Breaking news: File sharing software is pretty popular these days. Okay, that’s not really news, but it’s 100% true for both consumers and businesses alike. What is becoming newsworthy is the growing difference between these two groups – that is, file-sharing wants and needs of consumers versus those of businesses.

November 27, 2013

3 Min Read
Why Business Needs More from Cloud File-Sharing

By Michael Brown 1

Breaking news: File sharing software is pretty popular these days. Okay, that’s not really news, but it’s 100 percent true for both consumers and businesses alike. What is becoming newsworthy is the growing difference between these two groups – that is, file-sharing wants and needs of consumers versus those of businesses.

To generalize, consumer’s wants (in order of importance) are ease-of-use, low-cost and some basic security measures to ensure their files don’t get compromised. Businesses on the other hand need high-levels of security, not only to protect sensitive data, but also in order to comply with legal requirements. More on this in a second. Cost is a factor, as is usability, but I think it’s safe to say that they are much further down on the list of priorities.

As I said, that’s the general perspective. There are, of course, very specific needs on the part of businesses that most consumer file-sharing software is still (for the most part) unable to offer. Some of these differences were highlighted in a recent Wired post by Ted Husly, the VP of Marketing for eFolder but we wanted to offer our own take on some of these key differences on a broader level. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some areas where the consumer solutions still fall short:

  • Hosting Options: There’s certainly nothing wrong with a company hosting all of its data/files in the cloud, but many companies – notably those with their own infrastructure who wish to retain more ownership of their files – still prefer to have the option of hosting their data in a private cloud setting. Unfortunately, this is not an option for most consumer-based file sharing solutions. It’s all or nothing.

  • Third Party Policies: If file-sharing were only done between internal employees, this wouldn’t be such a major pain point. But of course, companies need to share files with customers, partners and other third parties. The problem when it comes to consumer solutions is that businesses have limited ways of ensuring that the right people – and only the right people – have access to certain files. As Ted noted, many business solutions offer the ability to “set expiration dates, download limits and download notifications, not to mention the creation of guest accounts that don’t require full-featured account registration to access and upload files or folders on a temporary basis.”

  • Cloud Enablement: Consumers don’t have servers in their homes (IT people, you might be the exception here) but many businesses do have them on premise, and if they opt for a business-grade file sharing solution, they’ll have the ability to connect that server to the cloud. With a consumer solution, that server is loses practically all of its value and utility.

  • Legal and Auditing Compliance: The main reason businesses can’t leverage a consumer file-sharing solution is because it would put them in direct violation of several important regulations, most notably HIPAA. The low cost of consumer file sharing solutions in miniscule compared to the costs (financial and otherwise) of non-compliance.  

It’s interesting to see these types of stories pop up in the tech press. I think we’re going to see many more in the future. But despite their differences at the moment, the consumer vs. enterprise showdown is actually good for both sides. Consumers are getting added security and other features from the business side of things, while businesses are getting ease-of-use and the features consumers know and love. Someday, they’ll be indistinguishable from one another. Until that day comes, we suggest your clients take the safe route. 

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