The True Cost of ShareFile vs. a Disjointed Tech Stack

No organization wants to waste its time managing routine business documents; if a company can invest in a tool that saves human-hours on document workflows, it’s a good bet that most of them will in a heartbeat.

The kicker comes when the solution you invest in creates inefficiencies. When a solution is expensive and it’s costing you time and focus, it’s probably a good idea to take a step back and reconsider the process. Has your organization cobbled together multiple apps to handle tasks like file sharing, e-signatures, document collection and client portals? It can be hard to keep up with the actual cost and complexity of a disjointed tech stack managing your document workflows.

Let’s break down the true cost of using a fragmented tech stack and compare it to an all-in-one document workflow solution. Specifically, let’s take a look at the efficiency and value of Progress ShareFile software.

Spoiler alert: The ShareFile platform not only simplifies document workflows—it also saves money.

What Does a Document Workflow Really Involve?

Most businesses—and so, most likely, yours—perform multiple document-based tasks routinely. You’re going to be:

• Sharing files internally and externally

• Collecting signatures on contracts and agreements

• Requesting documents from clients

• Reviewing and editing files

• Verifying documents are saved and sent securely

• Delivering client info via portals

There is absolutely, 100 percent an individual app on the market for each one of these tasks. Each one comes with its own subscription, support plan and platform. Congratulations, you’re now the proud parent of a sprawling tech stack.

The Patched-Together Tech Stack: Hidden Complexity and Cost

Let’s look at what a common document workflow stack might include and the average annual cost of each tool:

Now, heads-up, here’s how we got those numbers. We looked at three leading vendors per tool type, focusing on standard business-tier pricing. We threw out entry-level and enterprise-level tiers. We also looked at monthly subscription fees, which will almost always be more expensive than an annual subscription. The result is a conservative but reasonable total: approximately $1,370 per user per year.

Can you make this workflow tech stack cheaper? Yes. Will it take a lot of research and maintenance and revisiting the solution to make that happen? Also yes. It also gives you these headaches, to name but a few:

• Multiple logins for both clients and employees (everyone loves this one)
• Redundant or unused features and overlapping costs
• More training and onboarding
• Increased potential security vulnerabilities
• Frustrated users navigating a patchwork system with inconsistent user experience

The ShareFile Alternative: Streamlined, Secure, Scalable

Now let’s look at ShareFile software. And in fact, let’s take the conservative gloves off and jump right into a premium subscription level. That’ll set you back about $600-$700 per user per year depending on volume and contract.

So for roughly half the (conservative!) estimate for our document workflow tech stack, the ShareFile platform brings you:

• Out-of-the-box e-signature
• Secure file sharing and storage
• End-to-end encryption
• A customizable client portal
• Advanced permission settings
• Document collection and approval workflows
• AI-powered efficiency for automation and content generation
• Integration with tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Neat, right? Even at the higher end of the pricing spectrum, ShareFile software delivers the full spectrum of document workflows in one subscription—and at a better cost based on our patchwork tech stack.

The Hidden Long-term Costs of Fragmentation

But let’s not just focus on how ShareFile software makes financial sense. You’re going to notice the impact of the glorious absence of these two hallmarks of a fragmented tech stack:

1. Poor Client Experiences

Clients don’t care about your tech stack—they care about how easy it is to use, how clear it is to navigate and the professionalism of the overall experience. When you require clients to download multiple apps, create several accounts and switch between tools just to sign a contract or upload a file, simply put, you’re asking too much.

This disjointed experience has real consequences, and you’ll feel the pinch with:

• Slower turnaround times on contracts and approvals
• Lower client satisfaction scores
• Missed opportunities for upselling and long-term retention

Clients expect digital experiences to be seamless. When tools get in the way, people notice—and that’s when they start looking elsewhere.

2. Inefficient Internal Operations

According to a McKinsey study, employees spend 19% of their week searching for information. That’s nearly a full workday lost every week per employee. In companies with layered, inconsistent document workflows, that figure is going to be even higher.

With a streamlined platform like ShareFile, your employees can find what they need faster, rely on standardized workflows and spend more time adding value instead of toggling between tools.

Fewer tools means fewer distractions, less confusion and more productive work hours.

An All-in-One Solution: Not Just a Pretty Face

While individual tools might offer best-in-class features, they rarely work together seamlessly. The efficiency and economy of ShareFile features bring document workflows under one umbrella, potentially allowing you to:

• Reduce annual software costs by up to 50 percent (see our conservative per-user estimate of a disjointed tech stack earlier in this article)
• Improve client satisfaction with smoother user experience
• Eliminate redundant tools
• Reduce IT support tickets (huzzah!)

Software sprawl has become a big threat to operational efficiency. Every new tool promises to solve one problem, but collectively they create a new one: complexity.

The ShareFile platform offers a different approach. By consolidating everything you need in a business document workflow (e-signatures, storage, sharing, collaboration, etc.) into a single platform, ShareFile software delivers a superior user experience—internally and externally—at a lower cost.

If you’re still managing document workflows across a handful of tools or more, it’s time to rethink that plan. Give ShareFile software—with its simplicity, speed and scalability—a chance to show you a more elegant solution.

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