Site iconAxway Blog

Comparing AWS Transfer Family and Axway MFT

  • Jose Villanueva and Jamie Berkoff

    • The landscape of managed file transfer (MFT) services is evolving rapidly with the growing adoption of cloud solutions. AWS Transfer Family and Axway MFT are prominent solutions in this space.

    Axway maintains a close strategic technology alliance with AWS for our managed cloud services, and we run hundreds of customer gateway implementations in AWS. Axway is also an AWS Advanced Technology Partner, one of seven partners globally (out of a 100,000-partner ecosystem) with dual competency in healthcare and life sciences, in addition to offering our solutions and services in the AWS Marketplace.

    But as happens with many larger companies in the enterprise software market, we’re sometimes perceived as competitors in the file transfer space. We’ve had customers wonder why they wouldn’t just use AWS file transfer capabilities for file transfer, given that AWS already stores their data in the cloud. Axway MFT and AWS Transfer Family are not directly comparable, though, as they both cover different scopes.

    In short: AWS Transfer Family has a very tactical, developer-focused purpose, but doesn’t address more comprehensive needs of enterprise-level file transfer operations. Here’s why Axway MFT offers robust features that meet the most demanding requirements of modern organizations.

    AWS Transfer Family: a closer look

     

    What’s included

    Benefits

    Strengths

    Weaknesses

    Axway Managed File Transfer: a closer look

     

    What’s included

    Benefits

    Strengths

     

     

    Weaknesses

    Let’s build it anyway; what’s missing?

    Let’s say you want to custom-build your MFT using the underlying AWS services. What would it take to replicate just the basics?

     

     

    With AWS Transfer Family, you are provided with a fully managed protocol server and connectors to exchange files with your MFT ecosystem.

    1. Authentication: If you need password authentication, you must build it using an API gateway, Lambda code, and a combination of AWS Secrets Manager, EKS, or a Database. You can use local AWS Transfer Family authentication if you need Key-based authentication (SSH Key). Suppose you need both password and key-based authentication. In that case, your authentication is now scattered across the AWS Transfer Family service and EKS/Secrets Manager, and you’ll need Lambda code, API Gateway and DB to piece it together.
    2. Authorization: You must prevent users from accessing other user directories. The directories and permissions must be housed in a DB schema you define and maintain.
    3. Storage: AWS S3 or EFS can be used for storage. Both have pros and cons, which we won’t cover here. The main thing to consider is data residency and privacy between various lines of business. This might require you to mount many storage systems, which can make authorization even more complex.
    4. File Processing Execution: AWS Transfer Family provides copy, tag, delete and calling custom lambda code as part of post-upload workflow steps. Clearly there is plenty missing and using this workflow component prevents other types of use cases, like trigger-based routing. Instead, you’ll need to employ another AWS service like EventBridge to kick off the file processing.
    5. File Evaluation: To route and process files according to business requirements, you’ll need to call a sequence of Lambda code services. This means developing custom code to handle processing like PGP, compression, decompression, renaming, encoding, and several more. Coding these processing steps to be dynamic and reusable requires advanced coding and maintenance.
    6. File Orchestration: You coded all the reusable processing steps and placed them in Lambda services. Now, you need to figure out how to define the sequence of those steps. In our study, you’ll need a DB service and careful designing of 20 to 30 tables at minimum. You’ll also need to build an interface with rules to manage the table entries – we won’t cover that here as that is extensive.
    7. File Processing: Once a processing sequence has been identified, you’ll need to call the various step functions using a custom-defined state machine that calls lambda code services in order. This state machine must have extensive fault logic to process the file according to successful or failed steps.
    8. File Delivery: To deliver the file you have various options. You can call the AWS Transfer Family connectors to push a file to an endpoint via AS2 or SFTP. If another protocol is needed, you’ll need to use a custom lambda code service to take care of this step.

    You’ve now built an MFT solution that addresses the basics. You’ve invested much more and ended up with much less. The truth is that you’re still missing critical components.

    See also: the case for not building home-grown MFT

    Additional considerations to evaluate a file transfer solution

    Runtime

    Performance and scalability

    Availability

    Deployment

    Architecture

    Administration

    Interfaces

    Delegation

    Restful APIs

    Shared-service

    Maintenance

    Access

    Authentication & authorization

    Credentials, certificates, and keys

    End-user policies

    Role-based access controls

    Use case coverage

    File transfer patterns

    File orchestration

    Protocols

    Visibility, reporting, and monitoring

    See also: Empower business stakeholders to dissect & resolve file transfer failure with Axway Sentinel

    Support

    Vendor support

    Roadmap

    Track record

    Questions to answer

    How will you manage the extensive setup and ongoing maintenance required for AWS File Transfer Family services? Are you prepared to allocate resources for continuous development, testing, and deployment to meet evolving file transfer needs?

    What is your strategy for ensuring high availability and zero downtime across all components in your MFT solution? Can you guarantee availability of service while upgrading/patching/modifying the underlying AWS services (DBs/Lambda/etc.)?

    How will you handle the integration of various AWS services to match the basic MFT capabilities?

    Are you ready to invest in custom development for essential functions like PGP encryption, encoding, line padding, character replacement, file renaming, and compression and others?

    What are the potential hidden costs associated with using multiple AWS services for your file transfer needs?

    Have you considered the long-term financial impact of runtime, volume and serverless services costs, especially in a multi-environment setup? What is your plan if AWS increases pricing across the various services?

    How will you provide a centralized management interface for all file transfer configurations?

    Can you ensure a user-friendly, no-code configuration experience for business users and administrators? What is your plan for achieving comprehensive visibility, reporting, and monitoring of file transfers for business users, admins, auditors, support/helpdesk, and others? 

    Choosing between AWS Transfer Family vs. Axway MFT

    As mentioned above, we are proud of our ongoing strategic technology partnership with AWS for cloud services. But when it comes to file transfer solutions, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. AWS Transfer Family provides a cost-effective, easy-to-start solution for basic file transfers within the AWS ecosystem, but it falls short in addressing the comprehensive needs of enterprise-level file transfer operations.

    With its extensive protocol support, no-code orchestration, centralized management, and robust security features, Axway MFT remains the superior choice for organizations seeking a scalable, maintainable, and secure file transfer solution.

    For businesses looking to streamline their file transfer processes and ensure seamless integration with diverse partner ecosystems, Axway MFT offers a compelling, enterprise-grade solution that meets the most demanding requirements.

    Learn more about how Axway Managed File Transfer powers mission-critical business on the ground and in the cloud.

    Click Here
    Exit mobile version