www.wipro.com NEXTGENFILE TRANSFER SOLUTION: AN INSIGHT INTO MFTaaS Neeraja Adusupalli Practice manager, Enterprise Business Integration
Table of Contents 01 NextGen File Transfer Solution: MFTaaS insight 02 Abstract 02 Introduction 02 Top 5 File transfer challenges for enterprises 03 Market drivers for MFT 03 MFT products and its features 04 MFT Scenarios 05 Managed File Transfer as a Service (MFTaaS) Revolution: Driving business value 07 Business benefits 09 Conclusion 10 About the Author
Abstract We see the world around us is changing due to Globalization,Digitization, Virtualization, Mobilization and Consumerization.This, in effect, is churning out mountains of business datawhich needs to be moved both within and outside enterprises. It has become imperative for IT organizations to have file transfer systems in place to move data between various business processes so as to align with the business and its changing needs. There is a need for enterprises to move to scalable, reliable, secure file transfer solutions to effectively handle varied types of files which are large in size, have high volumes and rapid velocity. There is also a pressure from the other side to reduce cost and have more visibility to control business. Managed File Transfer-as-a-Service (MFTaaS) is the mature form of file transfer solutions which can take care of tomorrow s business needs today! Introduction All enterprises have to exchange files between systems and humans to integrate applications and incorporate workflows. This applies to data exchange with business partners as well. Traditional file exchange methods were physical media, e-mails and File Transfer Protocol (FTP). But these methods have their limitations.e-mail attachments are limited by the file size and storage capacity. As mail servers are not designed to handle very large files,they cannot guarantee reliable delivery on time. FTP, on the other hand, is a manual process. It does not provide the required security to safeguard any leakage. Files have to be manually deleted after transmission to maintain confidentiality as the long forgotten files are vulnerable to breach. Despite these limitations, FTP s usage grew due to lack of alternatives. Meanwhile, organizations began to feel the need for automation. Slowly, the home grown scripts started automating FTP. This mechanism, however, did not cope with the complexity arising fromhuge volumes of data. The fragmented FTP script modules added burden to the IT maintenance costs across enterprises and needed skills that might have become obsolete. Today,FTP is no longer seen as a viable option to manage file transfers securely.managed File Transfer (MFT) has stepped in to fill that role and is seeing rapid adoption across industries. We see enterprises embrace MFT to achieve business agility and competitive edge. Top 5 File transfer challenges for enterprises Inability to securely and reliably transfer business critical files Inability to transfer large structured and unstructured files Lack of visibility and control into the file transfer Managing heterogeneous file transfer applications of partners and customers High maintenance cost due to a complex network of home grown file transfer systems 2
Market Drivers for MFT High information leaks Increased awareness of FTP risk New financial reporting requirements and increased scrutiny by external auditors Stronger governance, administration and security Need for increasing business agility Need to reduce rising costs of data exchange between business partners Features that help Features of MFT products help in file transfers while monitoring and administering theassociated file transfer processes.(see Figure 1: Mind Map) File transfer automation Anti-virus package Open standard On-demand transfer LDAP/AD integration Backend Integration LDAP/AD integration Workflow automation Nice-to-have Must-Have Data encryption Data security Communication protocol Content based routing Remote administration Checkpoint restart Trading partner setup automation Data transformation File Broadcast Partner profile management Non-repudiation Data Loss Prevention Data compression Audit Visibility, Monitoring & Alerts Application programming interface Must-Have Mobile capabilities File transfer Analytics Figure 1 : Mind Map 3
MFT Scenarios MFT is a candidate for all the three types of integration - A2A, B2B and Cloud-based integration, as seen in Figure 2 On-premises to Cloud integration Interval A2A MFT External B2B Person Person Process Scheduled /Event driven On-demand Process Figure 2 : MFT Scenarios A2A Organizations have built applications on disparate platforms over time to cater to the needs of their business units. These applications are integrated using enterprise service bus (ESB) to effectively interact and communicate. However, ESB has its limitations when applications and services need to exchange a large amount of data. B2B - B2B integration has become more complex with increase in the volumes of transactions, and diversity of trading partners.when the business partners, customers, vendors, suppliers,banks, distributors,third-party logistics (3PL) providers, financial institutions and regulatory agencies involved usedisparatesystems,mft provides a secure and reliable means of communication between them, using standard protocols and document formats. On-premise to cloud: Organizations are moving to Cloud to reduce their operating costs and time-to-market. However, they tend to continue business critical applications onpremise to maintain their control. This hybrid Cloud model calls for MFT to integrate their enterprise applications with Cloud. There are four common types of file transferuse casesthat businesses encounter: USE CASES Who is the initiator? Human-to-human/ Person to-person/ User-to-User transfer Machine-to-machine/ Process-to-Process/ System-to-System/ transfers When is it triggered? Definitions An individual sender transfer files to one or more receivers File transfer is initiated by one system and received by another system without human intervention On-demand/ Ad hoc file transfers File transfers are initiated on demand. These are ad-hoc and are not scheduled Sales bid, proposals system logs, legal documents, Marketing content Unscheduled back up ad-hoc batch transfers Scheduled /event- driven file transfers These are initiated at specific time as per by schedule or triggered by an event occurrence Development and delivery of multilocationdistributed projects. Coordination of customer support across locations PO, invoices, payroll, scheduled back up, inventory information, catalogue pricing details 4
