OneDrive useful as an add-on to Office 365, not something I'd ever buy on its own.
January 17, 2018
OneDrive useful as an add-on to Office 365, not something I'd ever buy on its own.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with OneDrive
For the most part, we don't make institution-wide use of OneDrive because of a few inherent limitations of OneDrive and the other software that we use. First, OneDrive is not good at "pot sharing" among the organization. What I'd like to be able to do is move our entire server of old files onto a OneDrive pot (each user gets 1 TB) that everyone has access to, but that is unnecessarily difficult and involves some sharing shenanigans that most of our users are not technically capable of navigating.
So users use it in different ways. I use it as a pot for keeping access to all of the files I download across multiple devices, since our primary document management system requires that we download, edit, and re-upload to manipulate files. OneDrive is my "in process" and medium term storage pot, in the event that I manipulate a file but don't get to the re-upload part.
So users use it in different ways. I use it as a pot for keeping access to all of the files I download across multiple devices, since our primary document management system requires that we download, edit, and re-upload to manipulate files. OneDrive is my "in process" and medium term storage pot, in the event that I manipulate a file but don't get to the re-upload part.
- Good syncing for the most part.
- Good availability from multiple device species.
- iOS app is good enough, made nicer by the fact that you can now save files and folders for offline use.
- Syncing has some oddities, like if the wrong kind of punctuation mark is in the file name.
- Sharing folders to the entire organization is hard, if not impossible.
- Creating one shared pot for global access does not seem possible without some goofy work-arounds.
- Modest increase in productivity inasmuch as I no longer have to VPN to my local office machine to upload an updated version of a document I downloaded from our storage location and worked on.
- Has allowed some sequestration of personal contents I store on there, wasn't available on our earlier mass storage.
In every situation I find Google Drive to be superior. Superior UI, searching, sync tool, overall feel.
It operates on an even playing field with Dropbox and Dropbox for Business and Box.com. It is similar enough that I don't feel a desire or compulsion to go out and get Dropbox as a subscription, but I also would never buy OneDrive for its own value, I only take it because it comes with O365.
It operates on an even playing field with Dropbox and Dropbox for Business and Box.com. It is similar enough that I don't feel a desire or compulsion to go out and get Dropbox as a subscription, but I also would never buy OneDrive for its own value, I only take it because it comes with O365.