud Object Storage
-
Ratings
User and role management00 Ratings8.41130 Ratings00 Ratings
File organization00 Ratings8.41246 Ratings00 Ratings
Device management00 Ratings8.61110 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Azure StorSimple
-
Ratings
Dropbox
8.3
1255 Ratings
4% below category average
IBM Cloud Object Storage
-
Ratings
Performance00 Ratings7.91244 Ratings00 Ratings
Reliability00 Ratings8.91251 Ratings00 Ratings
Storage Reports00 Ratings8.2954 Ratings00 Ratings
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Product A and Product B
Azure StorSimple
-
Ratings
Dropbox
-
Ratings
IBM Cloud Object Storage
8.7
155 Ratings
6% above category average
Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime00 Ratings00 Ratings6.1143 Ratings
Dynamic scaling00 Ratings00 Ratings9.8143 Ratings
Elastic load balancing00 Ratings00 Ratings8.9140 Ratings
Monitoring tools00 Ratings00 Ratings8.8144 Ratings
Security controls00 Ratings00 Ratings9.8149 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 4.2 out of 10
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 4.2 out of 10
DigitalOcean Droplets
DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.5
(1348 ratings)
9.4
(158 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.1
(41 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(496 ratings)
7.3
(5 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.8
(3 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(8 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(38 ratings)
9.1
(8 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(4 ratings)
5.8
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
6.6
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure StorSimpleDropboxIBM Cloud Object Storage
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Onsite storage needs and backing up to Azure.
Read full review
Dropbox
Let me describe a scenario that happened recently in our organization's marketing team storing thousands of images videos and pdfs and Dropbox is done a great perfomer in this situation by the product features which is very helpful for the team, such as smart sync reduces disc usage, preview support for many media formats & Integrate with Adobe Creative Cloud.
Read full review
IBM
In my experience, IBM Cloud Object Storage is well suited for projects like the one I am working on. This includes the use of natural language classification and the uploading of data to train a machine learning model for tag suggestions based on a body of text. Using IBM Cloud Object Storage has helped with this greatly. IBM Cloud Object Storage has also been great for Big Data Analytics thanks to its scalablilty and ease of use for large datasets. Alongside IBM Watson and our team's internal big data tools we've managed to process and analyze data more efficiently, leading to key insights that have driven business value for our clients.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Performance via the SSD drives.
  • Writes back to our Private Cloud via Azure.
  • Easy to Admin via Web client interface.
Read full review
Dropbox
  • I can share projects I need feedback on.
  • I can make projects available to editors so that they can do their work.
  • Dropbox is a place where I can store files that I can access from anywhere, even if I don't have my laptop with me at the time.
  • I have an old friend who is an acting professor in Tokyo. He loves the dialogue that I write in my novels. He converts chapters into scenework for his acting students. They get very excited when there's new material!
Read full review
IBM
  • IBM Cloud Object Storage is an excellent choice for disaster recovery and backup solutions. Its high durability and geographic redundancy ensure that our backup data is safe and can be quickly restored in case of a disaster. This capability is crucial for maintaining our business continuity and minimizing downtime. We have deployed our loads in an IKS cluster distributed in 3 different AZs with stateful data allocated in COS.
  • We have a video streaming application and need to store and deliver a vast library of video content to millions of users worldwide, so we store our data in COS, which is cheap and reliable.
  • We have a bunch of data that must be analyzed and stored in datasets for fraud detection, risk management, and customer insights. In these cases, this data is moved from Onprem to IBM Cloud so we can use cheap storage like COS.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Additional fail-over functionality
Read full review
Dropbox
  • I’d like to be able to hover over an image/document and have it expand/enlarge without actually opening it
  • I’d love to see a carousel that lets me thumb through more quickly
  • I’m almost always in thumbnail view. I’d like to see them re-organize automatically when something is moved or deleted instead of leaving an empty space.
  • AI options for photo editing.
  • Easier pdf markups
Read full review
IBM
  • Searching and retrieving—full-text search or metadata search—is one of the significant areas of improvement. It isn't easy to search for data with this.
  • Integration with other IBM cloud services is trickier. For example, integrating this with API Connect to access the data from API will be difficult for users.
  • Support - I think you should have more support community.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
If I wanted to use just onsite storage the StorSimple device is already paid for.
Read full review
Dropbox
Dropbox is a user-friendly, easy tool which requires little to no skill and they offer a free version with a good amount of storage available. There are other file sharing tools available however at a cost. Dropbox free version I have used for years and it serves every purpose I need.
Read full review
IBM
because it is a robust, safe and flexible product
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
It works extremely well, and we have never had any issues with connecting or sharing files. It's very easy to use, and any team member can share, add, and delete files to a virtual drive. This is extremely helpful, and it's an amazing tool to use, ensuring everyone can connect and work together effectively.
Read full review
IBM
For my use cases, it has been a very smooth experience. Even my new colleagues have been able to get on top of things very quickly. This shows how easy it is to work with
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
I really recommend the product for the Dropbox availability is a great having very very less downtimes, they errors are less I have been faced yet, due to connectivity sometimes we are getting errors. Only sometimes the limitations of some features show some errors.
Read full review
IBM
We rarely face downtime or access issues with IBM Cloud Object Storage. It’s mostly available when we need it, even during peak hours or heavy data loads.
Read full review
Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
