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Retailers are Gaining Business Value with MFT

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

As retailers wait out the holiday shopping numbers, they’re continuing to enjoy lots of business value from their managed file transfer solutions. Retailers are early adopters of MFT for numerous reasons, but the top two are the need to:

• Exchange exploding volumes of information – online catalogs, product images, price quotes, invoices and so forth; and
• Comply (and prove compliance) with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

The new generation of MFT solutions meets these challenges and many more. Other benefits that retailers tell us they’re reaping include:

• Streamlined global order and fulfillment
• Improved order-to-cash and days-sales-outstanding
• Enhanced competitive sourcing capabilities
• Improved demand forecasting
• Eliminated order and invoice errors
• Reduced costs and headaches associated with PCI DSS compliance
• Met audit and governance requirements
• Reduced transaction costs
• Improved customer loyalty

Until next week,

Kyle

MFT Vendor Due Diligence is Complete. Software is Installed. What Benefits are You Reaping?

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

Last week I talked about things to consider when looking for a Managed File Transfer solution. You have done your due diligence. You’ve chosen your vendor based on your business requirements. And all went swimmingly with implementation.

So, now you have a single solution, and it’s integrated with your internal systems and with all of your trading partners. You can send files of any type via any protocol from one centralized place.

Your data is secure. Whether or not the files you send contain sensitive data, they can be secured using whatever protocols your suppliers, customers or other business partners require. You can also prove they were secure when they were sent using industry and regulatory compliance standards in audit logging. In addition to secure protocols, your data is also secured by other means as it travels around your enterprise using best practices technologies on the back-end.

Though your data is safe, you can still do business quickly and easily; more quickly and with less effort than ever before. You have protected your data, and you have used the centralized console to administer a fine level of detail regarding who can and should access the sensitive data.

You have reduced your administrative costs in several ways, including: reducing the number of point solutions being supported and administered; removing script processes and disparate end point clients; and (perhaps best of all) you’re pushing business partner administration out to the business partner! Your business processes are now poised to react based on whatever turn the market takes.

You can now scale on demand -- hopefully UP!


Until next week,

Kyle
 

Not All MFT Solutions Are Created Equal

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

There are, of course, a number of standouts in the new generation of managed file transfer (MFT) solutions. But there are also a number that may not meet the file transfer needs of organizations that require secure, reliable and integrated communication gateways.

Some of the things you should consider when vetting prospective MFT providers about an enterprise-class MFT are:

• The MFT must be pervasive.  Ask providers what platforms they support (Hardware, OS, DB, etc); ask what protocols they support; what encryption algorithms, etc.
• Partner management can be difficult and time consuming.  Understand the vendor’s capabilities around the set-up and maintenance of trading partners, customers, suppliers and other business partners.  If you trade with numerous partners, consider a solution that allows them to manage themselves; taking the administrative burden off of your organization.
• A key component of MFT is centrality.  Integration of a single solution to all of your back-end office systems and with your strategic partners is critical.  Make sure you understand the provider’s integration capabilities.  Are they web interface enabled?  Do they require separate client applications at each end point, or can they integrate to existing applications?
• There are several considerations where sensitive data is being moved . . .
  • In addition to the supported secure protocols and encryption methods, what other security features does the solution offer?  This can be related to user authentication and authorization; as well as to the back-end protocols once the files have made it inside your enterprise.  Consider every angle of security and ask the vendor how they address each concern.
  • Proving compliance is a necessity.  Dig into the provider’s reporting, alerting and notification capabilities.  Make sure the solution meets requirements for compliance audits and risk management.
• Speaking of reporting, make sure you have visibility to vital transaction information as it happens.  This can be delivered via a management console or dashboard.
• Some solutions, such as secure e-mail, have file size limitations.  It is important to understand how these file size limitations can affect your ability to do business. 

To help enterprises analyze the solutions that are currently available, nuBridges offers a white paper that explores the key best practices that define enterprise-class MFT solutions.

Download your free copy of “Best Practices in Enterprise File Transfer.” Once you read the white paper, we’d really like to hear from you! We’ll respond to your comments in our next blog.

Until next week,

Kyle
 

 

Annual Atlanta ISSA Conference Update

First International ISSA Conference to be Held in Atlanta in 2010

Gary Palgon
Vice President, Product Management
nuBridges

The Metro Atlanta ISSA hosted its 5th annual information security conference on Veteran’s Day, November 11th, with the theme of "Magnify Your Security." It was great to see they took time out in the opening session to recognize the dozen or so Veterans among the attendees. Thanks to all of you have served and do serve our country!

It was formally announced that Atlanta will host the first international ISSA conference on September 15-17, 2010. This is great news for the ISSA community as well as for Atlanta, which has historically been the home for many security startups -- Internet Security Systems (now IBM ISS); SPIDynamics (now HP), PureWire (now Barracuda Networks), CipherTrust (now SecureComputing) and many more.

Also of interest at the annual Atlanta ISSA meeting was a presentation by Kevin Campbell of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, covering PWC’s Global State of Information Security Survey.  Lots of great and timely information about spending and security breaches.  Kevin summarized the executives’ views in the coming year as focused on looking at and placing their highest expectations on initiatives that:

• Protect data
• Address the big risks first
• Pull this portfolio of multi-year investments together (strategy)
• Reduce cost and increase efficiency
• Prepare for a wave of new regulations (e.g. State Breach Notification Laws)

To the last point, he noted that because of the effect of the economic downturn, regulations are on the rise – led perhaps by a new wave of privacy laws.

Until next time,
Gary

 

Enterprises Work Smarter, Faster with New Generation of MFT

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

In my blog last week, I promised that I’d share some specific, real-world examples of how enterprises are benefitting from the new generation of Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions. And I will. But first I want to share some insights we’ve gained from speaking with a number of organizations recently.

