Final IDC report - The Business Value of Dropbox for Business

Document #252352 ©2014 IDC. www.idc.com | Page 1
IDC White Paper | The Business Value of Dropbox for Business
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An IDC analysis of organizations adopting Dropbox for Business shows high end-user
satisfaction and a strong return on investment (ROI) impacting both end-user productivity
and IT infrastructure savings. Key findings include:
» Enterprises initially adopt Dropbox for Business to improve collaboration among business
teams, to improve the security of content created and shared collaboratively, to lower the
cost of storage, and as part of a mobile initiative. For Dropbox for Business customers, this
translates to an average annual business benefit through increased employee productivity
of $247,400 per 100 users.
» Dropbox for Business customers are increasing the productivity of sales team members,
improving sales processes, and facilitating the closing of deals. Other customers said they
have been able to accelerate the development of revenue-generating services. In total,
IDC projects that these companies are capturing an average of $138,300 more revenue
per year per 100 Dropbox for Business users.
» As adoption grows, IT teams begin experimenting with changing how they support many
additional activities, including replacing email attachments, Windows-based server file
systems, FTP servers, shared drives, and VPNs. This translates to decreasing infrastructure
costs, improved productivity of IT operations, and improved customer service. Dropbox for
Business customers realized an average annual benefit of $56,300 per 100 users in IT staff
productivity increases and IT infrastructure cost reduction.
The Business Value of
Dropbox for Business
Sponsored by: Dropbox
Authors:
Maureen Fleming
Matthew Marden
November 2014
Business Value
Highlights
Average benefits per 100 users
over 5 years
$1.092M
Average return on investment
per 100 users
860%
User productivity related to file
and document management
increased
2.1%
The number of lost files
decreased
57.1%
Surveyed employees
organizations are using
Dropbox for Business.
31%

In This White Paper
This white paper presents IDC’s analysis of the business value that eight surveyed
organizations are achieving with Dropbox for Business. IDC interviewed these organizations
from May to July 2014 to ask them about their experiences with Dropbox’s enterprise-level
sync and share solution.
These customers are generally smaller to medium-sized enterprises, with an average of 346
employees, although the largest interviewed customer is a 1,200-employee business unit of
a 6,500-employee enterprise. This medium-sized, highly regulated business unit was charged
with learning about and spearheading the use of file sync and share services across the
enterprise. Interviewees represent a variety of industries and are headquartered in the United
States, Germany, and Australia. Table 1 provides an aggregated profile of the eight customers
interviewed for this white paper.
TABLE 1
Source: IDC, 2014
Most of these organizations were not new to Dropbox when they began using Dropbox for
Business; most transitioned at least some employees from the use of Dropbox Pro or Free
Dropbox accounts.
Methodology Overview
IDC designed its interviews with these organizations to obtain quantitative and qualitative
information about their use of Dropbox for Business. IDC used the interviews to determine
the financial impact of their use of Dropbox for Business. IDC uses a discounted cash flow
Demographics of Interviewed Organizations
Average
Average number of employees 346
Average number of IT staff 8
Average number of internal IT users 201
Average number of Dropbox 109
for Business users
Average percentage of employees 31
using Dropbox for Business
Industry Professional services, construction,
human resources, crowd sourcing,
social media, manufacturing, retail
Region United States, Germany, Australia

