Sharing and collaborating with others
Find out how to work collaboratively with others on our sharing and collaboration tools web pages.
We offer several different options for where you can save your files, as well as guidance on where to save them, depending on what type of data your files contain.
It is everyone's responsibility to ensure data is saved appropriately, especially if you are the document owner. Information governance is a key responsibility of every member of the Imperial community and everyone has a part to play in adhering to Imperial's guidelines.
It is important you carefully consider confidential and restricted data to ensure compliance with legal restrictions such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or any contractual limitations which may apply.
You can view the glossary at the bottom of this page for definitions and additional information about the data and systems terminology used on this page.
Where to save your files
Below are some recommendations on where to save your documents containing confidential, restricted and unrestricted data, as defined in the Information Security Policy, as well as for files that may require certified environments or be suitable for making public.
Use the tabs below to find and use the recommended file or document storage repository to save your data files in secure, supported facilities.
Where to save files
Recommendations for non-research uses
Data classification | Personal files | Collaborative files for group work |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
MS Office Documents | Non-MS Office standard size files | Non-MS Office and large files (i.e. multimedia, high-res) | ||
Public | OneDrive | SharePoint | Group space | |
Unrestricted | OneDrive | SharePoint | SharePoint | Group space |
Restricted | OneDrive with encryption* | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption |
Confidential | OneDrive with encryption* | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption |
Recommendations for research uses
Data classification | Personal files | Collaborative files for group work | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
MS Office Documents | Non-MS Office standard size files | Non-MS Office and large files (i.e. multimedia, high-res) | ||
Public and High Performance Computing (HPC) | Research Date Store (RDS) | Research Data Store (RDS) | Research Data Store (RDS) | Research Data Store (RDS) |
Public | OneDrive | SharePoint | Research Data Store (RDS) | |
Unrestricted | OneDrive | SharePoint | SharePoint | Research Date Store (RDS) |
Restricted | OneDrive with encryption* | Groupspace with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption |
Confidential | OneDrive with encryption* | Groupspace with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption | Group space with Symantec File Share Encryption |
Certified Environments (only within Faculty of Medicine) |
Contact ICT | Faculty of Medicine Secure Enclaves & Big Data Analytics Unit Secure Environment (BDAU SE) | Faculty of Medicine Secure Enclaves & Big Data Analytics Unit Secure Environment (BDAU SE) | Faculty of Medicine Secure Enclaves & Big Data Analytics Unit Secure Environment (BDAU SE) |
Recommendations for non-research uses
MS Office Documents | Non-MS Office standard size files | Non-MS Office and large files (i.e. multimedia, high-res) | Anoymous file sharing | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Public | SharePoint | SharePoint | Contact ICT | Contact ICT |
Unrestricted | SharePoint | SharePoint | Contact ICT | Contact ICT |
Restricted | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT |
Confidential | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT |
Recommendations for research uses
Office Documents | Non-Office Standard size files | Non-Office and large files (i.e. multimedia, high-res) | Anoymous file sharing | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Public | SharePoint | SharePoint | Symplectic/Spiral, College Archives | Contact ICT |
Unrestricted | SharePoint | SharePoint | Symplectic/Spiral, College Archives | Contact ICT |
Restricted | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT |
Confidential | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT | Contact ICT |
Known limitations
*OneDrive with encryption is only available for Office Documents (Excel, PowerPoint, Word etc.) and cannot encrypt non-Office Documents. It is also not recommended for a large number of files as it would need to be applied to each individual file. Contact ICT for guidance.
OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint have some known limitations and we recommend using the below alternatives if the above solutions do not meet your needs.
Alternatives
For unrestricted research data the Research Computing Services team offer:
- RStudio
- Stata versions 11 and 13
Users can use the HPC system which offers a wide selection of Rstudio extensions, plus Stata versions 11 and 13. This is only available to researchers with a valid grant or cost code. All data that is hosted on the Research Data Store (RDS) has to live in a project and has to have a valid grant or cost code supplied.