We’ve learned that MFT solutions are significantly improving and streamlining the way these enterprises are exchanging critical information inside and outside their organization.  Several enterprises noted that they’re now able to more quickly and “intelligently” respond to business events and market conditions, helping them make smarter, faster decisions. We’ve also learned that top line and bottom line results are being positively impacted by improved order-to-fulfillment processes; reduced charge-backs and returns; and improved invoice-to-cash cycles.

As promised, here are a few real-world examples that illustrate how these benefits translate into business value:

• A regional hospital system is improving revenue cycle management by eliminating billing errors, creating clean claims and streamlining billing operations across its network.
• A multi-national pharmaceutical company is sharing clinical studies to speed up the FDA-approval process, providing faster product-to-market cycles and generating revenue faster.
• With its MFT solution, a large fulfillment operation is reducing inventory discrepancies, reducing costs associated with picking errors, improving invoice payment cycles and ensuring optimal distribution of manufactured products.
• A global computer retailer is driving efficiency in its customer order-to-fulfillment processes by effectively responding to bottlenecks through notifications that drive action and inform customers about order delays. In this case, a best-in-class MFT solution is helping the retailer drive more efficiency through real-time measuring and monitoring activities.
• One of the world’s largest retailers is exchanging purchase orders, invoices and other business-critical documents with more than 15,000 global suppliers to reduce the order-to-cash cycle.

Care to share how MFT helped your bottom line? We’d love to hear from you.

Until next week,

Kyle

PS... To help enterprises analyze the solutions that are currently available, nuBridges presents a discussion of the key best practices that define enterprise-class Managed File Transfer solutions.  Request a copy of the White Paper, "Best Practices in Managed File Transfer Solutions" today. 

Savvy Enterprises See MFT as a Strategic Requirement

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

We’re seeing Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions being embraced by savvy global enterprises that recognize the business value of investing in what is increasingly being viewed as an infrastructure requirement. Today’s extended enterprise needs to share information internally across departments, divisions and acquisitions. It also needs to share information externally with customers, suppliers, business partners and with online collaborative communities.

These enterprises are telling us that the new generation of MFT solutions is providing numerous benefits on both sides of the business partner equation – supply and demand. For example, MFT is providing them with an opportunity to speed business cycles, improve responsiveness to market conditions and remove barriers to doing business electronically on a global scale.

Let’s look at some specific benefits:

• Real-time business partner collaboration and business application integration
• System-to-system and person-to-person file transfers
• Visibility into all file transfers
• Integration of critical back-end business applications with file transfers
• Best practices in governance, risk management and compliance
• Real-time issue/problem detection, resulting in speedy resolutions and avoidance of supply chain disruptions
• Timely decision making, reporting and analytics

We’d really like to hear about the benefits your enterprise is reaping from MFT.

You’ll want to read next week’s nuBlog, where we’ll tell you about several real-world examples of how extended enterprises are translating these benefits into bottom-line business results.

Until next week,

Kyle

More about Why Enterprises are Investing in a New Generation of Managed File Transfer

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

We received a number of emails in response to last week’s blog. Thanks to all of you who responded. Having said that, we’d really like you to use the comment feature of nuBlog, so all of our readers can share in your insights!

Your emails pointed out several other challenges that you’re facing with current file transfer solutions. Challenges that you’re asking the MFT vendors you’re considering to address. Let’s take a look at these:

“We’re looking for a strategic partner; a partner that can bring new functionality to the MFT solution as we grow. In fact, as we research vendors, we see the strategic partnership relationship every bit as important as the software itself.”

“Managing our trading community is a headache. Is there an MFT solution that could help us push partner provisioning out to the community?”

“The IT folks that handle our company’s file transfers have been turned into de facto shipping and receiving clerks, spending lots of time each day manually processing files for delivery. Constantly checking on file deliveries. Help!”

Thanks for your emails. Next week we’ll move away from the challenges and discuss how best-in-class MFT solutions can solve your file transfer headaches.

Until next week,

Kyle

Why are enterprises investing in a new generation of managed file transfer?

Kyle Parris
Director of Product Management
nuBridges

The answers to this question can be as varied as the global enterprises that are investing in managed file transfer (MFT) solutions.  But what we’ve found over the last six months in researching the market and speaking with dozens of global enterprises that are planning to replace a jumble of file transfer solutions with MFT, is that the answers can be grouped into three broad categories:

√   “We’ve outgrown our current solution(s).” In asking for specific examples, we found a number of trends:

• We are starting to move too many files, or files are becoming too large to transfer quickly, reliably and securely
• As our business expands, we need to collaborate with more business partners; each requesting a different protocol, or encryption method
• Our current solution doesn’t track or monitor file movements, so it doesn’t help at audit time
• We need scheduled, event-triggered and ad hoc file transfer capabilities that our point solution just doesn’t offer
• We have multiple platforms, but our current solution only supports <enter your favorite platform here>
• We need to integrate ERP applications into our file transfer solution, but our current solution doesn’t handle this

√  “The costs of managing and supporting multiple file transfer applications are staggering.”  Common themes were that enterprises are incurring major costs due to:

• Keeping the administrative and support teams trained on multiple solutions
• Lack of economies of scale in licensing and maintenance costs
• File transfer workflow inefficiencies resulting in wasted time, expense and errors associated with manual file transfers

√ “The risks associated with lack of control over file transfers keeps me up at night.” What we learned is that enterprises are equally concerned about data breaches, non-compliance with applicable regulations and laws and loss of critical business documents.

All three seem to be top of mind with the folks we’ve been talking with recently.

How about you? Are you considering a move to the new generation in managed file transfer? If so, please let our readers know what’s driving your decision making.

Until next week,

Kyle