Are your clients using non-secure, consumer-grade file sync services such as Dropbox for basic file sharing? If so, they are not taking full advantage of all the features and capabilities a true business-class file sync service has to offer. Here are five ways you can boost your clients’ productivity and collaboration by introducing them to business-grade file sync:

For years, many SMBs have stored most or all of their data on on-premises file servers, a strategy that works great for local employees but forces remote workers to use cumbersome VPNs or FTP to access data on the go. Cloud-enabling your clients’ file servers allows them to enjoy rapid file access on mobile, while retaining the cost, security and speed advantages of a local file server. This is an ideal approach for clients uncomfortable with moving all their data to the cloud. Your clients will enjoy how teams can collaborate on common sets of files with the most up-to-date versions being continuously synced to the cloud and file server. You can also stress to your clients how cloud-enabling the file server allows them to keep a file-level backup of their server in the cloud–killing two birds with one stone.

With all the security risks and potential compliance nightmares associated with sharing files over email or USB drives, you should educate your clients on alternative, and more secure, methods of sharing. With business-grade file sync, your clients can deploy a wide range of security options when sharing files. For example, users can set expiration dates, limit the number of times a file is downloaded, receive notifications whenever a file is downloaded, and track a secure share by forcing recipients to log in with a permanent or guest account. Moreover, reassure your clients that administrative controls such as remote wipe, file type exclusion and an audit trail ensure their data is never off-leash and is always protected.

Many clients depend on email and/or complicated services such as SharePoint to collaborate. Unfortunately, these methods force users into an unnecessarily long, cumbersome workflow involving file attachments, multiple downloads and no inherent versioning capabilities. Business-grade file sync provides a simpler approach to internal collaboration. Team shares–folders that multiple people can access and save files to–make it easy for organizations and subgroups within organizations to collaborate. Additionally, with business-class file sync, you can provide your clients with a secure, custom-branded, easy-to-use portal to dramatically simplify the file sharing workflow.

Though most people think of file sync only as a convenient way to sync files among different people and different devices, business-grade file sync actually provides another important benefit: backup. And while your clients knows they should back up their data, not all of them may back up or are willing to pay for a standalone backup service. Fortunately, cloud file sync can serve as a convenient backup solution by backing up the productivity files your clients use the most–spreadsheets, documents, images and more–to the cloud. Additionally, your clients’ employees can specify certain folders to back up to the cloud, even if these folders are not stored within a user’s synced folder.

There is no shortage of platforms that promise to improve collaboration and productivity in the workplace, such as Huddle and SharePoint. Though these products are widely used, they may be overkill for most small- and medium-sized businesses, and introduce unnecessary complexity. Business-grade file sync offers many of the productivity advantages desired by your clients, but in a substantially simpler manner. For example, team shares ensure teams can securely work together on the same set of information, dramatically improving collaboration.

eFolder Anchor is a true business-class file sync solution that can make your clients more productive than ever. Anchor allows organizations to unlock secure, team-friendly collaboration, without the hassles and costs associated with more complex solutions. Anchor also provides rich monitoring and tracking tools, which make it easy to show your clients that the security of their data is your No. 1 priority. Find more tools to introduce eFolder Anchor to your clients by downloading our Anchor Client Awareness Playbook.

Neeraj Periwal is Marketing Coordinator, eFolder. Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly and are part of MSPmentor’s Cloud-based File Syncing and Sharing Infocenter.