Last November, Microsoft announced it would scale back the cloud storage space of its OneDrive service. Citing “abuse” by a group of users, Microsoft said in a statement “Instead of focusing on extreme backup scenarios, we want to remain focused on delivering high-value productivity and collaboration experiences that benefit the majority of OneDrive users.” The announcement flew in the face of Microsoft’s previous stance that OneDrive users would enjoy free unlimited storage. Microsoft immediately implmented a 1TB limit on OneDrive accounts, and then announced in December further reductions would be coming in “early 2016”.
According to an article published at computerworld.com, Microsoft has given users of its OneDrive cloud storage service a 90-day notice that their free allowance will be scaled back from 15GB to 5GB in late July.
The 67% reduction in free storage space will take effect July 27. On the same day, Microsoft will also eliminate the 15GB free “Camera Roll” bonus it once gave to anyone who asked. The result: Users who formerly had 30GB of free storage will have just 5GB.
Given that OneDrive has been closely integrated into Windows 10 and Office 365, scores of OneDrive users will be confronted with the inability to upload new files, read-only access to their existing files. Worse yet, small businesses that use the free, personal version of OneDrive will be left scrambling to download or delete files to meet the new, significantly smaller OneDrive storage limit.
The changes also reach into Microsoft’s OneDrive for Business service, implementing a 1TB cap on each user account. OneDrive for Business allows users to sync files to the cloud, share them with business colleagues and edit them together in Office Online.
For small business users, the storage squeeze may be the last straw. OneDrive lacks the ability to sync and store folder structures outside of the default OneDrive folder and suffers from slow file syncing speeds. Many alternatives to OneDrive are available, bit not all are designed from the ground up for business use.
While the free consumer versions of popular cloud storage and sync services like Mozy, Box and Dropbox may seem like viable alternatives, business users and small business owners need capabilities like administrative control of files, folders and retention policies, file version history and point-in-time restoration. Security is a major concern as well – are files encrypted while in transit as well as at-rest? How about the ability to safely store and control access to files and folders from departing or terminated employees?
If your business is considering a move away from OneDrive, Ntelogic’s ShareSync service is a business-grade file sync and share service that meets the needs of users, administrators and business owners.
ShareSync from Ntelogic syncs files and folders across every device:
- Syncing happens automatically the moment a file
modification occurs - Offline work on PCs is synced the moment a user comes back
online - ShareSync apps available for Mac, Windows, Windows Phone,
iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry - Content also accessible through web browsers
ShareSync allows you to share with recipients both inside and outside the company:
- Intuitive sharing interface is integrated with your corporate
address book - Users can set sharing permissions (Co-Owner, Modify, View)
and change them at any time - Sub-folders can be shared with different permissions than
parent folders - Quick group sharing with Exchange Distribution Lists
- Files can be shared via web-link to recipients, even if they
don’t have ShareSync installed - Share directly from Outlook and Office with easy-to-enable
Windows plugins
ShareSync keeps content secure and protected:
- Data is encrypted at-rest and in-transit
- An account-specific unique security key provides additional
data protection - Sharing permissions and access are strictly controlled and
easily amended at any time - ShareSync data on lost or stolen devices can be remotely
wiped - An Audit Log keeps track of all the ShareSync activity on your
account - Reliability is assured with a 99.999% service level agreement
Contact us today to discover how your business can benefit from Ntelogic’s ShareSync service, and to arrange a free trial.
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