Dublin, Ohio, Jan. 8, 2008 — Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) subsidiary, today announced the results of a Hilty Moore & Associates study focused on the usage and requirements of the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The survey report revealed that file-transfer use continues to increase with 64 percent of all companies performing more file transfers this year compared with last. Yet, across all industries, respondents also overwhelmingly (93 percent) experienced delivery stoppages or incomplete transmissions with FTP as much as 20 percent of the time. The survey further revealed through verbatim comments that respondents are interested in investigating other options for their future file transfers.
More than 100 companies responded to the survey, spanning industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and governmental business sectors. The responses were consistent among industries. The survey revealed that 84 percent of respondents have either the same or an increased level of concern about the security and reliability of the file transfers this year compared with 2006.
"This survey revealed that while companies continue to depend on FTP for their file-transfer needs, they have concerns about security, reliability and how they are going to meet tougher service-level agreements,” said William McKinney, global product marketing director for Sterling Commerce, “which affects their bottom line. We agree with the recognition that unmanaged FTP is a problem and understand their desire to seek a more reliable, secure solution.”
Many companies try to address their FTP concerns with additional security. For example,
60 percent of the respondents said they were in the process of stepping up their encryption efforts with plans to encrypt 80 percent or more of their file transfers by 2008. However, security breaches typically occur at the point of origin or destination by hacking the FTP servers that house the data — places untouched by “on the wire” encryption.
More and more organizations are investing in managed file-transfer products to enhance or replace FTP. Sterling Managed File Transfer (MFT) is the market-leading solution for managing file transfers of any size, volume or format securely and reliably. The company’s solutions are also used worldwide to ensure the delivery of data between enterprises in diverse industries to:
- Meet SLAs and increase customer satisfaction by rapidly identifying and resolving file- transfer problems
- Reach higher levels of performance and reliability to handle growth without adding IT resources
- Increase customer retention and decrease liability by removing the security exposure for file-based transfers
Additional MFT information can be found on line at: http://www.sterlingcommerce.com/Products/MFT/.
About Sterling Commerce
Sterling Commerce, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), has more than 30 years of leadership and expertise in helping FORTUNE 500® customers thrive in a global economy by optimizing the performance of their business communities. With nearly 30,000 customers worldwide, the company is one of the world’s largest providers of multi-enterprise collaboration solutions. Sterling Commerce has unparalleled experience in the retail, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and telecommunications industries. For detailed, up-to-date information about Sterling Commerce and its solutions, visit www.sterlingcommerce.com.