Do You Need an MFT Agent?
Put your dark sunglasses away. An MFT agent is not going to negotiate a multi-million-dollar deal or book you on that late-night talk show. An MFT agent will, however, deliver real-time remote workflow and file transfers controlled from a central MFT server, saving you time and money.
If your organization has multiple locations where you need to move and manipulate files securely, an agent can get the job done easily, without the need for separate FTP, FTPS, SFTP servers, or other traditional transfer methods.
What is an MFT Agent?
MFT Agents are lightweight applications that allow for central, enterprise-wide deployment of a managed file transfer solution to far-flung branch offices, within internal data centers, to the cloud, and more. An administrator can easily configure and schedule agent file transfer processes right from a web-based browser.
Agents offer flexibility and convenience and can be deployed to virtually any operating system including Windows, Linux, Unix, IBM i, Mac, and other platforms. Install agents anywhere – from servers and desktops on-premises, to external systems such as retail locations, clinics, trading partners, branch offices, or in cloud environments such as AWS and Microsoft Azure.
Simplifying file transfers throughout your organization is easier as you can set up agents to run multi-step workflows on the systems where they are installed. These workflows can securely transfer or archive files, translate data, work with databases on the system, execute native commands, or perform other local file system tasks.
Video: Agents
Why Would I Need an MFT Agent?
Using an agent enables the actions noted above to happen simultaneously at multiple locations, reducing repetitive tasks and the inherent risk of human error. In addition, this central point of control to manage all agents connected to it means less dependence on IT staff or local support at the agent sites, and more money and time savings.
Organizations with a data center can use agents to move files throughout the data center inside the network, or the agents can be deployed to move files to branch offices, cloud environments like Amazon AWS, Azure, and other remote locations. Agents are an inexpensive, simple way to provide secure communications without having to set up a VPN or dedicated connection to the cloud service.
With agents in place, there is no need to set up the file transfer process system multiple times in multiple environments. One central browser interface can manage the tasks for all locations as a single point of control for efficiency and reliability, including tasks like:
- Compressing or decompressing files using ZIP, TAR, and GZIP standards
- Automatically encrypting/decrypting files with Open PGP
- Sending and/or retrieving files via SFTP or FTPS
- Translating data between databases, CSV, fixed width, XML, and JSON
- Executing file system and native commands
Administrators can easily view all the events that occur on the agent, such as file transfers or completed jobs.
MFT Agent Features
- Automates and secures file transfers within a centrally managed environment
- Monitors all systems for new or modified files
- Schedules file transfers on agent systems to run at future dates/times
- Provides additional workflow capabilities such as encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, data parsing, database integration, and native command execution
- Sends automatic alerts via email or text messages if file transfers fail on agents
- Feeds audit data to the central GoAnywhere MFT solution for central reporting and compliance
- Active-Active clustering to handle large volumes of transfers
Webinar: Get the Most out of MFT Agents
How Do MFT Agents Work?
Installation packages can be created and deployed to any number of systems. Agents can be grouped together to simplify setup and configuration, allowing administrators to define tasks that should run on all agents in a group.
For example, an organization that has hundreds of retail stores can easily and securely send new files to each store in the group. Or, a group of Linux servers can be defined to execute the same SSH commands on all agent's systems at once. Agent templates and registration rules make it easy to deploy these agents on a large scale.
If you need to install agents outside of your network, the GoAnywhere Gateway reverse and forward proxy enables secure agent communications without opening inbound ports from your DMZ through your private network firewall.
MFT Agents Simplify File Transfers
Whether your organization needs to synchronize files with multiple locations, or you need to move sensitive files from your own data center to satellite offices, deploying MFT agents, like those GoAnywhere MFT offers, simplifies these processes.
Agents are just one reason to give GoAnywhere a test at your organization.
