Secure Enterprise Online File Sharing with Syncplicity Date: November 2014 Author: Tony Palmer, Senior Lab Analyst, Aviv Kaufmann, Lab Analyst

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1 ESG Lab Review Secure Enterprise Online File Sharing with Syncplicity Date: November 2014 Author: Tony Palmer, Senior Lab Analyst, Aviv Kaufmann, Lab Analyst Abstract: Organizations are challenged in today s online file sharing and collaboration market to combat rogue usage and determine which OFS solution will best meet their needs. This ESG Lab review documents hands-on testing and analysis of Syncplicity by EMC, examining the ease of deployment, management, and use of a secure enterprise online file sharing service using both on-premises and cloud storage. The Challenges Online file sharing (OFS) and collaboration solutions enable users to store, access, and share files from laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets using the Internet. These solutions have made it very easy for users to access and distribute content and can improve employee productivity. Unfortunately, they often expose organizations to data security, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance issues. Users can quickly and easily create their own accounts on free services sometimes referred to as shadow IT and place business documents in public clouds, leaving IT with no control of data, no protection, and no way to track information flowing into (or out of) the organization. According to ESG research with IT professionals from small, medium, and enterprise organizations that have deployed these solutions, security remains the most cited challenge (see Figure 1), but is accompanied by other challenges as well. 1 Organizations also struggle with training users, integrating existing tools, and monitoring and enforcing processes and workflows. Figure 1. Top Five Challenges with Online File Sharing and Collaboration Solutions What challenges if any has your organization experienced since deploying its corporate OFS account? (Percent of respondents, N=231, multiple responses accepted) Security concerns 40% Training users on new tools and processes 26% File size limitations restrict our use cases 24% Employees are continuing to use their own solutions 24% Integration with our existing IT tools and applications 24% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Source: Enterprise Strategy Group, Source: ESG Research Report, Online File Sharing and Collaboration Deployment Model Trends, February The goal of ESG Lab reports is to educate IT professionals about data center technology products for companies of all types and sizes. ESG Lab reports are not meant to replace the evaluation process that should be conducted before making purchasing decisions, but rather to provide insight into these emerging technologies. Our objective is to go over some of the more valuable feature/functions of products, show how they can be used to solve real customer problems and identify any areas needing improvement. ESG Lab s expert third-party perspective is based on our own hands-on testing as well as on interviews with customers who use these products in production environments. This ESG Lab report was sponsored by EMC.

2 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 2 The Solution: Syncplicity by EMC Syncplicity is an enterprise online file sharing and mobile collaboration solution designed to enable business users to access and collaborate on all of their devices, online or offline, transparently. Syncplicity combines secure file sync with a rich user experience to provide access to all of an organization s business files and enable users to automatically share inside or outside their organization. Security, manageability and control are implemented with the enterprise in mind, as seen in Figure 2. Figure 2. EMC Syncplicity Syncplicity is designed to provide key benefits to IT and users alike. Benefits for users include: Sync any folder Syncplicity is not limited to a single folder or web portal so users can organize folders to fit the way they work. Easy folder sharing Folders can be shared with users or groups located inside or outside the organization. Large file support Send files of any size inside or outside the organization with policy-based controls. Universal access Users can access, edit, and share files from any supported device. Automated protection and connectivity Syncplicity saves new versions of files automatically and keeps users notified of changes, while enabling rapid restore to previous versions. The following are IT-focused benefits provided by Syncplicity: Security Single sign-on (SSO) with Active Directory or any SAML-based authentication system, two-factor authentication, AES 256-bit encryption for data in transit and at rest, remote wipe of devices, user accounts, and folders, and mobile passcode enforcement with the capability to automatically wipe mobile accounts. Exhaustive policy controls Syncplicity provides IT with the ability to finely tune the user experience, access, and sharing, as well as security via policy-based controls. In addition to basic controls like data retention and file conflict avoidance, policies can be used to permit or restrict sharing by device, network, IP, whether a user is internal or external, etc. Access can be restricted to approved domains and IP addresses. Shared links are also tightly controllable by policy to restrict recipients, require passwords and their required strength and enforce expiration. Mobile device support is included to address data plans and push sync controls. Business-focused administration Syncplicity provides administrative capabilities designed to make management of the environment easy and seamless for IT, with management of groups and users with Active Directory synchronization, storage quotas, automated configuration, user impersonation for administrative file restore, version management, and support. Storage Syncplicity supports highly resilient on-premises local storage and off-premises cloud storage.

