Item: Dropbox Business
Rating: 9
Author: Vin Campbell

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

DropBox Business is currently being used by the Executives in our company - mostly for remote file sharing with outside teams. We have been working with many outside teams towards a project involving a new brick and mortar retail store, and it proved important to have a method by which to share files with the outside world that did not compromise internal security. Since most of the people we deal with had DropBox in some form already, we decided to go with the Business version for our own use.

Pros and Cons

File and folder sharing is obvious - if they didn't do this well - they'd be out of business.
Notifications - who did what and when as well as when new files are posted, new folders are shared, and when files are updated. Intuitive notifications that don't disturb your workflow.
Teams - internal - controlling users and their access to files under a single portal - enhances the administration abilities for an IT department.

Linking of personal and Business accounts - free or paid individual - works, but confusing, to say the least.
Files/folders shared with me should not count against my data limits.

Return on Investment

Solved the security requirement of having a platform dedicated to remote file sharing.
Placed us in sync with external teams - we adapted to use their app which made connectivity and collaboration simple.
The business version cost is on par with the rest of the industry, and we've gotten a fair ROI on the investment.

Alternatives Considered

Box, OneDrive, MS SharePoint, Google Drive and Apple iCloud

I've stated a few times already - DropBox set the Industry standard. Even when people are using a different solution - they tend to refer to cloud filesharing as using their "DropBox". So - including those I've referenced above - they all do virtually the same thing. DropBox stands out as the pioneer here - they were first. I do feel that if you are moving from a File Server (onsite) to the cloud - SharePoint is probably a better option as that platform mirrors that technology best. However - when your underlying requirement is to share folders and files - and collaborate on them - with teams outside your organization - DropBox is the best choice. Most people have a DropBox already, and the system just works as intended.

Other Software Used

Box, OneDrive, Microsoft Office 365, NCR Counterpoint, Magento Open Source

Performance

I gave a 9 because the platform is stable; the platform is secure; the platform is adopted by many users worldwide, but I gave the one point off because of the minor lack of intuitiveness on the backend between user shared folders and team folders. It's like the shortcoming of linking a personal account to a business account - it's just not done right... yet. DropBox is constantly working on the platform, so I suspect this will be addressed in a future updates.

Usability

From the IT department perspective, I give an 8 because there are certain areas where management can get a little tricky. Some areas are not the easiest to understand, and I've found myself chatting with their tech support on a few occasions to find answers to things that should have been evident. From the end user perspective, I give it a 10 - I'll keep pushing this - industry standard - if they don't do it right - no one can. For the end user - it works well. Receiving shared folders and files, sharing folders and files - super simple and easy to teach.

Likelihood to Recommend

DropBox is the industry standard for cloud file storage and cloud file sharing. The platform is well suited for all of the creative industries due to the general large file sizes in play. Cloud platforms like DropBox are also well suited for any company wishing to break away from the server workstation model and/or have the ability to take all your files "with you" wherever you go without taking up your entire hard drive. Specifically - DropBox Business is not suited for the individual user - if you don't have multiple users that you need to manage, then go with the Individual plans.

DropBox Business - the Industry Standard.

Overall Satisfaction with Dropbox Business