As modern business set-ups are increasingly being built around digitisation of services and around automation, Cloud services have not only replaced physical storage units and storage media for securely storing and sharing company data and files between co-workers, clients, and business partners, it has become an essential tool driving greater efficiencies and better data analysis.
The trend has been accelerated by the distributed nature of modern work, with many employees now working remotely, and in some cases, on different continents or time zones.
It is impractical to expect a small business’s IT staff to maintain the full workforce’s data on a local storage unit while dealing with the constant transfer and exchange of data via the internet.
This is the arena that has created the space for shared data storage spaces with robust data centres and cloud storage racks. These offerings not only provide ease of access to data across areas, but also provide advanced data protection and security measures, cloud storage and file sharing options amongst other growing digital services.
Ai is without doubt increasing the need for data cloud solutions and data centres as the scope of computing capacity required to run these systems are mainly outside the reach or technical ability of most small to medium size enterprises today.
BTA takes a look at the top-3 Cloud options for smaller businesses
Wasabi / Wasabi AiR
Wasabi & Wasabu AiR, offers a fully integrated cloud solution with a comprehensive search engine. AiR Insight allows for easy media asset management by providing unlimited search and playback capabilities for all content analyzed and tagged by AiR. The system provides freedom to search and access stored metadata without any hidden fees—no egress charges or API request costs. Wasabi’s offering isn’t primarily a file-oriented storage solution. Instead, it’s positioned as an alternative to Amazon S3 storage. It’s a bit bucket in the cloud that can be used for any number of applications, from file storage to backup and recovery. The Air solution starts from $6.99 per month making it one of the most affordable solutions available in the market today.
Upside:
- Good value
- A challenger to Amazon S3 at a lower cost,
- Fast performance
- No hidden charges.
- Vast number of integrations available
- Ai boosted file search
Downside
- Third-party software required for larger backups.
- Additional cost for phone support
- Currently has only three storage regions.
- No free tier available.
Microsoft Onedrive:
OneDrive for Business provides a comprehensive cloud storage service but also goes beyond. It is one of the logical choices for businesses that use Microsoft 365 as it syncs seamlessly with Microsoft’s own products. A major plus is that it is also compatible with various OS and productivity solutions, including Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft 365, and Office 365. The ubiquity of the Onedrive software makes it a great choice for any business that needs a flexible and reliable cloud storage service that is easy enough to integrate into their existing systems. New features are added frequently and has additional AI-backed file organization
Upside:
- Great value
- 1TB of storage per user
- Seamlessly syncs between browser, desktop, and mobile
- Easy-to-use workflow tools
- Password protection available on every stored file and folder
Downside
- System does not provide for data governance
- Unable to add additional storage space
Google Drive
Google Drive is designed for SMEs and enterprises that want to integrate Google Cloud storage and is particularly useful for businesses using Google Workspace for their workflow and productivity or Microsoft Office 365. Google Drive offers advanced data backup, file collaboration and synchronization functionality plus productivity features. The product uses AI to manage files and workflows, and provides flexible storage options. Additional features include great search and organizational features, plus security, sharing, and encryption protocols for business use.
Upside:
- Easy-to-use intuitive interface
- Syncing between browser and desktop
- File sharing tools
- Flexible pricing options
- Custom email domain included
Downside
- No task or workflow tabs
- Top privacy features only available in the Enterprise tier
- No password protection on shared files
- System does not provide for data governance
