Kiteworks vs. SharePoint [Features, Pros, and Cons]

Suppose you’re searching for an optimal file-sharing solution and are considering options like Kiteworks and SharePoint. Rather than viewing Kiteworks and SharePoint as opposing solutions, consider the synergistic advantages they provide when integrated.

SharePoint, for example, offers robust cloud storage and productivity tools, while Kiteworks can augment these capabilities, particularly for secure external sharing.

Kiteworks, by contrast, offers significant value regarding governance, compliance, and protection of sensitive content communications across numerous channels, including managed file transfer and secure file sharing.

The choice, you see, isn’t necessarily between Kiteworks or SharePoint but how to effectively leverage each platform’s strengths. Integrating Kiteworks with your SharePoint instance can enhance security, collaboration, and compliance measures for your organization’s data-sharing needs.

Selecting an Enterprise File-sharing and Management Solution

Organizations seeking enterprise content management (ECM) solutions need to think beyond just secure file sharing. Documents, contracts, files, and records are at the core of any enterprise, and a document management system must attend to priorities like compliance, security, privacy, and usability daily. In addition, secure file sharing is just one of multiple communication channels used to send, share, and transfer sensitive data.

Acquiring and managing separate solutions for secure email, file sharing, managed file transfer, web forms, and application programming interfaces (APIs) simply isn’t feasible and can incur substantial inefficiencies and cost. This is where the Kiteworks platform is the ideal choice, providing a single pane of glass for managing all of your sensitive content communications and centralizing all metadata required for governance and compliance.

Specifically, there are a few key features that you should look for in an ECM, and understanding these features can help you decide between providers like Kiteworks that delivers a comprehensive sensitive content communications platform and Microsoft that targets simply one. Some of these features include:

1. Document versions and logging: Your ECM must have a way to track events related to documents, including authorized and unauthorized access, editing, deletion, and creation. Audit logging of document events can help you track content changes over time while also providing forensic evidence of editing or tampering for compliance and reporting.
2. Security and compliance controls: If you are in a regulated industry, you inevitably face compliance obligations. ECM and file-sharing solutions are often central to your compliance considerations, as most customer or client data moves through these systems. Your pick of solutions should include security measures like encryption for stored and transmitted data, network and web application firewalls, and physical and administrative measures. Your secure file-sharing solution must have the ability to help you meet these obligations, typically by maintaining their compliance standards.
3. Visibility and accessibility: Data must be visible, trackable, and accessible by the right people in your organization. A file-sharing and ECM platform should simplify sharing content (inside or outside your organization) without sacrificing security. Likewise, there should be mechanisms for administrators to monitor data movements, system events, and other operations. Features like an integrated security information and event management (SIEM) system and dashboards all contribute to visibility and accessibility.
4. Data recovery: Data backup is a discipline unto itself, and many providers offer several hot or cold backup approaches to help you either maintain operations in the case of hot, always-on backups or cold, long-term storage. A solid solution will help you essentially remain in business even if disaster strikes.
5. Interoperability: No product or platform is an island—for good reason. A file-sharing or ECM solution becomes a seamless part of your overall operations with key integrations for productivity software, security applications, or project management tools.

Most platforms will have some subset of functionality within these categories, so it is up to you and your IT leadership, CISO, or chief data privacy officer to determine where your priorities lie.

What Is the Kiteworks Platform?

The Kiteworks Private Content Network (PCN) enables organizations to control, protect, track, and report on the sensitive content their employees share with trusted partners. These capabilities enhance an organization’s governance, compliance, and security capabilities.

The Kiteworks platform enables secure content access and sharing from high-volume enterprise repositories. Core to this functionality is the platform’s emphasis on secure cloud deployments with granular controls over file transfers, audit control, and security.

The primary way that the platform serves enterprise needs is through its robust enterprise content management properties. That doesn’t just mean that you can share files across an organization, but that the system maintains all the logging, audits, interfaces, and reporting that your business would need to meet security and compliance requirements.

