Posted on January 10, 2020
What is OneDrive?
With the advent of the digital era, the need for paper-based reports have declined significantly instead being replaced by their digital versions. With the introduction of the cloud, the digital landscape changed once again with the added advantage of being able to store and access data over internet and share it with anyone, anywhere in the world. OneDrive is Microsoft’s response to this changing landscape. So, what exactly is OneDrive?
One Drive to store them all:
OneDrive is a storage and syncing platform where you can store your files, pictures, videos and more. It syncs automatically with your computer, mobile phone, tablet and ensures that all your stored documents and files are up to date with any changes which you make across connected your devices.
Features:
OneDrive has many features, some of which have been highlighted below, which make storing and sharing and accessing files as easy as the click of a button. The features are:
Access and Share from anywhere to anywhere: OneDrive allows its users to access and store files from any device be it mobile or PC or MAC. It also allows the user to securely share these files to any individual either within or outside your organization.
Integrate and Collaborate: OneDrive integrates well with Microsoft Office and offers the co-authoring features and aids the user to co-author and collaborate with others and ensures that there is one updated version of the document being worked on at the end.
Search and Security: OneDrive has a search feature which makes it very easy to find and files saved within its storage. It also has high level security which compiles with all the security requirements and ensures that your files are well – protected.
Versions deployed:
One Drive has two versions, Personal OneDrive and OneDrive for business. Each version has similar features with a few differences.
Difference between One Drive for business and Personal One Drive:
| Features | One Drive for Business | Personal One Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Company Use | Personal Use |
| Cost | Plan 1 – $5/user/month, Plan 2 -$10/user/month and Office 365 Business Premium. | $1.99/month, $69.99/year for Personal and $99.99/year for Home. |
| Storage | 1 TB of storage for Plan 1 and Office 365 Business Premium Plan and Unlimited individual cloud storage for Plan 2. | 5 GB of free storage on signing up. 100 GB for paid and 1 TB for Office 365 Personal and 1 TB/user for Home, with a limit of 6 users. |
| Use | Storing, accessing, organizing files and collaborating on reports. | Storing, accessing, organizing files and collaborating on reports. |
| Access | Organization | Individual |
Deployment Options for One Drive for Business:
| Size of Organization | Deployment tools used | Management |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business | Local Installation | One Drive Admin Centre |
| Medium – Sized Business | Scripted installation or Microsoft Intune mobile device management (MDM) | Office 365 with MDM, OneDrive admin centre, Intune mobile application management (MAM) or MDM |
| Enterprise | Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager with Intune or Windows Autopilot | Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manger, Group Policy objects (GPOs), etc. |
Benefits:
The Benefits afforded by each plan is highlighted in detail below.
Personal One Drive:
| Features | Office 365 Home | Office 365 Personal | One Drive 100 GB | One Drive Basic 5GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office Apps | Included (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) | Included (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) | Not Included | Not Included |
| Services | Skype included | Skype included | Only OneDrive | Only OneDrive |
| Advanced Security | Id verification, ransomware detection and document recovery, limited time access and Password protected sharing links. | Id verification, ransomware detection and document recovery, limited time access and Password protected sharing links. | Id verification can be done for 3 files at most. | Id verification can be done for 3 files at most. |
| Tools | Multi-page Scan, Offline Folders and increased sharing limit. | Multi-page Scan, Offline Folders and increased sharing limit. | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
| Additional Core Features |
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One Drive for Business:
| Features | One Drive for Business Plan 1 | One Drive for Business Plan 2 | Office 365 Business Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Apps | Not Included | Not Included | Included (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and Publisher. |
| Services | Only OneDrive | Only OneDrive | Exchange, SharePoint, Teams and Yammer included. |
| Anywhere access | Bookmarks, automatic photo’s backup, files access from anywhere are all available. | Same as Plan 1 | Same as Plan 1 |
| Tools | Co-authoring, advanced collaborative tools, secure sharing, specific access, custom passwords, search, scan and version recovery features are all available. | Same as Plan 1 | Same as Plan 1 |
| Advanced Security | Data encryption | Data encryption, backup, Data loss prevention and data retention and file auditing and reporting. | Same as Plan 2 |
| Support and Deployment |
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Same as Plan 1 | Same as Plan 1, including a maximum number of people maxed at 300. |
| Office 365 Integration | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | Available |
| Email and Calendaring | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | Available (Custom Domain Name and Email Hosting with 50 GB Mailbox) |
| Teamwork and Communication | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | Available (Video conference access for upto 250 people, Teams collaboration, inter-department management with Yammer etc. |
From all the above we can see that the benefits of OneDrive far outweigh any disadvantages. The cost of storing your files on One Drive is far less costly and safer than storing them in an on-premises file server.
Korcomptenz has 15+ years of experience with the full suite of Microsoft Products. We are Microsoft Gold Partners; headquartered in New Jersey and can help you migrate your data from your on-premises server to Microsoft One Drive. Call us now for a free consultation!
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