Dropbox pioneered cloud-based sharing of consumer photos and files. Others like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) followed suit providing free storage for the consumer with the hopes of selling additional storage once your free allotment fills up.

Dropbox became increasingly popular and found its way into business networks due to his intuitive interface and ease of sharing and collaborating files between multiple computers and devices. Prior to 2014, we found that 4 out of 5 of our customer business networks had Dropbox installed somewhere.

Since the public cloud was originally developed for the consumer, it’s not right for business, which is why Dropbox (as well as SugarSync, OneDrive, Box, and Google Drive) ended up on Bloomberg Business Week’s list of <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-12/banned-at-work-employers-blacklist-apps-from-facebook-google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top banned apps</a> due to the misuse of consumer-based apps keeping business networks vulnerable.

<strong><a href="http://magnitech.com/magnicloud-sync">Magnicloud Sync™</a></strong> holds six major advantages over the public cloud (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc)

<strong>IT Management and Support.</strong>
With Dropbox and OneDrive, IT administrators can’t control which users are syncing files. Nor can they control who has access to shared files. The end-users of each respective account sets the sharing parameters without IT oversight. The public cloud apps do not allow companies to view an audit log, meaning that If sensitive data is leaked, administrators have no way of knowing who may have accessed it. How is your business protected against leaks of proprietary information, customer records, and trade secrets? Also, Dropbox doesn’t provide remote wipe, so if an employee’s laptop is stolen, IT can’t remotely remove Dropbox or OneDrive data.

<strong>Organization Policies.</strong>
With Dropbox and OneDrive, organizations have no control with respect to max file size, or excluding extensions. For example, suppose you wanted exclude a Quickbooks company file from Dropbox or OneDrive to mitigate risk of a data breach. Can you do that? With Magnicloud Sync™, you can.

<strong>Data encryption is limited.</strong>
Public cloud apps like Dropbox and OneDrive use limited encryption, using one encryption key for the entire server. If that server is compromised, so are all of the organizations hosted on it. In other words, your data is sitting on the same public cloud next to content from millions of other users, without adequate isolation. With Magnicloud Sync™, every organization hosted will have its own encryption key.

<strong>Limits to Backups and File Revisions.</strong>
Companies providing public cloud storage pay for data. They will erase revisions and deleted files without your consent on a recurring basis. With no restoration of these files, they are not true backup solutions. Magnicloud Sync™ offers unlimited revisions and backups of the data, with a full audit trail of changes to files.

<strong>You can’t share password-protected web links.</strong>
Dropbox, OneDrive, SugarSync, and GoogleDrive are all good for sharing photos, files, and videos. But what if you want to share files over the web with a secure password? Dropbox and OneDrive allow you to share files with a public link. What if the recipient forwards that link to someone that shouldn't have it? What if they post the link in a public forum for thousands to see? You'll have no control or visibility over who may be viewing your content. Magnicloud Sync™ gives users control by sending secure links to a guest with a username and password. Users can choose to set an expiration date on the link, and work with IT to view an audit trail of who has accessed the data.

<strong>You can’t lock files for collaborative editing.</strong>
If you’re working on a file that’s shared with multiple people, you'll want to be able to lock it so nobody else can overwrite it. Dropbox and OneDrive don’t support locking files for editing, and this lack of protection can result in many hours of lost work.

Implementation of <strong><a href="http://magnitech.com/magnicloud-sync">Magnicloud Sync™</a></strong> is the key to keeping your organization safe from disaster whether it's in the form of data deletion or data falling into the wrong hands.