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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

File Transfer - On the Road

Dear Readers,

Over the past year, we have covered the issue of secure file transfer from many different angles. Some strategic and others tactical. I hope you are finding the information helpful in your daily dealings be you an IT god or an end user who just need to get the job done.

I'm taking a brief break from the blog, but expect additional notes and perspectives down the road. So, I hope you still stayed tuned.

Thank you for reading the ACA Guy. Please contact us at Accellion if you have any question on file transfer.

Yours, ACA Guy

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Making Fun of Wall Street Journal Would Have Been Too Easy - the Reality of Secure File Transfer for Enterprises

Summary: The Wall Street Journal courted a wave of resentment with an article on how end users can bypass IT restrictions. While the fireworks are entertaining, the real question is, how will you address these real user needs as an enabler? Here's a secure and enterprise class solution that end users would use - what a concept!

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That scream of despair from the direction of the IT director and CIO that you heard a few days ago may have been a result of the Wall Street Journal's article by Vauhini Vara entitled Ten Things Your IT Department Won’t Tell You. The article provides ways of how end users can bypass IT restrictions and controls for various tasks such as checking personal emails and large file transfer.

Naturally, Ms Vara is getting an avalanche of angry letters from IT providers as noted by this WSJ blog. What I find particularly instructive is not so much the bad advice dispensed -- and indeed they were lousy ideas -- but how this points to the on-going tension between IT and the organizations and users that IT supports.

In this context, I would like to discuss the #1 hack/bypass in the article - transferring large files. Like the article noted, IT departments often purposely block large attachments from going through the corporate email system for reasons ranging from performance to protection from attacks.

As a workaround, Ms. Vara suggests using a consumer grade service, which are often free, like YouSendIt or SendThisFile. At the same time, she notes the risk, such as this "makes it easier for a wily hacker to intercept files..."

No wonder CIO's are breaking out in pools of cold sweat from this article!

On paper, IT has the moral high ground - these procedures are meant to protect both users and organizations from viruses, spam and increasing violations of regulations and corporate procedures. While no end users would disagree with the importance of these protections, it is also the reality that end users are looking to get their job done. Whether you call it protection or a hurdle, a successful end user will instinctively find a way around the limitation. (Even without WSJ's help.)

Fortunately, what we are seeing is a generation of IT professionals who are looking beyond the eternal struggle between IT and the consumers of IT capabilities in a zero-sum calculation. Instead, there is a recognition that IT is an integral part of business processes that, if appropriately deployed and managed, can become a competitive advantage for the entire organization.

Sending large files is a legitimate need for many of today's business processes, so instead of pointing accusing fingers at each other, the trend is to deploy a secure file transfer system that is specifically designed to transport large files in parallel like Accellion's secure file transfer solution.

For the users, the Accellion solution is easy to use and can handle 20+ gigabytes in file/folder size with a single click. It is designed with communicating with external partners in mind, which enables employees to easily trade large files with business partners and clients to get the job done.

IT administrators love the Accellion solution because it is a set-it-and-forget-it appliance. It can be installed in less than an hour and requires administrative intervention only when you want to change a configurable parameter. Accellion handles files in a secure fashion that is compliant with regulations such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley. This solution is engineered as an enterprise tool that fits seamlessly within the overall IT infrastructure.

So, while we ponder the flak that Ms. Vara is getting from the unhappy CIOs and IT Directors with some degree of fascination, the easiest solution is probably to install an Accellion secure file transfer solution so we can all get on with life.

ACA Guy

Accellion in the News


Media Coverage



Accellion Solves CRA International's Large File Transfer Issues




How One CIO Escaped E-Mail Attachment Hell




Press Releases


* Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Chooses Accellion to Safeguard Patient Data

* Accellion Extends Market Presence in Europe; With introduction of multi-language capability, companies profit from simple, fast and secure file transfer across the globe

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Five Requirements for an Enterprise Secure File Transfer Solutions

Summary: What makes a solution "enterprise class"? If you are sending files using a solution meant to send pictures to grandma, you may be asking for trouble. There are five categories of capabilities that you want to consider for business file transfers.

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Don't forget to go to the bottom to see what Accellion has been up to
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Someone asked me recently what I mean by consumer-oriented vs. enterprise solutions. In other words, what distinguishes enterprise file transfer solutions from consumer products? While the intersection between high-end consumer solutions and enterprise solutions can be hazy, there are five sets of required characteristics that I use to determine whether or not a file transfer solution is suitable for business use:

* Management and business processes
* Policy control
* Integration with other enterprise solutions
* Security and compliance
* Branding


Let’s have a look at each of these characteristics and why they are worth the added overhead in an enterprise context.

Management and business processes
The solution needs features that map to the work flow of business processes and how a business is run. Data and documents are the lifeblood of most businesses, and they need to be handled like the critical assets they are. Important enterprise features for file transfer include automated file life cycle management, audit and tracking capabilities, verification of file delivery, encryption, automated virus checking, file integrity check, and so on.

Policy control
An enterprise-level file transfer application allows configurable automated policies at several levels. For instance, at the user level, there could be several classes of users to account for external vs internal users. Similarly, at the access level, depending on the nature of the file, there could be multiple access authentication requirements. And, at the file level, there could be a number of policies dictating the duration in which a file is accessible.

Integration with other enterprise solutions
An enterprise file transfer solution should be able to work seamlessly within the overall IT infrastructure. Integrating with existing systems like email and directory services would ensure smooth business process and work flow.

The most obvious integration is with email clients such as Outlook and Lotus Notes. However, it should also integrate with directory services such as LDAP/AD to streamline administration. And, beyond these usual suspects, there should also be API/SDK capabilities to integrate with other applications. I have seen examples ranging from intranet single sign-on to integrating with finance systems for revenue recognition.

Security and compliance
These two issues are probably the most immediate concern of most businesses today. In other words, if the file transfer process doesn’t comply with mandated regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA, it shouldn’t be used. While the specifics vary by industries and business processes, typical features include encryption, virus-checking, information removal based on rules and policies (life cycle management), audit trails to see who has done what with the files, and policy management to set user privileges.

Branding
Companies invest huge amounts of budget and resources developing and marketing their “brand.” An enterprise-level file transfer solution should be configured to have a specific company’s look and feel. This could include the use of the company’s logo, specific fonts, colors, and a company-specific user guide. This is particularly important for external and guest users where putting a company’s skin or wrapper makes it feel like a well-integrated part of the business process.

In the knowledge economy of today, sending your most critical assets (digital files) via solutions meant to send pictures to grandma is playing with fire. The five feature categories above should help you quickly assess your current capabilities and, if need be, can be the basis for your search for an enterprise grade secure file transfer solution.

And, yes, in case you are wondering, Accellion's secure file transfer solution does all of the above (and more) while making it easy to use like a consumer solution. Best of the both worlds, as the saying goes.


ACA Guy


Accellion in the News


Media Coverage



Accellion Solves CRA International's Large File Transfer Issues




How One CIO Escaped E-Mail Attachment Hell




Press Releases


* Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Chooses Accellion to Safeguard Patient Data

* Accellion Extends Market Presence in Europe; With introduction of multi-language capability, companies profit from simple, fast and secure file transfer across the globe