Item: Box
Rating: 8
Author: Kat Jenkins

Overall Satisfaction with Box

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Box across our entire organization as well as for sharing files and resources with clients. It provides secure access and offsite backup, as well as a way to collaborate efficiently with other users - we can work on a document without e-mailing it back and forth, and also have the capability to lock a file we're working on to prevent conflicting changes.

Pros and Cons

Pros

File storage.
Universal access from any device.
Sharing materials and resources.

Cons

The sync feature is too slow - we end up saving items on our desktops and then copying them to Box.
If you're not careful to lock a file when editing it, Box handles conflicts by creating multiple versions of a document with the individual user's name affixed - then you have to manually integrate the changes, which is maddening.
Reminders to unsync infrequently used folders would be a big help - I end up with lots of folders synced that I no longer need, which slows me down.

Return on Investment

Secure file storage and access
Offsite backup
Universal accessibility
Sharing files with clients

Alternatives Considered

Box best addressed our needs for offsite backup, secure storage, and universal access. I am not sure what other products or services we evaluated.

Other Software Used

Google Keyword Planner

Likelihood to Recommend

It's great for file sharing and for backup/file storage as well as for universal access from any device at any time. The collaboration needs some improvement, as it handles conflicting changes by creating multiple versions of a document and affixing the individual user's name. The sync feature is too slow - I need to be able to sync a folder and immediately be able to access it from my desktop so I'm not constantly wondering - did I upload that file? Can I delete it now?

Comments

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Box It Up - And Be Patient with Sync

Software Version