methodology to calculate the ROI and payback period. ROI is the ratio of the net present
value (NPV) and discounted investment. The payback period is the point at which cumulative
benefits equal the total investment up until that time.
Note: All numbers in this document may not be exact due to rounding.
Situation Overview
From the introduction of cloud file hosting services in 2007, which allowed anyone to store
files and access them across any of their computers, workers began quietly using file sync and
share services for work. They also began inviting coworkers, contractors, and partners to share
folders and files, which began proliferating the use of these services in the workplace. Usage
further accelerated as mobile devices began to be used more extensively for work. With this
viral grassroots adoption, business and IT management formally began to learn about file
sync and share services and why they were so popular in the workplace. They also began
centralizing policies about adoption and how these services can be used at work.
Today, file sync and share usage at work is a global phenomenon. To understand adoption
and usage at work, IDC conducted a survey on behalf of Dropbox in early 2013, examining
U.S. enterprises with 1,000 or more employees. From this survey, we learned that end users in
48% of enterprises were regularly using file sync and share at work. There was also a shift from
grassroots to a more organized and centralized approach. Of the regular users in the survey,
50% indicated that the service was installed for them by the IT organization.
Since then, formal adoption in business has accelerated as services tailored for enterprise
use have become more mature. This follows both cloud and mobile adoption patterns,
where even heavily regulated industries are shifting applications and infrastructure to cloud
and programmatically supporting mobile. In many cases, file sync and share services are
becoming the cloud file system for these initiatives.
Dropbox Overview
Dropbox is the largest provider of file sync and share services measured by the adoption of
both consumers and business users. IDC estimates that Dropbox is also the largest provider
measured by spending in consumer and business segments.
Dropbox offers two tiers of service for individual users, and with these versions, end users
manage their own accounts. Dropbox for Business is the enterprise version and provides
many capabilities for administering on behalf of many end users. All three tiers are used in the
From the introduction
of cloud file hosting
services in 2007, which
allowed anyone to
store files and access
them across any of their
computers, workers
began quietly using file
sync and share services
for work.

workplace. Each tier builds from the foundational version of Dropbox. Dropbox Basic service is
offered at no charge. Key features include:
» Cross-device sync
» Ability to share files with friends, family, and coworkers
» Secure access and encryption of files stored on Dropbox and during transmission
» Efficient sync infrastructure
» 2GB of storage
Dropbox Pro is the lowest tier of paid subscription. At work, end users are able to manage
their own accounts and share files with teams consisting of coworkers and outside
contractors, partners, and customers. Key features include 1TB of storage, file sharing with
coworkers who are able to sync to their devices, ability to set passwords and expiration dates
and manage sharing permissions, and remote wipe of Dropbox files when a device is lost or
stolen.
Dropbox for Business includes all features of Basic and Pro and adds features that improve the
administration of end users on behalf of the enterprise, increases security controls for devices,
and provides richer end-user capabilities. Key features include:
» Many administrative features that make it easier for an enterprise to manage Dropbox on
behalf of groups of users, including access controls through the use of Active Directory,
support of single sign-on using identity service providers, account transfers for end users
de-provisioned from Dropbox
» Visibility and usage reporting
» Support for business and personal Dropbox use, creating a needed separation of content
for workers using their own devices, with workers able to store their business content in a
business Dropbox and their personal content in their own Dropbox, accessible from the
same application
» User management features that include permanent access to recover deleted files and
previous versions of files and two-step authentication for extra protection of a file
Business Value of Dropbox for Business
Dropbox for Business customers interviewed by IDC for this study follow a relatively consistent
progression in workplace adoption that we have seen across the market.
Key features include
1TB of storage, file
sharing with coworkers
who are able to sync
to their devices, ability
to set passwords
and expiration
dates and manage
sharing permissions,
and remote wipe of
Dropbox files when a
device is lost or stolen.

The top reasons for adoption in the workplace include:
» Supporting end-user efforts to improve collaboration and productivity through the use of
file sync and share
» Improving security, control, and visibility into the use and sharing of content- and file-
based data compared with email, thumb drives, and other mechanisms for sharing inside
and outside the organization
» Lowering the cost of storage
» Using as part of a mobile initiative
As adoption grows in an organization, IT begins to experiment more and departments and
teams begin to adopt in ways that are specific to their jobs. Examples include:
» Improving processes and collaboration around shared folder structures. End users
know where to find information, whereas prior to the adoption of Dropbox for Business,
they sometimes spent a surprisingly large amount of their day simply looking for content.
End users are also spending less time recovering from mistakes caused by accidentally
using obsolete material. This is especially true among workers in sales and customer
communications.
» Improving recoverability when PCs and mobile devices are lost and stolen or break.
Because IT provides a loaner when a PC is in for repair or a replacement for a lost device,
end users gain rapid access to their content and can begin working almost immediately.
» Replacing FTP services and offline methods of updating and synchronizing files.
Benefits include improved delivery reliability and faster cycle times as end users are able to
deliver larger files over a network, whereas prior to the adoption of Dropbox for Business,
they relied on courier services.
» Collaborating with partners using file sync and share. Before the adoption of Dropbox
for Business, partners would gain access to shared drives via VPNs, but now they are able
to access shared content from the sync and share service. IT costs are lowered because of
the reduced need for VPNs, and the administrative cost of managing and supporting VPN
use by third parties virtually disappears.
» Reducing email volumes. Email volume is reduced — especially related to sending
attachments to share new versions of content — as behavior around collaboration shifts
to reflect the use of the sync and share service.
End users know where
to find information,
whereas prior to the
adoption of Dropbox
for Business, they
sometimes spent
a surprisingly large
amount of their day
simply looking for
content.