Additionally, the Kiteworks platform includes several technical integrations for productivity and security, including working with Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Kiteworks also integrates with web applications such as document viewing and editing with desktop applications for a seamless user experience.

Most enterprise customers turn to an ECM system for various reasons outside of productivity, but the most prominent is typically compliance and security. Kiteworks has built a system that meets compliance requirements across several industries and applications, including the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), and the Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP), among many others.

Most importantly, Kiteworks accomplishes this without sacrificing usability or cost. Typical features like LDAP, single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, file synchronization, disaster recovery, and hot, immediately available backups are part of the core platform.

What Is Microsoft SharePoint?

SharePoint is part of Microsoft’s flagship software offerings, providing a streamlined ECM experience for enterprise users.

Many end-users and business customers have at least come into contact with SharePoint in one way or another. It is an easy-to-grasp web interface and shared file ecosystem that makes collaboration simple. The obvious synergy between SharePoint and other products like Microsoft 365 means that integration isn’t a problem.

How to Securely Share Files in Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint is a robust platform for sharing and collaborating on files within an organization. Ensuring these files are exchanged securely is paramount to maintaining data integrity and confidentiality. Here’s how you can securely share files in Microsoft SharePoint:

Deploy Role-based Access Controls

The cornerstone of SharePoint security lies in the robust user permission settings. You can assign roles to your users, granting them varying degrees of access. Be meticulous when setting these permissions, ensuring each user has just the right level of access needed to perform their tasks.

Enforce Stringent External Sharing Policies

SharePoint allows you to share files with external users, which can pose a security risk. To mitigate this, you can enforce strict sharing policies, including allowlist/blocklist domains and setting automatic expiration dates for shared links.

Augment SharePoint’s Capabilities With a Kiteworks Integration

Kiteworks can extend SharePoint’s capabilities, providing a secure and streamlined platform for external sharing. Kiteworks offers organizations full Office 365 collaboration, including downloading, view-only with a watermark, and uploading based on the user’s role. It also offers a “clean room” sharing approach, wherein files are written back to SharePoint as new versions without exposing sensitive SharePoint data to the external world.

Utilize MIP Tags for SharePoint Security Policies

MIP tags help enforce security policies based on the sensitivity of the information. You can create rules based on these tags to restrict sharing of certain types of files.

Leverage SharePoint Encryption Features

SharePoint files are encrypted at rest and in transit. This means that even if a file is intercepted during a transfer, it can’t be read without the decryption key.

SharePoint for HIPAA Compliance

Microsoft SharePoint, as part of Microsoft’s Office 365 suite, does comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. Microsoft’s commitment to data privacy, security, and compliance makes SharePoint a suitable platform for health organizations needing to protect sensitive patient information. However, the responsibility of HIPAA compliance does not rest solely with the platform but also extends to the user’s configuration of the forum and their handling of data.

An essential feature that aids in compliance is SharePoint’s permission management. This feature ensures that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive health data, a crucial aspect of HIPAA regulations. Controlling who can view, modify, or share specific files and folders enables organizations to effectively manage and limit data access.

Moreover, SharePoint complies with HIPAA requirements through its robust auditing features. These features help track data access, changes, and transfers, providing a vital layer of security and facilitating regulatory compliance.

A Kiteworks integration can further enhance HIPAA compliance. Kiteworks provides a secure and streamlined platform for external data sharing, including sensitive health information. It offers additional controls, such as strict policy-based sharing and clean room sharing folders, which limit data exposure, aiding in compliance with HIPAA’s privacy rules.

Additionally, SharePoint employs encryption at rest and in transit, which is essential for securing sensitive health data. Encryption makes data unreadable to unauthorized users, maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of patient information.

Where Kiteworks for Secure External Sharing Differs From SharePoint and SharePoint Online

Choosing the optimal system for managing sensitive content communication in secure file-sharing solutions is paramount. One standard pitfall organizations face is the isolated evaluation and selection of different answers. Moreover, many file-sharing platforms need more readiness for enterprise-level operation, failing to offer adequate tracking and control over who can access and share sensitive data.