EndNote Online - EndNote is a powerful research tool which helps you to manage your references, facilitate your research and is adaptable to suit your workflows. EndNote Desktop users can create an EndNote Online account and link the two. Content is then synchronised across both versions - this maximises portability of your EndNote library. (If you use your files on a cloud-based location, such as OneDrive or iCloud, this means your library can become corrupted over time.)
Glossary
Administrative - data that is used in performing routine Imperial processes and enables the functioning of a school, dept or other Business Unit. E.g. credit card statements, invoices, letters, meeting minutes, administrative paperwork, course files, lesson plans, assignment outlines, syllabi, training manuals, files associated with university committees, and student groups, etc.
ADRMS - (Active Directory)- ADRMS allows you to encrypt individual Office files.
Big Data Analytics Unit Secure Environment (BDAU SE) - an ISO 27001 certified research environment, compliant with NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit, located at the College data centre, suitable for ongoing research projects involving the use of de-identified personal data which needs to be handled in a secure way to ensure compliance with regulations such as GDPR, or the data security requirements as set by data providers.
Certified Environments - These are dedicated environments ‘certified’ to meet industry best practice standards of information security management including across People, Process and Technology such as ISO 27001, DSPT and Cyber Essentials.
College Archive - the custodian of the college archives and records management in accordance with college-wide Information Governance i.e. Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
Confidential - Data which is defined to include Special Category Personal Data and/or Highly Sensitive Organisational data according to Imperial classifications. (Refer to clause 2.3.1. in the Information Security Policy).
GroupSpace - shared group spaces for departments to save team files on the universities secure central network.
GroupSpace with Symantec File Share Encryption - Symantec File Share Encrytpion is a windows-based client, available on request from ICT and used by research groups and members of staff working with sensitive data to encrypt it when saving to a GroupSpace.
Large files - are any files larger than 50MB. SharePoint supports large files (250gb max), but you can’t move or copy files in SharePoint if they are larger than 15GB. Also, when you are going to synchronize the folder, it's important to stay below 300,000 files.
OneDrive - (also known as OneDrive for Business) - OneDrive for Business is the college approved cloud-based storage solution from Microsoft and used for saving individual use files.
Public - Data which can be made publicly available without legal restriction.
Research - data files used in Research activities within Imperial.
Research Data Store (RDS) - is a central service for storing large volumes of research data which is accessible as a fast network drive across the university with generous standard allocations for research projects, and metered rates for additional storage.
Restricted - Data which is defined to include Personal Data and/or Sensitive Organisational data according to university classifications. (Refer to clause 2.3.2 in the Information Security Policy).
Secure Enclaves - a secured area of the College network (an enclave may consist of users, workstations, and servers) that is isolated from all other areas of the network (including other groups in the environment) for groups dealing with identifiable and de-identified sensitive data. It is designed to give stakeholders assurance that Information Governance requirements (such as GDPR requirements) have been satisfied.
SharePoint - (also known as SharePoint Online) - SharePoint is a browser-based cloud storage, collaboration and document management platform provided by Microsoft as part of the Office 365 suite. It allows groups to set up a centralized, password protected space for document storage, editing and sharing as well as create websites you can use to store files, collaborate, create tasks, manage schedules, and build workflow.
Symplectic/Spiral - research information management system that Imperial College London uses to detail the publications, funding, equipment and professional activities of our researchers and faculty members.
Unrestricted - Data which is defined to include Non-Personal and Non-Sensitive Organisational data according to college classifications. (Refer to 2.3.3 in the Information Security Policy).
Further support
- ASK ICT - If you cannot find a suitable solution in the above table you can get support by raising a request via the Service Desk.
- Hosting - We also offer hosting services for servers, websites and databases, typically to support specialised work, and also options for storing live data for your research needs.
- Read our tips and tricks to ensure you don't lose your files.
- Read File sync, recovery and backup for information on how to back-up your files and recover them.
Imperial business should be conducted only on information services provided by Imperial. Using non-Imperial information services to carry out Imperial business puts Imperial data at risk and therefore is not allowed except with sufficient justification.
For example, OneDrive for Business should be used instead of Dropbox, Google Drive and Docs etc. For further information, read our guidance on cloud applications.