Financial Benefits Analysis
IDC aggregated the data collected during its interviews to measure the financial impact of
the use of Dropbox for Business on these organizations. IDC projects that these customers are
achieving per annum benefits worth an average of $316,400 per 100 Dropbox for Business
users over five years (see Figure 1). These benefits fall into three main categories:
» Higher employee productivity, especially for field and mobile workers: Workers
save time accessing files and documents and can better do their jobs by having timely
and easy access to the most up-to-date versions of their content. Time savings result in
substantial employee productivity gains, which IDC quantifies as being worth an average
of $261,200 per 100 Dropbox for Business users per year over five years.
» Increased IT staff productivity: IT staffs save time on administrative areas that have been
displaced by the adoption of Dropbox for Business. They are also able to provide end
users with more IT functionality without adding more employees. IDC calculates that this
translates to an average productivity increase and time savings value of $43,600 per 100
Dropbox for Business users per year over five years.
» Lower IT infrastructure costs: Organizations avoid datacenter-related and other shipping
and storage costs. IDC projects that organizations are saving an average of $11,600 per
100 Dropbox for Business customers per year over five years.
FIGURE 1
Average Annual Benefits per 100
Dropbox for Business Users
Source: IDC, 2014
Business
productivity
benefits
IT staff
productivity
benefits
IT infrastructure
cost
reductions
Total average
annual
benefits
$261,200
$43,600 $11,600
$316,400
Total: $316,400 per
100 Dropbox for
Business users

Dropbox for Business Delivers Higher Employee Productivity
Every Dropbox for Business customer interviewed for this study achieved time savings and
higher user productivity. For these customers, the benefit of higher employee productivity
took one of several forms, including:
» Increased user efficiency and productivity
» Business-specific productivity gains
» Ability to generate more revenue or decrease revenue-related cycle times
These benefits are spelled out in Table 2.
In total, IDC calculates that Dropbox for Business customers interviewed for this white paper
will achieve user productivity and revenue gains worth an annual average of $261,200 per 100
Dropbox for Business users over five years.
TABLE 2
Source: IDC, 2014
Increased User Efficiency and Productivity
The core benefit of Dropbox for Business is providing users with timely access to updated
files and documents without regard to their physical location. Without this access, mobile and
field workers can spend substantial amounts of time every day enduring inefficiently working
Business Productivity and Revenue Benefits
per 100 Dropbox for Business Users
Improved business productivity
Average productivity increase — document management 2.1%
Value of improved productivity — document management $163,100
Value of improved productivity — other $84,300
Revenue enhancements
Additional revenue from improved operations $138,300
Operating margin 10.0%
Annual operating margin increase $13,800
Total business productivity and revenue gains $261,200

through VPNs to access work that may or may not have changed from the previous day. All
workers spend unproductive time searching for files across the different systems that store
them. When teams collaborate, each member often has to search his or her email to find the
most recent drafts of content, especially in preparing for meetings.
File sync and share centralizes files and folders, effectively creating a virtual location where
all related team members can go to find content regardless of where an employee is located
and which device the employee wants to use to access the content. For organizations using
Dropbox for Business, this translates to time savings of up to hours per day of productive time
for their employees.
Enterprises have adopted many systems designed to centralize content, including both
content creation and content consumption. But they typically restricted the use of these
assets to employees and optimized access for employees at work inside the firewall. Many of
the interviewed customers said they use Dropbox for Business in the field and with customers
and partners. This type of use is quite common across file sync and share services overall.
Each interviewed customer referenced specific time savings achieved with Dropbox for
Business (see Table 3).
TABLE 3
Source: IDC, 2014
Examples of Organization-Specific Document
Management Time Savings with Dropbox for Business
Benefit with Dropbox for Business
Organization 1 Six hours per week per person not spent looking for the right
business files
Organization 2 Eight hours per month per person not spent logging into a
remote server
Organization 3 One to three hours per week per person not spent looking for
the right files
Organization 4 One hour per day per person not spent logging in through VPN
Organization 5 Three to four hours a day across Dropbox for Business user base
not spent on file transfers
Organization 6 150–200 hours a month across Dropbox for Business user base of
lost access to data avoided
Organization 7 30 minutes per day not spent looking for files
Organization 8 Two hours per new employee saved during onboarding process

