What is our primary use case?
I have been using Microsoft OneDrive for Business for 10 years now.
I mostly use Microsoft OneDrive for Business for storage of documents and also with a lot of Microsoft tools, so we store documents that are shared in Teams.
In a recent place where we were developing some things, we were thinking of some discussions and then we were storing all the things that we have discussed into some Excel files. These Excel files we used to store into Microsoft OneDrive for Business because we were able to share the OneDrive link with anybody in our team and we can give everybody access to this SharePoint location or the OneDrive one, so from there, we can give everybody access and everybody can be working in parallel on the same thing.
How collaboration works is this: we are trying to update everybody's details into an Excel, where everybody has their own agenda and the task of adding what they have done today, what their planning is, and what went well and what did not go well. We add this into one Excel so that it is documented well, so that our improvements and feedback can be put there. It is a great place for storing all these things because we have a very small team. How this has saved us time is because everybody is writing into the same Microsoft OneDrive for Business single file, which allows everybody to write at the same moment without needing a lot of other applications or any subscriptions required for real-time collaboration in Microsoft OneDrive for Business, and that is provided at default and at free cost with the lowest package.
We used to update every sprint's retro into Excel. For example, we are telling what went well in this sprint, what could have gone well, what we can improve, and what did not go well. These points help us understand the flow we are going through, whether we are going with the expected speed, and it helps us improve and analyze our current existing work methodology, which helps us understand that we need to improve in some areas and with some areas we have some backlogs. Collaboration is a very good point for us because Microsoft OneDrive for Business provides it. Because of this, we have saved 80% of our team's time.
What is most valuable?
The best feature of Microsoft OneDrive for Business is that we can have a lot of things present in it, such as Teams, and then from Teams we can share the Excel, then we have Word documents, and we have other things that is OneNote, and all of these are stored into Microsoft OneDrive for Business. All these things are shareable to each other via Microsoft Teams and in parallel, everybody in the team can work on the same document and proceed with the task that is given to us in parallel, so the collaboration is really fruitful for us.
Microsoft OneDrive for Business has impacted our organization in a very positive way because we are able to complete our task without waiting for anybody else to complete their task so that we can gain access to edit the same thing again, and this is how we have reduced time. We had a small team of 20 people, and instead of everybody writing for five minutes and waiting for two hours or one hour, we are able to write the same thing in just five to 10 minutes while everybody can do it at the same time and everyone can edit it at their own time. It is not the case that somebody has checked in this document, so another person cannot edit it at that moment. This has impacted us very well, saving us already 80% of the time because of the collaboration feature.
Microsoft OneDrive for Business can also be used with applications such as Power Apps and Power Automate, so some things from our OneDrive can be used to these applications and we can create applications or workflows that are aligned with our data, which is stored in OneDrive, and then we can use it into our required flows or workflows or applications.
There are some AI features that we can use in Microsoft OneDrive for Business, which really helps us understand what is the correct grammar when we are writing something. It also helps us correct some data that we provide and also suggests sometimes, and if we ask the AI, it also gives us the proper response. Regarding security and governance, I believe Microsoft takes care of my data.
The accuracy is really good and I can rely on the output that the AI provides. It has always met my expectations.
What needs improvement?
I do not think that there is any improvement needed in Microsoft OneDrive for Business because a lot of features are already provided in the package that we have purchased, and we do not have anything that would be improved as of now. Speed-wise, Microsoft OneDrive for Business is very fast.
Sometimes I think the auto-save feature of the things that we edit should also work in offline mode for some time, because once we get disconnected, I sometimes feel that the Excel or the Word document is trying to connect to Microsoft OneDrive for Business and trying to save it, but somehow the sessions expire. I sometimes want this to not happen. It can reconnect to the server when connection is up, but I can still work on the document.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field for about 10 years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft OneDrive for Business is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Microsoft OneDrive for Business is good.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is really good. They are always ready for our questions and they answer us within no time and very quickly.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the customer support as nine, and I would also advise others who are trying to purchase to take a free trial before purchasing it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use any other solution before Microsoft OneDrive for Business.
How was the initial setup?
For setup cost, sometimes we get licensing and price assistance. They help us in every way, and the setup is really simple. For pricing, sometimes we have offers, so I feel that it is good enough, but I feel sometimes without the offers, the pricing of Microsoft OneDrive for Business is a little high.
What was our ROI?
I have seen an 80% time savings as a return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For setup cost, sometimes we get licensing and price assistance. They help us in every way, and the setup is really simple. For pricing, sometimes we have offers, so I feel that it is good enough, but I feel sometimes without the offers, the pricing of Microsoft OneDrive for Business is a little high.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options, but for Drive, I think we have tried to evaluate. However, as Google Drive does not come with Microsoft Teams, we have very good hands-on experience with Microsoft Teams, so we did not go to Google suite. Instead, we went with Microsoft.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others looking into using Microsoft OneDrive for Business is to take a free trial before purchasing. I would rate this product a nine out of ten.