SharePoint to Dropbox Integration

SharePoint to Dropbox Integration: One Connector for Automatic Synchronization

Diogo GouveiaProducts and Solutions 2 Comments

Dropbox is one of the most well-known online storage solutions, gathering over 700 million registered users. Many companies, us included, use it alongside SharePoint Online, a multi-use platform that is natively compatible with Office 365. This symbiosis provides us and other businesses with a practical and trustworthy package to carry out day-to-day operations.

Great! But What’s the Need for a Connector Then?

As mentioned, we decided to implement Dropbox and SharePoint Online into our daily business processes and routines. Currently, we use SharePoint Online as an online storage and collaboration tool and Dropbox to manage our partner’s documents, presentations and general files.

Throughout our experience, we found a definite need to somehow guarantee a change made in one place would be reflected across all others. This connectivity between our systems was missing, and a solution that allowed for the easy integration of Dropbox with SharePoint Online was needed.

When we first started brainstorming, the creation of a portal designed specifically to allow the partner’s access to the Dropbox data was considered, but it seemed unnecessary. It became clear that the best approach to tackle the issue would be the automatic, bi-directional synchronization of files in SharePoint and in Dropbox, and that is exactly what we did!

The Dropbox Integration Solution

Using Connect Bridge, our tried and tested software integration platform, we developed a connector that effectively synchronizes the files and data stored in Dropbox with SharePoint, and vice-versa.

Briefly explaining what it does, the synchronization can start from either side, but it is configured differently.

On the one hand, when a new customer account is changed to a partner account in Dynamics 365, a folder is automatically created in both our SharePoint and Dropbox applications.

At the end of the day, the number of files we have in SharePoint equals the number of files in our Dropbox, a result of the automatic synchronization of our business processes.

Applications

From our experience, and our clients’, here are the two biggest scenarios in which our connector comes in the handy:

Dropbox to SharePoint migration
If you currently use Dropbox, but wish to stop using it and want to migrate your Dropbox files to SharePoint, you can do the procedure using Connect Bridge:
  1. Install Connect Bridge and the Dropbox and SharePoint connectors
  2. Define the migration rules - this will be done in code but we can help you with that if needed
  3. Start the migration
The same procedure can used if you want a on-going synchronization rather than a one-off migration.
 

Easy synchronization with SharePoint document libraries

Thanks to our flexible work arrangements (feel free to check our remote job openings by the way) and international client base, we regularly work with people scattered all throughout the world. With this diversity comes different devices and systems, and our connector breaks this barrier by allowing the easy use of SharePoint and Dropbox applications across all these, driving the on-demand workflow needs of today’s professionals. We feel this need of integration between SharePoint / Office 365 and Dropbox mostly comes from this same motivation in our customers.

Integration of Dropbox into an ERP system

Although we do not currently have the need for an ERP system ourselves, one thing we hear a lot when asking for the feedback of our clients is that due to the integration powers of Connect Bridge, they can seamlessly access Dropbox’s features straight from their preferred ERP systems, without needing to log in. This greatly improves the efficiency of their operations and is also a real time-saver!

If this sounds useful, you can see it for yourself by requesting a personalized demo or a free trial. Ah, and it doesn’t stop at a SharePoint/Dropbox integration! You can connect to any major business application, written in any programming language, in just a few minutes with our 400+ ready-to-use connectors.

Some Additional Considerations

Security

When we make SharePoint available to external users, restricted documents risk ending up in the hands of unauthorized people. The best way to go around this issue is to deploy the SharePoint server behind the company firewall, which only allows access to the internal users accessing through the organization’s intranet.

With Dropbox, however, we do not run into this problem since all data is stored in the cloud, making the documents available to only the decision makers, round-the-clock. Additionally, it allows granular item-level permissions and access control, as well as advanced security features.

Additionally, as a response to the growing emphasis on the security of online data, and since it is one of our biggest concerns, using one of our other solutions, CB Blockchain Seal for SharePoint, we started digitally sealing the important documents we store in SharePoint, to prove security and provide assurance to the recipients of these files, guaranteeing they are truly authentic and untampered.

Offline Availability

Although SharePoint offers the possibility of synchronizing documents to OneDrive for Business, this feature is not the most beneficial due to the increased cost of OneDrive storage. However, Dropbox can synchronize our documents from the cloud to the local client for offline availability, thus lowering connectivity costs without compromising security.

Non-Microsoft infrastructure

Not everyone uses the Microsoft ecosystem built around Office 365 and SharePoint Online. In these cases, it is good not to need that your partner works in such an ecosystem, achieving the partner collaboration instead by having them access through Dropbox.

Lower Costs

With our connector, we have no need to subscribe to any Dropbox subscription. The free version is what we use to share content with partners, external users, and vendors, whilst achieving significant savings on Microsoft license fees.

All and all, it’s a very useful tool to have!

So, What Is the Final Conclusion?

Our own experience may come across as a biased opinion, after all we are the creators of this connector, however, the truth is that we rely on it every single day of our business lives, and we are proud of it!

Connect Bridge, our unique software integration platform, makes things practical and efficient when you use it with the appropriate connectors for your use case. Our partners, such as ORBIS, and our customers, , feel the same way and they swear by it, which leaves us tremendously delighted!

Connect Bridge enables the seamless integration of your preferred software with any major business application. The setup process is user friendly and can be done in a matter of hours.

The platform is highly modular and offers essentially limitless integration possibilities through a wide range of pre-made connectors and real-time support. It is easy to get up and running and boasts unparalleled stability.

    connect bridge

    Key Features

    • Custom, flexible integration and configuration
    • Automatic one-way and bi-directional synchronization
    • Stay in your programming language
    • Monitor changes, manage file revisions
    • Automatic updates, free technical support
    • Easy to implement, get started in minutes
    • Low total cost of ownership

    Check out the video below and request a 15-day free trial or demo to learn more!

      Article originally published on Aug 14, 2017, last updated on Sep 06, 2022

      Comments 2

      1. Avatar for Coco McCarthy

        Hi, I’m really interested in this particular integration. Dropbox to SP vice versa for our Design studio. Could someone please contact me asap would love more information & demonstration to ensure this is the right product for our design team.

      2. Avatar for Ana Neto

        Thank you for your interest! Our sales team has already reached out to you. We look forward to showing you the demo!

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