3 ESG Lab Tested ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 3 ESG Lab performed hands-on testing of Syncplicity Enterprise Edition with a goal of validating the features that make it a secure, flexible, and easy to manage OFS solution suitable for the enterprise. Testing was completed using a combination of hands-on demonstrations and extensive remote testing using a trial account. ESG Lab s test environment was comprised of multiple devices including mobile phones, desktops, and laptops running Windows, MacOS, ios, Windows Phone, and Android operating systems across a geographically distributed area that included workers on both the east and west coasts of the United States. Administration and Management First, ESG Lab looked at deployment of Syncplicity from an IT administrator s perspective using the web-based interface and an administrative account. The first step was to deploy a storage vault, which supplies storage from a storage connector service located either on-premises on EMC or third-party storage devices or off-premises using storage from a cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Users also have the option of using the default Syncplicity Cloud Storage StorageVault. ESG Deployed both on-premises storage and Syncplicity cloud storage. The process for deploying in-house storage was fast and easy, after installing the storage connector server delivered as a virtual appliance ESG was able to add capacity by simply mounting an NFS share. This step is not needed if EMC Atmos is used as the storage backend. Figure 3. Creating a Storage Set with On-premises and Off-premises Storage The next step was to create a Storage Set, a logical construct which is mapped to the Storage Vault. User groups could then be designated to use a specific StorageVault by mapping them to the Storage Set. A benefit of this approach would be to have user groups who deal with business sensitive data like HR and finance designated for on-premises storage while others data may be stored on off-premises storage. Next ESG Lab created a new Group called ESG Lab and added it to the Storage Set to be used by this new group. A simple three-step wizard was employed to quickly provision users by supplying a comma-separated list of addresses, as shown in Figure 4. Once created, the same method was used to add the new users to the ESG Lab group, where policies are applied and folders that are required to sync can be specified. This can be useful in scenarios where an IT department is responsible for the data protection of user documents. Each user then received an with instructions on how to complete registration and install the necessary clients on their devices.

4 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 4 Figure 4. Creating New User Accounts and Adding to a Syncplicity Group Next, ESG Lab saw how administrators can use the web interface to gain insight into the user environment. All of the users and devices in the Syncplicity account are visible using the Manage Devices tab. Search based on a number of criteria such as username, device type, and client version is available. This allows administrators the ability to keep track of devices in the environment, who owns them, and monitor which devices and clients need to be updated. Figure 5 shows the Manage Devices tab note the ability to customize the web interface with a company logo to give end-users and admins a consistent and familiar company branded portal. Figure 5. Managing and Monitoring Users and Devices ESG Lab next used the dashboard view to see the OFS environment at a glance. The dashboard reported valuable information such as the number of active seats, account information, and displayed a chart of storage consumption over time. The chart showed the capacity being used to store active files, previous file versions, and deleted files that could potentially be restored.

5 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 5 Figure 6. The Syncplicity Dashboard A number of reports are available on the same page to audit use of the system and monitor capacity utilization. ESG Lab generated a report in.csv format, then used Excel to show capacity utilization by file type, as seen in Figure 7.

