{"id":1773,"date":"2014-09-10T16:30:35","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T23:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebeagle.itgroove.net\/?p=1773"},"modified":"2023-02-24T21:39:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T21:39:53","slug":"o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/","title":{"rendered":"O365 – The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft frequently confuses the world by reusing product names and\/or tacking the same product name to multiple product offerings.\u00a0 OneDrive is one of the stellar examples of this naming penchant as there are two OneDrive<\/strong> offerings \u2013 OneDrive<\/strong> <\/span>and OneDrive for Business<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 And while they are both places \u201cin the Cloud\u201d to put your precious stuff they are very different animals, indeed!\u00a0 Oh, and let’s not forget that the OneDrive’s used to be named SkyDrive!\u00a0 That had to changed after Microsoft lost a lawsuit to Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).\u00a0 So, don’t be confused if you are using “SkyDrive” and wonder what the heck “OneDrive” is or, even more confusingly, you update your system and all of a sudden SkyDrive is missing and OneDrive is in it’s place.\u00a0 The underlying technology is still the same, it’s just the naming that has changed.<\/p>\n

OK, so why are there two of them and why would you use one over the other?\u00a0 Good question!<\/p>\n

The super simple answer is that OneDrive<\/strong> <\/span>(with no qualifier) is your personal \u201cUSB stick\u201d in the Cloud which is yours to use as you please while OneDrive for Business<\/span><\/strong> is your corporate,<\/em> Cloudy USB stick that is subject to corporate policies and rules.\u00a0 Of course there is a lot more to it but let\u2019s start with this definition and build out from there.<\/p>\n

OneDrive<\/span><\/strong> is the free Cloud storage service that Microsoft offers to anyone that wants to sign up for it (https:\/\/ondrive.live.com<\/a>).\u00a0 It has no link to Office365 and there is no Office365 subscription that includes OneDrive (no qualifier)<\/strong><\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 This is an \u201cunstructured\u201d file storage service that you, as the individual, control.\u00a0 You can build folders and share files and folder access with anyone you wish to share with, you control the security directly.\u00a0 You can download the OneDrive app that will then auto-connect your local Windows Explorer with your <\/span>OneDrive <\/strong><\/span>as highlighted below:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The OneDrive app is also available for tablets and phones.\u00a0 And, of course, you can get to OneDrive <\/span><\/strong>on the Web:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The local OneDrive app on my PC sync\u2019s with OneDrive<\/span><\/strong> so if I create a folder in OneDrive<\/span><\/strong> it will (eventually) show up in the OneDrive<\/span><\/strong> folder on my PC.\u00a0 Below you will see RobzFolder that I just created in OneDrive<\/span><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here it is having shown up locally on my PC:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And, of course, I can share files and folders out of my OneDrive<\/span><\/strong> with other people:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And looking into Shared I get this:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As you can probably surmise, it is pretty simple and straight forward. You can drag files into it, share them, delete them \u2026 whatever.\u00a0 The key takeaway is that OneDrive is <\/strong><\/span>oriented towards you<\/strong><\/em> as the individual, there is no \u201cAdmin\u201d hovering in the background applying restrictive policies to the account; you are firmly in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/span><\/p>\n

OneDrive for Business <\/strong><\/span>is a considerably different beast although it still can be considered your USB stick in the Cloud, albeit with many more controls imposed on how it is used.\u00a0 Firstly, it is provisioned via SharePoint (in the background) through an Office365 subscription.\u00a0 Because it is provisioned through SharePoint there are controls applied that are similar to the controls that you see applied in any other SharePoint library.\u00a0 It also means that there are features available that have no equivalent in <\/span>OneDrive, <\/strong><\/span>like file versioning to name just one.<\/span><\/p>\n

You get access to OneDrive for Business <\/strong><\/span>from your O365 portal page:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Clicking into it brings up the following:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

OK, you can see that it is the same yet very different from what you see in OneDrive <\/strong><\/span>as there are many more options.\u00a0 The first big tipoff that this is a different beast from <\/span>OneDrive <\/strong><\/span>is the \u201cBrowse\/Files\/Library\u201d structure at the top of the screen under the Office365 logo; this is a dead giveaway that you are dealing with a SharePoint site.\u00a0 You can see on the left-hand side of the screen that there are various ways for you to look into your OneDrive for Business<\/span><\/strong> and you can see documents that your are following, documents that have been shared with you from another person\u2019s OneDrive for Business<\/span><\/strong> (Shared with Me) and other \u201cSharePoint\u2019y\u201d links (Sites).\u00a0 Also, note that files are referred to as \u201cdocuments\u201d, don\u2019t let it throw you as that is just another SharePoint-ism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another tipoff that there is a lot more happening here is the information that is displayed to the right of a file name as well as the all important ellipses (the \u2026).\u00a0 There is nothing equivalent to this in the personal OneDrive<\/span>.\u00a0 <\/strong>Clicking the ellipses beside one of the files reveals this:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wow!\u00a0 Then clicking the second ellipses displays this:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Again, there is a lot <\/em>more going on here than in your personal OneDrive<\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The folder labelled \u201cShared with Everyone\u201d is there by default and anything that you put inside it is automatically shared with other member\u2019s of your Office365 subscription group (based on overall controls set by your O365 admin); there is no equivalent of this in your personal OneDrive<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>You can create your own folders and share the folders with others just like you can share a file.\u00a0 But the thing to remember is that sharing (security) is ultimately controlled by your O365 admin and the O365 policies that have been set by your organization.\u00a0 There may be restrictions in place on who<\/em> you can share with; e.g.. you may not be able to share with people outside of your organization if that is your organization\u2019s policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also a OneDrive for Business <\/strong><\/span>app available for your PC that integrates with your Windows Explorer so that you can just grab from and\/or drop files into your <\/span>OneDrive for Business <\/strong><\/span>without having to open the website.\u00a0 It displays in a similar fashion in Explorer to your personal <\/span>OneDrive<\/strong><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There app is also available for phones and tablets.<\/p>\n

