Why you shouldn't work with a file stored in the cloud

Numerous cloud-based file storage solutions are available: Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Infomaniak's kDrive, Microsoft One Drive and more. These solutions are handy for easily transferring files from one computer to another. However, we strongly advise against working with an Office Maker or BiblioMaker file hosted by such a service. Here's why:

The operating principle is more or less the same for all these services: you define a folder on your computer whose contents will be synchronized with the cloud drive. When you modify a file in this folder, the file is automatically sent to the cloud drive in the background. Another computer will then have effortless access to the latest version of the file.

If several users modify the same file simultaneously, however, the synchronization system is faced with a problem: which version of the file is the correct one? To solve this problem, some services duplicate the file. The copy is named after the date the file was opened. However, it is likely that the user will be unaware of this duplication, open the original data file and be surprised not to find the latest data entered.

So if you're working in the office with Office Maker Finance, for example, put your office computer to sleep without quitting the program, then go home and continue entering your accounting at home, then return to the office, you won't find the data you entered at home, since it's stored in a copy of your data file. What's more, if the cloud service tries to merge the two copies of the data file, you could even damage your data file in the process.

The aim of these services is not to share files between several users for simultaneous use, but rather to store documents in the Cloud, accessible from anywhere, but by only one workstation at a time.

If you need to work with Office Maker or BiblioMaker from several different locations, it's much better to sign up for cloud hosting with our company, in a data center in Switzerland. This way, you avoid any risk to your data, thanks in part to automatic backups.