COSM Solutions

There are a plethora of options for storing documents in the cloud, but making them seamlessly available for teams can be challenging.  And as the workload and files continue to migrate into cloud storage, solutions that keep a local copy of everything and rely solely on synchronization (like Google Drive) will run into local space constraints, deadlock / overwrite issues, and timeouts.

One key approach is to harness the cloud storage as a local resource for fast, collaborative editing across a team.  Creating a link Favorite or mapped network drive lets the team use familiar applications and maximize productivity (e.g. Windows Explorer and Microsoft Office) while still leveraging the cloud for resilient storage, backup, and processing. 

COSM WebCenter provides a leading cloud document management solution that works well with the options below to provide cloud benefits with local control.  It extends the corporate network with access anyhere features like version control and block-level backups, meta data tagging, templating, full-text search, role-based security, workflows, zone OCR (Optical Character Recognition), image / video preview and streaming, etc.

The single most important factor is auto file lock to prevent overwrite or stale versions.  It's fine for an individual consumer with Google Drive or DropBox to be the only user updating an Office doc, but for business a team approach requires locks and check out/in functionality.

Our favorite:  Built-in Windows network drive mapping for normal usage, WebDrive for heavy power users

	Windows 7,8 WebClient	WebDrive 12.1	Liferay Sync 1.2.2	Google Drive 1.18.7821.2489	DirectNet 1.2.5	IT Hit Map WebDAV 1.2.758	NetDrive 2.3.2 ExpanDrive 4.1.10
Pricing (per user per year)	$0	$70	$0	$60	$27	$58	$40-50
Cached Files
Direct / Immediate File Access
Auto File Lock
Notes	Best option for moderate document sharing and low cost. (*Office re-queries for credentials.)	Most expensive, but worth it.  Best option for heavy document collaboration.	Lack of locking is limiting for business use.	Lack of locking is limiting for business use. "Everything" local cache is space intensive.	Lack of locking is limiting for business use.	Lack of locking is limiting for business use. (*Office re-queries for credentials.)	Bug in latest version, would not connect.