Interviewees also provided examples of how employees have become more productive with
Dropbox for Business because they have timely access to needed files and data. Also, because
employees have confidence in Dropbox for Business, they are more likely to use it than their
legacy solutions; this improved willingness to use helps break down information silos that
form when employees are unwilling to put files in shared storage environments or unable to
access the files they need.
Customers provided a number of examples of how they are achieving higher end-user
productivity:
» Simple, shared data: “Dropbox increases our productivity by close to 10% by eliminating
data loss and enabling simple, shared data. When you take your sales force and increase its
productivity by 10%, that’s your bottom line.”
» Improved team collaboration: “Our business development group has always had a need
to have access to the documents they need, to be aware of where the documents are, and to
collaborate worldwide without fussing with email. They can now work 100% of their time and
not 80%, which is what they were doing before Dropbox.”
» Anywhere, anytime access to documents: “If Dropbox were to cease to exist, per user, I
guess I would lose 30 minutes a day in productivity. It’s something to that tune; on some days,
it’s much more than that.”
» Replacing email for partner collaboration: “Historically, the information with our partners
was shared by email. Now we can create a document in Dropbox and share the folder so
everyone now has access to the most current content. That usually saves time on conference
calls and meetings and development and implementation activities.”
Business-Specific Productivity Gains
Customers also reported that they leverage Dropbox for Business to drive their business
strategies, especially when their business models require the timely and secure flow of
information to and from field and mobile workers. Several organizations reported that
by enabling such workers, Dropbox for Business helped them achieve higher employee
utilization and even capture more revenue.
One company noted that Dropbox for Business improved the reliability of file transfer and
allowed research teams to spend less time in the field in potentially unstable countries.
Examples of additional company-specific benefits from using Dropbox for Business include:
Interviewees also
provided examples
of how employees
have become more
productive with
Dropbox for Business
because they have
timely access to needed
files and data.

» Consulting company with worldwide operations: “Dropbox has helped enable us to place
our people in-country where they can get close to the customer because they no longer need to be
close to the servers to get their jobs done. In addition to the savings in not having to redo work, it’s
cutting so much time out of our production cycle that we are realizing our revenue in this calendar
year instead of next calendar year.”
» Commercial construction company: “Our managers go to their job sites and run their projects.
Dropbox lessens the time they need to come to the office for communications, and yet they are
100% on top of things all day long with updated information. For a vertical like construction where
a lot of things happen in the field, it’s important.”
» Staffing efficiency:“We were able to create a new role, called super managers, who manage
everything related to a project even from the field. We no longer need a counterpart in
headquarters. That has increased our productivity and reduced staff time requirements absolutely.”
Ability to Generate More Revenue and Improve Revenue
Cycle Times
Several interviewed organizations said that they are capturing more revenue with Dropbox for
Business by increasing the productivity of sales team members, improving sales processes, and
facilitating the closing of deals. Other customers said they have been able to accelerate the
development of revenue-generating services. In total, IDC projects that these companies are
capturing an average of $138,300 more revenue per year per 100 Dropbox for Business users.
Examples of Dropbox for Business having a positive impact on revenue include:
» Sales team productivity: “If sales team members are getting an extra 30 minutes to
communicate with clients, you’re adding back, call it, 5% of your day on average. We set sales
quotas based on what people are attaining; if everybody is achieving more because they have 5%
more in their day, we would probably end up raising quotas a little bit.”
» Facilitating closing of deal: “I know of one case where we were able to close a contract even
though our guy had a systems failure, but we were able to pull the data out of Dropbox for another
rep to finish up the thing, and we ended up finishing a contract for $3.5 million.”
» Efficient reseller network: “We started reselling products in Latin America and other regions.
Our reseller relationships with those firms are optimized by sharing Dropbox folders with them in
each region. Therefore, we’re able to share and swap files, essentially replicating what we do in the
United States with our sales team with those companies [partners] in Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey, for
example.”

