10 Cloud-Based Storage Systems Fit for Enterprises

by Don Reisinger

As a self-professed “cloud-first, mobile-first” company, it’s perhaps no surprise that Microsoft is offering cloud-based storage solutions to the enterprise. Microsoft OneDrive starts at 15GB of storage for free, but jumps to $2 per month for 100GB and $4 per month for 200GB. OneDrive for Business, which is designed more for enterprise users, starts at $2.50 per user per month with an annual commitment. That gets corporate customers 1TB of storage.

Google is similarly cheap for companies that need cloud storage. The company’s Google Apps platform includes up to 30GB of online storage for $50 per user per year. More than doubling that to $120 per year adds some extra features, as well as unlimited storage for users. Companies with fewer than five users get 1TB of storage per user.

Carbonite provides a wide range of offers for corporate customers. The basic $270-per-year plan gets customers 250GB of storage capacity. Jumping to $500 provides the same storage, but adds Windows file servers. At $600 per year, customers can get the same computer and server storage, as well as 500GB of storage. Carbonite’s plans work well to back up workstations, but adding the server feature is a nice addition.

Box started its file sharing and data storage business with an eye on the corporate world. The company’s cloud storage has IT and administrative controls as well as policy and workflow management. Box’s Business option requires five users and offers unlimited storage to corporate customers for $15 per user per month.

Mozy, another cloud-based storage provider, is owned by EMC, which might explain its tight focus on the corporate market. The company offers per-user storage plans ranging from10GB to 1TB. The 10GB plan costs $110 per year, while the 1TB option goes for nearly $4,200 with a one-year plan.

Amazon is also in the enterprise cloud-storage space, courtesy of Zocalo. That offering goes for $5 per user per month for up to 200GB of storage. Beyond that, Amazon charges for the storage capacity used. Then data storage costs 3 cents per gigabyte up to the first terabyte of storage. Essentially, Amazon’s Zocalo is a pay-for-usage model that changes as user needs change.

Rackspace is by no means the cheapest option in this roundup, but the company’s offering does make for another option for those who are already invested in the cloud company’s hosting and data center services. Rackspace’s cloud block storage costs 12 cents per GB per month, so like Amazon, customers are paying only for what they use. However, if one were to do the math, they’d discover that costs quickly rise with Rackspace.

SugarSync, which introduced its cloud services in 2009, is a lesser-known brand than the others included in this roundup, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth considering. The company’s plans start at 60GB of storage for $75 per user per year. Companies that want a more IT-controlled option will need to pick the company’s 1TB option, which goes for $275 for the first year for up to three users. Beyond that, customers need to call SugarSync to discuss plan options.

Iron Mountain is arguably one of the most prominent cloud-based backup solution providers in the world. The company provides server and PC backup services, as well as full disaster recovery and archiving. Unlike the other service providers, however, Iron Mountain doesn’t list its pricing on its site, so users need to call to find out how much its offerings will cost.

Barracuda Networks takes a slightly different approach to cloud backup to give customers another option. Users can either back up data from their local office to an on-site backup server or directly to Barracuda’s cloud storage services. Like Iron Mountain, users need to contact Barracuda to determine the right option and plan for them.