Item: Google Drive
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We currently use Google Drive as our cloud storage, and we utilize and unlimited enterprise version of it. Our organization also uses Gmail for Businesses so Drive has a seamless integration and that's key. We have many Team Drives (or Shared Drives now) which prove to be extremely helpful when we have pertinent information that needs to be cordoned off from other sections of our business.

Google Drive also connects/integrates with a lot of other systems that we use, like Workfront, which creates additional efficiencies. Lastly, we are able to share documents with our clients, which is especially helpful when our file sizes exceed the attachment limit for various email platforms.

Pros and Cons

Collaboration: Google Docs/Sheets/Slides allow us to collaborate across various teams, all while keeping track of changes and comments.
File storage: Seamless file storage with easy upload and download.
Search: We're able to organize and structure the storage of all of our files in a way that is simple to search -- which is something we've come to expect from Google.
MacOS integration: The Google Drive app (previously Stream) allows us to save files directly from various programs to our instance of Drive, navigating the folder structure just like you would in Finder. It's invaluable.

Though search is such a strong point for Google, I have come across some instances of the search coming up empty, even when I type a file name in the same exact way as it appears on the actual file. This is inexplicable, and also infrequent.
Personal customization would be nice in terms of visuals/branding.

Return on Investment

It's hard to gauge ROI because I'm not sure how much we pay for Google Drive, but I would readily say that our ROI is quite high. Without Google Drive and the way it integrates with our other systems, work would nearly grind to a halt.

Usability

Google Drive's user interface and experience is incredible. It is so simple, and if you've used the internet or Google itself, then you'll be familiar with the layout, buttons, etc., of Google Drive. It is far easier to use, and has a much lower barrier to entry than most other web tools, not to mention Microsoft Products. I grew up using Microsoft Office and Google is far simpler. Less features, perhaps, but simpler to the point that it offsets the lack of features (and the features continue to catch up).

Support Rating

Any time that I have an issue or don't know how to do something (usually a much more complex functions), I can just Google the issue and find the solution. The support for Google Drive is very robust. Most responses come directly from Google Support forums, which makes me confident in troubleshooting myself.

Alternatives Considered

Box, Dropbox and OneDrive

My response is the same for all three. Google Drive is the total package. Each of the alternatives that I've tried have been good at file storage and sharing and that's about it. OneDrive, being a Microsoft product, has some compatibility with their other products, but, at least in the version I used (when I used it several years ago), it was nothing like Google Drive.

Other Software Used

Workfront, Adobe Acrobat DC, Zoom

Likelihood to Recommend

The perfect situation to utilize Google Drive is when you and colleagues all use Gmail and all need to collaborate on various documents and have access to a large amount of files without sending via email. Being able to collaborate and contribute to a document across teams is incredibly helpful and far more efficient that having to work out of Word docs, save, resave, etc. This is clearly the way because now Microsoft supports some of this function as well.

Top choice for cloud storage, file-sharing, and doc creation/collaboration

Overall Satisfaction with Google Drive