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The majority of organisations surveyed by IDG and Globalscape argue compliance, reliability at scale and tracking file movement were key reasons to keep data on-premise.
82% of firms cite confidence in meeting compliance mandates as a benefit of using an on-premises enterprise file transfer solution, with 37% viewing it as critical. Reliability at scale was also seen as critical by 35% of respondents, alongside the ability to track file movement (29%) and the ability to integrate the solution into existing processes to enable automation (22%).
More than half (53%) of respondents see an on-premises managed file transfer solution as either extremely or very valuable, while a further 35% saw it as at least somewhat valuable.
45% value the ability to securely trade sensitive data as critical, compared to 41% who see it as very important. Interestingly the numbers were relatively even when it came to organisations’ interest in cloud-based file transfer solutions. 45% said they did allow users to store or transfer sensitive data in the cloud, compared to 43% who refuse it. The remainder said they plan to implement it over the next 12 months.
Yet less than one third (31%) of organisations say they have extensive measures in place to protect sensitive data transferred or stored in the cloud. The majority (62%) say the data is protected to some extent, while the remaining 7% admit there is no protection.
14% of organisations within highly regulated industries, such as government, finance or retail, are significantly more likely to allow or plan to allow the use of a cloud-based file transfer solution within the next 12 months. 45% of organisations report that they currently allow employees to store or transfer sensitive data in a cloud-based application.
The overall consensus from the survey results was that organisations value the core benefits gained from a managed file transfer solution, but the decision to choose between on-prem, cloud-based or a hybrid solution is largely influenced by business needs.
“Handling sensitive data while trying to facilitate compliance and maintain security is a top priority for many organisations,” the report notes. “However, managed file transfer solutions are not all of nothing. Every organisation that manages sensitive data faces the same concern; keeping their data safe.
“On-premises deployment models are appealing because of the added confidence in the security and compliance they have because they live in-house, while hybrid solutions can offer the best of both worlds; the flexibility of the cloud, along with the confidence of security and compliance of an on-premises deployment,” the report adds.