Here we present the top file-sharing tools and the most important features used by companies of different employee sizes. These insights were generated by analyzing our proprietary database of 100K vendors, 10M reviews, and 200M case studies.
The data highlights that Google Drive and Dropbox shine in the sub 200 employee segment due to their ease of use and affordable pricing, while in the enterprise segment Microsoft and Box call the shots due to their robust integrations and security features.
As would be evident in the 1-200 employee range, most companies are looking to get up and running quickly and hence prefer easy to use solutions. Being able to search files across devices, able to access and share files using mobile app as well as generous storage limits are some of the key features users of file sharing software look for in this segment. This analysis was based on user reviews and case studies in this segment. We create clusters using algorithms to see what is the most talked about topic in reviews and case studies.
Feature Definitions:
File Sharing – Allows users to share files and entire folders with anybody. Also allow users to select the privileges they want to give.
Search – Offers an indexing and search functionality to locate files by: words or phrases in the title or body of the file; upload and last-modified dates; user interactions and more.
Mobile Apps – Provides support for iOS, Android and Windows phone apps.
Device syncing – Helps to manage file syncing across devices to ensure files are up to date no matter who or what device they are updated on.
Storage Limits – Administer storage limits by user or group.
Integrations – Supports integration with external apps, to ensure productivity and efficiency of work teams and client-partners.
File Type Support – Supports all required file types including Google Docs, MS Office, images, videos, etc.
User and role Management – Enables administrators to create user accounts and distribution groups, set user permissions to determine the access levels of users to ensure that only those with the proper clearance are allowed to access certain files.
Security: Supports storing and transferring files in a secure environment.
Change Tracking/Audit Logs – Provides an audit log of changes and enables users to revert to a specific version.
APIs – Enables custom integration to external systems.
Storage Zones – Provides an option to choose locations where your files should be stored at.
Device Management – Administrators can prevent users from accessing files on lost or stolen devices as well as from terminated employees. Also may provide the ability to wipe files from devices remotely.
Trends in the file sharing software space:
Compliance – Ever since the enforcement of EU’s GDPR, privacy policies and features have been changing. Since we live in a world of stricter digital privacy laws, different forms of technological applications are greatly affected by these changes, including file sharing platforms.
Mobile-friendly – The future of file sharing solutions hinges on mobile access. This is because mobile users now comprise a large part of the market, and they expect to be able to access their files from anywhere.
IT control – File sharing applications are also getting more and more administrative features, such as activity reporting, remote wipes and oversight. Providing enterprise-grade control, which empowers the IT team to restrict the sharing and access to confidential data across multiple devices, has become the norm to further ensure protection and security.
Expanding collaboration– Vendors are busy adding more features and functionalities to the collaboration part of file sharing apps.
Centralized file systems – A lot of applications are building single, centralized file systems where they can share data externally and internally. When businesses use these, it makes it much easier for them to organize everything and get a lot more security than before.
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