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September 26, 2020
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OneDrive vs OneDrive for Business & Competitors

Microsoft OneDrive for Business is one of the leading cloud storage service platforms in the market and an obvious choice for both businesses and users who employ Microsoft Office packages such as Word and Excel on a regular basis. It’s one of the best online storage services for your company.


The major competitors in the market for OneDrive for Business are:

  • Dropbox
  • Google Drive

We'll certainly look in this article at the key capabilities/differences between OneDrive for Business and its major competitors but at first, we'll dive into OneDrive for Business service to get to know about it in detail and compare it with others afterward.


OneDrive for Business

Let’s investigate the core features OneDrive for Business has to offer:

  • Access and Share files anywhere with OneDrive for Business
  • Create/edit Office documents in a browser  
  • Real-time co-authoring with Office documents
  • Document Storage, Management of Versioning 
  • Multifactor authentication support
  • Auditing and Reporting
  • SSO/ADFS/Directory Sync support
  • Document Scanning to OneDrive

Access and Share files and folder anywhere with OneDrive for Business

By having a copy of your files available on the Internet, all you need is your Microsoft Account login name and your password to access them from anywhere – on any device. If you have an Internet connection and a device with a browser, you are good to access your cloud storage space and sharing options.

OneDrive service makes it easy to share documents, pictures, and videos with friends, family, or others – on your terms. You decide who can access, view, or edit the files. At any point in time, you can revoke access by turning off the sharing and extra features.


Create/edit Office documents in a browser 

A huge benefit of using OneDrive is that you get access to Office Online, on any device. This means that you can use web-based versions and file types for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote without paying for a license. The online versions are extremely rich in functionality and most of the editing you need to accomplish can be done through the browser or desktop app.


Real-time co-authoring with Office documents

Co-authoring enables you and your colleagues to work on the same office documents simultaneously. Everyone sees all changes in real-time, and across all devices that run Office 365, for the web, or any mobile version.


Documents Versioning and its Management

Document version control is the process of tracking and managing different versions (or drafts) of a document, so you know which is the current iteration of a file and this feature is a part of OneDrive for Business.


Multifactor Authentication Support

For better security, it certainly comes with the support of MFA which allows you to have a code sent via msg or call and using it one would be able to login successfully. It also provides an MFA app to setup and approve the login requests using it.


Auditing and Reporting

OneDrive for Business often contains extremely sensitive data that must be constantly monitored for both security and compliance reasons. Auditing and monitoring what changes are taking place within OneDrive for Business will help administrators get better control over the data stored in the cloud. And it may be achieved with OneDrive for Business.


SSO/ADFS/Directory Sync support

It's always possible with OneDrive for Business to use directory synchronized objects to login with and access it. Enabling SSO or using it with ADFS is also doable.


Document Scanning to OneDrive

With document scanning, it's easy to create digital copies of paper documents, receipts, business cards, or whiteboard notes, for example. All you need is a mobile device; simply scan the hard copy in question using your device's camera. What's more, multiple pages or documents can be scanned into a single, shareable PDF, making it easy to compile valuable information and stay organized.


OneDrive vs OneDrive for Business

Let's take a brief look into the difference between OneDrive vs OneDrive for Business while we discussed the latter one thoroughly as they seem to be pretty the same with their naming conventions, but they certainly come with some drastic differences in their features.

Features

OneDrive

OneDrive for Business

Access and Share files anywhere with OneDrive for Business 

✔

✔

Create/edit Office documents in a browser

✔

✔

Real-time co-authoring with Office documents/ Content

✔

✔

Documents Versioning and its Management

✔

✔

Multifactor authentication support

✔

✔

Auditing and reporting

✔

✔

Active Directory sync support

✔

✔

Document Scanning to OneDrive

✔

✔

Built-in standards compliance


✔

Storage

5GB

1TB


Dropbox vs OneDrive for Business

Let’s have a look at the comparison of OneDrive for Business with one of its major competitors in the marketplace i.e. Dropbox.

Features

Dropbox

OneDrive for Business

Access and Share files anywhere

✔

✔

Create/edit Office documents in a browser

✔

✔

Real-time co-authoring with Office documents

✔

✔

Documents Versioning and its Management

✔

✔

Multifactor authentication support

✔

✔

Auditing and reporting

✔

✔

Built-in standards compliance

✔

✔

Document Scanning 

✔

✔

Data Loss Prevention


✔

In-place holds and data-retention controls


✔

Active Directory sync support


✔

Storage

3 TB

1TB

Basic Plan Price

$12.50 /user/month

$5.00 /user/month


OneDrive for Business vs Google Drive

Google Drive is also a very well-known name when we think about the comparison of OneDrive for Business with its rivals. Let’s have a look at their comparison and various options.

Features

Google Drive

OneDrive for Business

Access and Share files anywhere

✔

✔

Create/edit Office documents in a browser


✔

Real-time co-authoring with Office documents


✔

Documents Versioning and its Management

✔

✔

Multifactor authentication support

✔

✔

Auditing and reporting

✔

✔

Built-in standards compliance

✔

✔

Document Scanning 

✔

✔

Data Loss Prevention

✔

✔

In-place holds and data-retention controls

✔

✔

Active Directory sync support


✔

Personal Storage

30 GB

1TB

Basic Plan Price

$5.00 /user/month

$5.00 /user/month

I hope the comparison provided and the considerations while choosing between the two will prove to help you decide your next big step for your virtual store. There is another tool that you might be interested in, called SharePoint. You can find out all about Sharepoint vs OneDrive here.  Book a strategy call with us now to get started!

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Last Updated 4 days ago

About the Author

Ateeb is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate. He aids clients in deployment, and management of Microsoft technologies - for both, on-premises and on the cloud environment.

With significant experience in deploying stand-alone and enterprise solutions, Ateeb enjoys helping organizations with their digital transformation journey.

Ateeb Fayyaz

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