The best cloud storage providers simplify our digital lives. They make it easy to share files and photos and provide a secure place to back up our most important memories. We love the cloud and made it our mission to find the best cloud storage provider.
Note* : This article was previously featured on Reviews.com and content is reproduced here with author’s consent.
After exploring over 45 different options, interviewing power users across the nation, and personally testing 26 different apps, we are confident that DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Box are the best, most reliable cloud storage providers on the market today.
All four of our top picks will provide you with roughly the same lineu of features and each has a freemium version, letting you take advantage of the cloud without paying a dime. So, picking your favorite cloud storage option will be a matter of how much space you need, how much you’re ready to pay, and which one is the easiest for you to use.
How We Found the Best Cloud Storage
We started by compiling a list of 45 different cloud-based software solutions and then we hit the books (well, the internet, that is). We read reviews from the top technology blogs, dissected user guides, toyed with a bunch of settings, and narrowed our list down to our top four recommendations using these five criteria:
1. We removed services that are focused primarily on media- and OS-level backups.
Of the active users we surveyed, 53 percent primarily use cloud storage for media and file sharing, so our best picks had to be well-rounded, and not focused on automated, system-level backups.
2. We removed services that are just for business and have no personal option.
Enterprise cloud solutions are technical, and include a plethora of features that most people either don’t need, or would find confusing, such as task management and user comments.
3. We cut all services without extensive support for OS X, Windows, Android, and iOS.
A huge benefit of cloud storage is that it bridges the gap between operating systems. We only passed services that support all of the most common desktop and mobile operating systems.
4. We cut any cloud storage services that did not offer a freemium version.
Offering a freemium version is obviously a great way for companies to win new users, but it’s also part of being the best cloud storage service. Not everyone is a power user, after all. And why pay when you don’t have to?
5. We cut any contenders that didn’t have an average of 3.5 stars or higher from the App Store, Google Play Store, and Windows Store.
If there’s one thing that should be indicative of cloud storage, it’s mobility. Filtering out low-rated mobile apps was a great way to find out which companies really catered to their users. Of course, app scores change with every update and release, but as of our latest update all of our top contenders had high marks.
Cloud Storage Reviews and Testing
After narrowing down the cloud storage contenders to our top recommendations, we spent a week testing them all on four different operating systems (OS X Yosemite, Windows 10, iOS 9.1, Android Lollipop 5.1.1) and on seven different devices. We updated files, shared a ton of pictures (maybe one or two selfies), and installed a bunch of apps. We even used Google Drive to write and edit this review.
We also tested the transfer speeds for each contender by uploading a leisurely afternoon’s worth of iPhone photos (about 30) from three different locations. As you can see below, Microsoft OneDrive consistently logged the fastest times, while Box and Dropbox duked it out for last place.
Speed Test : Save a Few Seconds on Every Upload
DigitalOcean releases Block Storage, enabling developers & businesses to Build and Scale Larger Applications
DigitalOcean, provider of the cloud computing platform designed for developers, today released Block Storage, the number one product request from customers. Block Storage is a highly available and scalable SSD-based offering that will enable developers to easily attach extra disk space to DigitalOcean Droplets [cloud servers]. DigitalOcean’s Block Storage costs $0.10/GB per month and is based on provisioned capacity only, therefore there is no need for complicated formulas to determine the overall cost for transactions or IOPs limit.
DigitalOcean was founded in 2011 with the mission to simplify the complexities of infrastructure by offering one simple and robust platform for developers to easily launch and scale their applications. The company has taken a “developer first” mentality and is now evolving its platform to further support the business needs of the developer. DigitalOcean has become the second largest and fastest growing cloud computing platform in the total number of public facing apps and websites, according to Netcraft. More than 700,000 registered customers have launched more than 18 million Droplets combined on DigitalOcean, nearly doubling from 10 million six months ago.
Ben Uretsky, co-founder and CEO, DigitalOcean said
We set out on a mission to build a simple and robust cloud computing platform so that engineering teams can spend less time configuring and automating their infrastructure and more time focused on software development. By adding a highly performant Block Storage offering to our platform, developers can easily deploy and manage their SaaS applications and businesses as they scale. This is one step closer to building the next generation platform.
