systemHUB vs Google Drive…

Including: Sharepoint, Dropbox, Box and other file storage software.

 

When file storage no longer works for your business systems.

Google Drive, Dropbox and Sharepoint are are great at what they do – file storage – but they are not designed for systems management. Your business’ most valuable asset – its systems – deserves special attention.

are good enough if …

  • You’re just a team of one or two in the early stages of business, and
  • You only have a small handful of systems driving your business, and
  • You need to keep costs way down, and
  • Your systems are working for you – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

In fact, our systemHUB® team used Dropbox in those early basement grind startup months. It served us well… until it really didn’t…

“Symptoms” checklist

Your company has outgrown file storage solutions for its systems management if…

N
You or your employees spend more time creating, organizing, and updating the systems than actually implementing them.
N

You’re tired of hearing: “But I had no idea what the system was/that there even was one.”

N
Index files aren’t regularly updated.
N

Making one change to one folder or document requires a cascade of changes throughout your systems. (If a process changes in a dropbox file, does it make a sound?)

N

Folders are full of a mix of videos and audios and documents with links.

N
You continuously have to change file sharing permissions for new and existing team members.

“Turnover increased by 200% and net profits have gone from 8% to close to 30% by using systemHUB.”

Gary McMahon, Ecosystem Solutions

Value what’s valuable

But, but… Dropbox and Google Drive are free! As a business owner, you know that as your business grows, it’s not about spending as little money as possible; it’s about knowing where your money will grow. Systems are your business’ most valuable asset. What you do and how you do it; They make you special to your clients and customers.

They make one-time customers, lifetime customers.

They’re what your clients notice when they say, “Hey, I know that company!” 

Look, just one department’s systems could have ripple effects that spell big profits across the company. That makes focusing on systems an investment.  What’s more, you’re likely here because your makeshift file storage systems management isn’t cutting it anymore. Systems deserve more than being crammed into Dropbox or Google Drive. 

Comparison Chart

File Sharing
Assign systems by role (multiple users at once) and individually.
Manually invite individual users to folders and create individual share links.
Manually invite individual users to folders and create individual share links.
Consistent Formatting
Provides predefined format so consistency is guaranteed.
Every document is different and no consistency between systems.
Every document is different and no consistency between systems.
Systems templates
Gain access to a range of best practise system and policy templates.
X
X
Attachments
Embed videos, images, and email templates, and view them without ever leaving the page.
Must insert external links to, videos, email templates, file attachments.
Must insert external links to, videos, email templates, file attachments.
Search
Search file names and headings PLUS create custom searchable tags.
Great search but can be too powerful with pages of results making it hard to find what you’re looking for.
Only searches via file name.
Roles & Permissions
Limit who can see and edit documents – assign systems to roles and roles to individuals.
Must manually set permissions for each person
Difficult to review and adjust who has access to what.
Manually share each document or entire folders.
Difficult to review and adjust who has access to what.
Sign offs
Keep track of who has read and agreed to which systems and policies.
X
X
Learning tracks
Assign certain systems ”tracks” and monitor progress and completion as they sign off.
X
X
Version control
Easily revert to previous complete version.
Must sort through auto-saves to name and sort by completed versions.
Must sort through auto-saves to name and sort by completed versions.
Ease of use for systems management
Very easy! Create as many systems as your business needs without systems and processes getting lost along the way.
Meh! The more systems you have, the worse it gets.
Meh! The more systems you have, the worse it gets.

Comparison Chart

File Sharing

Assign systems by role (multiple users at once) and individually.

Manually invite individual users to folders and create individual share links.

 Manually invite individual users to folders and create individual share links.

Consistent Formatting
Provides predefined format so consistency is guaranteed.
Every document is different and no consistency between systems.
Every document is different and no consistency between systems.
Systems templates
Gain access to a range of best practise system and policy templates.
X
X
Attachments
Embed videos, images, and email templates, and view them without ever leaving the page.
Must insert external links to, videos, email templates, file attachments.
Must insert external links to, videos, email templates, file attachments.
Search
Search file names and headings PLUS create custom searchable tags.
Great search but can be too powerful with pages of results making it hard to find what you’re looking for.
Only searches via file name.

Roles & Permissions

Limit who can see and edit documents – assign systems to roles and roles to individuals.

Must manually set permissions for each person. Difficult to review and adjust who has access to what.

