@Dashrender said:
Yeah, even as complex as they are, everything else in my thinking is considerable much harder to use. Things like SharePoint are definitely use when using with online versions of the Office apps, but local version, adds a challenge, maybe not a lot of one, but one non the less.
I agree with you but only insofar as we are talking about users for whom the process and tradition of using them is already well established. For users who are new to computers, users who have already made the transitions or users coming from a mobile background (iOS, Android or ChromeOS) I think that it is the opposite. File servers are actually rather complex when you remove the "but we are already used to it" factor.
I think that it is a lot like Windows and Linux. Find someone who has never used a computer and let them try both and every time I've attempted this the answer has been that Linux was easier and more obvious. But it is nearly impossible to find someone who hasn't already been trained on Windows. Same thing here. The idea that you have to shift through a pile of files and that files might be hidden nearly anywhere within folders and folders within folders and you have a rather complicated solution requiring knowledge of filesystems and of the storage decisions being made. Pretty much all major alternatives from "cloud drives" like ownCloud to database style systems like Sharepoint make this far more natural, powerful and intuitive for end users. It's just very hard to find end users not already extremely versed in the old way.