Dropbox is really useful, you can access any file from anywhere and you can upload and even edit files online, but, sometimes it can be slow. Downloading, uploading, and syncing is a bit slow, it can take several minutes. Furthermore, the search engine for large amounts of data can be slow too and it is not powerful.
Read full review
IBM
I would give it a 9 because it works smooth with our AI and analytics tools, no major slowdown. Pages and dashboards load fine most of the time, and reports finish in decent time even when data is heavy.
Read full review
Support Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
They immediately responded like in an example that I gave where one of our staff members accidentally deleted the whole Special Hope Network Dropbox, we immediately contacted Dropbox they walked us through the steps of how to retrieve the information and luckily enough we were able to retrieve the entire Dropbox and we have had back and forth with Dropbox on what to do when an employee leaves how to remove them how to add another employee.
Read full review
IBM
I have been working in IT sector for more than 15 years. I have worked with various vendors. IBM's sales team, support team have been really helpful. After we start to use their product, their UX design team also contacted us to get feedback from us. They are really interested about our experience.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
The person for corporate product dealing and knowledge of the product explore and better and secure use are properly handover to us. Also provide full software and tool training from the basic to the pro level with each and every possible explanation. Provide many sessions regarding every doubt. Also Guide better suitable options for our business to migrate and integrate for the expansion in all places employee smoothly.
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
I did not personally take any training for Dropbox so I am self taught but I know when our Vice President selected Dropbox, he personally did do some training modules on it and I'm assuming it was very easy and simple to understand since he now acts like he is a pro at it!
Read full review
IBM
I just researching and applying the tools on their platforms to ensure a good learning path, based on my needs. Reading the documentation related with resources, tools. Is too big, but I am trying to know more about it every day. It is a good way to know more about their resources. A new way to attract new customers. At the end of the day, we are all involved in improvement and automation of our tasks and resources for customers and end-users.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
I needed to stay current in improving my daily operations. Dropbox
was suggested to me by a former colleague two-years ago and I've been using it just fine ever since.
Read full review
IBM
Yes Our organization used IBM professional services to implement IBM object storage because of its data consistency and multiple way to upload and download data and its encryption security features. Also that its brand matter for the any organization to secure the layer and storage. It sis also verify that application and system are compatibale for this product
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Easy to use and highly compatible with our MSFT Hyper-V environment
Read full review
Dropbox
I prefer the layout and visual aspect of Dropbox as it mirrors my files on my computer. I feel that I am more organized, and it's easier to find my files in Dropbox than it was with Google Drive.
Read full review
IBM
Amazon S3 is a great service to safely back up your data where redundancy is guaranteed, and the cost is fair. In the past I have used Amazon S3 for data that we backup and hope we never need to access, but in the case of a catastrophic or even small slip of the finger with the delete command, we know our data and our client's data is safely backed up by Amazon S3. Amazon S3 service is a good option, but based on the features it provides compared with IBM Cloud Object Storage, it is less suitable. IBM Cloud Object Storage is also integrated with more services, like IBM Cloud SQL and IBM Aspera, which AWS does not provide to transfer files at maximum speed in the world.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
I would recommend to this product directly to the sales team of Dropbox for the best deal provide to my referred person and provide the best service to them.
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
It's easy to integrate with the systems of Windows and Linux, easy to have web versions accessible, which provide the web login credentials. Also, it can be installed for individuals for the best autosync features.
Read full review
IBM
Scaling up the number of users can lead to significant increases in licensing costs, which, while not a technical limitation, can be a practical constraint for some organizations
Read full review
Professional Services
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Dropbox
Their services are highly rated for moving massive, complex data sets from legacy on-premise servers to the cloud with minimal downtime.
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Great Folks on the MSFT Implementation team
  • Great value on year 2
Read full review
Dropbox
  • When it works (usually if a client already has Dropbox, so they don't get the solicitation to sign up), it works flawlessly.
  • I've had multiple clients not see the "continue with download only" at the bottom and email me to resend the media another way because they don't have a Dropbox account.
Read full review
IBM
  • This allows us to recommend a platform to our clients that will quickly help them create new, efficient business processes with very little development.
  • This saves clients hours and days of manual analysis of images, allowing the system to do the work when attaching Object Storage to models.
  • There is a learning curve in utilizing the storage and the modeling, but once up and running, it works well during deployment.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Dropbox Screenshots

Screenshot of the action bar, that sits across the browser page can be used to record the screen, edit PDFs, upload files, create folders, get signatures, or send and track documents.Screenshot of Dropbox Replay, that lets collaborators leave frame-accurate feedback and markups directly on project files.Screenshot of Dropbox Capture, which can be used to take screen recordings, screenshots, and GIFs with one click and share them with a link.Screenshot of the interface where Dropbox lets users upload, edit, send, and sign PDFs in one place.

IBM Cloud Object Storage Screenshots

Screenshot of Cloud Object Storage set upScreenshot of storage bucket creationScreenshot of the Access Management interfaceScreenshot of the interface to create, add and management of Storage BucketsScreenshot of data uploadingScreenshot of usage details