Dropbox for Business Decreases IT Costs
What often begins as an initiative to improve end-user productivity through the adoption of
Dropbox for Business shifts to greater cross-enterprise efficiency and direct cost savings on
the IT infrastructure side, with many organizations able to realize benefits by driving down
the cost of storage, shared drives, and PC backup and driving down the use of VPNs and
FTP. Beyond the efficiency and business staff productivity benefits, infrastructure changes
through the adoption of Dropbox translate to lower spending on hardware, software, and IT
administration.
IT Staff Productivity Gains
Customers report that the ease of use of Dropbox for Business helps them make their IT staffs
more productive by increasing IT functionality without needing to add commensurate IT staff
resources. Examples of time savings include:
» Recovery of files when a hard drive crashes, less urgency in getting the end user up and
running, and automated recovery of files when the user chooses to sync all content-
related folders
» For files of less than 5GB, file sync and share services are far more reliable than FTP,
lowering the burden of supporting end users when they experience problems sending or
receiving large files using FTP
» Spending less time on patches, updates, and other activities tied to administering the
infrastructure that was replaced through Dropbox for Business adoption
Dropbox for Business allows enterprises to redeploy IT staff resources to more strategic,
higher-value projects, which are constantly competing with day-to-day responsibilities for
IT staff time. IDC projects that these organizations are achieving IT staff time savings and
productivity gains worth an average of $43,600 per year per 100 Dropbox for Business users
over five years (see Figure 2).
Examples of increased IT staff productivity include:
» Less expensive recoverability: “By having that security blanket [centralized storage on
Dropbox], it greatly enhanced the value to individual employees that they control what they
have up there and they knew it was safe and available to them if they dropped a notebook
or left it on the plane, they had a hard drive failure, they suddenly realized it wasn’t the same
nightmare of us trying to rebuild their data over the course of days, they knew it was all right
there. Basically, we can hand them a loaner notebook, they can log into Web mail and sign into

the Web site and Dropbox and they were functional, they had everything there, and then we
build them a new computer and ship it out to them, and they are very happy.”
» Ability to focus on higher-value activities: “Dropbox keeps our one IT guy working on
the ‘everything else.’ He is not spending time on file storage and can spend time on computer
hardware, software licenses, and network connectivity.”
FIGURE 2
Average Annual IT Staff Productivity Benefits
Source: IDC, 2014
Lowers IT Infrastructure Costs
Customers also noted that Dropbox for Business has helped them reduce and avoid
certain datacenter-related costs and other costs related to storage and shipping. Several
organizations said that they have avoided buying file storage servers as a result of their use
of cloud-based Dropbox for Business services. Other customers cited the benefit of lowering
their spending on shipping and storage. As one customer explained,“Because we now use
Dropbox for data transfer from the field, we are saving on what were shipping bills in the
thousands of dollars in the past.”IDC calculates that interviewed organizations are saving or
avoiding datacenter and other costs worth an annual average of $11,600 per 100 Dropbox for
Business users (see Figure 3).
IT hires
avoided
Document
management
efﬁciencies
Keeping the
lights on
Lost ﬁles Total
$28,600
$1,700 $1,200
$12,100
$43,600
Total: $43,600 per
100 Dropbox for
Business users

Source: IDC, 2014
Dropbox for Business Can Help Organizations Manage Risk
Several interviewed organizations noted that despite continued concerns about data security
inherent to cloud-based file sharing and storage solutions, Dropbox for Business is helping
them reduce the risk of catastrophic data loss. Because Dropbox for Business provides robust
data backup features, customers have reduced the number of lost files from almost 14 to
fewer than 6 per year and have cut the time it takes to recover a lost file by more than half.
This not only returns productive time to IT staff members and IT users but also brings peace of
mind to users if they worry less about the possibility of losing important files (see Table 4).
Another customer noted that Dropbox for Business offers features that help it mitigate risk.
Specifically, it noted that Dropbox offers security-related advantages, including the ability
to close an account and directly transfer it to another user and the ability to create group
management that is isolated from its storage environment, which is a benefit in the event of
an acquisition or a divestiture.
Server Consulting
and
contractor
Software ShippingSoftware
maintenance
Other
storage
Licensing TotalFacilities
$2,300
$1,200
$300
$3,900
$400
$11,600
$300
$2,700
$500
Total: $11,600 per
100 Dropbox for
Business users
FIGURE 3
Average Annual IT Infrastructure Cost Savings
Lost Files KPIs
Average Before Dropbox With Dropbox Benefit Advantage (%)
Lost files per year 13.5 5.8 7.7 57.1
Hours to recover 2.4 1.1 1.3 53.8
Annual hours spent recovering lost files 32.4 6.4 26.0 80.2
Source: IDC, 2014
TABLE 4

