Partnering with an FTP service provider for the first time can certainly seem daunting, especially considering there's a great deal of advanced technology at play that you may or may not have a deep understanding of. Provided that you keep a few key things in mind, you can help make sure that your relationship with your provider gets off on the right foot and that your FTP server is truly the cost cutting, productivity boosting asset to your organization that you always hoped it could be.
What to Consider When Getting Started With a FTP Service Provider for the First Time
Backup and Disaster Recovery Options and Features
When you're getting started with a FTP service provider for the first time, one of the key things you'll want to look at has to do with backup and disaster recovery. Your FTP provider should be able to not only create full and incremental backups of your important documents on a regular basis, but they should also do it at least 250 miles away from the main production facility for additional risk assurance.
Industry-Specific Experience
Next, you'll want to make sure that the FTP service provider you're working with has experience in the specific industry you're operating in. Someone in the healthcare sector will have very different needs than someone in financial services, so your provider should be able to address these unique concerns moving forward. Overall experience in the FTP hosting arena is also important. You should seek out someone with at least 10 years of success behind them.
Compliance
Next, you'll want to guarantee that your FTP service provider allows you to stay compliant with all rules and regulations regarding data security in your field. If you're a healthcare professional, make sure beyond the shadow of a doubt that your provider is HIPAA compliant, for example.
Uptime and Service Level Agreement (SLA)
As your FTP server becomes a more essential part of your business with each passing day, you'll also want to guarantee that you'll have access to that technology when you need it the most. Look into your FTP service provider's up-time guarantee. This is a certain amount of time (which should be as close to 100% as possible) that they GUARANTEE everything will be online and functioning smoothly.
Support Access
Finally, you'll want to carefully consider the availability of certain support options that your FTP provider makes available to you. If something suddenly goes wrong at 3:00AM, how hard is it going to be to get someone on the phone to fix it? Any modern day FTP service provider should essentially make themselves available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the best results.
These are just a few of the important things that companies getting started with a FTP service provider should carefully consider. As your relationship with your provider deepens, you'll soon find that it blossoms into one that is mutually beneficial for everyone involved.
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