Jun 19, 2014

Organizations are increasingly seeking out online file storage as a means of preserving essential business information and ensuring the users can access the documents as needed. However, the type of platform to use has been a topic of much debate among decision makers as they look for a secure solution. While many have turned to cloud-based deployments, management must consider the risks and benefits that these systems may bring to overall operations.

When it comes to cloud storage, more firms are choosing the private option over consumer-grade public systems due to security requirements. According to a recent industry survey of IT professionals, 63 percent of respondents prefer a private infrastructure over all other alternatives. This development stems from the fact that private solutions give IT power to govern the data without imposing restrictions on employee capabilities. This will provide oversight into secure file sharing practices and ensure that no external parties are able to compromise the essential information.

Bringing private environments into business
While it’s hopeful that most organizations are using enterprise-grade services, many still have not provided their staff with any such tools to benefit the business. This is why many employees turn to their personal accounts to transfer work documents, potentially placing corporate information at risk. Tech Page One contributor Michael O’Dwyer pointed out that in a workplace where everyone is using a different sharing program, IT will not be able to monitor sensitive documents, and it will be substantiallydifficult to deter data loss. Without oversight into the activity of users, the chances of breaches and information compromise increase exponentially, making it necessary to invest in enterprise solutions such as Memeo C1.

“Companies have some specific obligations to provide electronically stored information and if you don’t know where it is, it is impossible to fulfill those obligations correctly,” industry expert William O’Brien told the source. “When such information is available under e-discovery litigation, courts will not understand that employees have stored data elsewhere and will penalize offending companies with substantial sanctions and fines.”

Ensure vendor reliability
For any file sharing solution, it’s important to make sure that the vendor has a high degree of service availability. However, according to an industry report, 54 percent of organizations looking for constant access encountered at least one outage in the past three months. In addition, more than 25 percent don’t even measure the availability of their solutions. This can lead to substantial downtime-related fines and even cause customer losses. By testing the services and ensuring provider reputation, businesses can better leverage their storage systems and maximize benefits.