Manually share each document or entire folders. Difficult to review and adjust who has access to what.

Sign offs
Keep track of who has read and agreed to which systems and policies.
X
X
Learning tracks
Assign certain systems ”tracks” and monitor progress and completion as they sign off.
X
X
Version control
Easily revert to previous complete version.
Must sort through auto-saves to name and sort by completed versions.
Must sort through auto-saves to name and sort by completed versions.
Ease of use for systems management
Very easy! Create as many systems as your business needs without systems and processes getting lost along the way.
Meh! The more systems you have, the worse it gets.
Meh! The more systems you have, the worse it gets.

Where systemHUB wins hands down.

Specifically designed for systems management

 

Unlike file storage solutions, systemHUB has a sole purpose: to help your business seamlessly organize and manage its systems and processes. Simple.

Since systems are supposed to streamline your work, not bog it down, we wanted to make it as easy as possible to set up your systems, and access everything you need to know for each task.

Version history

Systems creation and management is, by its nature, an iterative process. As businesses grow, their markets shift, and they gain perspective, their systems must change, too. Sometimes, you may discover that a previous iteration produced better, quicker results.

In those cases, it’s crucial that you have a way to quickly and easily reinstate or compare previous versions. With systemHUB’s version control, that’s easy.

How is that different from Google Docs’ version history? Google Docs (and Google Sheets) indiscriminately saves changes as you go.

Automatic rolling saves are great… if you’re writing a term paper. If you need specific versions, however, you must go through each version, pick out those that captured incomplete system reworkings, and one-by-one name those that appear to be completed systems versions. It’s a pain – trust me.

File organization

systemHUB’s intuitive nested file design makes it easy for your team to pick up and start using right away. No training on the software itself; no on-ramping.

It’s safe to say that Google Drive is out of the running with this one with its busy gridview design and clunky navigation. A search for “How to organize Google Drive?” returns over 84 million results. So, let’s just say that it’s not exactly intuitive.

Dropbox uses classic nested folders. The folders within folders can get overwhelming quickly, especially if you use Dropbox for your business’ file storage as well as systems management.

Neither Google Drive nor Dropbox, enables its users to maintain a top-level folder view while editing documents. Your systemHUB systems folders stay pinned in a sidebar, even while you’re viewing/editing your systems.

Advanced search

Let’s be honest, your file organisation is only as good as your ability to find exactly what you need when you need it!

systemHUB supports advanced filtered searches that are specific to terms and categories that matter for systems management. Users can also attach customized tags to systems, making it easier to find what you need using the language you and your team are already familiar with.

Permissions & team management

This one is a big one. Manually managing roles and permissions in Dropbox and Google Drive is a nightmare. With file storage solutions, someone must add each individual to a shared folder or document. As your team grows, projects grow and your systems evolve, that can become a huge time sink.

Only want an employee to view or edit certain files and subfolders within a folder? You’d have to manually share each subfolder and file within that folder — one-by-oh-so-annoying-one.

In systemHUB, admin can set permission based on roles. Assign roles to all of your team members, then manage who can view and edit what by role — no more painstakingly sharing each document. So, you can manage who gets to view and edit, say, all of your company’s Accounting and Finance Systems with one click.

And what about “sign-off”? It’s one thing having a documented process, it’s another ensuring your team has read and understood it. This functionality is built right into the systemHUB platform. A convenient dashboard registry shows admin users who have signed-off and on what and notifies team members to finish incomplete systems.

You’re going to love this feature – it’s a game changer.

Additional Best Practice Templates & Training

In partnership with industry experts including John Warrillow, Michael E. Gerber, John Jantsch, Brad Sugars, Mike Michalowicz and many more – systemHUB gives you a template library of swipe and deploy systems, systems and policies that allow you and your team to get up and running as quickly as possible.

Clearly, Dropbox, Google Drive, Sharepoint and all the others weren’t designed to compete at this level.

Conclusion: systemHUB wins

Trying to use a file storage software that creates more confusion, frustration, and effort to manage will not help you build systemised business. Systems are valuable and they deserve special attention.

Google Drive and Dropbox can work fine as your getting started but… you wouldn’t use a hammer to dig a hole. And you shouldn’t expect file storage solutions to appropriately manage your systems and processes.

With systemHUB, you can be sure that your systems work for your business not against it.