Managed File Transfer as a Service (MFTaaS): Driving business value HIGH Transaction volume B2B/MFT ManagedServices On-premises B2B/MFT B2B/MFTaaS (Cloud + Managed Services) B2B/MFT on cloud LOW HIGH Figure 3 : MFT Models As seen in Figure3, businesses move to Cloud to reduce complexity in managing a number of trading partners. To manage and maintain high volumes of transactions,organizations outsource their B2B applications and adopt a managed services model. To handle large volumes of data and increasing business partners across geos,mftaas is the preferred choice. This comprehensive Cloud-based managed service offering helps organizations use MFT solutions in a SaaS-based model, and are charged typically using a transaction-based pricing model. This creates a new value proposition for customers in terms of complete outsourcing of their file transfer needs. This allows them to focus on their core business while they pay per transfer and really not worry about CapEx. This model helps to create baseline metrics and track trends and anomalies. ENTERPRISE TRADING PARTNER Users On Premise MFT infrastructure METADATA Internal Transfers B2B/External Tranfers MFT Server (Cloud) External Users Any mobile device Business apps External systems Figure 4 : MFT Model 5
All internal file transfers are managed by an internal MFT server as against Cloud MFT, which doesn t require files to pass through a firewall and external network before it is received back(as seen in Figure 4). This keeps the latency low. However, metadata about the transfer are passed to the Cloud MFT, which keeps track of every transaction, thereby enabling monitoring and reporting. A comprehensive dashboard helps view overall health of the system and application components.thus, Cloud MFT has more controland can manage the complete enterprise s file transfers. E2E integration is also possible as these connect to business applications and systems. Figure 5shows some of the salient features of MFTaaS: Financial Security Technological Operational CapEx to OpEx Data protection Dynamic platform scaling Policy based governance Pay-as-you-go pricing Network protection Rapid elasticity SLA compliance Local-to-local billing Certificate management Administration, Monitor SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Role based authentication and control model Audit file transfers 24x7 Global support Pre-/post processing 6
Business benefits 1. Improves time-to-market by a Decreasing the time to bring onboard new connections, partner and customers 3. Decreases total cost of ownership by b Rapidly augment the new file transfer functionality/services with ready or near-ready MFT solutions a Consolidating transfer applications and programs which are scattered across various departments of IT to eliminate redundancy and incorporate standardization b Slashing maintenance cost of FTP scripts, home grown programs by switching to MFT c Knock off high cost of implementing new interfaces d Reduce efforts and delay in troubleshooting and recovering a file in spaghetti system 2. Increases customer satisfaction by e Centrally manage, monitor and control a Meeting the SLAs b Providing visibility, self-services portals and healing features 4. Decreases risk by c Reliable transfer of files with non-repudiation features a Increasing securitythrough adoption of encryption techniques both in motion and at rest. Not storing any data in unsecure zones 7
Although these are some aspects that ensure constant alignment with business goal and objectives, let us see few more compelling factors thatmake MFT an element of strategic decision rather than a tactical one. 1. Regulatory and compliance mandates: Meets standards dictated by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX), Heath Insurance portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). These mandates call for every process to be documented, auditable, and accountable, including file transfers. This is fueling the market growth. 3. Auditing: Supports tracking the file transfer who can send, who has received, when it wassent,and whenit was received possible due to storage of metadata. Real-time system and traffic monitoring help administrators investigate transaction flows and MFT-server performance which is essential for successful MFT management strategy. 2. Very Large file size: Large file transfer to partner - up to 1TB/50 GB (large files like design drawing,bank transactions across branches / geo, CAD/CAM 4. Brand protection: Data leakage prevention (DLP) and Denial of Services (DoS) functionality to tab legitimate access and availability of critical data.to protect privacy of partner and customer information. Granting file access only to approved and authenticated parties, and preventing the kind of attacks and breaches that can result in dangerous situations, legal challenges, and compliance penalties. 8
Conclusion An MFT solution provides a secure and reliable file transfer system. It helps customers integrate a variety of large and complex systems with reduced efforts and complexity. It can cater to the demand for all types of filesand facilitatesystem-system, system-human and human-human file transfers. The ease of handling huge volumes of data with excellent traceability, customized building and billingis an added advantage. It gives the enterprise capability to control, monitor and audit the file transfersin a consolidated platform. Large organizations using this solution can see perceptible improvement in Business performance and Trading Partner satisfactions. MFTaaS gains ground as it provides deployment flexibility, efficiency and elasticity. MFTaaS will soon be the mainstream architecture, driving businesses for a paradigm shift. 9
About the Author: Neeraja Adusupalli Practice manager, Enterprise Business Integration Neeraja Adusupalli has 15+years of IT experience mostly in integration area, and is TOGAF 9 (The Open Group Architecture Framework)and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) certified along with PMP (Project Management Professional)which enables her to do program management of integration projects. She has handled multi program global delivery and customer satisfaction. She has good experience in acquiring and nurturing talent. She has clear understanding of processes followed in development, maintenance and support. She believes collaboration is crux of excellence. About Wipro Ltd. Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT) is a leading Information Technology, Consulting and Business Process Services company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology" - helping clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, a practitioner's approach to delivering innovation, and an organization wide commitment to sustainability, Wipro has a workforce of over 150,000, serving clients in 175+ cities across 6 continents For more information, please visit www.wipro.com 10
DO BUSINESS BETTER CONSULTING SYSTEM INTEGRATION BUSINESS PROCESS SERVICES WIPRO LIMITED, DODDAKANNELLI, SARJAPUR ROAD, BANGALORE - 560 035, INDIA. TEL : +91 (80) 2844 0011, FAX : +91 (80) 2844 0256, Email: info@wipro.com North America Canada Brazil Mexico Argentina United Kingdom Germany France Switzerland Nordic Region Poland Austria Benelux Portugal Romania Africa Middle East India China Japan Philippines Singapore Malaysia South Korea Australia New Zealand WIPRO LTD. 2015 No part of this booklet may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording and printing) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for reading and browsing via the world wide web. Users are not permitted to mount this booklet on any network server. IND/BRD/MAR 2015-MAY 2016