Benefits of Fast File Transfer Automation

Automation can ease the stress and strain on time as well as physical and mental resources for a wide variety of need-to-dos, routine tasks, and processes. After all, who wants to go back to a time without the benefits of automatic bill payment, automatic lawn sprinklers, or even automatic dishwashers? Thankfully, this same simplicity and resulting lower risk of human error can be applied to your organization’s exchange of data through fast file transfer automation.

By automating aspects of the flow of business-critical information within and outside of your organization, you can increase workflow functionality by removing tasks that are repetitive or time-sucking, increase your overall productivity, and allow your employees to focus on higher-level initiatives.

What Processes Can Fast File Transfer Automation Simplify?

Automating file transfers with an accelerated file transfer solution, such as Fortra’s FileCatalyst, can ensure a wide variety of file transfer tasks are more streamlined for efficiency and transparency, including:

– Running batch or multiple file transfers, even millions of files, easily and can be used to replicate or synchronize very large file sets, automate large file transfer between locations, and even transfer files as they are growing.

– Creating detailed reporting and email notifications to help meet any reporting needs for file transfer activity

– Alerting users should a file transfer not occur as intended before your recipient knows

– Automating workflows so that triggered events occur without manual intervention

– Encrypting files to ensure sensitive data is protected at rest and in motion. Intrusion detection and IP filters add additional layers of security.

– Guaranteed file delivery with checkpoint restart, and MD5 checksum verification

Why Automate Large File Transfers?

First, it can significantly speed up your entire file transfer process. Manually sending files to multiple recipients can take time away from other critical tasks. And human error risk also comes into play. Automation can alleviate the fear of transferring business-critical files when the “file transfer expert” who works with clunky scripts for exchanging data is on vacation. It can also reduce the risk that comes with repetitive tasks connected to file transfers like sending sensitive files to the wrong person, or to the right person with the wrong, perhaps even unencrypted, file attached.

And as businesses grow larger or for businesses operating at the enterprise-level, manually processing file transfers can impact the scalability of the entire process. As the tasks associated with exchanging business-critical information grow, those files can also grow exponentially more vulnerable without an automated, secure file transfer process in place to protect them.

And as cost is a major factor in nearly every business process, adding automation software where it makes sense to reduce labor should be considered.

Automate Your Workflows

Automating your workflows can help alleviate these roadblocks to productivity, accuracy, and compliance. For example, if you need to send a detailed inventory list to your trading partner at the close of each business day, you could establish a workflow to send those files automatically from a specified folder or directory.

Any of those types of repeatable, routine tasks can be scheduled to flow without manual input, freeing up your team to focus on other priorities.

What File Transfer Tasks Can be Automated?

Both routine and ad hoc tasks can be automated securely, with an accelerated file transfer solution such as FileCatalyst. One example would be if you routinely need to send a detailed inventory list to your trading partner at the close of each business day. With FileCatalyst, you could establish a workflow to send those files automatically each day from a specified folder or directory. Any of these types of repeatable, repetitive tasks can be scheduled to flow with unlimited triggers in the workflow, without manual input, freeing up your team to focus on other priorities.

And ad hoc or more infrequent file transfer can also be automated. With FileCatalyst Workflow you could, for example, set an event trigger to encrypt an auto insurance claim file as soon as it is added to a given directory, then send that updated file to be processed without delay.

How FileCatalyst Can Help Automate File Transfers

FileCatalyst is an accelerated file transfer and automation software solution that is both flexible and secure. It supports industry standard file transfer protocols, utilizes strong encryption technologies, and helps organizations meet compliance requirements with robust auditing and reporting. You can:

– Save time. You can automate encryption, file delivery, and even how FileCatalyst interacts with your other applications. You can easily eliminate time-consuming transfer processes via a dashboard-style interface for your team.

– Schedule projects to execute to your date and time preference. Instead of waiting to execute a project or transfer, you can use the solution’s built-in scheduler to schedule them in advance to run hourly, daily, weekly, or however you prefer.

– Get auto-resume of failed transfers. You can mitigate the fallout of a file transfer that’s interrupted by network connectivity issues, etc., with FileCatalysts’ auto-resume and integrity check features. Both help assure your file get to where it’s needed intact. You’ll also get notified if a transfer has failed and when your file transfer is complete.

– Ensure encryption is applied: Whether in motion or at rest, FileCatalyst can automatically encrypt files. Solution flexibility also gives you choices in which encryption protocol you or your trading partners want to use.

– Improve file transfer reliability:   Fast file transfer solutions offer a much more reliable way to transfer large data sets, reducing the frequency of failed transfers. In addition, failed transfers will resume where they left off once continued.

– Improve performance: Automating file transfer processes helps eliminate or reduce the risk of human error from manual steps needed to transfer sensitive or business-critical files. GoAnywhere can automate the application of encryption, ensure files are only sent to pre-determined recipients, guarantee delivery of files and more.