Egnyte vs Panzura vs SharePoint: which fits multi-office AEC firms?

Egnyte vs Panzura vs SharePoint is usually the question a multi-office architecture or engineering firm asks after a Revit central model gets overwritten, or after the second office starts waiting on every sync. The three platforms solve different parts of the problem, and the right fit depends on how often your offices co-edit the same live model.

Why do Revit and AutoCAD files struggle across offices?

Revit and AutoCAD files are large, heavily linked and edited by several people at once, and both applications were built to work on a local network. Revit's file-based worksharing relies on a central model that every team member synchronizes with. AutoCAD drawings pull in external references by file path. When those files sit behind a slow link or a sync client, users wait, models conflict and work gets overwritten.

Autodesk addresses the question directly. Asked whether file-based worksharing works on services such as Dropbox, OneDrive, SharePoint and Egnyte, its support article answers: "If an experience similar to using file-based worksharing in a LAN environment is expected, then the answer would be no." It adds that file-based worksharing "was designed before the proliferation of cloud services and storage."

That is why multi-office firms end up comparing three different approaches: Microsoft's SharePoint and OneDrive, Egnyte's hybrid platform and Panzura's global file system. Each solves a different part of the problem.

Can SharePoint and OneDrive handle Revit and AutoCAD files across offices?

For storage and archives, yes. For live Revit worksharing across offices, no, according to Autodesk. Microsoft's published limits allow files up to 250 GB and recommend syncing no more than 300,000 items across a user's cloud storage. Those limits suit contracts, proposals, RFIs, submittals and closed project archives.

The weak spot is concurrent editing of non-Office files. Word, Excel and PowerPoint support co-authoring, but a Revit central model or a set of linked AutoCAD drawings synced through OneDrive gets no cross-office lock of the kind Revit worksharing expects, which is the scenario Autodesk's article warns against.

SharePoint's advantage is cost and familiarity. Most firms already pay for it in their Microsoft 365 licenses, it needs no hardware in the office, and its sharing and retention controls are well documented. For a single-office firm, or for everything outside active design files, it is often enough.

How does Egnyte handle multi-office CAD and BIM work?

Egnyte pairs cloud storage with on-premises components, and its Revit support depends on which one a firm deploys. Egnyte's comparison of Smart Cache and Storage Sync says Revit co-editing is supported on Smart Cache in network share (SMB) mode, with caching and a global file lock on the Revit central model. Egnyte describes that setup for users in a single physical office collaborating on the model.

Storage Sync, by contrast, requires an administrator to synchronize folders for caching, has users mapped manually, and does not provide a global file lock on the central model.

Egnyte fits firms that want cloud-first file access with governance features and a local cache where heavy design work happens. Firms whose teams co-edit the same Revit model from different offices should ask Egnyte to document exactly how that scenario is supported in their configuration before committing.

How does Panzura CloudFS handle multi-office CAD and BIM work?

Panzura CloudFS is built around global file locking, so a file opened for editing in one office is locked for users in every other office. According to its distributed file locking documentation, other users can open a read-only copy or ask to be notified when the file frees up. Panzura also supports byte-range locking, which locks only the part of a file in use, for applications that support it. It names Autodesk Revit and AutoCAD, Tekla Structures, Bentley MicroStation and Microsoft Office.

Architecturally, every Panzura node holds the full file system metadata, file data syncs to object storage, and nodes negotiate lock ownership with each other directly. In practice that means running a node at each office, plus the cloud storage behind it.

Panzura fits firms with several offices whose teams genuinely co-edit the same live models. The trade-off is more infrastructure to run and monitor than a pure cloud service.

Egnyte vs Panzura vs SharePoint: how do they compare side by side?

Whether you are weighing Egnyte vs SharePoint or Egnyte vs Panzura, the right choice depends on where your active design work happens and how much cross-office co-editing you do.

• Cross-office locking for Revit and AutoCAD. Panzura documents global locking across sites, including byte-range locking for Revit and AutoCAD. Egnyte documents a global lock on the Revit central model with Smart Cache, described for single-site collaboration. SharePoint and OneDrive do not provide LAN-style worksharing, per Autodesk.
• Hardware in the office. SharePoint needs none. Egnyte Smart Cache runs locally where cached work happens. Panzura runs a node at each office.
• Licensing. SharePoint is usually already included in Microsoft 365. Egnyte and Panzura are separate subscriptions, so get current quotes for your office count and storage.
• Best fit. SharePoint for documents and archives. Egnyte for cloud-first firms with heavy work concentrated in one office at a time. Panzura for firms co-editing live models across several offices.

Many firms combine them: a global file system or cache for active design projects, and SharePoint for administration and closed projects. Autodesk also offers Revit Cloud Worksharing, which hosts the workshared model on Autodesk Docs instead of a file server. It is worth pricing in the same exercise, and the timing often lines up with your Autodesk renewal review. If your workstations are part of the slowdown, our guide to Revit workstation specs covers the hardware side.

What changes for firms on defense work?

Where project files include covered defense information, the cloud service has to meet a federal standard. DFARS 252.204-7012 requires a contractor using an external cloud service provider to store, process or transmit covered defense information to ensure the provider meets security requirements equivalent to the FedRAMP Moderate baseline, along with incident reporting and related obligations.

Before placing that data in any of these platforms, ask the vendor for its FedRAMP authorization or equivalency documentation and confirm which of its service offerings it covers. A commercial Microsoft 365 tenant, an Egnyte account and a Panzura deployment each need that check on their own terms.

If your firm is also preparing for CMMC, our guide to closing NIST 800-171 gaps for your SPRS score covers which controls to address first.

What should an AEC firm do this quarter?

Measure before you migrate, so the decision rests on your own projects.

• Map where active projects live today and which offices touch each one.
• Count how often teams in different offices co-edit the same Revit model or drawing set.
• Time how long it takes to open and synchronize a typical central model from each office.
• Check whether the current file server runs Windows Server 2016, which loses security updates on January 12, 2027.
• Pilot the leading option on one live project, with real users, for at least a few weeks.
• Plan where closed projects will live, since archives rarely need the same platform as active design work.

How can s90 help?

s90 helps architecture, engineering and construction firms in Los Angeles and Orange County compare file platforms against their own projects, run pilots and migrate without breaking Revit links or xrefs. If you are weighing a change before your file server reaches end of support, we can help you test the options on a live project.