Ah, the cloud. We know and love it and, often without even realizing it, it has conveniently become a big part of both our personal and professional lives.
What exactly is cloud storage, though? Cloud storage is a service for storing your objects in the cloud. It is great for sharing files with friends and families and keeping documents in sync between your devices. In addition, it allows you and your employees to edit, share, and publish documents in a unified system, improve communication, increase marketing abilities, enhance your day-to-day business processes, and much more.
Getting information to and from the cloud has never been easier or more affordable.
Everyone has their favorite cloud storage option; Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud, or Dropbox. I bet you do too. The biggest advantage of these services is that they are (most often) free!
Sort of anyway.
Let’s dive into your options, see what makes them stand out against one another, and what the actual cost of using them for your business can be.
The Pros of Cloud Storage:
- Most business owners approve of public cloud storage because it’s easy and cheap and requires very little support and infrastructure overhead.
- It offers excellent flexibility as, regardless of the device you use or your geographical location, you can access your files anywhere where there’s an internet connection. You can easily share your files with others so they can save, edit, or review your work. This works well in a professional environment where collaboration is necessary to complete projects. And with files being constantly saved and updated, you can easily pick up where you and your co-worker(s) last left off.
- With some storage options like Dropbox and Google Drive, you can even access files when you are offline. Of course, by making them available offline, they will take up storage on your device. Your collaborators will not be able to view any edits immediately, but the option does exist.
- Above all, it is convenient. You do not need any hard disk or flash drive to access or view your data — all is done online.
As with everything that seems almost too good to be true, “free” public cloud storage (like Google Drive and Dropbox) has some disconcerting downsides.
The Cons of Cloud Storage:
- You need an internet connection. Although some services offer limited offline access, only by connecting to the internet do cloud storage services provide the convenience of flexibility. Only then will you be able to save and sync your files and collaborate with others.
- Extra storage comes at a cost. Although most storage options offer you a set number of gigabytes that you can use for free (Google Drive provides 15GB of free storage, while Dropbox only offers a disappointing 2GB – that’s less than your cell phone probably offers), what happens when you have more data than they allow?
Right, upgrades come at a cost.
- Free is not really FREE. People often fall into the trap of a cloud service offering free storage. Then they mysteriously start getting spammed with fishy-looking emails (or should we say “phishy”?), or their data vanishes from the service. Sound familiar?
Large corporations like Apple, Microsoft, and Google all offer cloud storage solutions. All three of these providers are also infamous for the amount of data they collect from users. Using the cloud services comes with an inherent risk of them collecting data such as your location, contacts, search history, purchases, and more (only to serve you with personalized ads later).
Also, since it’s so popular, cybercriminals figure they’ve got a massive pool of victims to steal from. Although you can rightly assume that big companies such as Google and Microsoft invest a great deal of money and effort into securing their customers’ data, they are also an enormous target for hackers. For example, security researchers found a previously undiscovered bug in Google Drive that could allow hackers to swap out legitimate files with malicious ones. When the issue occurs, Google doesn’t give you any alerts or updates other than that document has been updated. This could lead to dangerous scenarios where users go to open the file and are instead treated to a cyberattack. Only a solid anti-malware suite can protect you from threats like these in real-time. Not a good thing.
When it comes to free cloud storage, you have to remember that you will get exactly what you (don’t) pay for. The convenience and flexibility it offers can end up costing you dearly. Our advice: only use these free services for casual files, like family photos or music downloads. Avoid storing any PII/PHI and other sensitive and critical business data in the public cloud. It is simply not worth the risk. And although scalable, upgrades (which you will need sooner than you think) usually cost you more than what your IT provider would charge you.
With Cloud Solutions hosted by the experts at Meeting Tree Computer, you’ll never have to worry about security, management, or maintenance. Let us help you secure your files, increase efficiency, and improve communication and collaboration in your organization. Contact us today: (845) 237-2117. Our technicians are standing by to answer your call.
