Managed File Transfer and Improving Regulatory Compliance

Learn how MFT software was used in the healthcare sector for transferring huge amounts of data on a daily basis while maintaining security & compliance.

In today’s modern, distributed enterprise secure managed file transfer services are fundamental to collaboration and business workflow. As long as remote work and efficiency remain a top business priority, managed file transfer solutions will continue to thrive, whether the workflow is person to person, person to server, server to person, or server to server.

The act of file sharing certainly isn’t anything new. We’ve been digitally sharing files since the floppy disk was invented in 1967. What is new about file sharing is the way we go about it and the rate in which files are shared. From its inception, FTP has made moving large volumes of bulk data between any two entities — including file servers, applications, and trading partners — possible. However, FTP (and other communication protocols such as HTTP and SMTP) do not inherently provide a way to secure or manage the payload or the transmission. Yet, regardless of the lack of security or management capabilities, many companies have continued to transport large batches of structured and unstructured data with these protocols.

This practice is changing, however. According to Gartner, "Organizations often use MFT solutions to replace FTP. This is due to increased focus on compliance, privacy regulations and corporate transparency — which demand increased auditing, management, security and process."

Managed file transfer (MFT) solutions have surprisingly demonstrated great traction within the enterprise, despite the commoditization of many other file transfer mechanisms MFT tools can be deployed as both on-premises licensed software packages and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to enable users to have end-to-end visibility and control, reporting, logs and other audit trails, and data protection through encryption.

Companies that require transferring huge amounts of data on a daily basis maintaining security and compliance serve best with MFT software. Typically, industries like banking and financial services, insurance, retail, healthcare, and manufacturing use MFT tools heavily.

In the healthcare arena for example, Progress MOVEit provided centralized visibility and control for Rochester General hospital’s IT staff who work behind the scenes to set up connections with payer organizations and manage the transfers. “We needed to consolidate on a standard way to transfer files to many different payer systems, and MOVEit has been a great resource for us,” says Dylan Taft, Systems Engineer at Rochester General Hospital.

Safeguarding patient privacy is always a priority at Rochester General, and another benefit of MOVEit is the ability to transfer patient information securely—and be able to prove it. MOVEit complies with HIPAA and HITECH regulations for secure transfer of confidential patient information and preserves a complete audit trail of all file transfer activity in its database. “Without MOVEit, we wouldn’t have that visibility. MOVEit is the tool that provides it for us," said Dylan.

According to Global Market Insights inc, the healthcare segment in the managed file transfer market is anticipated to grow at more than 16% CAGR through 2026. Organizations operating in the healthcare sector are deploying managed file transfer solutions to share and manage critical data such as patient's medical history and medical device readings. They also help in maintaining regulatory compliance for the healthcare industry including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

If your managed file transfer solution doesn’t support advanced security, governance, and visibility, it’s time for an upgrade. Only a truly secure managed file transfer solution lets you accelerate your business and protect your organization in this new world of work.