File Storage Options in Zoho CRM

One of CRM’s major benefits is the ability to store and quickly display all the relevant information related to a Contact, Account, Opportunity, or any other record in your system. One key part of this functionality is how attachments and auxiliary files can be stored, viewed, updated, and managed.

Zoho CRM offers several different options for attaching files and attachments to records, each of which has its benefits and drawbacks.

Upload File

Files can be directly uploaded to Zoho CRM through the drag-and-drop feature to be attached to specific CRM records. This option is a quick and easy way to attach files from your current device onto a related Zoho CRM record.

Pros:

• Attachments can be added quickly
• Supported file types can be viewed without downloading using the Zoho product suite

Cons:

• Attachments can only be added locally from computer (drag-and-drop)
• Adding the same attachment to multiple records increases the amount of file storage consumed
• Uploaded documents cannot be edited online and would need to be downloaded, edited, then reuploaded
• If the same file is uploaded on multiple records, any updates to the file would need to be reuploaded on each record that contains that file individually
• Uses Zoho CRM’s file storage space, which may require the purchase of additional space as your attachment volume grow (See your CRM edition plan for details)

These factors make this solution ideal for quickly attaching individual documents to single CRM records for archival purposes, however, non-ideal for scenarios where:

• documents need to be attached to multiple CRM records
• documents need to be collaborated on and constantly updated
• it is vital to ensure only one “master” copy of the file exists at a time.

Documents

The Zoho CRM “Documents” tab is a location where files can be uploaded to Zoho CRM and stored in a common repository. Then, on individual CRM records, users with valid permissions can associate any number of these pre-uploaded documents to the specified record. This option is generally intended to store frequently used resources prepared by your team (such as product brochures, manuals, videos, presentations, etc.) that can be updated and managed in a central location but can be tied to multiple records that should be related to those materials. If any document needs to be updated, it can be checked out by a user, revised, and checked back in with the additional updates.

Pros:

• Can be attached to multiple records without additional file storage consumption
• Updates to the “Master” document in the Documents tab will update on any record that references that document
• Documents can be “checked out” to allow only a single user to make updates and then re-upload the revised copy
• Supported file types can be viewed without downloading using the Zoho product suite
• Role/user-based sharing rules can be placed on folders to provide a level of security if needed

Cons:

• Files need to be uploaded to the “Documents” tab before they can be associated with a CRM record
• If used for 100+ records, file storage structure may become cumbersome/difficult to manage
• Uses Zoho CRM’s file storage space, which may require the purchase of additional space as your attachment needs grow (See your CRM edition plan for details)

This option is well suited for the storage/management of internal documents or if the same documents need to be associated with multiple records. However, this option forces users to upload documents in an additional tab before they can connect to the records directly, and if used to store a large bulk of documents, a file storage structure will need to be implemented/maintained.

Zoho Workdrive

Zoho WorkDrive is an online file storage/management product offered by Zoho. Zoho WorkDrive acts as an online file repository and allows users to either create directly online, or upload various documents, and allows the files to be managed by various security restrictions and sharing rules. Zoho WorkDrive also offers other features such as versioning, access statistics, and other file access options.

Pros:

• Files can be associated within WorkDrive or can be directly uploaded to WorkDrive and attached from the CRM attachment screen
• WorkDrive currently offers 1-5 TB as their starting file storage capacity, which is substantially greater than the storage limit within CRM itself (See WorkDrive editions for details)
• Specific files/folders can be shared with desired users/groups
• Users can collaborate in real-time on supported file types
• Supported file types can be viewed without downloading using the Zoho product suite
• Supported files can be either checked out by a single user to update or can be collaborated on with several users

Cons:

• Since this is a separate Zoho product than CRM, additional costs may be needed (however, WorkDrive is currently included with the Zoho One product suite)
• If used for a high volume of discrete records, file storage structure may become cumbersome/difficult to manage

Zoho WorkDrive is a good option for situations where a lot of large-size files need to be stored/associated back to CRM, and for situations where live collaboration and constant updates to documents may be needed. However, because of the additional costs associated with purchasing WorkDrive licenses, this option may not be needed for organizations that have smaller file-storage needs or where additional costs may be an issue.

Zoho Docs

Zoho Docs is slated to be folded into Zoho WorkDrive in the near future, so this option is not recommended and will not be covered.

Attach from Other Cloud Drives

Zoho CRM also allows organizations to attach a file from other third-party cloud drives, namely Google Drive, Box, and OneDrive.

Pros:

• If one of these products is already in use by your organization, then no file-structure changes would be needed
• The need to migrate data to a new storage solution is eliminated

Cons:

• Each product may incur an additional cost based on your current/future usage

If your organization currently uses one of these solutions, then this option would provide a quick and easy way to leverage your current file storage solution in Zoho CRM

Attach from Link (URL)

Zoho CRM allows references to documents to be added as a URL link. Once a URL is entered, a “Name” can be assigned for the specific link, and it will be attached to the CRM record

Pros:

• No file space is consumed for URL attachments
• This option can be flexible, as only a URL is needed to attach

Cons:

• If the URL for the resource is moved or goes offline, the file will be inaccessible, as Zoho is only storing the reference to the original file location
• If a URL is entered that requires a user to be logged in to access the resource (such as a shared link for an online Microsoft Word/Google Drive/Zoho Writer file) then the logged URL may be inaccessible for some users

URL attachments are a good option for storing references to important webpages or web resources, but because the resource is not necessarily maintained within your organization, this option provides the greatest risk that the resource could be moved or go offline with no obvious alternative to locating the new URL.

Zoho CRM offers many different options for tracking and managing attachments. Determining which option will work best for your organization can be tricky. However, there is no need to go through your CRM journey alone! TopLine Results would be happy to help! Call us at 1-800-880-1960 or email us at info@toplineresults.com. We will be delighted to lend a hand!