From Drive to Dropbox: the Best Places to Store your Documents Online

Online or cloud storage has dramatically increased in popularity as smartphones take over the world.  Why take your laptop with you when you can easily access and edit documents from your tablet or your phone? Not only is it useful for on-the-go access, but it’s also a great way to backup important things.

Enough convincing – let’s take a look at the best choices for online storage.

Google Drive
Google this and Google that – there is no escape from the giant.  Google Drive, formerly known as Google Documents, is simple and incredibly useful.  Not only can you view, create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations, but you can do it collaboratively.  Setup is simple, requiring just a Google account, and of course, there’s an app for phones to go along with it all.  By itself it doesn’t allow you to sync files from your computer, so it is lacking a bit – Google Drive is best used as a personal storage tool.

Dropbox
Having just announced they’ve surpassed 100 million users, Dropbox is dominating the cloud storage market and it’s not difficult to see why.  Not only is Dropbox a great way to store documents, you can also store photos, but it’s simple and efficient, though it does lack a bit in terms of syncing folders from your computer. Dropbox has actually joined forces with Facebook for group document sharing through Facebook.  The service is free and as with most, you can pay to increase your storage capacity.

Box.net
Although Box seems similar to its competitors, the service offers more features and great functionality for business users.  No matter what enterprise you’re with, the data services offered by Box are one to strongly consider. It excels in collaboration between users, and although some features are only available through the paid subscription, the free version is still pretty useful.

SugarSync
A very strong competitor although often overlooked thanks to Dropbox.  The biggest selling point for SugarSync is its ability to allow users to sync any folders from their computers through the cloud storage system, and you can even pick and choose which devices you want the files synced to.  The apps aren’t as snazzy as the competitors, but it will still do the job.

InSync
InSync is a relatively new service which is designed to support Google Drive and take it that one step further.  Its integration with Drive is a huge benefit and really the only reason you would choose it as they link up seamlessly. In terms of other sync uses, it doesn’t quite stand so high, though extra storage space is cheaper than a lot of competitors.

There are so many options available for storing your documents, each with similar capabilities and differing benefits.  Choose one, or use them all and have access to your data no matter where you are.

James Wilshere is a data services analyst who also enjoys playing football as a goalkeeper.  When he’s not researching companies like Macquarie Telecom, he’s saving shots on the field.