Email was not designed for collaboration on projects or documents. It is cumbersome, cluttered, and often creates versioning issues. Non-profits and corporations seek out document repositories to help reduce these issues and helped them record, organize and develop a knowledge database. There are however a few different types of document repositories.
File Transfer Services are the first type of document repositories. These services are often called FTP's as they operate in a very similar manner as a FTP server, however they are upgraded with a few simple options having to do with compliance and privacy (some even have SSL-digital certifications). The pricing for an FTP service is based upon usage and storage, so the more data you host and the more you use it, the more it will cost.
Option number two is a cloud based file transfer service. "Cloud" is a relative new word in the business community and refers to a service that is complete web-based, meaning that it does not require a user to install anything on their computer to function. Cloud based file transfer systems are usually priced the same way as FTP services.
Although certainly better than email, both of these systems have several drawbacks for companies looking to allow telecommuting, telework, or work-from-home scenarios. First, they have little to no technical support. Second, they have little to no Audit capacities. Third, to access a file you must know its file name, and the systems do not provide robust word-for-word indexing of the files content. Fourth, they have limited security levels, at most consisting of the user being able to access a file or not even know it exists.
Option number three for a document repository solution is a virtual data room. A virtual data room provides a file and folder based storage and retrieval system that enables companies to store documents in an organized way. A virtual data room uses the same encryption technology as online banking so that mission critical documents are never insecure. A virtual data room also has numerous options for locating documents including searching, sorting, and filtering.
A virtual data room also provides granular report of file and employee activity, so that administrators can see who accessed a file, from what location, for how long, and any changes that they made. They allow multiple user-file access and security levels such as viewing but not saving, preventing printing and downloading, and watermarks displaying a user's name, ip address, and date to discourage screen captures.
In summary, file transfer vendors are ill prepared to tackle the intricate nature of document repositories for corporate communications. For a more robust solution, consider a virtual data room.
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