Business & Investing
Sponsored by

Sharing Files - Business

2,615 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by LOYAL AG
agcrock2005
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
What is the most user-friendly and easy program/website to use for sharing files. Dropbox isn't very professional and I'm using a sharefile trial now and don't really like it...older people don't seem to be able to figure it out as well and the download times out on some people's computers. I've heard of watchdox as well and I'm going to look into that one, but would like some additional advice if you have any. Thanks.
aggiesq
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
i've been really happy with box.com
Husky Boy Jr.
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Why is dropbox not professional? I use it all the time and so do many of my clients.
agcrock2005
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Husky Boy Jr. said:

Why is dropbox not professional? I use it all the time and so do many of my clients.
I meant it's not as professional as some of the other products out there now. We've used it for 3 years now but have noticed a lot of other folks in our industry (CRE) have switched to platforms that are much nicer.

Thanks for box.com suggestion. Going to watch a demo ASAP. Looks like what we're looking for.
CapCity12thMan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
define a bit more about "sharing files"...

Are you looking for a simple way to collaborate with coworkers - try Slack you can post/transfer files within this securely.

Are you looking for somewhere to dump files so others can reference them or are you trying to share files as part of a larger process, such as content collaboration/approvals or some workflow?

Google Drive would work well. You create what folders/files you want shared with whom and they all reside on Google Drive in the cloud. Each user having Google Drive desktop app would allow yuo to use your PCs as you normally would and those specified folders would sync automatically.

Knowing a bit more about specifics of what you are trying to do would be helpful.
agcrock2005
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Thanks CapCity.

We do investment sales and need to provide due diligence files (several folders for each property) for each property we sale. We will need to have a folder for the asset available to clients upon signing a CA that we can manage the contents (remove/add/etc.) at all times. Preferably this product would allow for us to customize by adding our logos,etc. to the page. Thanks again for your advice.

Edit: This product will not be used for sharing files internally.
CapCity12thMan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
have never used ShareVault, but perhaps this would be a good fit
stroodles
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I've used egnyte, and it works well for file sharing
LOYAL AG
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Egnyte. I use it to handle documents for all of my clients my company does accounting and financial consulting for. I can control access in several different ways:

  • All of my clients, myself and their bookkeeper have access to everything we have for that client.
  • Four of my clients use the same CPA so that CPA has access to the tax folders for those clients but not to any other information. Repeat this for three different CPA's and you get the picture.
  • I have clients where the owner has access to everything but their managers for the different locations can only access what we want them to see for their locations.
  • It has a very good desktop sync, a mapped drive for people to use if you want them to have local PC access but not be able to download files.
  • Their mobile app is very good. I'm able to easily navigate to and open anything for anyone easily.
  • Sharing docs with anyone whether they are a user or not is a snap.
  • Sharing security is flexible meaning I can share information in a way that only the intended recipient can actually get the information. For example I just shared my tax returns with my banker. I had Egnyte email him a link to the folder. I set the folder to require a password to access and set the link to expire after one click. Then I texted him the password.


Google Drive isn't a good option. Google does a poor job of handling security when everyone's account isn't 100% controlled by you. If you're doing personal stuff it's fine but it's best feature is that it's free.
Bob_Ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Our company rolled out office 365 last year and now I use their onedrive for business file sharing.
LOYAL AG
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Bob_Ag said:

Our company rolled out office 365 last year and now I use their onedrive for business file sharing.
I use both but OD for Business is not as stable as Egnyte. The desktop sync tool is prone to problems. Frankly I would have preferred Microsoft just purchase Egnyte. It's a far superior tool to One Drive for Business.
Zemira
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I hate OneDrive if you are updating any of the documents It just isn't user friendly when making changes to documents.

Also if it's a large file you end up downloading to view it anyhow as web based Office can't handle large files.

We are encouraged to use it all the time at work to share files but end up with workarounds as we despise it so much.
CapCity12thMan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG

Quote:

Google does a poor job of handling security when everyone's account isn't 100% controlled by you

how so? Privileges to a doc are explicitly defined doc by doc user by user (if desired).
agcrock2005
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Thanks for all of the responses. Do you know if any of these options have ability to see who opens/downloads what? We are in sales and it's nice to see that company X is really digging in and interested. Not something we have to have but would be nice if that functionality existed. Thanks again.
LOYAL AG
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CapCity12thMan said:


Quote:

Google does a poor job of handling security when everyone's account isn't 100% controlled by you

how so? Privileges to a doc are explicitly defined doc by doc user by user (if desired).