ROI ANALYSIS
IDC assessed the cost, benefit, and value associated with the use of Dropbox for Business by
the eight organizations interviewed for this white paper over a five-year period (see Figure
4). Based on its analysis of the information captured in interviews, IDC calculates that these
organizations are spending an average of $32,100 per 100 Dropbox for Business users each
year over five years in subscription, infrastructure, and support costs (including initial costs).
Based on these investments, organizations interviewed will achieve annual benefits worth
an average of $316,500 per 100 Dropbox for Business users over five years. As a result, IDC
projects that these organizations will realize an average cumulative net gain of $1.42 million
per 100 Dropbox for Business users over five years.
Focus: Dropbox for Business
for Larger Organizations
The business value proposition of Dropbox for Business is clear for smaller and medium-sized com-
panies that can leverage its flexibility and cost-effective nature to improve employee productivity
while maintaining lean operations. The experience of Maquet, a German medical device manufac-
turer with 6,500 employees, suggests that larger companies can also realize substantial benefits by
using Dropbox for Business.
To learn about the use of cloud-based file sync and share, Maquet tested Dropbox for Business in
a business unit with more than 1,000 employees. Maquet began considering using Dropbox for
Business in the context of looking for a sync and share solution that would increase employee
productivity while enabling it to control company data in the cloud. As a medical device manufac-
turer, Maquet faces stringent regulatory requirements that a sync and share solution would need to
address. It chose Dropbox for Business because Dropbox was able to fully address these data-related
concerns and because it was impressed by Dropbox’s sizable installed base and price point.
According to Maquet, the 650 users who now have Dropbox for Business accounts are significantly
more productive. The marketing and sales teams have benefited most; these teams are constantly
on the move and depend on timely access to“simple, shared data”to demonstrate their products
and carry out their sales pitches. Team members are no longer wasting time looking for the right
documentation or document version and have confidence that they have the most up-to-date
information as they meet with potential customers. Maquet stressed that it is seeing these produc-
tivity gains while making important strides in data security. In particular, Dropbox for Business helps
Maquet comply with FDA rules by giving it the ability to restrict access to data and limit the right to
delete data. For Maquet, this is a significant financial and business benefit.

FIGURE 4
Cost Benefit Analysis per 100 Dropbox
for Business Users
Source: IDC, 2014
Table 5 provides IDC’s five-year ROI analysis for the organizations’use of Dropbox for Business.
The analysis shows that the average organization interviewed for this white paper will spend
$113,700 per 100 Dropbox for Business users. In return, the average organization will realize
$1.09 million in benefits per 100 Dropbox for Business users. This results in a net present
value of $978,400 per 100 Dropbox for Business users. This means that the interviewed
organizations will break even on their investment in 4.5 months and achieve an ROI of 860%.
TABLE 5
Source: IDC, 2014
Five-Year ROI Analysis per 100 Dropbox for Business Users
Benefit (discounted) $1.092 million
Investment (discounted) $0.114 million
Net present value (NPV) $0.978 million
Return on investment (ROI) 860%
Payback period 4.5 months
Discount rate 12%
$1,500,000
$1,300,000
$1,100,000
$900,000
$700,000
$500,000
$300,000
$100,000
$0
- $100,000
$1,422,000
$419,800
$365,100$331,900
$151,000
-$9,600 -$14,400 -$30,000 -$31,600 -$34,800 -$40,000
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Benefits
Investment
Cumulative net benefit
$314,600

