
I can’t even express how important it is to have a safe place to share, meet and discuss your projects with your team. Yes there are lots of free programs available, but there are also some great cost effective options that will help you sleep no matter what time of day it is. After this last jam packed work week I realize why I needed to jump on the wagon of shared hosting...let’s just say I spent 24 hours relocating conversations, documents and much more.
So, instead of getting upset I wrote out five reasons why I needed to have a secure place for everything and thought I would share them with you. Here’s my top five:
Lost files. It happens to everyone and yet no one is to blame. Losing important files or regular files can cause more stress then asking 10 toddlers to form a line. The worst part about losing files is that no one will openly admit they misplaced them. Document sharing and management is a crucial responsibility that not even the most organized person can handle on their own. This is why you need to have one secure program like Sharepoint hosting that helps you make sense of what’s being shared and keeps it all in one place.
Lots of Security. Sure there are lots and lots of free services out there that offer you the opportunity to share, and manage your projects, but my friend, they can’t promise you your files and documents are 100% secure. For example did you know that if you take away permission to a shared document that you shared via Google Docs, you’re not 100% guaranteed that the permission was revoked. There have been cases where people have been able to view shared documents later without the other person knowing. They can also alter the URLS to access your files again.
Private meeting spaces, no browser crash. Nothing is worse than having four or five tabs open all which are hosting different programs for different documents for your virtual meeting. Not to mention the high risk of your browser crashing or being super slow because you have so many heavy tabs open. Well, forget that risk because when you have your own collaboration program you get private meeting spaces that allow you to see your work history and documents without having anxiety about your browser crashing. I’m getting anxiety just thinking about this situation.
Sharing Overload. If you’re like me you’ve joined up for about 10 different file sharing networks to share large files with friends, co-workers and clients. If you’re like me, you have to request a new password almost every time you log in because you can’t remember which password goes where. I swear I’m not stupid, and I do have them written down somewhere...but even that’s risky.
If you have your own network to keep everything on, in one place it’s easier to share large files because the majority of the time that program has a corresponding web application like share migration which helps you transfer files to your account without having to visit those 10 different websites, then your email and then upload them to your server, and then open them with whatever program they’re most compatible with. Can you say headache? Technology is supposed to make your life easier!
24 Customer Service Support. How many times have you gone forum jumping trying to find one answer to some mundane question about a program you’re using? I can admit to doing this on a regular basis. One time it took me almost three hours to find some stupid answer about file sharing. What a waste of my time... Anyway! The reason I’m strongly encouraging this is because when you’re working at 3:30am and need a quick answer to your question, nothing is better than live chatting with an expert and getting the answer you need in 10 minutes. I’m a huge fan of live chatting; it’s probably the best thing that’s happened in customer service since online billing. You don’t have to go forum hopping anymore if you have collaboration hosting.
If you’re someone who learns from their own lessons I will pray for you. If you’re someone who learns from other peoples lessons...well, I wish I was you. Those were my top five reasons why I decided to go the route of shared hosting. My question now is: how do you feel about it? And do you have any project horror stories to share?