Email and file storage

Is this the right tool for you?

Email from a free personal address looks less credible and ties the business's customer history to one person's account. Files scattered across personal laptops, phones and inboxes get lost, go out of date, or leave with an employee. A business account at your own domain fixes both and gives you control over who has access.

Signs you need it now

• You still send quotes and invoices from a personal email address.
• Staff use their own accounts for work email or files.
• Someone has asked "which version is the latest?" about a contract or price list.
• If a laptop or phone were lost today, business files would go with it.
• When someone leaves, you have no clean way to keep their email and files.

When another area fits better

• The main need is controlled sharing, approvals and retention of client documents. Read the documents and client portals guide
• Your shared inbox is really a queue of customer questions that need answering. Read the customer support guide

What matters at your size

How the way you work changes the choice

Crews and technicians in the field

Phone access matters more than desktop features. Keep job photos, forms and manuals in shared folders the crew can open on site, and check the mobile apps before choosing.

Small offices and professional services

Shared calendars, co-editing documents and folder structures by client. Pick the suite that works well with the office software your clients also send you.

Shops

Often just a few accounts and a shared address for customer and supplier email. Keep supplier invoices, price lists and staff documents in one shared place, not on the till computer.

What to compare

• Per-user cost

  Pricing is per person per month and scales directly with headcount.

• What happens when someone leaves

  Recovering a departing employee's mail and files should be straightforward.

• Storage limits

  Photo-heavy trades hit storage caps faster than expected.

Cost and setup effort

• Usually charged per user each month, with storage and admin controls rising by plan. Shared addresses can often be aliases or groups rather than paid seats; check before paying for each one.
• Moving an existing domain's email needs changes to your domain settings. Plan it for a quiet day, and set up the records that help your email avoid spam folders.
• Migrating old mail and files takes longer than setting up the new accounts. Decide what actually needs to move.

Trade-offs to weigh

Which office suite

The main suites cover the same ground. Choose the one your team and clients already use; switching file formats and habits is the real cost.

Sync or cloud-only

Syncing files to each computer works offline but spreads copies around. Cloud-only keeps one version and control, but needs a connection.

Owner-managed or IT-managed

An owner can run a few accounts. Past that, occasional help from an IT provider for security settings and offboarding is usually worth it.