The Egnyte Connect Desktop App provides fast real-time access to your files and folders stored in the cloud from your computer. Once connected, all Egnyte content you can access in the cloud will appear in a network drive in Windows Explorer or volume on Mac Finder. You will be able to view all your files and folders in the cloud without having first to sync them to your computer. Furthermore, you’ll also be able to select specific folders to be synchronized for access, even when you are offline.
OneDrive is the Microsoft cloud service that connects you to all your files. It lets you store and protect your files, share them with others, and get to them from anywhere on all your devices. When you use OneDrive with an account provided by your company or school, it’s sometimes called OneDrive for Business.
OneDrive acts as a kind of My Documents folder in the cloud. Instead of saving files to a local hard disk, they are saved to one of Microsoft’s data centres. This highly secure environment means your files can only be accessed by you or those you choose to share them with.
By storing your data in the cloud rather than on a device – laptop, desktop, phone – you can work with more flexibility and security. It changes the focus from “which device do I need to use to access that data?” to “which device do I want to use to access that data?”
So when you want to access a document, you can. Regardless of whether you’re at your desktop or have your work laptop, the file will be there for you to login and work with. And when you’re done, you simply save your changes and they are replicated back to the cloud. This means you see the same version of the file wherever you are.
The same is true if you want to share a document with someone else. Rather than emailing them a copy, you can give them access to the same version as you. When you want to check changes, you can compare versions of the document. If you want to work together, you can co-edit the same document.
This functionality – and far more – is made possible by the cloud-based nature of OneDrive for Business. But there is also a local component to the service.
Here are some examples of how businesses are already benefiting from integrating OneDrive for Business into how they work.
Real-time collaboration on projects and documents has never been so easy. Local and Online Web App versions of applications like Word and Excel allow co-editing by multiple users. You can see which part of a document is being worked on by which user. Even if you are working separately, you know there is one ‘live’ version of the document, with a version history and change tracking.
OneDrive for Business is the foundation for Microsoft 365’s mobile working features. Being able to work from any device is only useful if you have access to your data. With OneDrive, you do. If you’re using Microsoft 365 and not working with OneDrive, you’re only using a small fraction of its potential. Potential you are already paying for as part of your Microsoft 365 subscription!
OneDrive stores data in Microsoft’s data centres, which keep multiple copies of each file on independent hardware. Syncing your data between your devices and OneDrive means you could drop your laptop in the bath and your data wouldn’t be lost. You shouldn’t, but you could. You have a spare copy of everything, just in case.
With billions spent on security every year, Microsoft Azure is the most secure cloud anywhere in the world. Because “it’s gone” isn’t the only kind of data loss – cybercriminal activity is now far more interested in stealing data than destroying it. OneDrive uses the Fort Knox of cloud services to help keep unwanted hands off your data.
The best way to buy OneDrive for Business is through a Microsoft 365 license. The most popular are Business Standard. And if you’re just dipping a toe into the cloud, you can start with Business Basic, which can fit any budget and gives access to OneDrive, Exchange Online and the online versions of Word, Excel and Outlook.
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