OneDrive for Business is different from the OneDrive you might already have seen or used through your personal Microsoft account or through Nexus SharePoint. Each user has up to 5TB of storage.
OneDrive for Business is certified against the internationally recognised information security standards and approved by the University for all data. However, you are responsible for using it in a safe and secure way. For more information, see OneDrive for Business security guidelines.
Why use OneDrive for Business?
OneDrive for Business provides a secure storage location for your documents, held in UK data centres. It is an integrated part of University Office365 and fully supported by the University. Being cloud-based, it allows you to store and access your work files from any device.
OneDrive for Business is a convenient place for storing files that you are currently working on and that you may want to share with a small number of people before publishing more widely, allowing you to share documents with anyone (internal or external to the University).
OneDrive for Business is a useful tool for storage and sharing of data for the lifetime of a research project, or the duration of a student’s period of study at the University. However, you must consider an alternative for long-term storage since OneDrive for Business will only be available whilst you are a member of the University.
When not to use OneDrive for Business
There are already many tools available at the University that provide places to store and share your data, including SharePoint, shared drives and Oxfile. One Drive for Business is an additional resource, but it does not replace these.
If you are a researcher, you may not be able to use OneDrive for Business for some research grants, depending on funder requirements. You can find guidance on the Research Data Oxford website.
Which OneDrive to use
There are several different versions of OneDrive available. We recommend the version provided by Nexus365 as this meets the University’s security requirements.
SharePoint OneDrive also meets the University’s security requirements, but has less storage (2GB). You may wish to use this if you have data that needs to be stored on University premises rather than in the cloud.
See Which OneDrive? for a detailed comparison of the different versions.
Further information
