Offering a rock-solid experience and an easy to navigate user interface, Backblaze allows you to store your data in a secure environment and at a really good price – And as a nice extra, you are able to track your computer if it’s lost.
Definitely one of the best cloud backup services for small businesses.
Amazon Web Services (AWS):
On March 14, 2006, Amazon Web Services was officially re-launched to combine the initial offerings of Amazon:
- S3 Cloud Storage
- SQS
- EC2.
With AWS you get plenty of business solutions that give you access to the same infrastructure that Amazon uses. However, it might be best suited for developers.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is powerful enough to allow small businesses to create and manage their own content. It allows marketing teams to safely share and access the content without sacrificing manageability and storage customization.
AWS S3 takes advantage of scalability to reduce costs and provides a pretty solid backup and recovery support. You also get the benefit of “Custom Pricing” – Which means that the more storage you use the less it will cost you. For many small businesses, S3 is the most suitable package.
The only drawback with AWS is that is targeted for developers, software engineers, and content marketing, so if your small company is not in the technical business, this might not be for you.
Google Cloud
Google does offer a lot of cloud services and solutions that you can take advantage of. Some of them might not be suitable for small businesses. Here are some of the most common services they offer:
- Google Drive
- G-Suite
- Google Datalab
- Google Cloud Composer
- And the most recent; Google Anthos
One of the biggest remarks here? Google Drive cost is $0. This basic version offers you a decent amount of storage space. Enough for most personal users, and even for some businesses. You can store your files and access them from anywhere.
The biggest benefit of cloud computing is that you also get access to cloud-based productivity tools such as Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, without ever needing to install them.
So, if you get all that for free, why would you want to pay?
The paid version is well worth the money. Starting at low as $6 per month, G-Suite will let you increase your storage capacity considerably and provide you with better management and admin features for increased security.
Microsoft OneDrive
Since its initial release on 2007 OneDrive has been a part of Microsoft’s web office services. It offers a highly secure environment with Advanced Encryption, Compliance, Multifactor Authentication, and Hybrid Cloud.
Despite all the competition Microsoft is still a leader in the business productivity industry. Word, Excel, and Powerpoint are highly professional tools that now take advantage of the cloud. }
Starting at 15GB of storage, you can opt for the basic option which comes at no cost – good enough for most personal use. The more business-oriented options go well above 15 GB. For $5 a month you get up to 1 TB. With the Office 365 plan, you get unlimited storage plus Office 365 access.
Besides storage, there’s cross-platform syncing and that allows to keep local and remote data in sync through its software. Support for third-party apps and hybrid cloud options that integrate cloud services with your on-premises solutions – Like Microsoft Azure Stack but more suitable for small businesses.
When working with a team, OneDrive makes collaboration a pretty easy process.
Whether OneDrive is the best option for your business depends on your familiarity with Microsoft’s environment and tools. Small businesses that are used to other platforms might need some time to get used to it.
Dropbox for Business
According to Dropbox, more than 450,000 teams are taking advantage of their business services across the world. It is a pretty useful platform that allows collaboration and file sharing – even sharing with non-users.
As they claim, you’ll get speed, efficiency, and data security.
One of the biggest benefits of using Dropbox is its versatility. In fact, even the free version comes with Office 365 integration, a great benefit for those whose main productivity software is Office. It easily integrates with other commonly used platforms, such as:
- Microsoft
- Adobe
- Slack
- Salesforce
- Zoom
The Standard plan starts at 5TB, going up to the enterprise plan which allows for much more customization and security features. The Enterprise plan is priced according to your specific needs so it’s very customizable but it could be overkill for some small businesses.
The free version of Dropbox is more for personal use and can’t substitute their business plans. According to Tony Ward “The consumer product just wasn’t the right product-market fit. For enterprises, they needed added security… Dropbox Business gives businesses the security and trust”
As a security feature, administrators can also manage users, permissions and have access to a lot more security features. So, even though Dropbox doesn’t offer a full set of office tools as Microsoft and Google do it is undoubtedly a great cloud storage solution for most small businesses.
Deciding which one is best for you will depend on your business requirements and goals. It might take some time and research to come up with a decision, but planning is key. And once you get the one that better suits your business
