Buyer’s guide: Enterprise file sync and sharing services

Enterprise file synchronization and sharing (EFSS) services have been around for nearly 20 years. While the basic functions are mature, many of these tools have expanded to become content collaboration platforms for enterprise users.

“Some offer generative AI, data extraction, records management and retention, and content federation, which means vendors can apply those EFSS services to their own and third-party document repositories,” says Holly Muscolino, group vice president of workplace solutions at IDC.

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At the same time, many content management platform vendors have incorporated EFSS features directly into their own products, further blurring the lines between the software categories.

While most enterprises have some sort of EFSS tools in place, it’s worth considering your options with an eye toward developing a more unified, modular, federated, AI-enabled, and workflow-optimized content sharing platform that can adapt to all of your organization’s use cases, Muscolino says.

In this buyer’s guide

• What is EFSS?
• Top trends in EFSS
• What to look for in EFSS services
• Key questions to ask yourself — and vendors — when shopping for an EFSS service
• 9 leading EFSS vendors

What is EFSS?

EFSS services let users store and synchronize access to documents from multiple mobile, desktop, and laptop devices, allowing for view-only, edit, and download access to shared documents and folders with external partners, suppliers, and co-workers.

All EFSS services designed for enterprise use provide apps for Android and iOS devices, as well as for Windows and macOS machines. To facilitate synchronization, EFSS vendors typically maintain a copy of user data on their servers in the cloud — which is why many vendors emphasize security measures designed to protect customer data both in-transit and at rest.

Users typically can choose to have full copies stored locally or virtual copies that can be downloaded on demand to save on local storage space. But those features are just table stakes today, says Muscolino.

Top trends in EFSS

Four vendors dominate the market for EFSS tools from a revenue standpoint, says Muscolino: Microsoft (with OneDrive), Google (with Google Drive), Box, and Dropbox. Today, she adds, all have added new capabilities that go far beyond basic file sync and sharing services. Those expanded service offerings, which IDC now calls content sharing and collaboration platforms, are growing faster than the overall enterprise content management (ECM) space. But, she adds, “Overall this is a modernization, consolidation, and replacement market.”

Basic EFSSfunctions are also now part of many ECM suites. “A few years back, a number of ECM system vendors added document-centric collaboration capabilities, including file sync and sharing,” said Cheryl McKinnon, principal analyst at Forrester Research. “While that was happening, we saw tools like OneDrive, Dropbox, and Box adding document handling, workflow automation, e-signatures, and even enhanced governance tools to help manage the document lifecycle.”

Governance features can help organizations manage personally identifiable information, says Muscolino. “The more sophisticated services also enable you to manage specific retention and disposition schedules,” she adds.

Box is a good example of how these tools have evolved, McKinnon says. “In addition to content storage and the ability to sync across devices, they’ve added a very strong platform approach, and they’re very API-driven, so people who want to build their own content management application can do so. Box also added workflow capabilities, which is especially useful for processes that are document-centric.”

AI-based features are another area of innovation, says McKinnon. “For example, Box uses AI and machine learning to protect against malware or to detect downloads that fall outside a user’s usual patterns. It also uses generative AI to summarize documents, such as pulling out terms and conditions from a 100-page contract,” she says.

Generative AI features are still very new, and the capabilities vendors offer — summarization, translation, shortening or lengthening documents, and search — are very similar, Muscolino says. Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Egnyte have all added AI features, and OneDrive benefits from Microsoft’s Copilot genAI tool, she adds.

People are realizing that there’s value in document repositories, even for older files, and modern content sharing and collaboration services can exploit that, says Muscolino. “You can find, extract and curate information for compliance decision support, to set retention schedules, or to automatically tell you when contracts are due,” she says.

What to look for in EFSS services

Here are a few of key features, beyond the basics, to look for in EFSS service offerings. Note that content sharing and collaboration feature offerings can be very broad; some may not be necessary or relevant to your organization’s needs.

• Permission- and/or role-based access controls for shared documents
• Document editing
• Document recovery
• Version history tracking
• Expiration dates for shared links
• Password protection for shared links
• E-signatures / electronic forms support
• Generative AI-based features (document summarization, translation, etc.)
• APIs for customization/integration
• Integration with commonly used enterprise software such as Microsoft Office or your organization’s ECM software
• Auditing, analytics, and reporting
• Administrator dashboard
• Data extraction
• Data retention policies
• Workflow management and automation
• Active Directory/LDAP support
• Single sign-on
• Two-factor/multi-factor authentication
• End-to-end encryption
• Malware detection
• Compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulatory standards
• Cloud-based, on-premises, and hybrid service offerings
• Federated data access across repositories

Key questions to ask yourself — and vendors — when shopping for an EFSS service

• Who will be using the service and what do they want to do with it?
• Where does your data need to be stored? If some or all needs to be on-premises, look for a hybrid solution that includes federated data access capabilities.
• Do your content management system or collaboration tools already offer file sync and sharing functions? For example, a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription includes OneDrive.
• Is the tool you already have, or are considering, as easy to use as the consumer-based file-sharing tools your users are familiar with? “People who use free tools for file sharing can introduce risk, so make sure the tool you choose offers a great user experience” so users don’t turn to easier, but less secure, options, says McKinnon. “A great user experience in itself is a great security feature.”
• Will a third-party tool integrate well with your enterprise content management platform?
• Do you have a large volume of external file sharing that needs to happen but don’t want to give external users access to your internal content management tools? This is where a separate EFSS tool can help (think OneDrive vs. SharePoint).
• What are your requirements in terms of features, security, etc.? Do you need more advanced capabilities such as workflow management?
• What are your security requirements for content to be shared? Most leading EFSS players have a high level of granularity in terms of access controls. But do they meet regulatory compliance standards for your industry?
• What subscription tiers are offered and what features are included in each?

