The market for MFT tools can be overwhelming—there are lots of vendors and types of MFT solutions to choose from. Here is a countdown of the top 10 questions to get answered to help guide your decision:
10. What security is built into the MFT tool?
Securing your company’s data is a top priority. The tool used to transfer that data needs to have many layers and types of protection built-in to guard against data breaches in transit and at rest. Additionally, the tool must help you meet any additional security certifications or compliance that your particular industry may require.
9. What integration does the MFT tool support out-of-the-box? Or via APIs?
If your file transfer solution needs to integrate with certain applications or an integration platform as a service (iPaaS), ask and verify early in the vendor vetting process its integration capabilities and platform compatibilities.
APIs can enhance and extend integration by allowing functionality and capabilities of the MFT tool—such as configuration, management, monitoring and alerts—to be orchestrated from other applications or iPaaS.
8. Does the MFT tool run in the cloud?
Many organizations have initiatives to move business processes to the cloud. If your organization has adopted—or is considering adopting—a cloud-first strategy, the new MFT solution needs to fit with it.
7. Where is the MFT tool deployed?
Industry compliance requirements and corporate policies may limit deployment of the MFT solution to certain locations—such as requiring data to stay within a company’s intranet or within a specific geo region. Additionally, knowing the distance between the deployment location and the organization’s entities or trading partners helps determine whether latency issues may arise.
6. How long does deployment, training and migration of the MFT tool typically take?
The length of time required from start of deployment to successfully transferring the first file is a good indicator of the complexity of both implementing and learning to use the new tool. A simple deployment process and minimal disruption to known business processes or routines leads to a fast, smooth migration from old MFT tool to new, which results in immediate return on investment (ROI).
5. Does the MFT tool include an efficient means to onboard partners?
Especially in large organizations with numerous partners, onboarding can be complicated and time consuming. An MFT tool that simplifies partner onboarding reduces IT overhead and partner integration management.
4. What is the pricing model of the MFT tool?
It is important to understand pricing from the start so you know whether the MFT solution works with your budget. Requesting pricing early avoids wasting time for you and the vendor. Knowing what functionality is included and what is considered add-on is also important to understand for correct budgeting considerations.
3. Is there a minimum contract length? How long is it?
Once the pricing model and minimum contract length is known, the estimated ROI can be calculated.
2. Do you have customers in our industry that we can contact?
Customer references are great for understanding the difficulties and benefits of implementing different MFT solutions.
1. Is a free trial of the MFT tool available?
Gaining firsthand experience while using the tool is your best guide to whether it will work for your organization. With a free trial, you can determine if the vendor’s claims are true and hear feedback from your IT team or trial users before committing to a purchase.
Getting Your Questions Answered
You don’t have to rely on just your own internet searches and their possibly biased and skewed results. Respected technology experts, analysts and consultants offer extensive knowledge and unbiased advice to businesses and their decision-makers. Top MFT market experts that provide research-backed information include
Another source of insightful market research is G2, a software reviews site that aggregates user reviews and publishes a quarterly report for each software segment. Learn more about the best managed file transfer software from its most recent G2 Grid for Managed File Transfer Report »
Thru has helped solve demanding and complex managed file transfer challenges since 2002. To further evaluate MFT tools, read our MFT Buyer’s Guide »
