Soonr is a  the leading online file sharing and collaboration service that empowers business teams to be productive and do business faster through secure access to any type of business content, anywhere, using any device. In a new study they revealed that while the majority of full-time employees access files remotely (89%), nearly three-quarters (73%) still do so via email, and less than a quarter (22%) are aware of a company-approved file-sharing system in their workplace.

Nearly three out of four full-time employees (74%) report that it’s important to their work to be able to share files easily with co-workers, partners and customers. Yet, two out of three full-time employees (67%) still struggle with ensuring files across teams and organizations are up-to-date, a large jump from 26% in 2013. Other top concerns impacting employees include:

•         Accessing files anytime (48%)
•         Sharing large files (47%)
•         Organizing files (44%)
•         Working on documents while mobile (41%)
•         Securing corporate data (33%)

The study indicates that the demand for remote file sharing varies across different industries. 85% of the full-time employees need to access files remotely across the nine industries surveyed. Each industry has varying concerns about sharing files securely, transfer of large files and secure remote access.

“With a full 59% of respondents feeling it is ‘important,’ or ‘very important,’ to be able to download or edit work files from a mobile device outside the office, addressing these concerns is paramount,” said Ahmet Tuncay, CEO of Soonr. “Solution providers can no longer rely on simple sync-and-share capabilities—employees need easy access to complete documents along with full editing capabilities under a range of conditions, even offline, in order to do their jobs efficiently.”

Soonr’s second annual Mobility in the Workplace Study examines the key factors impacting workplace mobility and business productivity in 2014. It also outlines how the needle is shifting on the biggest challenges being faced by employees in relation to access to documents and files, both in the office and on the road. The study found that:

• File sharing solutions would make work more productive, but most companies are unprepared with an IT-approved file sharing service, with only 22% reporting an approved service in their workplace
• Sales professionals are among those that find it most difficult to collaborate with others and could derive great benefits from secure file sharing
• IT professionals are concerned about the security of their data, with 45% reporting that it’s a challenge and 52% being concerned about the security and privacy of their own files
• CEOs see file sharing as a priority and nearly half (49%) have experienced difficulty themselves collaborating with partners and others outside their company.

“Productivity hurdles vary across industries and job roles, and it’s important to keep this in mind when coming up with a strategy for working most effectively and securely in different locations,” said Tuncay in a company press release. “The workplace has not only become more scattered and mobile, but also more sophisticated. Enterprise file-sharing and cloud solutions need to meet these rising demands.”

Soonr has its headquarters in Silicon Valley, California with offices in UK and Denmark. Embraced by users and endorsed by IT, Soonr delivers its service to over 150,000 paying businesses worldwide in 134 countries, through a network of cloud service providers, VARs,MSPs and systems integrators. Built on a highly scalable and secure  infrastructure that is Type 2 SOC (Service Organization Controls) audited against SSAE 16 standards as well as HIPAA and PCI DSS compliant, Soonr operates geo- redundant data centers in four jurisdictions including the US,Canada, EU and Australia.

(Image credit: Soonr)