Sync external OneDrive shared folders

Hi all,

Cross Organizational Sync & B2B Sync are the same feature. Apologies for the confusion!

Stephen Rice

OneDrive Program Manager II

 @Stephen Rice Can you please clarify, How is the below one (Cross Organizational Sync) different from the B2B sync that is already rolled out.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=33413

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/b2b-sync

Thanks & Regards,

Bhanu

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Choking wrote:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?featureid=33413

CY-March 2019

I wouldn't put money on this though.  As noted earlier, this was released a year ago and pulled.

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@Stephen Rice Can you please clarify, How is the below one (Cross Organizational Sync) different from the B2B sync that is already rolled out.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=33413

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/b2b-sync

Thanks & Regards,

Bhanu

Ben,

It might but I can't bet on customers having a tenant/domain to cross connect.  We have created a SharePoint site and messed with the backend security to get something working but that was unsupported and similar to assigning licensing to outside IDs, no longer convenient.

Thanks

Going offline for field work and coming back to sync makes complete sense, especially if versioning is enabled to prevent any accidental overwrites / data loss.

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out some key factors for our Access experience:  First, it's not being "hosted" on SharePoint- it's only stored there.  Second, we're a small team (less than 15), and generally it's only in use by 1-2 users.  Finally, I've automated the import function so those users aren't making any design changes, just running reports or queries.  If it was larger scale or if there was a larger user population, I'd probably move it to a full-blown SQL instance.  :)  Regarding your comment on sync mechanisms, I think you're absolutely right.  You can open it through the SharePoint interface and it will work, but is locked as "read-only."  To get full permissions, you have to be able to sync the folder... which is what brought me here once my 6-month "systems break" started. 

I took a break from the Server admin field while I went to school- do you think there's anyway a federated or cross-domain trust could help with your issue?  Again, I haven't messed with that sort of thing since Server 2012, so I'm a bit behind the times.

Best,

Ben

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the input.

Our issue is all about sync though, we need to be able to take a data set out into the field and work offline then sync upon return.  Manual download/upload isn't a replacement and with so many other solutions out there doing this it makes it impossible to promote the MS route.  Hopefully March is a true deadline.

I'm surprised you're getting good sync results with Access DBs.  Sync mechanisms usually struggle with DBs - either blocking them altogether or having issues recognizing change.

We have high hopes for Teams but as you note it will be a while before the dust settles and we know what is there.

Choking

Hi Choking,

    What we did for our team was the external partners provided the contractors (including myself) with an O365 for Business subscription.  Once the security and legal reviews were complete, those external addresses were added to the appropriate SharePoint groups, and we were able to access the necessary information.

    As external users though, we still can't sync (as mentioned in multiple areas in this thread).  I hope that helps for at least information access.  I can say that using non-hosted, small scale Access 2016 databases doesn't really work without being able to sync.  On the bright side, Stephen mentioned it's already on the insider builds, which usually means it's not too far off (barring any stability or other serious bug finds).

     Also, if this is causing friction with your customer, I would recommend waiting on transitioning to Teams.  Even with a full subscription, I get pulled in as a "Guest user", which doesn't allow contact lists, meeting link creation, etc.  Swapping back to my "official" business account results in IMs "bouncing" to team members that have a different email domain.

Best,

Ben

Hi Ben,

If you sign up for Office & Windows insiders programs, I believe you can try this out for yourself now (since it's rolled out publically for those programs). I'm not sure what the process is for joining those programs though :) Thanks,

Stephen Rice

OneDrive Program Manager II

Thanks for the frequent responses that help to keep this issue warm, Stephen.  I'd be happy to help with the testing if you want to connect off-line.  I just transitioned "off-systems" for my 6-month mandatory cool down- being unable to sync is causing some process issues as mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

Best,

Ben Morrison (Populus Group)

Project Manager (Recruiting)

MS Military Affairs

Hi Choking,

Assigning the user a full license and managing them would also let you do this.

We do strive to keep our roadmap dates up to date though as you've noted, there are ocassional changes. In this case, I can tell you that cross organization sync is currently in public preview for Office/Windows Insiders and so there is definite progress being made. Thanks!

Stephen Rice

OneDrive Program Manager II

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?featureid=33413

CY-March 2019

I wouldn't put money on this though.  As noted earlier, this was released a year ago and pulled.