6 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 6 Figure 7. Syncplicity Reporting Storage Utilization by File Type Finally, ESG Lab validated how administrators can use Policy Sets to create and enforce group policies for security, collaboration, and device-specific behavior. A five-step wizard was used to create a new set of policy choices to govern the ESG Lab group. Policy Sets can be configured to specify the balance of security and accessibility needed for a particular group of users. Policies can be applied to multiple groups, and groups can subscribe to multiple policies, which can be ordered by priority. If conflicting settings exist between Policy Sets, the set with the higher priority for the group will prevail. ESG Lab was also able to customize the number of file versions retained by creating advanced policies to determine which files to retain and for how long. In the example shown in Figure 8, a policy was created to retain the pervious ten versions of every file, except for files larger than 20MB, retaining only the previous two versions of those files.

7 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 7 Figure 8. Creating a Policy Set and Setting File Retention Why This Matters Deploying and managing an IT-controlled OFS solution for an organization can be quite a challenge. With more companies supporting a BYOD policy, administrators must keep up with supporting more devices and versions than ever before while providing users simple anytime, anywhere access to secure and protected data. To make matters worse, administrators are constantly under scrutiny to leverage the low cost of cloud storage. Using Syncplicity, ESG Lab was easily able to deploy an enterprise OFS solution that was simple to administer for any size organization. Provisioning users and storage was quick and easy, dashboards and reports made monitoring the environment simple, and we were able to search users, devices, and versions of devices to gain actionable insight into the infrastructure. Syncplicity s ability to leverage the power and security of on-site storage as well as the cost-effectiveness of off-premises storage gives administrators the power to choose the policy that is right for their data.

8 The User Experience ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 8 Syncplicity is designed as an enterprise-ready file sharing and collaboration solution to enable employees to securely share files across multiple, heterogeneous devices even while it provides IT with visibility and control over corporate data. During the course of testing, the ESG Lab team shared screenshots, documentation, and collected data using Syncplicity file sharing. When the client is installed on a desktop or laptop, a folder is created in a location of the user's choice called Syncplicity Folders. Any files or folders shared with the user by others are automatically placed in this folder. Unlike many OFS solutions, Syncplicity allows users to sync or share any folder and share any file from any location they can access. Users can access their files from any supported device with the Syncplicity client installed, as shown in Figure 9. Figure 9. File Sharing and Collaboration ESG Lab installed Syncplicity on numerous devices and found installation and configuration to be straightforward. All testers were up and running in under five minutes. Users can share access to folders with colleagues by simply right-clicking the folder to be shared, selecting Syncplicity, and then clicking Share folder. Figure 10 shows the Share Your Folder web page, after entering a users' address. Files can also be shared with external users using links, which expire automatically according to administrative policy. Syncplicity can be configured to sync any folder on a user s computer. That means the user just Saves and a file is synced to Syncplicity and is then pushed seamlessly to all their devices, both inside and outside the firewall. And if they saved the file in a shared folder, all the people with access to that folder get the new file as well. There is no need to place files under a special folder, or upload them to the web first. There is no need for IT to preconfigure spaces for collaboration because users can organize files the way they want.

9 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 9 Figure 10. Sharing a Folder with Syncplicity Shared folders can be unshared at any time. Once unshared, the content is deleted from the other users machines. IT can set policies to control sharing for users in a group by device, IP Address, domain, and whether they can share with external users using links. Finally, ESG Lab removed a user from a share and confirmed that the shared data was wiped when the device next connected to the internet. The administrator console also provides the capability to conduct a complete wipe on all devices by removing the user from the system. ESG Lab removed a test user and confirmed that all shared data was removed from all of the user s devices automatically and transparently. Figure 11. Testing Remote Wipe Functionality

10 ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 10 Why This Matters Ease of use is important for any technology solution because simple management and usage streamlines tasks and improves productivity for both IT and end-users. However, ease of use is especially important for a corporate on-premises file sharing solution. If the secure corporate solution is complex and difficult to use, employees may continue using public OFS applications. It will be difficult to shift end-user behavior toward a solution that is approved by IT and maintains corporate policy and data security unless that solution is easy to use and provides the features that users require. ESG Lab validated that the Syncplicity solution was easy to use with a clean, uncluttered interface and completely transparent sharing. From the user perspective, the similar look and feel across all platforms (computer/mobile device/web) make it easy to access and share files regardless of location, without using portable drives or maxing out mailbox quotas with attachments. Syncplicity is quickly accessible on all devices, which simplifies and speeds file sharing. A clean, easy to use interface means users will be less tempted to circumvent IT and use consumer OFS tools.