OK, so there\u2019s the basic<\/em> technical differences explained.\u00a0 Now there is the question of which one to use?\u00a0 The answer:\u00a0 both!<\/p>\n

I think the basic differentiator is to ask yourself, \u201cWhat am I doing with this file?\u201d.\u00a0 If it is personal<\/strong> and has nothing to do with work or the organization that provides your O365 subscription then put the file in OneDrive<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 If it is work or organization related then put it in <\/span>OneDrive for Business<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure there are many more differentiators that you could apply but I think this one is pretty cut and dried.\u00a0 Remember, <\/span>OneDrive<\/strong> <\/span>is yours and yours alone.\u00a0 If you leave your organization and lose your O365 account your personal <\/span>OneDrive<\/strong> <\/span>is unaffected so all of your precious personal<\/em><\/span> files are still there for you.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if the file is work related, if you need to track versions, if it needs to be very secure (amongst other things) or you need to avail yourself of any of the other SharePoint features related to the file then put it in OneDrive for Business<\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In either case, your file is available to you from almost any device that can connect to the Internet.\u00a0 And that is the best part of OneDrive!<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0I was discussing all of this with Kelly in our office and we both commented that we have seen users decide that their\u00a0OneDrive for Business<\/strong> should be\u00a0the<\/em> repository for critical company data that is then shared out to others in the company. \u00a0This is a\u00a0bad<\/em> use of \u00a0OneDrive for Business<\/strong> as this kind of data (with attendant security) should be in a regular\u00a0SharePoint<\/strong> library and not tied to an individual’s drive. \u00a0Another way to view\u00a0OneDrive for Business<\/strong> is as your “H: drive” (many companies set H: as the mapped drive for user’s “personal” storage on the file server) that just so happens to live in the Cloud. \u00a0It’s for your personal stuff that is related to work!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Microsoft frequently confuses the world by reusing product names and\/or tacking the same product name to multiple product offerings.\u00a0 OneDrive is one of the stellar examples of this naming penchant as there are two OneDrive offerings \u2013 OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.\u00a0 And while they are both places \u201cin the Cloud\u201d to put your precious … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247,248],"tags":[326,488,489],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nO365 - The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny? - Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"O365 - The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny? - Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Microsoft frequently confuses the world by reusing product names and\/or tacking the same product name to multiple product offerings.\u00a0 OneDrive is one of the stellar examples of this naming penchant as there are two OneDrive offerings \u2013 OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.\u00a0 And while they are both places \u201cin the Cloud\u201d to put your precious …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-10T23:30:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-24T21:39:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/\",\"name\":\"O365 - The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny? - Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-10T23:30:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-24T21:39:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Archive\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"O365 – The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/\",\"name\":\"Archive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77\",\"name\":\"Sean Wallbridge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sean Wallbridge\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/author\/swallbridge\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"O365 - The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny? - Archive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"O365 - The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny? - Archive","og_description":"Microsoft frequently confuses the world by reusing product names and\/or tacking the same product name to multiple product offerings.\u00a0 OneDrive is one of the stellar examples of this naming penchant as there are two OneDrive offerings \u2013 OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.\u00a0 And while they are both places \u201cin the Cloud\u201d to put your precious …","og_url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/","og_site_name":"Archive","article_published_time":"2014-09-10T23:30:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-24T21:39:53+00:00","author":"Sean Wallbridge","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sean Wallbridge","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/","url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/","name":"O365 - The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny? - Archive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2014-09-10T23:30:35+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-24T21:39:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/2014\/09\/10\/o365-the-onedrives-whats-the-skinny\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog Archive","item":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"O365 – The OneDrive\u2019s \u2013 what\u2019s the skinny?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#website","url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/","name":"Archive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77","name":"Sean Wallbridge","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sean Wallbridge"},"url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/author\/swallbridge\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2871,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773\/revisions\/2871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}