Item: Apple iCloud
Rating: 8
Author: Joshua Melder

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Apple iCloud is used on a department by department basis within my organization. I would say that it is primarily utilized by the administrative and creative production teams at my place of work. My organization utilizes several cloud tools to store documents and files and iCloud is one of the premier solutions in the marketplace. I use iCloud to store, organize, and share with both internal co-workers and customers that use iCloud as their primary cloud business solution.

Pros and Cons

Seamless Integration with other Apple products.
Syncing across devices is extremely useful and reliable.
Pricing is very competitive.

Performs much more reliably on Apple devices compared to Windows or other operating systems.
The user interface seems to be more functional for individuals or families compared to the business world.
Cannot set your own encryption key.

Return on Investment

The ability to access saved content across devices no matter where I am located reduces missed opportunities to share and collaborate.
The version history has allowed my team to re-visit previous renditions when errors occur - saving valuable time determining the root cause.
The cloud reduces the number of physical documents one must remember when traveling for work.

Alternatives Considered

OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox and Dropbox Business

Overall, iCloud performs quite well against some of its larger competitors. In my opinion, iCloud may be better suited for personal and social sharing compared to business cloud platforms like OneDrive and Google Drive. iCloud is incredibly strong if your organization is fully invested within the Apple ecosystem of products. However, I would probably recommend other services if your organization is primarily Windows or invests in multiple operating systems. iCloud is built for Apple and other services simply perform better if you are not locked in.

Support Rating

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.

Key Insights

Do you think Apple iCloud delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Apple iCloud's feature set?

Yes

Did Apple iCloud live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Apple iCloud go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Apple iCloud again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Box, Dropbox, Dropbox Business

Likelihood to Recommend

Apple iCloud works extremely well for individuals that are subscribed to the Apple ecosystem of products. The ability to seamlessly sync across devices with one account has helped me prepare, access, and share important documents quickly and effectively across platforms. Additionally, Apple's cloud infrastructure is quite robust and I have rarely encountered issues with reliability over the five years+ of using the service.

iCloud: The Ideal Cloud Solution for Those Vested Within the Apple Ecosystem

Overall Satisfaction with Apple iCloud