Sending and exchanging files is a vital daily task in most organizations. However, this responsibility to exchange information comes with some pretty common frustrations and risks unless the file transfer process is secure and managed appropriately. Here are a few of the biggest frustrations in file transfers and some solutions to help alleviate them.
1. Unreliable, Unsecure FTP File Transfers
While those free, cloud-based file transfer solutions can sound appealing, the old adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” holds fast here. Most of these free FTP options lack the “resume transfer” feature you need when transferring large files. Besides being unreliable and unsecure for moving hefty files, free file transfer software most often will lack functionality such as load balancing and high availability as well to minimize downtime.
If you don’t know whether a file has actually gone through or not until your intended recipient lets you know, it’s time to get rid of that frustration with a move away from FTP and towards a file transfer solution utilizing more modern, secure and trusted protocols, such as SFTP, AS2, AS3, AS4, HTTPS, and more.
Related Reading: What is Wrong with Free File Transfer?
2. File is Too Big to Send
You know that feeling. The one you get when you hit “send” and simply hope that big file actually makes its way to your recipient before getting bogged down because it’s supersized. Or maybe it’s that phone call you get asking for a file you sent hours ago – the first indication that your file never made it.
Sending big files or batch files requires a robust file transfer solution, one capable of carrying heavier loads, such as managed file transfer (MFT). MFT helps ensure those hefty files get to where they are going without delay, errors, or bottlenecks.
Related Reading: 19 Ways to Transfer Big Files
3. It’s Hard to Know if a File Arrived as Intended
With an MFT solution, like GoAnywhere MFT, in place you can reliably send files of any size and get the peace of mind of knowing whether they arrived as intended, and to the intended recipient, with notifications and detailed audit logs. The auto-resume feature starts your file transfer up automatically.
Even better, you can get this knowledge and reassurance without manual checks. If you or your recipient have spotty network connectivity, GoAnywhere pauses while sending then resumes when all is well. All those “transfer failed” messages become a distant memory.
4. File Transfers Require Too Many Manual Tasks
If your organization relies on outdated scripts or needs to ensure a certain person who “knows” how to transfer multiple or large files is in the office, it’s time to turn some of those manual responsibilities over to a file transfer solution with file transfer automation.
The benefits of automating your organization’s file transfer tasks range from cost reduction, productivity, availability, reliability, and performance.
Related Reading: 5 Benefits of Automation
You can even set up automation to run workflows with multi-step processes when you need to move, process, and encrypt your data. You can schedule transfers as needed, as well as keep an eye on every folder to see when new files get added and need to be processed immediately.
5. Outdated, Clunky Legacy Scripts
Organizations still dependent on outdated scripts and legacy files are setting themselves up for file transfer failure or more importantly, for a potentially devastating data breach or compliance requirement issue.
Legacy scripts often lack the centralized management, capacity, security and encryption needed for data security. In addition, they can be inflexible in handling multiple sources and/or targets and often can’t conduct the business-to-business file transfers, perhaps requiring EDI, from trading partners and vendors.
6. Simple Human Error
Relying on a specific group of employees, or even a single person who’s often fully responsible for file transfers, is a recipe for file transfer frustration. Timing, misdirection, a simple wrong keystroke can all wreak havoc with your file transfers if you don’t have a method in place that automates some of the process and decreases many of the manual tasks involved. Scheduled or managed file transfers offer an extra, more fool-proof helping hand with tools that can automate, streamline, centralize, and manage transfers so there are fewer manual steps needed to move files from start to finish simply and securely. Plus, MFT solutions offer vital encryption and tracking capabilities.
Related Reading: Why You Should Use Scheduled File Transfer Software
7. Lack of Encryption
Free or legacy system often don’t include the critical provisions for data encryption, easily exposing sensitive data in transit to cybertheft. Security-centered MFT software locks down files with strong encryption both at rest and while in transit.
Which encryption software you select often depends on both you and your trading partners’ specific requirements such as industry standards, need for authentication, receipt of delivery, simple password protection, and more. Protocols supported by GoAnywhere include: AS2, AS3, or AS4, Open PGP, ZIP with AES, SFTP, FTPS, PeSIT, and HTTPS.
Related Reading: Why You Should Use File Encryption Software
8. Email File Transfer Fails
While attaching a file or two to email may work for small, non-enterprise level file exchanges, familiar, convenient email alone just isn’t up to the task of exchanging large or batch files or to handle complex scheduling or automation of file transfer workflows. Thankfully, there is secure email, which allows for easy, secure ad hoc file transfers.
With secure mail from GoAnywhere you can send multiple files as a single package, there’s no file size or type restrictions, you can add additional security with a system- or user-specified passwords, files are sent over a secure HHTP connection, you can view audit trails, and much more to really amp up and lock down those email sends
Related Reading: Is Transferring Files by Email Secure?
9. Lack of Auditing and Reporting Capabilities
Whether it’s a simple recap of transfer activities from partners and stakeholders or you need to see where a file transfer may have failed, comprehensive auditing functionality can help document and resolve issues. GoAnywhere MFT’s auditing and reporting capabilities deliver the detailed records needed for practicality as well as for adhering to any required compliance mandates.
Having the ability to drill down into your audit logs for specific date ranges, users, and more can shed a lot of light on how your workflows are being handled.
10. Compliance Requirements are Difficult to Meet
Strict adherence to healthcare, financial and other industry compliance, or personal data requirements is a basic “must” today. If your file transfer solution has you doubting your ability to meet the standards set forth, you could be risking some serious financial and reputational damage.
PCI DSS, HIPAA, HITECH, the GDPR, and other popular requirements can be met with most MFT solutions, but not with those outdated FTP, free or scripted solutions. With MFT in place, you can easily incorporate compliance-friendly functionality like reporting, auditing, role-based access, centralized controls for security, encryption, secure protocols, and more to protect the organization as well as its customers and employees from serious cybercrime or even human error fallout.
Related Reading: How to Help Ensure Compliance with Data Privacy Laws
11. Downtime Impacts on Critical File Transfers
Unseen errors, natural disasters, network fails, and more all can impact your organization’s ability to keep critical file transfer systems and servers active and moving. And, as downtime can have a serious financial impact as well as frustration from customers and trading partners, high availability is vital.
GoAnywhere MFT rises to these network challenges by providing clustering for high availability and load balancing. True active-active support keeps file transfers rolling, and load balancing allows for workflows to be distributed across multiple systems, no matter what.
12. Lack of Consolidation
Too many applications and solutions can muddle the purpose of having a file transfer process. After all, the goal is communication. Using a single but powerful tool can help ensure all senders and recipients have less to think about when collaborating and exchanging information.
If your solution or multiple solutions can’t offer the following to ease file transfer frustrations, it may be time to check out a full-capabilities MFT software like GoAnywhere which can:
- Help eliminate the need for multiple products and scripts with automation via multi-step workflows, a built-in scheduler, and more.
- Achieve end-to-end automatic encryption of files at rest and in motion.
- Provide efficient, secure file transfers to external trading partners with granular user controls.
- Make internal file transfers simple with an easy-to-use web client
- And more!
GoAnywhere MFT Eases File Transfer Frustrations
MFT is much more than a simple file transfer software application. It’s a flexible solution available on-premises, via the cloud, a hybrid environment, as well as MFTaaS to simplify, secure, and audit your batch server-to-server file transmissions, user-to-system ad-hoc file transfers, and person-to-person collaboration. See for yourself how GoAnywhere can ease file transfer woes with a demo. And find out how putting GoAnywhere to work in easing your file frustrations can work within your budget.