11 The Bigger Truth ESG Lab Review: Secure Online File Sharing with EMC Syncplicity 11 Public OFS solutions are extremely popular, and for good reasons: They are inexpensive, simple to use, and provide a valuable service. However, they can also significantly increase risks to corporate data. ESG research indicates that OFS can expose organizations to security risks such as data leakage, web-based threats, and application-layer vulnerabilities, as well as ongoing questions about data ownership and regulatory compliance. 2 This places IT in a difficult position. Senior management requires IT to do everything possible to improve employee productivity, and OFS can make a big difference. However, IT is also charged with maintaining data control, providing security, and ensuring compliance, and these efforts are often at cross-purposes with sharing files online. The Syncplicity solution was founded on flexibility. While other OFS vendors force users to put files into a single designated folder for sync, Syncplicity allows users to choose how they want to work and instead of forcing a behavior change, gives them the option to sync their existing folders. This flexibility has been carried throughout the product s evolution from features to deployment model options, promoting the idea that by giving employees a simple and effective (IT-endorsed) tool to do their jobs, IT can do its job protecting company content by placing it in the appropriate location on-premises, off premises, or a hybrid model and by setting and enforcing the appropriate permissions. Furthermore, EMC understands how important it is to maintain the balance between keeping IT and the end-users happy. There were many additional features at the user, device, folder, and file levels that ESG was not able to test exhaustively for this report that bear mentioning, mostly around security and control: Automatic provisioning and de-provisioning from Active Directory User and group management to set user profiles, automatic shares, and quotas Policy based account management Available two-factor device authentication Location-based and mobile-aware access policies Flexible file and folder sharing controls The ability to access files after a user has left the organization. ESG Lab found EMC Syncplicity to be secure, efficient, and easy for IT and users to deploy, operate, and use; It delivers on critical functionality for both communities. Administrators appreciate the ability to leverage on-premises and cloud storage, plus features such as large-file transfer resumption, bandwidth-optimization features, AD integration, granular settings for version and retention policies, and remote wipe. End-users will benefit from the fast sync speed, clean user interface, ease of restoring previous versions, and the detailed view of version history, eliminating the reasons to bypass IT and use consumer OFS tools. By providing employees with an easy and effective method of sharing files that also maintains IT control and security, organizations give themselves the greatest opportunity to limit data vulnerability and compliance risk. Once that method becomes part of the corporate culture, employees will be less likely to look for other, less secure solutions. The key is to have a robust, enterprise-class platform that delivers the features that both constituencies (users and IT) are looking for. ESG Lab has concluded that EMC Syncplicity delivers high performance, secure, easy-to-use and -manage enterprise online file sharing with flexible deployment options, making it suitable for companies of all sizes. All trademark names are property of their respective companies. Information contained in this publication has been obtained by sources The Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) considers to be reliable but is not warranted by ESG. This publication may contain opinions of ESG, which are subject to change from time to time. This publication is copyrighted by The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. Any reproduction or redistribution of this publication, in whole or in part, whether in hard-copy format, electronically, or otherwise to persons not authorized to receive it, without the express consent of The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc., is in violation of U.S. copyright law and will be subject to an action for civil damages and, if applicable, criminal prosecution. Should you have any questions, please contact ESG Client Relations at Source: ESG Research Report, Online File Sharing and Collaboration Deployment Model Trends, February 2014.