Guides / Compare
folio or a shared drive for the records you have to keep
Most records start life on a shared drive or in a cloud folder, and plenty stay there. This is how that compares with folio on the questions a records owner gets asked.
In short A shared drive is a good place to work on files, but it won’t enforce a retention period or ask why someone opened a file. folio will do that for the records you have to keep, and leave the everyday work where it is.
| Point | A shared drive or cloud folder | Unforged folio |
|---|---|---|
| How records are organised | Folders by whatever scheme people agree on, which tends to drift as teams and years change. | Each record will be filed in a folder by your unit of work, such as a matter, a client’s year or a tenancy, under a retention class. |
| How long things stay | Files will stay until someone deletes them, and any period will live in a policy document rather than in the drive. | Each record will stay for as long as its class says, and a Locked record will be write-once until then. |
| Removing something early | Anyone with edit rights will usually be able to delete a file at any time, on their own. | A Retained record will be kept until retention ends, and deleted early only by two people with a reason. |
| During a dispute | You’ll need to copy files somewhere else, or ask people not to touch them, since there usually won’t be a hold as such. | You’ll be able to place a hold on a record, a folder or a matter, and nothing under it will be disposed of until two people release it. |
| Views and reasons | Activity history varies by service and plan, and it won’t ask anyone why they opened a file. | Every view will go in your ledger, and you’ll be able to set a folder so nobody opens it without giving a reason. |
| Showing nothing has changed | Version history shows edits, but there’s usually no outside proof of when a file was filed or that it hasn’t changed since. | Each record will carry its fingerprints and an outside time-stamp, and the ledger will show any change. |
| Finding things | File names and, on many services, the words in typed documents, though scanned paper often won’t be searchable. | You’ll be able to search by name, folder, matter or the words inside, scanned paper included. |
| Where it’s stored | Wherever the service and your plan put it, which won’t always be a region you choose. | Your documents, and anything we make from them, will stay in the region you choose. |
| At the end of the period | Nothing happens at the end of a period unless someone remembers to clear things out. | When retention ends, folio will dispose of the record, and the disposal will go in your ledger. |
| Everyday work on documents | Made for it: drafting, sharing and working on files together. | folio won’t be an editor. It will look after the finished record, beside the tools your team works in. |
When a shared drive is enough
folio is for the records you have to keep. A drive is the better place for:
Work in progress
Drafts and documents you’re still working on belong where your team works on them.
Files no rule applies to
If nothing says how long a file stays and nobody will ever ask who opened it, a drive is simpler.
Sharing with people outside
Day-to-day sharing with clients and colleagues is what drives are made for.
Tell us what you have to keep
folio is in private beta. If it sounds like it would help, get in touch and we’ll set it up with you.