February 11, 2016

    Why Bad File Transfer Processes Kill Productivity

    For people like lawyers or professionals in general, file transfer has become an important part of daily life. No longer do you have to print out a hard copy of a document and fax or hand deliver it to its intended recipient in hopes that they actually see it among the reams of other items they have to go through that day - the file can be at its destination in seconds. However, not all file transfer services are created equally and some of the traditional or "older" ways of transferring files can negatively affect productivity in a host of different ways.


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    How Bad File Transfer Processes Kill Business Productivity

     

    The Problem With the "Old" Ways

    One of the many problems with the more traditional ways of sharing files is that they were never really designed with the huge volumes of data that business professionals now need access to in mind. Sending a file via e-mail, for example, is great when you're talking about a document that is just a megabyte or two in size. With high-speed Internet connections, that file can be uploaded and sent off in seconds.

    As you start to talk about multiple files or even single files with large file sizes, however, the situation changes dramatically. You can't just send a file - you need to wait for that file to be uploaded to your e-mail server or provider, which can take a great deal of time depending on things like Internet speed and bandwidth restrictions. If that file exceeds the limit of your email provider, you then either need to invest time in finding an alternate method or split it up into multiple chunks - all of which only adds time to a solution that was supposed to make things faster and easier. On top of all of this, you also have to deal with issues like human error - if someone sends the wrong file, they have to start the process all over again. If they send the file to the wrong person, you could be looking at privacy-related issues that you would do well to avoid.

    Not only is file size an issue, but email is inherently not secure. It may be possible to intercept email. At the very least, anyone in charge of administering the sending email server and the receiving email server have access to a copy of the message. So, email messages can never be considered private between the two parties actually reading the email and its attachments.

     

    Secure FTP as an alternative to Email

    Luckily, there is a better way to transfer all of the files you need without negatively affecting productivity at the same time. Service providers like FTP Today exist to dramatically simplify the file transfer process by uploading files of any size to a secure location instantly. One person uploads a particular document to a secure FTP server; the other person downloads it. Unlike with email, no other copies of the file exist simply to facilitate the process of file sharing. Multiple people could also download the same file -- if they are supposed to have permission -- while it only needs to be uploaded or “sent” once.

    With secure FTP, file transfer isn't just fast - it is literally instantaneous thanks to the benefits that FTP provides. Your productivity concerns are officially a thing of the past.

     

    How can you choose the best FTP hosting service for your business?

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    Need a New a File Sharing Solution?

    Download our free Comparison Guide to see which SFTP file sharing solution is right for you.

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    Martin Horan

    Martin, Sharetru's Founder, brings deep expertise in secure file transfer and IT, driving market niche success through quality IT services.

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