The average IT team spends 44% of their time on manual tasks that “keep the lights on.”1 If your IT team manually transfers files, there’s a better way.
In this blog post, I’ll explain what SFTP automation is and the benefits of using a managed file transfer (MFT) solution to automate SFTP file transfers.
What is SFTP Automation?
SFTP automation happens when your IT team finds a way to automatically transfer files with SFTP.
This can be accomplished with:
- Scripts written and maintained in-house
- Scripts written by a third party
- Free or open-source software
- Managed file transfer (MFT) solution
There are many disadvantages to using scripts to automate file transfers. Creating new file transfer connections and troubleshooting is time-consuming. Worst of all, if the scripts aren’t documented properly, employees who leave take a lot of knowledge with them.
Using free or open-source software comes with its own risks. What if the company behind the software stops offering it or starts requiring payment?
The easiest and most efficient option for SFTP automation is MFT. If you’re not familiar with it, MFT is a no-code technology that has everything related to file transfers in one place.
“Everything” means:
- File transfer workflow creation
- Partner onboarding
- Activity logs
- Alerts
Benefits of Automating SFTP File Transfer with MFT
- More efficient
- Faster Onboarding – Add internal teams and partners to workflows in less than 30 minutes.
- Easier Maintenance and Scaling – Eliminate server setup and maintenance costs with a cloud MFT solution that auto-scales.
- Simpler Monitoring – When something goes wrong, receive an automatic alert with the reason it happened. Fix the issue in minutes.
- Less complex
- Tailored for your use case
- Trigger or semaphore files – Avoid sending a batch of files too early.
- Scheduling – Choose how often the system should check for files.
- File name filters – Include or exclude certain file types.
By choosing to do custom integration and custom file transfers, your organization has all its eggs in one basket. If the person managing the solution leaves, your team will struggle to maintain it and troubleshoot.
With MFT, everything you need is in an online portal. Your IT team can learn to use it in a few hours and get support as needed.
These file processing features support your use cases:
How to Automate an SFTP File Transfer Using Thru
Defining Our Terms
Thru is a no-code cloud MFT service, so you don’t need to manage hardware or scaling. Everything you need is in an online portal.
Before getting started, here are three terms to know:
- Flows*
Unlike traditional file- or folder-based file transfer systems, Thru is flow-based. A flow is a pathway created to transfer files between endpoints. You can modify flows at any time by adding or removing organizations or endpoints.
* Note: flows are called transports in previous versions.
- Organizations
Organizations represent groups of people you want to send files to. They can represent internal teams (your accounting or marketing teams) or other companies.
In Thru, organizations are independent from flows. Flows don’t have a limit on how many organizations you can add.
- Endpoints
Endpoints are exactly what they sound like. They define where the files will be picked up and dropped off.
Organizations can have multiple endpoints. Because Thru can act as a client or server, you have the flexibility you need to satisfy business or security requirements.
Steps to Automate Your Transfers
Here’s how to automate SFTP file transfers in Thru:
Step 1: Create organizations
Create enterprise and partner organizations. Then, add the names, types and contact information for each.
Step 2: Add SFTP client and/or server endpoints
Click into each organization and create an endpoint. Name it and pick a type.
Add the necessary information and test the connection.
Step 3: Create a flow and add organizations
Name the flow and pick a type. Once it’s created, add organizations. You can subscribe as many organizations as you need because of how Thru is designed.
Then, choose a source or target organization.
Step 4: Add endpoints and begin transfers
Choose specific endpoints to add. Now you can start transferring files!
Step 5: Monitor automatically
You’ll receive automatic email or text alerts if something goes wrong. They include the reason for the alert so you can fix it fast.
Onboard Partners Up to 8x Faster
Crocs’ IT team shaved down their 2-4 hour partner onboarding time to under 30 minutes with Thru.
What could your IT team do with 3 extra hours per new partner?
If you’d like to see how Thru can help your IT team, please contact us.
1 Dynatrace 2020 Global CIO Report. Conducted by Vanson Bourne.
