Data Storage and Collaboration Tools

Data storage and collaboration tools are used to maintain departmental/team/group, and individual information and resources. These tools can be used as a respository for files, projects, processes and solutions for Western faculty, staff and, in some cases, students.

Western Technology Services supports the following data storage and collaboration tools for general use on campus:

In addition to the above WTS supported tools, the following storage options are also available on campus and may be applicable for research data:

  • Western Libraries Secure Data Archive
    • for Long-term data archival and retention
  • Western University Repository on Borealis
    • Online repository for storage and sharing of non-confidential research data

In order to help you make an informed choice on which tool to use for your specific use case, we have provided an overview and feature comparison table. While some core functionality is the same, each tool has different feature sets and constraints which should be considered during your evaluation.  We have also included some common use cases that you may want to consult as you conduct your tool evaluation.

Tool Comparison Table

Disclaimer : These tools are cloud-hosted systems and while their use is  optional , all usage must comply with  Western's Computing, Technology & Information Resources Policy and Data Classification Standards .

The following table compares Western's centrally supported data storage and collaboration tools.
Feature Microsoft Teams Microsoft OneDrive Confluence Qualtrics Microsoft Forms
Eligible Users

Faculty
Staff
Students

Faculty
Staff
Students

Faculty
Staff
Students4
Faculty
Staff
Students
Faculty
Staff
Students
Cost

No cost

(included with most Office 365 access)

 No cost

(included with most Office 365 access)

$15/month 1 No cost

 No cost

(included with most Office 365 access)

File storage limits

25TB
No option to increase

1TB
No option to increase

2GB
No option to increase
No storage limit based on whether files are stored in Teams or OneDrive5
External/Guest access availability Yes Yes No No3 Yes6
Access Options

Desktop app
Web browser
Mobile app

Desktop app
Web browser
Mobile app

Web browser
Mobile app
Web browser Desktop app
Web browser
Mobile app
File/Content Ownership Shared Individual 2 Shared Shared based on whether files are stored in Teams or OneDrive5
Permission Controls

Yes

(by Microsoft 365 Groups or individual Western ID)

Yes

(by Microsoft 365 Groups or individual Western ID)

Yes

(by individual Western ID)

Yes

(by individual Western ID)

Yes

(by Microsoft 365 Groups or individual Western ID)

File Submissions Yes Yes No Yes Yes6
Questionnaires Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Communications Options Group chat
Direct messaging
Virtual meetings
No communication options Comments on pages
Email notifications
Email notifications No communication options
Security Features MFA
File Encryption
MFA
File Encryption
File Encryption MFA
File Encryption
MFA
File Encryption

Footnotes

  1. Confluence is priced at $15 per Confluence space per month. More details are available on our  Confluence web page.
  2. OneDrive content is owned by an individual Western Identity (account). When the owner of that account is no longer at Western, the content will become unavailable and be deleted.
  3. External/Guest access is not available for the creation of surveys in Qualtrics but surveys can be completed by anyone.
  4. Students are not eligible to request the creation of a Confluence space or own a space but they can be granted access to use a space owned by a Western faculty or staff member.
  5. If files or content is stored in Teams it is shared ownership and subject to Teams storage limits.  If files or content is stored in OneDrive it is individual ownership and subject to OneDrive storage limits and access policies.
  6. Forms file submissions are only available to users with a Western identity/account.

Published on  and maintained in Cascade.