9 leading EFSS vendors

There are more than a dozen vendor offerings in this space, although not all are well suited for enterprise use. Here are nine prominent vendors that McKinnon and Muscolino say are worth considering.

Box

Box offers an extended set of features focused on enterprise use that includes a “no-code” workflow automation builder with templates, collaborative whiteboards, developer tools and APIs, and integration with 1,500 applications including Microsoft 365/Office 365, Google, Slack, and ServiceNow. Administrative controls include analytics, reporting and auditing features. The user interface includes a generative AI function that Box says can summarize documents, create meeting agendas, and create outlines and talking points for stored documents.

Security features include two-factor authentication, AES 256-bit encryption, single sign-on and multi-factor authentication support, and data leak and malware detection. For compliance it offers data retention and preservation policy enforcement for legal holds and disposition management. Box complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Information System Security Management and Assessment Program (ISMAP), Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and Federal Information Processing Standard Publication 140-2 (FIPS 140-2) standards.

Dropbox

Dropbox offers enterprise-grade features such as support for single sign-on, compliance tracking for a wide range of regulatory standards, and suspicious activity alerts. It also supports e-signatures, document analytics for usage tracking, and the ability to set expiration dates for shared files and view and restore version histories. Dropbox includes an external content reporting dashboard where managers can review activities for all shared files and folders for a given team.

Security features include multi-factor authentication, 256-bit AES and SSL/TLS encryption, password protection, key management, vulnerability testing, ransomware attack detection and recovery, and breach alerts when Dropbox sees suspicious login attempts. Users can remotely wipe Dropbox data from any device used to access their account data.

Egnyte

Although Egnyte describes its service as a unified content management system platform, enterprise file sync and sharing features are at its core. Its AI assistant summarizes the content of documents and allows for natural-language queries. It supports auditing and version tracking, and offers options for data recovery, PDF document annotation, and compliance documentation controls.

The enterprise-level versions add multi-step workflows, legal holds on documents, role-based access controls, intelligent document classification capability, insider threat detection, data privacy management, and compliance monitoring.

FileCloud

FileCloud Technologies describes its EFSS service as “hyper-secure,” which may be why it offers cloud-based, on-premises, and hybrid versions of its file syncing and sharing service. FileCloud features include workflow management, digital rights management, and data loss prevention.

It supports content retention policies and complies with ITAR, HIPAA, GDPR, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-171, and the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) standards. Security features include two-factor authentication, AES encryption, single sign-on, malware detection, compatibility with security information and event management (SIEM) tools, and support for LDAP and Active Directory.

Google

Google Drive for Business is a cloud storage service that lets users create shared files and folders with download, edit, comment, or view permissions. Drive for Business is included with Google Workspace plans, so it’s a convenient and cost-effective solution for Workspace subscribers. 

Drive features a centralized administration console, an AI-based feature that predicts what documents you may need next, and a machine learning-based search function that can show files that “may require attention.” Security and data governance features include data loss prevention; a Vault feature that supports data retention, e-discovery, and e-signatures; and plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook and Office.

Microsoft

If you already have a Microsoft 365 subscription, the bundled OneDrive for Business offering may be your most convenient — and cost effective — option. OneDrive integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook as well as Microsoft’s SharePoint content management system. OneDrive tracks the change history for current files, allows for restoration of previous versions, and lets you create shared links that expire. With Copilot for Microsoft 365, which requires a separate subscription, users can search for and summarize information from across the entire Microsoft 365 environment.

Other OneDrive features include multi-factor authentication, auditing and reporting, and compliance with the GDPR. OneDrive inherits all of the security and privacy features of Microsoft 365, including role-based access and identity and app management.

ShareFile

Formerly owned by Citrix, Cloud Software Group’s ShareFile includes support for shared file and folder permissions, file encryption, MFA, and single sign-on. It offers workflow automations and templates (including for accounting and tax-related documents), e-signature support, and integration with Microsoft 365/Office 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, and other enterprise workplace software. ShareFile is compliant with HIPAA and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) standards.

Thru

Thru describes its eponymous product as a secure, managed file transfer service for automated file transfers and ad-hoc file sharing that’s tailored to the needs of regulated industries. Its zero-trust security model includes MFA, end-to-end encryption, malware detection, and data retention policies.

Thru includes audit capabilities for activity tracking, monitoring, and retention, and includes APIs and pre-built connectors for integration with other platforms. It has role-based access controls, an activity monitoring dashboard, and integrations for Salesforce, SharePoint/OneDrive, Office, and Outlook 365. Thru conforms to the GDPR, GxP, HIPAA, and PCI DSS compliance standards.

Tresorit

Tresorit focuses on file sharing, storage, and e-signature support for organizations that require a high level of security and privacy. It’s compliant with a wide range of industry-specific and government-mandated security standards, including HIPAA and GDPR. The vendor markets Tresorit as a way to replace email document attachments with shared links, and offers integrations for Microsoft Outlook and Gmail.

Security and privacy features include end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and single sign-on through Okta, AzureAD, and Google Workspace. Tresorit also supports access permissions, version histories, and access logs for auditing and reporting.