Sole practitioners and enterprise businesses are just starting to realize the power of online file sharing. There are many sites today that allow for collaboration from free ones to custom ones that require an IT staff to maintain. I am speaking to the business user who looks to safely share files in the most efficient cost effective manner possible. Most people when they think of file sharing think of how to send a large file This is a great use of an online file sharing system.
Many large files cannot be sent through conventional email systems. By utilizing an online file sharing system you can share large files easily. You save time and money by not taking up your own hard drive space and emailing dozens of copies of the same large files back and forth within your organization. They work by uploading the file to the file sharing service and then typically sending an link via email to the party that you are looking to share with. Once the link arrives you can just click and download, simple. some of the file sharing services today include document management tools to view and edit you large documents. Even sharing and additional collaboration tools to help you work without leaving you file sharing program.
Almost all project management sites include online file sharing. The heart of the batting order with any project management system is how robust the file sharing and collaboration tools are. Size of files almost doesn’t matter. The more tools and resources you can access in one workspace the more efficient your file sharing experience. There are many programs that act like file sharing programs or a dropbox but they have limited functionality or tools to help you really share your files effectively.
That is one use but what about my files.
I have a stack of project folders on my desk, many of them I access to reference or add notes a dozen times a day. Why do i keep going back to the same file? I did not know the answer to that until I researched file sharing. What I found was fascinating. What I found saved me and my company thousands of man hours, tons of resources and helped us close more deals and make more money. What I found was simple. Like most businesses I was sharing the same paper files, email and documents to different parties throughout the day. I found that I was looking up old emails to forward in part or whole to various parties over and over again. I found my partners sharing documents related to the same subject matter or deal via email or fax with me, many times the same email. Sometimes even pulling up the wrong version of an email.
With file sharing and collaboration tools you can save as many versions as you want. Collaborate with others that make their own changes. Once saved the power of integrated version control keeps track of who changed what and when. All of this without clogging our internal severs.
Business today revolves around file sharing. Sharing a Purchase order, architectural drawings, investment materials, x-rays, marketing materials, due diligence etc. It may be easy to share 1, 5 or 20 files but what about when you have 10, 20 projects or more with dozens or thousands of documents or sub folders.
I no longer need to look for files or documents. I can share documents from my office or cellphone. I can save documents from my desktop right to my online storage and have it notify the parties that I am sharing with. In fact, I can save all of my files, emails and documents into the folders online and share what I want with the specific permissions that I want to give (download, edit, etc.). I can have the permission expire or cancel them when I want and not worry about updating my partners or customers with repeat emails. As the revision or a new file hit the folder the folder automatically notifies the party that I shared with.
This is the power of todays document management and file sharing programs.
Business today revolves around file sharing. But how your files are organized and shared are critical to make this process successful for you. File sharing alone won’t do it. The free sites that just offer sharing a file may be fine for just sharing a large file but for real collaboration you will need to look to document management sites like Filocity and Sharepoint to properly share and work with their business documents. For a free trial of a site that you dont need an IT department to run but with enterprise level features try , you will be happy that you did. Filocity is a website that offers enterprise file sharing and collaboration tools as well as online project management and document management. Fully secure and HIPAA compliant. Complete virtual office tools starting at $8.95 per month. Check out Filocity at Safe, Effortless Organization, Instant Retrieval!