The Competitive Advantage of FileCloud as a OneDrive Alternative

For an enterprise that is already paying for a Microsoft 365 subscription, it may seem redundant to pay for an EFSS or file management/content collaboration solution.

However, once a user goes beyond the obvious, native functionalities of Microsoft, it quickly becomes a dense forest of separate applications. Yes, many (though not all) of these applications come with an E3 plan, but they must be managed as separate applications.

FileCloud vs Microsoft: Deployment & Storage Options

Microsoft 365 enterprise plans come with OneDrive and SharePoint Online automatically. These are the storage applications that serve as the foundation for the Microsoft application ecosystem.

However, enterprises that need on-premises storage would need to purchase Microsoft 365 E3 licenses along with separate licenses for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. This is a separate add-on to the rest of Microsoft 365 and it needs to be integrated with the rest of the enterprise Microsoft environment as a hybrid deployment.

With FileCloud, enterprises can choose an online (cloud) solution, where FileCloud hosts the data, or they can opt for FileCloud Server, which enables them to connect with on-prem or private cloud storage, or even deploy as a hybrid solution. The flexibility ensures that organizations deploy the solution that fits their use case, without forcing additional infrastructure complexity.

FileCloud vs Microsoft OneDrive: Security & Data Governance

FileCloud supports a robust array of security and data governance protocols and policies. These options are directly built into the Admin dashboard, many of which are organized under the Data Governance tab.

In comparison, Microsoft offers many of the same functionalities, but they are available within Microsoft Purview, which is a separate application (it does come with E3 plans).

Microsoft Purview features include:

• BYOK encryption
• Metadata management
• Alert & security incident reporting
• Content classification (RegEx & visual builder), including PII/Sensitive
• Smart (automated) content classification
• OCR scanning/content search
• Retention policies

Additional functionalities are spread across even more Microsoft applications. AI-powered classification, depending on the specific function, may be found in Microsoft Purview or Security Copilot. Digital Rights Management is similar, divided between Microsoft Purview and Azure Rights Management. e-Signature is available only as an add-on, via SharePoint eSignature, and compliance dashboards are available with the Microsoft Compliance Center add-on.

FileCloud vs Microsoft: File Sharing & Collaboration

Microsoft and FileCloud have many of the same functionalities when it comes to granular access controls and public and private file sharing. However, there are a few key functionalities that FileCloud supports, which are not available in Microsoft OneDrive.

• Large File Sharing: FileCloud supports this, Microsoft limits the file to 250 GB.
• Microsoft also does not have built-in support for resumable uploads. This is only available through Graph or REST APIs.
• Zero Trust File Sharing®: a registered trademark of FileCloud, not available with Microsoft, even in a similar capacity (through encrypted, password-protected container like a ZIP folder)
• No QR code file sharing in Microsoft
• Understandably, Microsoft does not offer integrations with Google Workspace, which means no co-authoring of Google Docs or other applications.
• Microsoft Teams – FileCloud Advanced can integrate with Teams; Yet, even though Teams is a native Microsoft application, it is only available as an add-on to the E3 plan.
• Workflow automation: built into FileCloud through the workflow dashboard, but only available in Microsoft through Power Automate.