Specific example I've experienced. When I first started my business I had two clients using Google Docs. Client A had a Google email address I set up and I made my business email (not a Google account) the rescue email in case of a lost password. Client B managed their own Google Drive. When I started working with Client B they started sharing docs and folders with me via my non-Google email address. Because there wasn't a Google account with my non-Google email but it was a rescue email for Client A's Google account Google automatically shared Client B's information with Client A's Google account. Convoluted but that's just poor to me and not indicative of a business minded solution. In Egnyte if I share something with an email address it is shared there only. If the address is wrong the share fails completely. Same for One Drive for Business.
LOYAL AG
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
agcrock2005 said:

Thanks for all of the responses. Do you know if any of these options have ability to see who opens/downloads what? We are in sales and it's nice to see that company X is really digging in and interested. Not something we have to have but would be nice if that functionality existed. Thanks again.
With Egnyte you would send a link to a file or folder you're sharing. one of the options when you create that link is to receive an email when the link has been clicked.
CapCity12thMan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG

Quote:

Specific example I've experienced. When I first started my business I had two clients using Google Docs. Client A had a Google email address I set up and I made my business email (not a Google account) the rescue email in case of a lost password. Client B managed their own Google Drive. When I started working with Client B they started sharing docs and folders with me via my non-Google email address. Because there wasn't a Google account with my non-Google email but it was a rescue email for Client A's Google account Google automatically shared Client B's information with Client A's Google account. Convoluted but that's just poor to me and not indicative of a business minded solution. In Egnyte if I share something with an email address it is shared there only. If the address is wrong the share fails completely. Same for One Drive for Business.
This was just the wrong way to implement, number one. Why you would setup and email for a client and give your email address as a recovery mechanism makes no sense. It's their account. If you were going to administer their accounts, it should be done from G Suite as an admin. Second, I don't believe sharing gets propogated down from a google Id/email to another one "automatically". That just doesn't sound right...

recovery accounts are only used for communication - you cannot login as your recovery ID. So, in your situation, I think the implementation concept was flawed. I understand I don't have 100% of the story/reasonsing so I am taking what I read at face value.
LOYAL AG
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CapCity12thMan said:


Quote:

Specific example I've experienced. When I first started my business I had two clients using Google Docs. Client A had a Google email address I set up and I made my business email (not a Google account) the rescue email in case of a lost password. Client B managed their own Google Drive. When I started working with Client B they started sharing docs and folders with me via my non-Google email address. Because there wasn't a Google account with my non-Google email but it was a rescue email for Client A's Google account Google automatically shared Client B's information with Client A's Google account. Convoluted but that's just poor to me and not indicative of a business minded solution. In Egnyte if I share something with an email address it is shared there only. If the address is wrong the share fails completely. Same for One Drive for Business.
This was just the wrong way to implement, number one. Why you would setup and email for a client and give your email address as a recovery mechanism makes no sense. It's their account. If you were going to administer their accounts, it should be done from G Suite as an admin. Second, I don't believe sharing gets propogated down from a google Id/email to another one "automatically". That just doesn't sound right...

recovery accounts are only used for communication - you cannot login as your recovery ID. So, in your situation, I think the implementation concept was flawed. I understand I don't have 100% of the story/reasonsing so I am taking what I read at face value.
It happened exactly as I described it. three times to be exact before we figured out what was happening and I moved Client A to a better product. Your first comment suggests you're taking an experienced IT approach to this which simply wasn't the case. But there was no other link between the two clients other than my non-Google email.

The only facts that I omitted (didn't think they were relevant) were that Client A had a free Google account such as companyname@gmail.com while Client B had a paid relationship via google apps or whatever it's called. To me that makes things worse for Google to link a free account from gmail to a paid one in their "business" solution. Client A is a small company that had no real IT activity at all. We set up the account to facilitate emailing accounting related activity with their customers and vendors. We weren't setting up a company solution by any means. I was going to be the only person really using that account which is why I made my email the recovery.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.