Challenges and Opportunities
Challenges
This study shows the concrete benefits Dropbox customers have experienced through
adoption. There are challenges, however. Several customers expressed concerns about
security. In some cases, the concern is the ability for administrators to see more content than
they should be able to see. That includes internal material as well as confidential partner
information shared with the enterprise. Customers would like to see better isolation between
the actual content and the administration of the Dropbox service.
Another challenge mentioned by customers in this study is the confusion that results when
end users delete files from their PC when those files are shared across a team. The deletion is
synced to the cloud, and the files disappear from each team member’s folder. Team members
complain that their files disappear from the service and require support from IT to resolve. This
is a generic problem across all file sync and share services. Dropbox for Business handles this
issue by maintaining versions of files in perpetuity, allowing end users to recover deleted files,
but end-user training helps diminish the problem. However, there is a need for training or an
easily accessible FAQ to help end users learn how to unsync rather than delete and how to
recover when an individual user mistakenly deletes a file the team continues to need.
Customers also mentioned that they had unanticipated additional charges for network
bandwidth caused by the adoption of Dropbox. It is logical that bandwidth usage increases
for any file sync and share service because end users sync content to the cloud and share with
others, and those changes often propagate through the network to team members’PCs. File
sync and share is generally a new use of network bandwidth.
Dropbox for Business does have network throttling capabilities, which have the potential to
decrease peak use of the network. However, this may cause problems with teams that are
working together on content under deadline, where they need the fastest-possible syncing.
Additional bandwidth should be included in the total cost of adoption. How much additional
bandwidth is needed is dependent on how broadly the service is adopted and whether end
users need fast syncing. Even with the added networking costs, the ROI still remains highly
positive.
Opportunities
The entire study outlines how customers are adopting file sync and share services as well
as the benefits of the services. When these services were first introduced, they were very
innovative, and in business, enterprises are pushing forward in even more innovative ways

than any of the vendors envisioned. We are beginning to see enterprises use the folders and
files managed by Dropbox and other file sync and share service providers in application and
process automation projects that depend on the content stored in the files. We expect over
time to see greater interoperability with enterprise systems even as new features unfold that
improve end-user productivity and foster greater collaboration.
Recommendations
In our file sync and share adoption survey conducted prior to this ROI study, we found that
more than 40% of end-user adopters in business used the free service, regardless of whether
it was supported individually, within a team, or by the enterprise. For those end users
adopting the free service, many of the productivity benefits described in this study also apply.
This analysis provides organizations with a way to build a business case to shift workers to file
sync and share and extend the benefits that are already being achieved through individual
adoption.
In addition, the IT productivity and infrastructure savings benefits do not apply to the free
service, nor do the benefits gained by leveraging Dropbox for Business to support a business
strategy that speeds up cycle times or is used in support of revenue growth initiatives. Both
are important contributors to the overall value the organizations interviewed for this study are
achieving with Dropbox for Business.
Many enterprises in regulated industries are struggling with the issue of cloud and the
adoption of file sync and share. Dropbox is working with multiple industry-specific partners
to support security frameworks as well as unique use cases. Enterprises may choose to adopt
Dropbox through partnerships that align with their specific industry needs. For direct use of
Dropbox, it is important to identify opportunities to collaborate and share that do not violate
compliance but can significantly enhance productivity. We outlined one such example in this
study, describing how Maquet is benefiting from its use of Dropbox for Business.
Enterprises concerned with this issue use Dropbox with mobile rollouts supporting field
workers. Another starting point is marketing, which frequently collaborates with agencies and
contractors to support advertising and marketing campaigns.
Finally, file sync and share services are very easy to learn, and most organizations have
minimal training. That is a significant benefit. However, we recommend that training be held
to cover basic issues that affect team collaboration. One example is teaching end users how
to delete files or folders without deleting them from central storage when they are no longer
involved with projects. Establishing naming conventions is also important so that users
collaborating across multiple teams don’t struggle with duplicate folder names.

Conclusion
As organizations rely more on employee mobility and cloud-based applications, they also
seek to maximize the productivity of employees impacted by these trends. They understand
the value of their employees’time and want their employees to work as productively and
efficiently as possible. IDC’s interviews with Dropbox for Business customers demonstrate
that these organizations are accomplishing their objective of driving employee productivity
by providing a file sync and share solution that enables collaboration and time efficiencies
related to file and data management. However, by using Dropbox for Business, the
organizations are not just maximizing the scope of these productivity benefits but also
capturing IT staff efficiency gains and cost savings while addressing security-related concerns.
As a result, Dropbox for Business not only is a solution that employees want to use but also
delivers business value to organizations by increasing employee productivity, improving IT
staff efficiency, and delivering cost savings.
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About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence,
advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer
technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment
community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More
than 1,100 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry
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