The Easiest Way for Developers to Attach & Scale Storage to Support Their Businesses
Block Storage is a complementary product to DigitalOcean’s Droplets, which provide compute power and local storage, by making them more expandable and flexible. By attaching Block Storage to DigitalOcean Droplets via the control panel or API, developers can achieve the following benefits:
- High Availability: Block Storage stores data on hardware that is separated from the Droplet, replicating it multiple times across different racks and reducing the chances of data loss in the event of hardware failure.
- Scalable and Flexible: Developers can easily scale and resize SSD-based Block Storage volumes from 1GB to 16TB and move it between Droplets. The ability to attach extra Block Storage to Droplets dramatically increases their flexibility, enabling developers to scale applications, databases, binary assets, shared and distributed filesystems and more.
- Reliable and Secure: All the data is encrypted at rest and transmitted to the Droplets over isolated networks.
Additional Resources
- Blog on Block Storage
- Tutorial on how to use Block Storage
About DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is a cloud infrastructure provider focused on simplifying web infrastructure for software developers. The company is headquartered in New York City with data-centers throughout the world. For more information, please visit DigitalOcean
Zoho Corporation partners with Microsoft to contribute towards O365, Azure Marketplaces & the Mobility of Windows
Zoho Corporation the parent company of Zoho, ManageEngine and WebNMS have announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to contribute towards Microsoft’s O365 Marketplace, Azure Marketplace and the Mobility of Windows at Microsoft’s Future Unleashed event, held in Mumbai, India, last week. Zoho Corporation will work together with the Microsoft local cloud to enhance customer experience and redefine productivity.
The partnership will provide Microsoft’s customers with a suite of business productivity applications and IT management products on its O365 and Azure Marketplace. Users can benefit from Zoho Corporation’s products running on the Microsoft local cloud as well as integrating with third-party products to enhance productivity and solve IT management and business problems online. Zoho Corporation will also support the mobility of Windows for all its products on Windows environments. This will offer customers a variety of software options from a single repository, ensuring a seamless user experience on the cloud.
Zoho’s applications such as Zoho CRM and Zoho ShowTime will be integrated with Office 365, increasing users’ efficiency on the cloud. Also, Zoho Finance mobile apps, such as Zoho Books and Zoho Invoice, will be available for Windows phones, helping users to be productive on the go.
ManageEngine’s Password Manager Pro, a password security software and ServiceDesk Plus, an ITIL ready IT help desk software, will now be available on Azure Marketplace. Azure users can now use these specialised offerings as a BYOL [Bring Your Own License] model. The basic version of the Password Manager Pro and the Standard version of the ServiceDesk Plus will be available for free with complete technical support.
Speaking about the collaboration, Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India said
Technology in the hands of brilliant people drives business and societal progress. Our partnership with Zoho Corporation is a step towards making the best of technology available to SMBs & Enterprises across the world. Integration of Zoho Corporation applications with Microsoft Office365 and Microsoft Azure will empower them to collaborate better, engage faster with their customers and drive business growth.
Manikandan Vembu, COO, Zoho Corporation said
India is taking a huge leap in digitisation with the adoption of cloud technology, and we appreciate Microsoft’s initiative in setting up new data centers here. Zoho Corporation is excited to partner with Microsoft to offer integrated solutions to customers. The end users in enterprises will now have better software options to efficiently work online.
We are confident that this partnership will prove pivotal in reaching out to the growing Indian Enterprise market. We look forward to adding more products from Zoho.com and ManageEngine, to make the marketplace increasingly rich and diverse.
With the advent of digitisation and availability of better cloud services in India, the cloud adoption rate has been soaring to new heights. Enterprises can now evade the capital investment burden of setting up of servers and maintaining them on a day-to-day basis, at an organizational level. This facility will aid growing enterprises to move online.
Additional Zoho Resources
Zoho blogs – http://blogs.zoho.com
Zoho on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/zoho
Zoho on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/zoho
Zoho Motivator helps Salespeople Maximize Revenue, drive desired behaviour & increase Team Engagement
Zoho has launched Zoho Motivator, its insight driven software for maximizing the performance of sales teams. Available immediately, Zoho Motivator marks the company’s foray into gamification. It works with the company’s customer relationship management software, Zoho CRM, and uses contests, scorecards and leader boards to help sales people maximize revenues and help increase team engagement.
Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist of Zoho said
Sales is about numbers, and driving desired behaviour in salespeople is instrumental to achieve them. Sales teams often focus squarely on targets and neglect the practices that lets them achieve those targets. Zoho Motivator not only increases revenue by driving desired behaviour and improving the sales process, but also makes sure salespeople have fun while they’re at it. Zoho Motivator puts sales teams in the game.
As the only company to offer both gamification and CRM solutions without depending on a third party, Zoho delivers superior functionality and tighter integration compared to other solutions in the market.
Zoho Motivator’s key benefits
Drive revenue with insights that matter
Business intelligence through KPIs and Dashboards – A sales manager can define various criteria or KPIs like leads generated or potentials created, and track performance in real time. They can also customize dashboards and analyse data on these criteria to identify areas of improvement.
Deeper insights through metrics like Pipeline Velocity and Pipeline Stages – Pipeline Velocity indicates how quickly opportunities are moving through the sales pipeline on their way to becoming won deals. Pipeline Stages provides insights about bottlenecks in the sales pipeline.
Encourage the right sales behaviour and activities
Define desired sales practices by setting Custom Targets – The process is as important as the outcome. Managers can drive desired behaviour in salespeople by setting targets like “Making all client calls by noon” or “Meeting prospects every week”. Revenue happens when sales teams follow the appropriate sales activities and methodology. Zoho Motivator allows sales managers to focus not just on the outcome, but also the process.
Real-Time Scorecards for insightful results – The right feedback at the right time helps in improving sales processes. Salespeople can have access to a real-time report of their current sales contest using scorecards which also helps in team building. A high performing individual can be paired with a low performing individual and work together as a team – this way everyone is motivated to perform better.
Drive sales team engagement
Motivator TV drives awareness and engagement – Cultivate motivation through recognition. Sales victories and contest winners can be showcased on big-screen TVs for better team motivation and engagement. Zoho Motivator also provides a convenient on-screen ticker that displays real-time notifications to the sales team – so everyone knows how they are doing in the current contest or sales period.
Contests and Leader boards to energize salespeople – Contests do more than just motivate individuals. They provide the opportunity to work together as a team and break the tediousness of everyday tasks while fostering healthy competition. Leaderboards are concise dynamic scoreboards to showcase rankings among contestants.
Zoho Motivator complements Zoho CRM and helps users get the most out of it. Users will need a Zoho CRM account in order to reap the benefits of Zoho Motivator. All basic CRM data like leads, potentials, etc is automatically synced from their CRM account the moment they sign up for Zoho Motivator.
Pricing and Availability
Zoho Motivator is available immediately, and works seamlessly with Zoho CRM. There’s a five user free plan to start with, and the fully featured plans range from $60/month for five users, billed annually, to $200/month for 25 users, billed annually.
For more information, please refer Zoho Motivator
[Image Source* – Zoho Blog]
Zoho Inventory : Zoho empowers SMBs with Hassle-Free Inventory, Order Management Software
Zoho has announced the launch of Zoho Inventory, its cloud-based inventory and order management software for retailers and businesses that sell online. Zoho Inventory automates inventory and fulfillment tasks to ensure the right products are in stock at the right time, in the right locations and that orders are filled quickly and efficiently. The new software also streamlines companies’ back office and front office operations by integrating with Zoho’s online accounting software, Zoho Books, and its customer relationship management application, Zoho CRM.
Users can get a 14-day free trial account of Zoho Inventory here.
One of the most challenging tasks for business owners is inventory and order management. Having product available to meet customer demand at the right time & at the right location is critical to any product-selling business. Conversely, rising inventories means wasting assets that can sap much needed cash from a growing company. In order to reach the right balance and optimize business, companies need to adopt just-in-time inventory practices.
Raj Sabhlok, president of Zoho Corp. said
Inventory and order management is important to companies of all sizes. SMBs, in particular, can reap significant rewards when they automate those functions; but many still use a spreadsheet – or pen and paper. Zoho Inventory efficiently manages inventory and orders, optimizing them to dramatically increase revenues and profitability for any company that sells online or off.
Zoho Inventory Highlights
Manage online and offline orders
Zoho Inventory offers a centralized inventory from which users can manage both online and offline orders and stock levels across multiple channels. In turn, business owners can expand their reach and avoid a lot of the trouble that comes with multi-channel selling.
