File sharing corporate

Sorry, but I'm not sure what sort of thoughts you're looking for. You seem to have ruled out most of the available options. If you don't want to allow documents anywhere but on your own file shares and aren't happy with the existing Excel-compatible iOS apps, then having your users take control of a Windows session on a computer, either individual or virtual sessions a la Citrix, is the only alternative.

Regards.

I'm not questioning your decision; I understand the security concerns. But again, you seem to have ruled out all options other than remote control of a system on your network; the existing iOS apps don't meet your needs so an app that allows access to documents on your file shares isn't an option, and you won't allow the documents elsewhere so you could use a third-party service such as CloudOn that runs the real Excel application in virtualization. So remote control of systems on your network is the only alternative.

Regards.

The problem right now is we cannot use half of the apps effectively because we don't have network drive access from those devices, for good reason to.

You can give them drive access.

Windows File server

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/filebrowser-access-files-on/id364738545?mt=8

It is so easy to just drag and drop and move all sorts of junk around. We have that user error now with just regular workstations. You seem to have the issue with Windows.

As you know, there is no file manager on the iPad. Pick your applications with the restrictions you need. You might want to look at the divide app.

Yet, you want to block access to the iPad because of a Windows problem. I'm guessing you have your serves set up with read/write access. Seems you need to change your servers to read only access. This will prevent users from moving things around.

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You are experiencing the problem of too many "chefs".

Your larger issue seems to be document management.

This is who gets access to the files. Who has the rights to change files. Who has the rights to put files on the server. I am familiar with version control in software development. Software version control systems were a hassle to use at times. It is necessary on large projects.

In a simpler setup, you give someone ownership over each document. Let them manage the change process.

From a server point of view, you create one big folder. Each document owner get a subfolder of their own. The owner gets read/write access to the subfolder. Give everyone read only access to the whole thing. Of course give the folders project name not names of people. Robert

FileBrowser only connects the iPad to your file shares. You will still have to use the iOS apps that can open Excel documents, and you said those are inadequate for your needs, so this would not seem to be a solution for you.

Glad you were able to read my post. The forum software made a mess of my first post. I've fixed it now.

I didn't mean to imply that filebrowser was a solution to you document management issue.

You cannot rule out the human element.

A good docuemnt management sysem would have versioning control. It would have a copy of all the document versions.

There's always ftp. Make your shares read only. Use ftp to update the share.

Robert

Take a look at MobilEcho or ActivEcho. This is an enterpsie "Dropbox" like solution, but uses your storage and servers.

http://www.grouplogic.com/enterprise-file-sharing/ipad-file-system/

You may want to consider:

Document Management System -- DMS

There are a lot of choices.

Some comments on DMSs

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11188760/web-based-document-file-management-s ystem-for-large-amount-of-files

I think filerun has a good balance between function and usability.

http://www.filerun.com/

Unlimited license is $1799

ldap support.

Here is the main screen:

Allows you to restore and access any version: