I still remember the despair I felt when my computer crashed over a year ago. The year was 2016 and the Acer Aspire One computer had already been given me signs that it was going to pack up soon – but after checking the prices of the Mac book Pro and Dell, – I thought to myself this computer might still have a few months left – but luckily for me, I decided to do something that I am still grateful for to this day, I backed up my files on a hard drive.
The day my laptop finally crashed began just like any other day – alas, by the end of the day, I was “laptopless” for the lack of a better word. For a virtual assistant, it looked like my world had fallen apart – what would I work with?
I knew about cloud storage then, but I didn’t take them seriously – recently, however, I am almost fanatical about them. I use them in saving files, in collaborating with others and in so many other ways.
The purpose of this blog post is to highlight some of the best cloud storage solutions to protect you from an unexpected change of event.
Google Drive
This is the best cloud storage EVER!!!!!! In my opinion, it is arguably the most used cloud storage and a natural choice for owners of Android devices because it’s already integrated. Google drive can literally do no wrong in my eyes. From giving us start up entrepreneurs up to 15GB free cloud space to allowing us open almost any type of files, using a shareable link to share attachments (I do this all the time), create a google form and capture all the responses – I love this so much and it’s a tool I absolutely can’t do without when working on surveys or feedback forms to even saving maps – my goodness.
For a virtual assistant like me who is always working on several tasks at the same time, I can pick up tablet one minute, use my phone the next hour and use my computer to finish up a task and the most amazing thing is that my clients can watch me work on Google docs and add their thought, comments – how amazing!
While some “haters” may want to say that the downsides include the fact that the web interface isn’t very easy-to-use, I have only one word for them – Get used to it! LOL!
Dropbox
This is one of the well-known cloud storage options that are available. A first time user gets 2GB of free storage, however, if you refer friends and link your account to social media you can enjoy up to 16GB free.
The business subscription plan starts at $12.50 and is available for small and large teams. This plan allows for creative collaborations and each user in the standard plan has up to a whopping 2TB space. There are also awesome enhanced features for file recovery and versioning.
These are some of the ways I use Dropbox and I think that nearly every industry or sector can find a use for this cloud storage option
Sometimes, I take minutes of a meeting at a client’s office or at a seminar/workshop and instead of writing all the information by hand, I record in audio – that way I don’t miss any important information. I upload file to Dropbox and later transcribe it
It is also an excellent way to share content – worked with a few clients on social media and they just shared their account with me and that was all. I instantly had access to all the content that I needed to do the task.
OneDrive
Formerly known as Sky drive, the OneDrive is integrated into Windows 10’s file explorer.
It’s very convenient for users who are on Microsoft’s latest operating system and it works seamlessly with all the MS Office apps.
OneDrive also allows syncing of Photos, documents and the likes across all devices. There’s an app for Android and iOS devices, and although the reviews on this cloud storage are mixed, I think it’ll make a great back up.
Users only get up to 5GB free and they have to pay if they require more space.
Bonus Cloud Storage Solution: iCloud
Although I am not a big fan of the iPhone, it does have a great storage solution in the iCloud. However, Apple gives only a miserly 5GB for this, so if you need to store any more information on the iCloud, you’d have to pay.
Documents created on the iPhone, iPad or Mac can all be saved to the iCloud and can be synced across devices.
I would love to hear what storage options you use in your business, so please do drop a comment below.