Storing data in the cloud is the greatest thing to come along since sliced bread! Allowing your company to have access to documents and company data from virtually anywhere on the planet has made companies more flexible and robust. Cloud solutions like Dropbox have become increasingly popular amongst small business of the last few years. Access your data from your smartphone, tablet and computer from anywhere.

So what’s the problem?

In one word.. “CONTROL”. The business IT world has made a trade off. Dependability and cost has been reduced in exchange for giving up control of company data to Dropbox. Dropbox is great! I use it myself, and encourage people to use it, but not for sensitive data. When I store my data with Dropbox, I know they have a great backup system. I know their security is pretty decent. But what I don’t have is disaster recovery control. I don’t have access to all of my data in case of a network outage. I don’t know with 100% certainty that my data is not being compromised internally at Dropbox server farms.

So what’s the solution?

Welcome to cloud computing… again. OwnCloud is a solution for your Dropbox problem.

“Your employees are using cloud-based services to share sensitive company data with vendors, customers, partners and one another. They are syncing data to their mobile devices and home computers, all in an effort to get their job done faster and easier, and all without IT’s permission.

Your sensitive company data is stored on servers outside of your control, outside of your policy and regulatory guidelines – maybe even outside your of country – and not managed by you. The potential for data leakage, security breaches and harm to your business is enormous.” – ownCloud

With ownCloud you can take back control. Store your company’s data on your own servers that you have access to. Also allowing specific restricted access via VPNs to the data. No longer do you have to worry if your data is being accessed by unauthorized individuales.

You can choose database options such as SQLite, PostgreSQL or MySQL. Encrypt your data, and install tons of ownCloud apps. You can even integrate your company email and write your own ownCloud apps. The best part is, ownCloud is open source! You can check out owncloud.org for the latest cutting edge code and tailor it to your needs.

What about desktop and mobile applications?

Just like Dropbox, ownCloud offers desktop syncing and mobile applications for users to access their data. They have desktop clients for Windows, Mac and Linux. Easy setup for enterprise deployment allows your IT company to focus on more important projects. Check out ownCloud and let us know what you think in the comments below!

 - Get ownCloud