File sharing is an important aspect of the modern day technological innovation. It is a process that defines transmitting of files like documents, images, videos, and music from one computer or laptop to another system. The best part is that even files of large sizes can be easily transferred and that’s the reason the process holds a high level of significance. This transmission mainly takes places in two different ways:
- Peer-to-peer transmission that defines a simple process of file sharing between two computers through a network
- File sharing devices that defines the process of transmission through technologies like Bluetooth, file sharing applications, and websites
However, the advancing technologies after the introduction of Bluetooth have given birth to many such file sharing applications like Xender, DropBox, and ShareIt. These applications have proved to be a blessing for businesses and enterprises across the globe who were earlier struggling to share large files over the network. To have a better understanding of how these applications prove beneficial, here are some of the known benefits and drawbacks of these applications.
Advantages of File Sharing
When it comes to file sharing applications, there are many benefits that businesses and enterprises are gaining while they stay more focused on the core business operations. Some of the key advantages include:
- These days sizes of audio, music, video, and texts files have become astronomically large and the applications like Xender make it convenient to share. Most of these applications are available for free. However, some applications only allow a limited gigabyte of file size to be transmitted free of cost. They have their own respective annual plans to help enterprises send multi-gigabyte documents.
- Data security is another important benefit of file sharing applications. Businesses and enterprises often share their sensitive data like property concerns, trade secrets, business USPs, marketing plans, financial information, and legal documents. All these sensitive data when shared through file sharing applications are encrypted when in transit and further secured through password authentication.
- These applications also help keep a complete track about the documents shared. Businesses can stay updated with the key information like when the document was uploaded, who all viewed it, who all tried to edit it, when it was modified, and whether it is made downloadable or not. All through the while, businesses have an eye on their shared files for improved security.
- Businesses gain a shared experience for collaborative growth and success of a business. It becomes easy to share the file and ask for expert’s opinions, reviews, and suggestions. It is like multiple people working on the same files to ensure the file reaches highest level of perfection in terms of its content and process. With so many experts working together on the same file with a shared organizational goal, the operations of a business become smooth and successful.
- When working together on the same files, of course it leads to less mistakes, reduces the possibility of error, and requires less number of people for proofreading the documents. This in turn helps increase the speed of creating a final document for approval and that too with reduced cost. Even industries like healthcare, national defense and finance use these applications to streamline all their processes with high level of security and protection.
- These file sharing applications also lead to improved data integrity. This is because when all documents are stored at one place for different experts to verify and analyze, the final document is often produced with high level of precision and security that stays less prone to loss, fraud, manipulations, and other similar interferences that may hamper the accuracy and reliability of the data shared.
Disadvantages of File Sharing
Every coin has two sides and so does file sharing applications. If these applications have their own set of benefits, then risks and drawbacks are certain. Some of the risks associated with file sharing applications are:
- Increased insecurity is one important drawback of these applications. It is true that all the data that is shared using applications like Xender is encrypted and password protected for improved security. Yet there are possibilities of security breaches in the form of viruses, phishing, and hacking. This in turn hampers the integrity and accountability of the organizations.
- Loss of privacy is another associated risk. This is because when shared through network or any other mode of transmission, the sensitive information becomes easily accessible by the third parties. These parties can further use the information for their personal use against the norms of the businesses that shared the files.
- The file sharing system can also put businesses into the trouble of violating the laws of copyright. There are possibilities that the unique ideas and plans created by a specific company become open to other businesses. This open source can be easily imitated or copied by other professionals from the same niche.
The advantages are many but the disadvantages cannot be ignored. However, businesses behold the ability to leverage the benefits and safeguard the potential risks. One can conveniently work on strict measures and authentication processes so as to ensure that all the data shared between systems stay free from cyber threats including viruses, hacking, and phishing. Only then one can get maximum benefits of using all the file sharing applications like Xender and ShareIt.