As businesses continue to grow and acquire new technologies and partners, the number of endpoints being used to receive, store and deliver files is growing rapidly.
Two endpoints that companies in every industry regularly use to share information are SFTP/FTPS servers and Amazon S3 cloud storage. As companies strive to connect applications and processes, IT teams often get stuck when they need to easily automate file transfers between servers and Amazon S3 locations. This connectivity requirement is difficult because many IT teams are still using point-to-point integration methods to connect endpoints (like creating custom scripts).
You can efficiently automate file transfers between SFTP/FTPS and Amazon S3 using with our cloud-native managed file transfer platform. Thru is an enterprise-grade solution that enables enterprises to schedule, track and control file exchanges across any number of endpoints with both internal and external organizations. Organizations can connect Thru to file transfer integration platforms such as MuleSoft and Boomi to quickly plug in file workflows to various applications and systems.
Follow the 4 steps below to automate file transfers from SFTP/FTP to S3 with Thru.
- Create a File Exchange Workflow
- Participants Subscribe to Workflow
- Configure Endpoints and File Transfer Schedule
- View File Activity in a Single Dashboard
Step 1 – Create a File Exchange Workflow
The foundation of all file exchanges in Thru is based on file exchange workflows called “flows” that determine the behavior of file transfers between organizations.
There are 6 types of flows that companies can choose from (e.g. many-to-one, one-to-many and broadcast). For example, a one-to-many flow enables a company to push files from a single source endpoint to multiple target endpoints. Flows can be labeled so that you can distinguish between different business processes. For example, one might be named “Send Inventory Data to Wholesalers.”
Step 2 – Participants Subscribe to Workflow
After a flow is created and a source organization is defined, participants can subscribe to the flow to set up their endpoints.
The source organization and the targets subscribe to the flow to start exchanging files with each other. The enterprise can let participants self-subscribe or add them to the flow manually.
Step 3 – Configure Endpoints and File Transfer Schedule
After all participants have subscribed to a flow, they can set up the endpoints they want to use in a few clicks. They also each set a schedule for how frequently they want to push or pull files from Thru. Each subscribing organization can edit endpoints at any time without breaking other file transfer processes.
If an enterprise has set up a flow to push files from SFTP to Amazon S3, the source participant (highlighted below in red) would select the “SFTP server” as its source endpoint and the target participant would select “Amazon S3” (highlighted below in blue) as its target endpoint.
As companies configure their endpoints, they choose a schedule to send/receive files hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.
Below is what a completed Thru flow looks like with endpoints configured. In this example, a participant has configured multiple endpoints (including SFTP & Amazon S3) to send and receive files from an enterprise’s “Orders” flow. In this case, the enterprise has set up a “Private Exchange” flow and has integrated it with its MuleSoft and SAP systems.
Step 4 – View File Activity in a Single Dashboard
After companies start sending files, all flow participants can view file activity in a single dashboard. Participants can view file transfers across their subscribed flows to analyze several details including transfer status, file names and endpoint names.
Speak with an MFT expert to learn how we can help with your file transfer needs.
[Note: This blog was originally posted on Aug 23, 2017, and was recently updated to demonstrate the latest Thru features]
