Secure file sharing for business is a prime concern for organisational leaders. Business processes often depend heavily on various files—invoices, articles, engineering drawings, product diagrams, and more.

To ensure the content of these documents remains safe, employees must practice secure file sharing with clients and coworkers alike. That means implementing an encrypted file sharing service.

But how do you find the right file sharing solution? You can scan the market and hope for the best, or you can use the insights below to narrow your search.

Secure File Sharing For Business: 4 Considerations Before Choosing A Solution

1. Data Encryption

“Data encryption is one of the most important aspects of secure file sharing for business,” says Bram Jensen, chief editor of vpnAlert. The goal of data encryption is to make sensitive information unreadable by encrypting it with a specific algorithm. Only authorized users will be able to see the decoded versions of your files.

Glasscubes is an encrypted file sharing service that encrypts all client data as it travels between you and our servers. Further, we encrypt data at rest, so your files are always secure.

2. Multi-Factor Authentication

“These days, having a single password is no longer enough to be secure,” says Gary Taylor, CEO of bookyourdata.com. “Hackers are experts in stealing passwords, which is why multi-factor authentication—an added layer of protection—is so important.”

With multi-factor authentication, users first enter a password. Then, they must abide by an additional authentication measure, such as receiving and entering a unique, one-time code sent to their mobile phone or email address. “Only after they complete this secondary security task are they granted access to the encrypted file sharing service.”

You can take advantage of multi-factor authentication in Glasscubes. Two options are available: Enter random characters from a memorable word you set or use an authenticator on your mobile phone to generate a unique verification code.

3. Permission-Based User Roles

Hamza Ghayas, marketing manager at GSDLovers, says the ability to create different degrees of user access is crucial because it improves data security and guarantees that critical information does not fall into the wrong hands—even within the organisation.

“You should be able to manage who has access to certain folders and individual documents using permission-based user roles,” Ghayas explains. “For example, a user may require access to a file relevant to a certain job or project. Their assigned role should grant them appropriate access.”

Glasscubes enables you to assign varying levels of access so that different user roles (e.g., administrator, partner, senior manager, etc.) can access relevant files. In addition, you can restrict access to individual files and folders.

4. Scalability

“Since your business won’t be the same size forever, you need a solution that’s scalable to fit your needs as your business changes,” says Olivia Tan, cofounder of CocoFax. For example, a startup might need a solution to support a dozen users today. In five years, it might need to scale that solution to support hundreds of users. “The best file sharing solution is flexible enough to meet the needs of your business now and in the future.”

As a robust encrypted file sharing service, Glasscubes can serve your needs today and years from now—whether you have five users or 500.

Struggling to share files with clients? Here's our article about common challenges & how to overcome them.

3 Tips To Increase User Adoption

1. Provide support and training.

Perry Zheng, software engineer and owner of Cash Flow Portal, says it’s important to give employees proper support and training. He notes most workers hesitate to switch to new software because they’re not comfortable with its interface and features. “By training them in the know-how of the software, you remove this psychological obstacle between them and adoption.”

2. Use group endorsement.

Instead of attempting to convince your whole organisation that a new solution is worth using, try a smaller-scale approach first. This is what Eden Cheng, co-founder of PeopleFinderFree, does at her company.

“Endorsement plays off of social approval, a powerful concept,” Cheng explains. “You can often influence the larger workforce’s opinion by simply getting a small group of employees to start using a new tool. This can often be a great catalyst to encourage company-wide buy-in because it successfully builds trust for the solution.”

3. Lead by example.

It’s often said that managers should model the behaviors they want their employees to exhibit. Kieran Fallon, marketing manager at Unity Technology, wholeheartedly agrees. She notes that employees will emulate their superiors, so managers must collaborate how they desire employees to do the same.

“You can strategise and implement new technologies as much as you like, but you must actually follow your strategic vision and use the technologies accordingly,” Fallon explains. “Otherwise, employees will avoid using any new solutions and find the most convenient workarounds.”

Sharing passwords with clients isn’t always a bad idea. If you do need to do it, here are a few tools that can help.

Secure File Sharing For Business Is A Cinch With Glasscubes

Glasscubes makes secure file sharing for business easy. Our solution is more than just an encrypted file sharing service—it’s a robust collaboration solution that ensures your entire organisation is able to stay connected internally and externally.

Secure file sharing, task management, and threaded discussions ensure your staff and clients stay on the same page. Plus, there’s little to no training required to use Glasscubes—it’s incredibly user-friendly.

With Glasscubes, you can:

• Request files from clients in a secure, easy-to-use manner. Avoid the hassle of hunting down important information and doing follow-ups to get what you need.
• Collect, process, and approve information through customisable, automated forms and workflows that include user assignees, assignee follow-ups, and completion alerts.
• Create customised workspaces for each project team in your portfolio. Team members can share resources and communicate with one another in their specific workspace, and you can access them all for easy oversight.

Want to see how other companies are using Glasscubes to support their teams? Check out these case studies.