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IT Help and Support

University Information Services
 

What is Dropbox? 

Dropbox Business is a secure, cloud-based file sharing and storage service. The Advanced plan is built specifically for teams. 

Dropbox Business enables you to access your files from your computer, your mobile devices and the web, and easily share your files securely with others, whether or not they use Dropbox. 

The Advanced plan is built specifically for teams and organisations seeking more-sophisticated security, administration, audit and integration features. Users also benefit from enhanced storage, sharing and collaboration tools. 
  

What Dropbox gives you 

  • A Dropbox Advanced plan with three active licenses will receive 15TB of storage space shared by the team. Each additional active license will receive 5TB of storage.
  • Access to all your files, from anywhere, on any device. 
  • Seamless syncing across desktops and mobile devices. 
  • Easy file sharing with colleagues and partners. 
  • Enhanced security, including remote device wipe. 
  • App integrations: single sign-on integrations and API calls for data migrations. 
  • Admin management: access to tiered admins, which makes it easy to delegate team. administration 
  • Real-time support: access to support agents over phone, chat or email. 

Please note that it is not possible to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to log in to a University Dropbox account. Dropbox gives us a tenancy-wide choice between enabling single sign-on or MFA. At the University we are using single sign-on. Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to have both enabled at the same time.

 

How Dropbox compares with other storage services 

You can find out more how Dropbox compares with other storage services we offer including OneDrive, SharePoint and Google Drive. 

Find out more about file storage services 

 

What you can store on Dropbox 

You can store medium impact (level 2) data on Dropbox.

Dropbox is not suitable for: 

  • research data that has not been pseudonymised 
  • health data where individual patients are named or can be identified 
  • data that is subject to a specific contractual agreement that specifies a particular storage method (that is not Dropbox) 
  • data that is subject to a specific contractual agreement that prohibits storage in a public cloud service. 

Find out more about data security classifications 

  

What it costs 

The University of Cambridge owns has a Master Dropbox Agreement, which provides access to the advanced business version of Dropbox. 

All staff, students and researchers within the University are welcome to access this agreement and can purchase a licence for storing work-related documents at a discounted rate. 

The Master Dropbox Agreement runs to 1 June each year, so the cost of each licence will be calculated on a pro-rata basis for the number of months remaining in the current year when you apply for it. It will not be possible to buy a subscription for multiple years because the price is subject to change each year. 

You'll need to place a renewal order in advance of June each year for the following 12-month period. If you don't renew, you'll lose access to store further documents in your Dropbox account. 

Academia will not be able to offer trial periods or partial refunds if you cancel midway through your subscription. 
  

How to access Dropbox 

Our reseller partner, Academia, manages our Master Dropbox Agreement. To place an order, please visit their online store: 

Get Dropbox from the Academia for Education Procurement Store 
 

Get help using Dropbox 

Dropbox's help site provides a wide range of useful step-by-step guides and tips for using the service. 

Academia is now handling all account renewals, cancellations and general support queries. Please contact cambridge@academia.co.uk.