Now files are Stored as objects. Really? Extend your MFT

Since the inception of the FTP server, files have lived on file systems that the file transfer server could directly mount. Somewhere along the line as organizations started to deploy networks, file servers were added to the mix.

These remote file systems were still mounted and used just like local file systems in the past. The file transfer server did not even have to understand whether the file was on a local or remote file system, it was mounted storage, period.

Over the years, IT architectures are going through dramatic changes to adapt to the continuous transformation of business. IT should provide a better way to organize files so they could be quickly located and retrieved when businesses need a file.

This gave birth to the enterprise content management category of file repositories. Meanwhile, external to the organization the cloud revolution was taking place.

Cloud has brought several fresh ways to consume various IT-related resources. Cloud storage that is mounted by cloud computing delivers analogs to local and network storage within traditional data centers.

However, a newer type of storage has emerged as an important cloud resource. This type of storage referred to an object or blob storage and access to the storage is done through an API front end. The use of cloud object storage has exploded with many new applications finding innovative ways to utilize this low-cost Internet storage.

So, how has this impacted Managed File Transfer? This ever-growing mix of storage technologies has become sources and destinations for file transfer in the enterprise. Data that has been stored and organized on MS SharePoint needs to be moved outside the organization to a partner or customer.

Files that a partner has dropped off at as cloud storage object need to be picked up and delivered to an enterprise application that will process it.

Having the ability to connect and route files to and from these storage systems with your MFT system will continue to grow in importance. Having native connection capabilities within your MFT Gateway reduces the complexity involved with setup and maintenance of implementing this with intermediate loaders.