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Tech Product Reviews: Dropbox

By Victoria Kosuda, CPA, CITP posted 01-09-2012 12:14 PM

  

The NJSCPA Technology Interest Group is pleased to bring Tech Product Reviews to NJSCPA members. Our goal is to provide monthly reviews of tech products/gadgets that may be useful to CPA's from both a professional and personal perspective. Look for reviews on NJSCPA Connect and in New Jersey CPA magazine.

Have a product you'd like to see reviewed? Send your suggestion to Victoria Kosuda, CPA, CITP at
vicki@beyondfinancialsconsulting.com.

Dropbox
Reviewed by Victoria Kosuda, CPA, CITP
Beyond Financials Consulting, LLC
vicki@beyondfinancialsconsulting.com

What It Is
Dropbox  is a file synching and sharing tool that can also be used for online backup.  When files are saved in your Dropbox folder, they are saved to a server in the"cloud" and can be retrieved from virtually anywhere.  Files can be accessed on computers, mobile devices, and via the Dropbox website.  Users canshare specific folders with other Dropbox users, giving them the ability to access and update files.  Changes made to files in a Dropbox folder are synchronized almost immediately.

How It Works
Dropbox can be used as a free service with up to 2GB of space.  You can earn free space by referring other users.  Additional space can be purchased with pricing plansranging from of $9.99 - $19.99 per month.

To get started with Dropbox, simply download the program or app to your computer or device.   On a PC (for example), a Dropbox folder is created within your My Documents folder and an icon is placed on your Desktop.  To add files to your Dropbox folder, simply drag and drop.

Per Dropbox, files are securely transferred via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.  Once files reach the server, they are encrypted using AES-256 (used for online banking).  As with anything on the web, security risks must be assessed by individual users.

Pros

  • Well established company
  • Apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and login via the web
  • Works with PC, Mac, and Linux
  • Very user friendly with a simple design
  • Saves previous versions of files

Cons

  • No real-time file collaboration capabilities
  • Only backs up files in the Dropbox folder
  • More expensive than other services

Overall Recommendation
Dropbox is a great solution for home users and small firms.   It is easy to use and is a good starting point for anyonegetting comfortable with file sharing technologies.    It is a very helpful tool for reviewingdocuments "on the go."

 

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Comments

01-30-2012 11:11 AM

H. Kyle Anderson - Thank you for the comment. Good point, and something that should be considered when assessing how one might use the tool.

01-22-2012 05:10 PM

Be very careful with Dropbox. It is an easy system and works great but their security is lacking with sensitive documents containing SSNs, bank accounts and other information protected by laws. You want a SAS 70 (soon SOC 1) report.
I use dropbox all the time for teaching materials and non-sensitive date but use Rackspace for my website, accounting, tax, and sensitive data. They have the SAS 70 audit.
Kyle