Secure Managed File Transfer: Meeting Business Needs

Managed File Transfer is an easy way to meet business requirements and comply with data privacy regulations.  With a solution like Alliance FTP Manager, businesses can meet compliance regulations by securely transmitting files from their IBM i (AS/400) to their trading partners and customers. Additionally, a Managed File Transfer solution can help your organization save time and money by automating processes that traditionally have eaten into IT manpower. I recently sat down with Founder & CEO Patrick Townsend to discuss how Managed File Transfer can help businesses assure their customers and partners that their sensitive data is secure and in compliance with data privacy requirements such as PCI DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, FFIEC and other regulations.

Can you walk us through a typical business problem that Managed File Transfer Solves?

If you’re a mid-sized or large company, security is absolutely crucial in today’s environment. We all hear over and over again about data losses by large companies and the damage that causes to both the business and the reputation of those companies. Business executives around the world are trying to protect their data, their customer data, and supplier information so they can have the confidence to go forward with their business plans. A managed file transfer solution provides a start-to-finish mechanism for securing data in motion.

If you are using a Managed File Transfer solution like our Alliance FTP Manager, you can have the confidence that you are doing things right, that you are meeting best practices in the industry and that you are less likely to  wake up one day and find yourself in a headline in the New York Times about some large data loss.

Can you explain how a Managed File Transfer works?

Managed File Transfer solutions, like our Alliance FTP Manager, need to meet a number of core requirements. Obviously, they need to protect data in motion and we use SSL session encryption and PGP encryption, which are the industry standards. Automation is also very important. Most of our customers are transferring multiple files everyday to banks, trading partners and suppliers. You don’t want to burn resources by having someone manually transfer files any time it needs to be done.

Additionally, policy driven configuration and reporting by exception are extremely important. Some of our customers are sending tens of thousands of files every day to their trading partners, which can be a lot to manage. You need to be sure that you can manage by exception if there is a problem.

Finally, a Managed File Transfer Solution not only automatically picks up and transfer files, but provides additional controls to make the process efficient - not only from a human resource point of view, but also from a cost point of view. You don’t want to be spending valuable human resources, picking up files and processing them. This should all be an automatic process and that is really the core idea behind Managed File Transfer – automation and security. 

Download our podcast “Secure Managed File Transfer on the IBM i – An Introduction” for more information on how we can help your organization save time and money by securely automating your file transfers.