Egnyte vs. Zimbra by Synacor

If you're simply sharing and syncing across devices and don't care about granular security permissions, this is an easy win. If you're needing more control over the ability to restrict users from deleting folders, sharing folders, and allowing only certain groups to be able to view a folder, this can work but will ultimately give you arthritis as you'll end up having to perform a multitude of clicks for a task that should be able to be done in a fraction of the action. Have a folder template that allows for the first two levels of folders to be view only and the third level allowing file/folder creation and deletion? Have fun setting each of the third level folder's permissions-- they should give out free wrist braces. When discussed with their engineers about this function, a suggested $28,000 custom script was suggested. I don't believe them when they say that they haven't heard of other customers wishing to assign rights to multiple folders-- Something any sort of real admin would require. It simply isn't important to them, which is fine. The current ability

I consider Zimbra Email & Collaboration a viable alternative to the major American cloud email platforms. In a scenario where data protection and privacy are critical, especially in an on-premise environment, Zimbra is a very suitable solution. It is also capable of offering a comprehensive set of tools and additional features (tasks, calendars, contacts, briefcase) in an integrated manner.

Incentivized

• Drive map tool on Windows and flexibility on client configuration, can change drive letters fairly easily if needed.
• New user setup is straightforward and permissions not too difficult to set up and assign.
• Support has been fairly responsive and helpful with issues as they have come up.

Incentivized

• The management of incremental mail backup. It is very simple, and the administrators of my company recover information quickly.
• The management of the distribution lists is structured. This allows easy distribution of mass information.
• The web application is very complete and intuitive.

Incentivized

• We often have issues with WebEdit, changes not saving/overwriting
• No functionality to drag and drop files/folders within the UI, can only move things by going through Move > Select location
• When previewing Word files in the browser, tracked changes are not shown so there can be misunderstandings when quickly reviewing documents

Incentivized

• User web interface could be more friendly, but it is enough for daily use. It could be renewed and has to consider some usability concerns. Improving usability would significantly improve users' satisfaction.
• Message backup recovery is not a simple activity.
• As an administrator, some of the features work better using the command-line interface.
• The webclient uses ajax requests in almost every event. Because of that you may need a fast internet connection to have a good experience. You can switch to HTML version but it will limit what you can do.

Incentivized

We found that usage of Egnyte in our supported clients, with sufficient bandwidth, provided all the features and stability we required. The billing setup was fair and the support provided was ample for end users and well as our in house admins. There was a concern about high usage clients but this was taken into account during the vetting process.

Incentivized

Really easy to use the interface. The web browser is very intuitive and I have not had any notable issues with this. It's easy to work on documents as a team, and the only issues we have to tend to come with Apple apps and downloading large files to WebEdit. It's very similar to the filing systems that come on Apple and Windows devices so not a steep learning curve.

Incentivized

The web usability of the solution is adequate, with all functions integrated into a single interface. However, it is important to note that in the desktop environment, it lacks its own application and relies on ActiveSync synchronization with reference solutions like Outlook or Thunderbird. Some features, such as the briefcase, will be excluded. The same happens on smartphones.It is also common for competing solutions to include integrated chat or video call tools, which Zimbra lacks. These shortcomings are among the most frequently requested by users.

Incentivized

Egnyte works very well across all platforms and as an add-on to other programs. Load time is close to nothing. Reports can be made in no time as well. All in all no performance issues. We can see that it depends on the local network connection. If you're running with fiber there won't be any issues.

Incentivized

I never had to reach out to customer support for Egnyte. I don't know any coworkers who have had to reach out to Egnyte for support either. As far as I am concerned, the support team is doing a good job since I have not had to reach out to them.

Incentivized

Overall, we were satisfied with the implementation. We perhaps should have spent more time consulting with Zimbra or others regarding best practices but as we got to know the system better we were able to make changes relatively easily after the fact.

Incentivized

Egnyte syncs with Windows machines better than any competitor I have come across. The service focuses on just this platform and their in depth focus shows in the end result. Google is not really made with Windows in mind. Box is cumbersome and the web portal is not easy to use. SharePoint sync to PC is terrible.

• We were originally a Groupwise shop before changing to Zimbra in 2008. Zimbra, from an end-user standpoint, pricing, system administration, and management is a far better system.
• We use Google Apps for our students. We did not find it to be suitable for faculty and staff due to its lack of shared accounts.
• We are moving from Zimbra to Office 365. Office 365 offers just about all that Zimbra had, though its web interface is inferior to that of Zimbra. It does offer us greatly reduced costs though, and high availability. If Zimbra were to have a fully HA environment, we may have stayed with them.

Incentivized

• The promising advantage of Egnyte is that user can access their files from the cloud anywhere without any cumbrance like connecting to VPN or other third-party soft wares.
• No risk of data loss.
• The platform is lacking in changing the parent administrator of a folder as if one person is the administrator of the file or folder and when needs to change it becomes clunky and does not supports it properly.

Incentivized

• Improved internal communication and dissemination and distribution of messages and corporate objectives.
• The creation of an internal network of employees is something that gives us security and confidence.
• Having a private and exclusive messaging system differentiates us from the competition and from other companies.