Kiteworks recognizes and addresses these challenges. Kiteworks is tailored for enterprise businesses, utilizing a defense-in-depth security strategy. This method ensures automated, end-to-end data encryption, incorporates key encryption and management, and delivers robust security features and extensive security integrations. In the event of a cyberattack, this approach facilitates real-time alerts and swift incident responses.

One area where Kiteworks particularly shines is in external sharing for SharePoint and SharePoint Online. Kiteworks enables the establishment of separate “clean room” sharing folders that do not expose crucial SharePoint data to external parties, a significant concern for many enterprises.

Through strict, policy-based access controls, Kiteworks allows admins to set specific sharing rules based on user roles, file types, clients, and MIP tags. Depending on the user’s role, actions such as downloading, view-only with a watermark, and uploading are permitted. It also provides the option to set automatic expiration for shared links, create allowlists and blocklists for domains, and control who can create external sharing folders. With Kiteworks, full Office 365 collaboration is enabled. Post external collaboration, files are rewritten to SharePoint as new versions, with automatic locking preventing overwrites.

Another advantage of Kiteworks is the ability to invite external parties using their standard business email addresses, negating the need for Microsoft email addresses. A free trial is also available, with custom evaluations provided for enterprise customers.

While file size capabilities can be a distinct advantage, this factor is often less pertinent in the Microsoft environment. Kiteworks is a robust, secure, and versatile solution for managing and sharing sensitive content.

Why Is Kiteworks the Right Solution for Your Business?

There are a number of different factors that go into the selection of the right secure file-sharing solution. Organizations make an egregious mistake when they evaluate and choose different solutions for sensitive content communications in silos. Plus, many file-sharing solutions are not enterprise-ready, lacking the ability to track and control who accesses and shares confidential data.

The Kiteworks platform is designed and built with enterprise businesses in mind. Kiteworks takes a defense-in-depth approach to security that encrypts data at rest and in motion. Its security architecture includes key encryption and management as well as proactive defense-in-depth measures to ensure real-time alerts and rapid incident response in the event that an attack does occur. Kiteworks also enables organizations to retain control of privacy of their data that is hosted in single-tenancy clouds—meaning there is no intermingling of data, metadata, or shared application resources. This is not possible to do with SharePoint or other file-sharing solutions on the market.

Other key features in Kiteworks include:

• A CISO Dashboard provides comprehensive data access, user access, data trends and movement, and controls over data transfers.
• Seamless MFT automation and scheduling to power robust file-sharing and transfer policies, including off-hours transfers and operations triggered by employee, customer, partner, or patient activity.
• Comprehensive and immutable audit logs can be used to demonstrate compliance, maintain data integrity, and provide forensics in cases of breaches or insider attacks.
• Secure email links protect protected health information (PHI) to ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) while maintaining easy and streamlined communication with patients via email.
• SIEM integration with popular platforms like IBM QRadar, ArcSight, FireEye Helix, and Splunk Forwarder. Also, the integration standardizes audit logs into a single file format to support widespread SIEM consumption.
• Disaster recovery with hot, always-on systems and multi-site data redundancy guarantee your systems stay up in case of emergency.
• Compliant encryption includes AES-256 for data at rest and TLS 1.2+ encryption for data in transit.
• Large file transfer and storage with limits up to 16 TB.
• Additional layers of protection are included for encryption keys using integration with a hardware security module (HSM) or Amazon Web Services Key Management Service (AWS KMS).

Additional Resources

• Case Study Cimarex Energy Consolidates File Transfer and Sharing from Microsoft SharePoint to Kiteworks
• Webinar How to Establish a Secure Governance Perimeter Around Microsoft Content
• Blog Post How to Build a Holistic, Proactive Defense Around Business Workflows
• BriefTop 5 Ways Kiteworks Secures Microsoft 365 Third-party Communications
• Blog PostMost Secure File Sharing Options for Enterprise & Compliance