OneDrive is the One solution
April 13, 2016
OneDrive is the One solution
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with OneDrive
I currently use OneDrive for multiple applications. As a photographer and designer I use OneDrive to sync projects across multiple devices. I am currently using a desktop, laptop, and Surface. To be able to work on a desktop and then immediately take my project on the road is definitely a big plus. I also work as an independent contractor teaching Epic EHR software. OneDrive allows me to work on developing curriculum while I am traveling as well as make it available for group editing. This is an invaluable tool in both positions and the syncing is flawless.
- Device Syncing: Not only does it do a great job of syncing between Windows devices, but it does a great job between Android and iOS. The OneDrive app is built very well and even allows me to sync some of my photography projects.
- Space Saving: Being able to choose what is actually stored on the local drive of each machine is a huge benefit. Some of the devices I use have smaller local drives. With over a TB available to me on OneDrive, it is not possible to sync completely to some of my devices.
- Collaboration: As a photographer, collaboration is sometimes the difference between a successful project and a failure. OneDrive in combination with Office products makes a huge difference in communication and development of a project. As a curriculum developer this plays a huge role in helping my team create timely and effective products.
- Fetching: OneDrive has gone back and forth on the ability to fetch a file from another computer. I believe that when it is implemented properly this has been a great benefit. However, in its current implementation it has been taken out.
- Place Holders: So based on the implementation sometimes Microsoft will use place holders on your local drive so that you can see what is there in the actual folder and then download the file if you need it. This is my preferred method. In its current version this also has been removed.
- Collaboration: By being able to work on the same file at the same time I cut down on emailing back and forth. I also cut down on the number of old versions floating back and forth and using a check in/out workflow. The amount of time and storage space saved is fairly significant.
- Sharing: Being able to share files with my clients is not as effective as it is between colleagues. I tend to use Dropbox as a way to quickly deliver design packages to clients. I would like to be able to consolidate into one solution, but OneDrive has limited ability to quickly share in multiple formats.
- Overall Presence: OneDrive has allowed me to increase my web presence simply by having things like my portfolio, web assets, documents and other files ready across all devices at any given moment. This has truly increased my productivity as a company.
Overall my two favorites for my business are OneDrive and Adobe Creative Cloud. I use those two in a combined workflow that allows for collaboration on both Microsoft Projects and Adobe Creative projects. For my business both offer very similar capabilities for their respective product families, they just do not offer the best features to other platforms.