Is SharePoint Online a Complete Solution for Document Management?

Question

Microsoft doesn't have a great deal of information or a trial for Sharepoint online (without Office 365). I want to recommend it as a solution for my customers document management, but I'm not sure on a couple on things:

1. My customer has a folder with various subfolders. They currently have 20 users and each needs to have unique permissions to the various subfolders. Can I divide the users into groups, set these permissions, and have their inherit to any sub-subfolders?

2. My customer has a number of users who are not very computer savvy. Is skydrive pro included with each user account on Sharepoint online, and can I use skydrive pro to sync the company library to every users computer?

3. I am new to sharepoint, but I am currently installing 2013 on our server to introduce myself to it. Is Sharepoint 2013 hosted on a server essentially the same as Sharepoint Online, save for the cost and needed infrastructure?

Answer 1

SharePoint is a leading platform for document management. Also, it is very vast and as a beginner, you will need to invest time to make these kind of decisions. Regarding your 3 questions, below are the answers:

1) For 20 users, dividing them into user groups with unique permissions is feasible.Also, there is a limit to the number of subfolders you can have. You should check software boundaries and limits at Software boundaries and limits for SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Online: software boundaries and limits

2) SkyDrive Pro is part of both the SharePoint Server and Online. To know more about it, please check here : http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office365-sharepoint-online-enterprise-help/what-is-skydrive-pro-HA102822076.aspx

3) It may be same or not for you depending on the features you need.

Please check here for feature comparisons : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj819267.aspx

SharePoint Online is a cloud-based service, hosted by Microsoft, for businesses of all sizes. Instead of installing and deploying SharePoint Server on premises, any business can now simply subscribe to a service offering such as Office 365 and their employees can use SharePoint Online for creating sites to share documents and information with colleagues, partners, and customers.