The new service integrates with Amazon, eBay, Shopify and Etsy; so items, contacts and sales orders in those channels will be imported to Zoho Inventory. More, when a purchase is made in one channel, stock levels are automatically updated in all channels. When an item is packed and shipped, the status is updated in the corresponding channel.
Just the right amount of stock
Users can keep their product list organized and get notified when product stock falls below desired inventory levels. This way, users can avoid losing out on sales due to stock-outs. With Zoho Inventory’s powerful reporting features, users can optimize their purchases and inventory levels and get critical insights about their businesses.
Fulfill orders in time
Zoho Inventory takes care of order fulfillment as well and works with 25+ shipping services. Owners can make use of that integration to get real-time shipping rates of different services from one place. Also, the status and in-transit location of each shipment will be updated at regular, user-defined intervals.
Works with Zoho’s accounting software
Zoho Inventory integrates with Zoho Books, the backbone of the back office that lies at the heart of Zoho finance solutions adopted by many retailers and online sellers. Zoho Inventory can leverage Zoho Books to ensure data integrity and eliminate duplicate data entry. The integration also provides Zoho Inventory users an integrated view of their business; so for instance, purchases from vendors and invoices for inventory made in Zoho Inventory are automatically recorded and reflected in Zoho Books.
Works with Zoho’s CRM software
Zoho Inventory also integrates with Zoho CRM, so all contacts, invoices, items and sales orders are reflected in both applications. This way, sales people know what stock is on hand and what is back ordered. The inventory insight ensures sales teams sell what they have and set customer expectations appropriately when selling items that are out of stock.
Zoho Inventory also features a mobile app for iOS users that lets users find status updates of orders in real time, from anywhere
Pricing and Availability
Zoho Inventory, along with the iOS app, is available immediately for businesses. For details on pricing plans, visit http://www.zoho.com/inventory/pricing. All users get Zoho Books Professional Plan for free to manage their accounting. All Zoho Inventory plans include a 14-day,free trial that can be accessed at Zoho Inventory SignUp
SAP Unveils SAP HANA® Cloud Platform for the Internet of Things
SAP SE announced the launch of the SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the Internet of Things [IoT], expanding its comprehensive portfolio of IoT solutions to help customers connect the core of their business to the edge of the network, gain operational efficiencies and drive the creation of new revenue models, products and services. SAP continues to broaden its reach by collaborating with Siemens and Intel to make it easier for customers to adopt and manage IoT solutions.
These collaborations add to a strong partner ecosystem SAP has developed including recent announcements with Jasper, Accenture & T-Systems
“SAP is helping customers re-imagine their business with the most comprehensive portfolio of Internet of Things solutions from core business operations to the edge of the network,” said Steve Lucas, president, Platform Solutions, SAP. “With the launch of SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the Internet of Things, our customers and partners now have the ability to connect anything to any app or business process in their company and business network. This will achieve operational excellence and deliver new customer experiences, products and services.”
SAP Unveils End-to-End Platform for the Internet of Things
SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the IoT provides the infrastructure to enable businesses to securely tap into a network of millions of connected devices. Building on its existing data and application services, which include predictive analytics, telematics, geo-location and more, the newly launched IoT services from SAP plan to enable the device cloud for faster delivery of IoT business value: device management, IoT messaging & IoT application enablement including data modelling. IoT services from SAP plan to support the cost-efficient and quick development, deployment and operation of SAP solutions for IoT. Private cloud deployments intend to enable SAP customers to run their own device cloud or to operate a device cloud for their customers.
SAP offers a portfolio of IoT applications such as the SAP Connected Assets solution, including the cloud edition of the SAP Predictive Maintenance and Service solution, and SAP Connected Logistics software, among others that leverage SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the IoT.
Intel and SAP Join Forces to Enable IoT End-to-End for Customers
SAP & Intel are collaborating to simplify, secure and scale the IoT for the enterprise. Intel provides a blueprint for industry-leading, interoperable IoT solutions. SAP is taking the complementary SAP HANA platform in conjunction with the Intel blueprint to simplify IoT end-to-end deployments for enterprises.
The first step in the collaboration is a joint proof of concept [POC] to integrate the Intel IoT Gateway with the SAP cloud.