dropbox-resized

IT Tips & Tricks

The Benefits of Migrating to Dropbox

21 February 2023

If you’re shopping around for a Cloud storage solution, the sheer number of options out there can confound even the shrewdest shopper. What are the benefits? How much does it cost? How well will it work for your situation? What are the pros and cons? How much storage can you get? Having some kind of standard against which you can measure contenders can be helpful. How about taking a look at what some big companies have chosen to use?

drew-houston

Drew Houston, founder and CEO of Dropbox.

How about looking at some really successful companies to see what they’re using? Or how about we save you a ton of time and tell you what more than half of Fortune 500 companies are using?

The Dropbox app has a solid reputation for offering impressive performance throughout its features and has some exceptionally fine tools and storage capabilities. And, frankly, if Dropbox is good enough for 56% of Fortune 500 companies, they’ve got to be doing something right, right?

How about we save you a ton of time and tell you what more than half of Fortune 500 companies are using?

Since its inception in 2007, Dropbox has maintained a competitive edge, adding new features, staying abreast of market trends, and always aiming to outdo its competition. It’s a strategy that has worked for them. The proof is a network of 500 million registered users in over 180 countries, making Dropbox a global platform with excellent collaboration and storage features. Here we take a look at some key benefits.

What Can Dropbox Do for You?

  • With Dropbox, you get the convenience of storage for all your files in one safe place and having them accessible from your computer, phone or tablet.
  • You can backup important folders such as your “Desktop”, which automatically syncs any changes across your account.
  • Forget about having to switch between apps or wasting time searching for files. All your work can be created and edited — including Cloud-content and Microsoft Office files — directly in Dropbox
  • With Dropbox Paper you get a new type of document designed for creative work. You can collaborate in real-time, assign tasks, make to-do lists and much more.

The net result is a platform that allows you to collaborate with your team, share files and work with all your tools and content from the convenience of one centralized, organized place. Even large organizations can benefit from Dropbox with Dropbox Business (aka Dropbox Enterprise) which offers custom, scalable solutions and individualized support. Both Dropbox Advanced and Dropbox Enterprise offer large amounts of storage space.

Dropbox vs. the Closest Competitor

According to Gartner, Google Drive may well be Dropbox’s closest competitor, but in a head-to-head matchup, Dropbox wins. Here’s how they stack up against each other.

  • In terms of security, both offer two-factor authentication and encrypt data in transit. However, Dropbox uses a stronger version of encryption to keep your data safe when it’s being stored — AES 256-bit encryption, approved by the US National Security Agency. For data at rest, Google Drive uses 128-bit encryption. Additionally, in Dropbox, you can set passwords on shared files so that only people with the password can access them. You can also set an expiration date for sharing, after which the file-sharing link won’t work.
  • Not only does Dropbox win in the security and file-sharing arenas, but it also comes out on top in terms of syncing. Google downloads and uploads an entire document to sync it, often resulting in delays. If you also happen to lose your internet connection while Google is syncing, you could lose the work you’ve done. Dropbox, on the other hand, syncs the changes to a file in blocks, making it much faster, with changes appearing more quickly for everyone, meaning you can access the latest version of your file — on any device — and do it faster.
  • Dropbox also has a unique advantage with LAN sync. If you have multiple computers connected to a single network, Dropbox will sync files directly between them. It will still back up files to the Cloud for storage but transferring large files to computers on the same network will happen a lot faster. With Google Drive, a file on Computer A will have to upload to the web, then download to Computer B, which can take longer for larger files.

Referring to Dropbox, Chris Burgess, Vice President of IT at Expedia says, “We invest in technology products that simplify our employees’ work and don’t get in the way of their productivity, while also offering best-in-class security.”

In addition to Expedia, Dropbox has a number of other well-known customers, such as News Corp, Yahoo!, National Geographic, Hyatt, Intuit, Hard Rock, and Lonely Planet, amongst others.

That’s a pretty decent list by anyone’s standards.

What Do I Need To Know About Migrating to Dropbox?

While Dropbox is well-known for its Cloud storage capabilities and file-sharing features, one thing missing from its toolbox is a way to prevent the lost data that occurs when you move or rename files and folders that contain links.

Do you want your lost data restored instantly?

This, however, is easily solved with a powerhouse like LinkFixer Advanced, which can either prevent those links from breaking in the first place or repair existing broken links and automatically restore your lost data instantly. This naturally makes for a smoother migration to (or from) Dropbox (or any Cloud storage platform, for that matter).

If you want to protect your linked data, visit LinkTek.com for more information or to request a free no-credit-card-required trial. Alternatively, talk to a friendly Service Consultant at 727-442-1822 about your specific situation or to see a free demo. Don’t forget to ask about the third way that LinkFixer Advanced could help you!

With LinkFixer Advanced, you can forget about missing data, downtime, upset end-users and grumpy bosses and look forward to some smooth sailing when it comes to data migration. You’re welcome.

Feel free to share this article on your social media: