Dropbox - We can't live without it!
April 08, 2016

Dropbox - We can't live without it!

Brian Muench | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Dropbox for Business

We use Dropbox for Business for our internal corporate storage needs, as well as, the storage needs for each of our customers. In total, we currently have approximately 130 customers' mission critical files being stored on Dropbox. The files are segmented by company for security reasons obviously, and we use use an encryption scheme for the directory structures in addition to the Dropbox encryption and security.
  • Speed: Dropbox file access, for a mass market solution is incredibly fast, almost as fast as if we had our own dedicated servers.
  • Flexibility: From an admin perspective, we can move files, directory structures, close structures off, virtually anything we need to do, from any device we need to it.
  • Cost Effective: For the scope of the solution we have, we could not implement anything like this cheaper ourselves, nor can we buy it cheaper anywhere else and get the same level of service. Believe me, we have checked!
  • Mobile: As with most other services out there, mobile access could be better to mirror what we can do from a desktop browser. But that day is coming, and it is not just Dropbox, that is with most mass market SaaS solutions.
  • Complexity of Solutions: Okay Dropbox, you are simple, we get it, but how about ramping it up a bit. Perhaps it is time to step beyond the simple and add a little more complexity to the mix and compete against the next level of solutions. It would be interesting to see what happens there and what you come up with. Perhaps you would be able to disrupt their solutions a bit and simplify their models somewhat as well and really shake things up!
  • Our experience has been overall extremely positive from a cost lowering perspective...we immediately lowered costs from our old solution which was great, so we migrated once we decided that technically it was the right solution for our customers.
  • Then a funny thing happened...after the migration to Dropbox, we actually were able to lower our data storage fees to our customers because the bandwidth costs reduced more than we expected. So while we painted the same profit margin, we reduced cost to our customers, it became a win-win for everyone! This then also positioned us competitively in a slightly better position to win more customers which never hurts! Thanks Dropbox!!
The three mentioned above come to mind most readily, but there were others we compared against Dropbox. Dropbox may not have been the cheapest, or had the most rich feature/functionality set, but it was the most straightforward and simple to understand. It was the LEAST complex. And being the least complex we felt it would present the least problems. Sure enough we are aware of customers, friends and even team members that have tried the services mentioned above and have found them to be a bit difficult to use at times and too complex for their own good, among other things. So we are happy to go with the more simple, straight forward solution.
Dropbox is definitely best suited where what you are trying to accomplish is solved from a more linear approach. The easier it is to draw it out or the more "1 to 1" relationships you have in the solution the better suited Dropbox is for you or your customers. Where Dropbox's value starts to wane is where the need for very complex solutions are necessary. This becomes very apparent in the cost model, very quickly.

Dropbox Business Feature Ratings

Video files
10
Audio files
10
Access control
10
Device sync
10
User and role management
7
File organization
10
Device management
5
Performance
10
Reliability
10
Storage Reports
8

Evaluating Dropbox for Business and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
The single most important factor in our decision was the test of usability. We tested Dropbox to see if it would do what we wanted it to do before we migrated all our customers over to it and all our data. We knew other solutions out there would work but we weren't in love with them. When we tested Dropbox it was the last solution we were going to test and to be honest we did not think much of it...we thought it was too "light" of a solution for us. Boy were we wrong. We loved it! And to top it all off, it did everything we wanted and more!
To be honest, we would not have changed a thing. We tested and tested and test, vendor after vendor. Evaluation after evaluation! I believe we did it right.

Dropbox for Business Implementation

The implementation was actually very simple. Again, as stated previously, the most intriguing part of the entire exercise was the implementation of the directory structure for each account. Once you design and implement it for one, it becomes quite simple to replicate for each account you implement thereafter. You just really need to take time to ensure you implement the first perfectly and those that follow on will be likewise work efficiently and easily.
Change management was minimal
  • The only issue we encountered was the initial architecture and building of the directory structure, which we quickly resolved with a bit of research. We quickly realized that the directory structure needed to be slightly different than usual which we researched and were able to implement without any difficulty. The lesson learned here is to plan, plan, plan ahead!!!

Dropbox for Business Support

Generally we use the help topics and forums mostly. However, as Pro Business account holders we get priority email support and when they say priority, they mean it. The few times we have actually used it, mostly in the beginning, they replied to our questions immediately. The speed at which they responded was awesome. To be honest though, everything in the Dropbox system is so simple, and the help functionality and forums are so helpful, we very rarely ever even think of asking for priority level support.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Absolutely. When we first came onboard Dropbox, we had to split storage of one of our customers data across multiple Dropbox accounts. We were struggling with the most efficient way to do it to maximize speed, security and ensure that all the data "fit" together perfectly across all their web and mobile apps. Well, we used priority support and the Dropbox folks were really interested in this challenge and actually called us and worked with us on this opportunity to ensure it was handled the right way! Now that was awesome. Years later we still have the same solution in place and have never changed a thing other than replicating it across more Dropbox accounts as the customer's data has grown. The customer loves it and we love it!!! Now that was service and we are grateful!

Using Dropbox for Business

Dropbox is very easy and fun to use. It is very self evident and from a graphical user interface it is very intuitive. There is really nothing else to say about it.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • They are all super easy to use. It literally mimics the directory structure of a desktop/laptop and it is very visually appealing.
  • I don't find anything difficult of cumbersome, really!
Yes - The mobile interface is great, however, like all other SaaS platforms, it is not easy to perform a lot of the more advance feature of the system on there. It is meant more for the normal, everyday feature functionality. If that is what you are using it for, you will be fine.