Storegate Review
Launched in 2003 and based in Sweden, Storegate aims to provide a service equivalent to a virtual hard drive. They have an extremely personalized service and you can choose the precise amount of storage needed so you will never have to pay for excess space. Their service is wonderfully streamlined and made for simplicity so even the most novice use can benefit. Though they offer both home and business services, this review will focus on their business service. We would strongly recommend this service for SMB’s looking for a service that is extremely easy to use.
Features
The standout feature of this service is the search optimization. Usually you will have a cloud storage provider that either has the file storage laid out like a virtual hard drive or one that is categorized for easy search and file navigation. Storegate is unique in that their storage is optimized for both. Other features include:
- File synchronization
- Mobile apps
- Collaboration tools with features for admin and sub-users
- folder permissions
- WebDAV
- Selective reset
- File archiving
- File versioning
Pricing
Storagate offers three categories of packages: Basic, Team, and Enterprise, that each have their own selection of pricings based on the amount of storage required. The ‘Basic’ business package includes 1 user and pricing starts at $9.99 per month for 10GB storage space, and goes up to 1000GB for an additional $300. The ‘Team’ package is for 5-50 users with storage space starting at 50GB for $44.99 per month, and also goes up to 1000GB for an additional $300. The ‘Enterprise’ packages are available on request. It is important to note the unlimited storage is only available for the enterprise package and storage for the lower packages are capped at 1000GB unless more is specifically requested.
Ease of Use
As mentioned above, this service is extremely easy to use. After installation, which is a straightforward two minute process, you are able to set the backup process to you preferences. You are able to set a backup schedule by day, week or month. Additionally, you can set backups to occur automatically so that once set, you don’t need to think about it again as it will run smoothly and quietly in the background without any disruptions to you. The dashboard is intuitively designed to be clean and extremely user friendly. It is completely streamlined to include only the features that users will need daily, and nothing superfluous or complicated. The service is specially designed for optimal ease with collaboration. This is achieved with options to create work-groups and to assign sub users. Additionally, you can maintain control of your files with access control settings. Within work-groups, you are able to use the setting of live synchronizations, so all edits made by various users will be automatically saved and no user will accidentally undo the work of another.
Storegate Control Panel
Storegate Dashboard
Security
Storegate guarantees all files are stored within their extremely secure Swedish based datacenters. The servers are not only constantly monitored in maximum-security data centers, but they are also protected from fire and power failures. All data that is stored is accessible exclusively by the user with their unique user ID and password combination. Additionally, Storegate uses https-encrypted login authorizations, which means that your user ID and password are also encrypted (and thus not available to unauthorized persons). All Internet transfers of information through your Storegate account are done using SSL.
Customer Support
Storegate’s service only falls a little short with their customer service. They do not have phone or live chat support, however, they do have an online ticket system that is extremely responsive and helpful. Additionally, they provide a FAQ resource center that has downloadable PDF instructions to walk you through different aspects of the service. They are also available on their social pages including, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus.
Summary
Storegate offers a great service that can benefit even the most novice of users. They provide a nice array of features and great security. Their pricing packages ensure that you are getting exactly what you pay for and are not wasting money on unnecessary space. They also offer a 14 day free trial, which includes 2GB of cloud storage space so we would recommend signing up and getting a feel for the service.
