Windows 7 sharing document from within Word options

florida2001

New Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Can someone explain me what is the difference between sharing a document in Word using a Skydrive and SharePoint and what security issues should I considered before sharing document directly from within Word?

I know that skydrive is cloud application and you can store the documents and access them no matter where are you, but what is the advantage over sending document as email attachment ?

thank you
 
You aren't really sharing within Word unless you are using collaboration software and multiple people are editing the document concurrently and interactively in real time. It sounds like you are describing a much simpler shared access arrangement where the document is stored in a shared location and can be accessed by multiple people. Think of it as a public library where many people check the same book in and out and edit it while they have it. Depending on your setup, the document can be either checked out to one person at a time, or multiple people concurrently and then there is a provision for handling "version control" to consolidate different people's edits.

Compared to sharing via email, the difference is "locus of control". If it is your document and you want to control who sees it and when, you can go the email route. It is then up to you to consolidate the results when you get them back and to manage the "flow". If anyone wants access to the document, they must ask you for it and wait for you to send it to them. While this gives you more "apparent" control over your document, there is a nasty side effect. People who have received a copy have no reliable way of knowing whether what they have is the latest version. You could have since updated the document based on other people's edits. Then, somebody spends a lot of time working on an obsolete version. It can become a nightmare trying to consolidate inputs from people when they are working on different/varying versions of the document. You can set up a system where you keep emailing the latest version to everyone, but it can become overwhelming to them trying to sort out which version is the latest. It also becomes a problem for them if they work in spurts. They start editing the document, put it aside, and then a newer version arrives. Now it's extra work for them to consolidate their input.

There are "integrity" issues and security issues to consider. If it is your document, you want some type of control over when other people access it. You probably also want to maintain a "private" copy of the original version. Generally, you are the one to decide when to share the document. Provisions may vary on your ability to recall it and remove it from shared access; its shared existence becomes "history" and you can't undo history (or retrieve copies that other people have saved to their own computer).

Another consideration is who has access to specific documents. Typically, group rules are created, such as everyone in your work group has access to shared documents. You can invite other people to share the document but you generally can't un-invite someone who is part of the group permissions. If you run into a special situation, such as confidentiality restrictions, you might need to create (or have someone with administrative privileges create) a special set of group permissions. There are benefits and complexities with going in either direction (email vs. shared).

There are internal and external security considerations. Generally, SharePoint is as secure as your computers and network. Doing anything in the cloud carries its own set of risks--hackers, sharing with the NSA, the service provider ending the service, the service provider deciding that you have violated the terms of the agreement and locking you out, etc. The internal risk is that the documents in a shared environment are only as secure as the person with access who has the worst security practices.
 
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