Most Dubai offices already own cloud storage inside Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and use it badly. Listonics sets it up properly: a folder structure people can navigate, permissions by team rather than by favour, retention and residency that satisfy your regulator, and a separate backup that has been tested. Projects run from AED 2,500 to AED 30,000 depending on requirement.
Part of our guide to Microsoft 365 & Cloud.
Which cloud storage should a Dubai business use?
Almost always the one bundled with the platform you already run. If the office is on Microsoft 365, that is OneDrive for personal files and SharePoint for shared ones; on Google Workspace it is Google Drive with shared drives. Both are included in business subscriptions, both are managed from the same admin console as your email, and both integrate with the identity and device controls you should already be using. Buying a third storage product on top adds a login, a bill and a place for files to go missing.
The genuine exceptions are narrow. A firm holding very large media or engineering files may need object storage or a local NAS alongside the cloud. A clinic or law firm with strict residency rules may need to confirm where the copy lives before choosing. And an office with a shared drive that has grown for a decade needs a migration plan, not just a subscription. Our Microsoft 365 and cloud service covers the platform side; this page covers making storage work.
- On Microsoft 365: OneDrive for individuals, SharePoint document libraries for teams.
- On Google Workspace: My Drive for individuals, shared drives for teams.
- Add a NAS where files are large, restores must be fast, or a local copy is required.
- Avoid a third consumer product bolted on for convenience; it becomes the leak.
Why does cloud storage go wrong in small offices?
Because it is switched on and never designed. Staff are given a licence, files land in personal OneDrive or My Drive folders, sharing links are sent to whoever asks, and two years later the office's records live in the accounts of people who have since left. The platform did exactly what it was told; nobody told it anything.
The second failure is confusing sync with backup. A file deleted from a synced folder disappears from the cloud too, and once it ages out of the recycle bin it is gone. Microsoft sets out what the SharePoint and OneDrive service limits allow for retention and versioning, and Google publishes its own storage and upload limits. Neither is a backup you control. The cloud backup services page explains what one looks like.
What does a Listonics cloud storage setup include?
We start with how the office actually works: which teams share what, who needs to see client files, what must never leave the building, and what happens when someone leaves. That produces a structure of a handful of shared libraries or shared drives named for the work rather than for the person who created them, with a personal area for drafts and nothing else.
Permissions follow the structure. Access is granted to groups, not individuals, so a new hire inherits what their team has and a departure removes it in one step. External sharing is set to what the business needs and no wider, with expiring links as the default. Microsoft's guidance on planning SharePoint and OneDrive is the model we follow, adapted to an office of ten rather than ten thousand.
- Folder and library structure agreed with the people who use it.
- Group-based permissions, with external sharing limited and links set to expire.
- Migration of the old shared drive, with dead data archived rather than moved.
- Retention and versioning configured to your obligations.
- A separate backup connected, and a test restore documented.
- Sync clients set up on company devices, with personal devices controlled through device policy.
Where is the data stored, and does it matter in Dubai?
For a trading company or an agency, usually not. For a clinic, a counsellor, a law firm or anyone holding regulated personal data, it can matter a great deal, and it is a question to settle before the migration rather than after. Microsoft publishes where Microsoft 365 customer data is stored by region, and the UAE has its own datacentre geography for tenants created there. Google's storage regions are set at the organisation level and should be checked the same way.
Where the rule is strict, the practical answer is a local copy. A NAS in the office holding a synchronised or backed-up copy of the cloud libraries gives you a version of every file inside the UAE, fast restores of large folders, and a fallback if the internet link fails. Our NAS storage and backup service covers that side.
What does cloud storage for business cost in Dubai?
Two lines, kept separate. The subscription is paid to Microsoft or Google monthly per user at their published rates, and business plans include a storage allowance that is enough for most offices; extra pooled storage is sold on top if you outgrow it. The setup is one-off project work: design, migration, permissions, retention, backup and the handover. Listonics quotes that as a fixed scope after a free assessment, and projects run from AED 2,500 to AED 30,000 depending on requirement.
A small office moving a modest shared drive into a few well-named libraries sits at the lower end. A firm with years of files, external collaborators, residency obligations and a NAS copy sits higher. Ongoing administration, the periodic permissions review and the backup test then sit inside a support agreement rather than being billed per request.
How do you keep it tidy after the project?
Three habits. A quarterly review of who can see what, so access does not accumulate as people change roles. A leaver process that moves a departing employee's files to their manager before the account is closed, rather than discovering the gap a month later. And one owner for the structure, so new libraries are created deliberately instead of appearing whenever someone cannot find the right one. All three are small if done on schedule and painful if left for a year.
These sit naturally inside managed IT support, where the same engineer who handles the helpdesk sees the storage every day and notices drift before it becomes a problem.
Why choose Listonics for cloud storage in Dubai?
Because we are the office IT firm, not a reseller of storage. We set up the network, the devices and the identity around the storage, so permissions, device policy and backup are designed together rather than bolted on by three different vendors. Every project ends with a written handover: the structure, the permission groups, the retention settings and the restore test result, so whoever supports the office next can see what was decided and why.
If you are not sure whether the office needs a full setup or a tidy-up of what exists, the free assessment answers that first.
Frequently asked questions
For most offices, the storage already included in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. OneDrive and SharePoint, or Google Drive with shared drives, are managed from the same console as email and inherit the same security controls. The platform matters less than how it is set up: structure, permissions, retention and a separate backup are what decide whether it works.
No. Cloud storage synchronises your files; if a file is deleted or encrypted on a laptop, the change syncs to the cloud too. Recycle bins and version history help for a while but are not under your control and expire. A backup is a separate copy, on a different system, kept for a retention period you set and tested by restoring from it.
The subscription is paid monthly per user to Microsoft or Google at their published rates, with storage included in business plans. The setup is a one-off project that Listonics quotes as a fixed scope, running from AED 2,500 to AED 30,000 depending on requirement. Ongoing administration sits inside a support agreement rather than being charged per task.
Yes. Microsoft publishes where each tenant's data is held, and UAE tenants can be provisioned to the local geography; Google's regions are set at organisation level. Where the obligation is strict, a NAS in the office holding a backed-up copy of the cloud libraries guarantees an in-country version regardless of the platform's region.
If storage was set up properly, their shared work already lives in team libraries and nothing is lost. Their personal area is transferred to a manager before the account is closed, and group-based permissions remove their access in one step. If it was never set up, this is usually the moment an office discovers its records are scattered across former staff accounts.
A small office with a modest shared drive is usually done within a couple of weeks, including the migration and staff briefing. Larger or older file sets take longer because the useful work is deciding what not to move. The structure and permissions are agreed first, the migration is staged, and the cut-over is timed so staff start the week in the new layout.
Written by Srinivasan Ramachandran, Founder, Listonics · Last reviewed September 24, 2026